The Apple of the Cable Guy's Eye
As the readers of the Genius Bar know, I have just gotten a Comcast Cable internet connection. Now, the 2 cable guys come into my house and immediately spot the iMac (G4) on the table and go "OOOoooooh! I've never seen one of those in person before!" The begin to ask me all manner of questions about the thing and I give them a little iMovie demonstration (of me and my wife opening christmas presents. Talk about boring) and they both give their considered opinion: neato.
Today, they came back to fix something on the TV install (I got regular cable too) and noticed that I also have a powerbook G3. They asked all sorts of questions about uptime, like "Is it true those things never crash? They never get hung up right?" Imagine this all spoken in a vury thick Appalachian accent. "How fast is it?" "Can you run x and y on't?" They really liked the new ads too.
The conclusion? "Wow. That's neato. Too bad Bill Gates owns Apple." I went, Huh? "Yeah, Bill owns like all of Apple's stock. He's got them right where he wants them." Uh....
<img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
Anyway, one thing at a time. I told them I didn't think that was true, but it was time for me to get back to the office.
Thought you all would be interested.
Thoth
Today, they came back to fix something on the TV install (I got regular cable too) and noticed that I also have a powerbook G3. They asked all sorts of questions about uptime, like "Is it true those things never crash? They never get hung up right?" Imagine this all spoken in a vury thick Appalachian accent. "How fast is it?" "Can you run x and y on't?" They really liked the new ads too.
The conclusion? "Wow. That's neato. Too bad Bill Gates owns Apple." I went, Huh? "Yeah, Bill owns like all of Apple's stock. He's got them right where he wants them." Uh....
<img src="graemlins/oyvey.gif" border="0" alt="[No]" />
Anyway, one thing at a time. I told them I didn't think that was true, but it was time for me to get back to the office.
Thought you all would be interested.
Thoth
Comments
<strong>So your installation went flawlessly? Congrats.
Well, not really. They also came because the modem cable light was blinking and I coudn't connect. The home office had changed the framistan setting from "Ball bearing" to "muffler spring" and forgot to tell the installers. They told me it required just a flip of the ol' switch back at headquarters and it should work when I get home from work.
The tips you gave about using DHCP was right on, though. Thanks again.
Thoth
<strong>I had to set another co-worker straight on the Microsoft-owns-Apple front the other week. It seems to be a popular belief.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Where does that come from anyway? Is from when Micro$oft made an investment way back when? They also mentioned the "bail out" of Apple. I don't recall the magnitude of that investment being all that great - certainly not enough to qualify as a "bail out."
Oh well. At least I was able to give them a bit of a dog and pony show. I hope it AT LEAST gives them pause the next time they buy a computer.
Thoth
<strong>Where does that come from anyway?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Back in August 1997, Bill Gates came on the big screen behind Steve in a very 1984-esque appearance to announce the 5-year partnership. Microsoft bought US$150,000,000 of NON-VOTING stock, propised to retain it for at least three years, and promised to keep developing for Apple for the next 5 years. However, they also agreed that Microsoft and Apple would cross-license existing patents for five years. Some say that's why Internet Explorer 5 got the Aqua look with stripes months *before* the real Aqua's debut in MWSF 00.
Regardless, as I emphasized before, it was non-voting stock; so, technically Microsoft and Billy had no real control in Apple. That five-year agreement comes to an end this August, but Microsoft's MBU has recently stated its dedication to the Mac and that it will continue to develop software for Mac OS X.