Nothing Steve Jobs could say really would have met the expectations of his Boston Macworld audience on Wednesday. After weeks of anticipation - and visions of Jobs leading a new Apple charge - his announcement of a new powerhouse board of directors and a US$150 million investment from Microsoft didn't cause that much of a stir. Even a guest appearance by Bill Gates wasn't enough to floor the crowd.
Once Jobs' keynote was out of the way, the Mac masses turned their attention to scooping up exhibitors' freebies. But the exhibitors themselves were plenty interested in what Jobs had to say, analyzing his message for hints of what direction a reinvigorated Apple might take.
"I think it's a welcome landing into rationality for them," said Jean-Louis Gassee, CEO of Be Inc., who far from being surprised, said the news made for "a logical set of moves and announcements." The Be OS works on both Macintosh and Wintel machines, but Gassee said he counted on Apple's continued vitality for both "sentimental" and "geopolitical" reasons. Gassee also applauded the addition of Oracle's Larry Ellison and Intuit's Bill Campbell to the board. "I think what Steve is doing is very positive. They've got a strong board now."
The three major clone makers - Motorola, Power Computing, and Umax - all occupy large, high-profile booths at the show, and company executives were fretting over one issue Jobs didn't address in his speech: Will Apple license future operating systems to them?
"This was our big fear, that there would be no discussion of the issue," said John Ellett, vice president of worldwide marketing at Umax. "Having a new board is great, but we need clarity on licensing."
Umax marketing director Bruce Berkoff brushed off concerns about Apple's licensing of Rhapsody, the operating system expected to be released mid-1998. "Things get slowed down when there's no CEO at the company," he said. "We don't see it as a problem yet, and we're thrilled to see that Apple's got the momentum back."
Dennis Saloky, Motorola's director of marketing, said his company believes Mac users value choice. "What we're demonstrating is that competition can bring out the best of breed. It leads to better and cheaper machines for consumers. Last year, there were 75 Mac models on the market," Saloky said.
Software developers were glad that Jobs' speech had given Apple the appearance of forward motion. But, being businesspeople, they showed more concern for their latest releases than the tea-leaf reading of Apple's future.
"Obviously a healthy Apple is good for us, and we want to be as supportive as we can," said Adobe spokesman Peter Card, whose company's Photoshop is one of the best-selling Mac apps.
One of the biggest shocks of Jobs' keynote was that long-time Apple advisor A. C. "Mike" Markkula lost his seat on the board. Some conference attendees saw that move as progress.
"Obviously, Markkula has been there all along, so he must have been part of the problem," said Teri Vasso, co-founder of Macsultants, a New Jersey reseller and systems integrator.
