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^C^1EYEWITNESS NEWS
^Cby Richard and Lavonna Rann

Apple sold its millionth Macintosh sometime during February: The Mac has been 
on the market a little over three years. 

APPLEWORLD 87 NON-STOP:  This year AppleWorld's energies were devoted to the 
introduction of the two new Macintoshs, the SE and the II.  The Macintosh SE is 
an improved Mac Plus that can accommodate a 20meg hard drive.  The SE comes 
with 1meg RAM, 256K ROM and a single expansion slot. 

OTHERS PURSUE APPLE DESKTOP MARKET:  Much has happened to desktop publishing in 
recent weeks.  IBM has announced that it will be using a new version of 
Microsoft's Windows for desktop publishing; at the same time, it announced an 
agreement with Adobe that allows them to use Postscript.  Aldus has released 
PageMaker for IBM PCs and PC compatibles.  The PC version has a number of 
features that the Mac version is missing until the upgrade comes out in a few 
weeks. 

Digital has announced that its DEC Vaxmate Publishing Solution comes bundled 
with Aldus Corp's PageMaker, DEC's WPS-Plus, and Microsoft's Chart, Windows, 
and MS-DOS, all for $6,670.  With DEC's small laser printer, the system price 
is over $12,000. 

Xerox is offering a Desktop package similar to Digital's because it sees a good 
opportunity to gain market share.  Right now, Apple has over 90 percent of the 
Desktop publishing market; analysts expect that percentage to drop over the 
next year, but not by much.  A year from now they expect Apple still to be 
market leader. 

MCI, DOW JONES, AND APPLE COMBINE FOR SOFTWARE PACKAGE:  The alliance has 
produced an electronic-mail package, called Desktop Express, for the Apple 
Macintosh family of computers.  The $149 package will be available from Apple 
dealers or directly from MCI.  It is another addition to the competitive public 
electronic-mail market.  This one is specifically designed to access the Dow 
network. 

IBM/APPLE BATTLE FOR HEARTS AND MINDS OF DEMOCRATS: The competition between 
IBM and Apple has spilled over into politics.  Gary Hart's campaign uses 18 IBM 
PC ATs in its Denver headquarters.  Dark horse challenger Bruce Babbit, former 
Governor of Arizona, uses Macintosh computers in an AppleTalk network in his 
Phoenix offices.  Judging from past political campaigns, we might find it more 
informative if the respective computer systems debated while the candidates 
networked with each other. 

IBM and Intel: IBM has been quiet while it devoted most of its energies to 
reorganizing its sales force.  IBM management seems to accept that computer 
sales are not likely to reach the levels of a few years ago.  IBM expects to 
make 40 percent of its revenue from value added services by the early 1990s.  
IBM strategy is developing around a concept that users purchase solutions to 
specific problems, rather than purchasing computer hardware and software per 
se.  The market no longer perceives computerization as a panacea. 

Currently IBM makes 23 percent of its revenue from service contracts.  The 
first IBM moves will be to increase its sales force by 10 percent.  They will 
add personnel to branch offices to support IBM's 200 largest customers.  
Besides the standard services, the new employees will develop and market 
software and customer support packages.  These "Service Packs" target small and 
moderate size businesses.  Each of the projected eight packs deal with a 
specific business operation such as LAN or banking. 

Intel announced the 80386-20 which runs at 20 MHz, and said that a 25 MHz model 
is coming.  Along with the faster processor several other chips were announced: 
80387 math coprocessor, 82385 cache controller, and 82380 integrated system 
peripheral.  These chips are the necessary engineering complements to the 
80386.  Now the processor can run with virtually no wait cycles as data is 
moved.  Intel says that these chips and the 32 bit bandwidth will reduce the 
need to access memory by 80 percent.  Intel sees these new chips as forming the 
system basis for single and multiuser PC's for the next few years. 

We will see if Intel's announcement might have been what was holding up the new 
IBM PCs.  IBM scheduled a major product announcement on April 2.  Will the new 
machines have the new technology and the faster processor? 

NEW PRODUCTS:  Commodore is showing the Amiga 2000 IBM PC compatible.  It comes 
with 1meg RAM, a 3.5 inch floppy disk drive, and seven expansion slots, all for 
about $1500.  An optional Amiga bridge card gives IBM PC XT compatibility.  A 
68020 coprocessor card is also planned. 

Digital Equipment Corp has reentered the micro computer market with its new 
Microvax 2000.  The $11,100 machine comes with a 32 bit processor, 4meg RAM, a 
1.2 meg floppy drive, and a 42meg hard disk. 

XEROX ENDS STAND-ALONE PC SALES: Xerox discontinued selling its brand-name 
Xerox personal computer.  Instead it will sell Olivetti-made microcomputers 
with the new Xerox Desktop Publishing Systems. 

ON THE LEGAL FRONT:  A New Orleans federal district judge ruled that copyright 
law supercedes the Louisiana "Shrink Wrap" laws.  The Louisiana law restricted 
unauthorized duplication and distribution of software, but Judge Frederick J. 
Heebe also detected an attempt to preempt federal law allowing fair-use copying 
of archival material.  This ruling questions similar laws in other states, but 
promises many more suits before the issue is definitively settled. 

EGGHEAD SOFTWARE:  Something new has been developing for the past several years 
and it has sprung fully formed in the West Coast and Chicago markets these past 
few months.  It is the national chain discount software store.  The one in 
Chicago is Egghead, but that is only one of several that are trying to 
establish truly national coverage.  Egghead already has stores all along the 
West Coast.  Its first move east was to Chicago, but we have no doubt that more 
cities will shortly "Hatch" Eggheads.  In just a few months, Egghead has opened 
or "Hatched", as they refer to it, eight stores in Chicago with six more in 
various stages of readiness.  The intention, obviously, is to have stores 
within a fifteen or twenty minute drive from anywhere in the region.  We have 
the addresses of 24 stores in Southern California, and there are probably 
several more by now 

Egghead's approach is like K-mart's -- buy and sell at the lowest possible 
prices.  This approach works well with anything it can buy directly from the 
developer.  Where a single store can make orders of say 10, Egghead will place 
orders in the thousands, guaranteeing low prices.  The only major break in the 
concept is with software that has to be bought from third parties or authorized 
dealers.  An example of this is Apple branded software, which is available only 
to authorized Apple Dealers.  While Eggheads carry Lotus, Living Videotext, 
Infocom, etc; it does not carry AppleWorks or AppleWriter, because it can't. 

Egghead gives an amazing amount of service.  Most of the stores are staffed 
with knowledgeable people.  The stores are supplied with computers for every 
version of software they carry; shoppers are encourage to try before they buy.  
Egghead allows any software purchase to be returned.  Visit an Egghead when one 
opens near you.   The prices are generally good on a wide selection of 
software.
