Letters: Sep. 8, 1997

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INSIDE THE APPLE-MICROSOFT DEAL

"Apple was a pioneer company, but if it is to survive, it must reinvent itself to suit a computer culture that has moved on to other things." CHRIS RANSFORD Woking, England

Thank you for the balanced story on Steve Jobs' and Apple Computer's pact with Bill Gates and Microsoft [BUSINESS, Aug. 18]. Apple has never sought to be Microsoft but rather to offer the world a wonderful alternative. The company has made great strides in the past year, and will be reaping the rewards in the near future. I predicted months ago that Apple would rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes of its recent past. Stay tuned. WAYNE BOVI Sandown, N.H.

Jobs gave up. Just a little help, he said in Chicago of the alliance with Microsoft to help save Apple. But Steve, you know that once you put a virus-carrying disc in the A drive, your machine won't be the same. Does any Mac user want to get a Bill Gates virus? NICOLA DESIDERIO Chieti, Italy

The American dream is alive and well. There is no better example of this than Jobs. He came to the table in the late '70s with an idea and a conviction. The most important thing he did was to act on his dreams. I respect Jobs for doing what was in the best interests of Apple Computer. He set his pride aside for the good of the company. NATALIE HARTMAN Salt Lake City, Utah

Gates is reputed to be intelligent and ruthless. Jobs is said to be intelligent, ruthless and streetwise, able to live off the land. No contest. The headline should be APPLE BITES MAN. BEVERLY KAI Waikiki, Hawaii

Michael Krantz wrote that the lesson learned from the Microsoft-Apple deal is that "Art may cast a brighter light in the short term, but Commerce generally wins big in the final tally." The truth of the matter is that Commerce invariably needs Art in order to win big (e.g., the Windows imitation of the Mac icon format). Conversely, any artist honest enough to admit it will acknowledge the value of Commerce in his success. In the final analysis, the average consumer doesn't care who wins, Apple or Microsoft, Jobs or Gates. All we want is a product that gets the job done quickly, efficiently and not too expensively. ROBERT CRUMP JR. New Orleans

God bless Steve Jobs. His courage and commitment to Apple Computer are in the spirit of a true entrepreneur. Apple lighted the minds of young people, in the same way that the Rural Electrification Administration lighted rural America more than 60 years ago. With people like Jobs, the future of America's youth is right on track for the new millennium. MILT SMEDSRUD Fergus Falls, Minn.

How wonderful it would be if Microsoft Windows, the Mac OS and even UNIX operating systems could all run on the same PowerPC platform. Users could pick and choose from the best of the rich treasure of software applications and tools that are now in separate operating-system camps. BRIAN BLACKMORE Millburn, N.J.

Microsoft has managed to co-opt nearly everything. Yet as I sit facing my friendly Macintosh PowerPC and my nondescript IBM clone equipped with Windows 95, I know that only one of these machines has a soul. Rob Parsons Sitka, Alaska

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