Apple and Baseball: The Magic Lives On

Frank Fox - 2008.04.08

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Charles Moore sees both Major League Baseball and Apple loosing some of their magic. I couldn't disagree more.

Baseball

I don't watch a lot of baseball, but I was grinning from ear to ear after the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. My Red Sox hat that I wear is so beat up and worn, people used to criticize the condition, but not any more.

As for Apple, I grin every time I read about them toppling another barrier. Those smug, rabid PC fans have less to brag about all the time.

Both MLB and Apple have had their share of scandal and shame. Long before the 1985 pennant race that attracted Mr. Moore to baseball, there was the sad 1919 Black Sox scandal. Worse than a bunch of players going on strike, there were a bunch of players that worked together to throw a baseball game. Not just any game, but the World Series. I call it sad, because the players woke up to the dumbest thing they ever did and could never fix. Back then I'm sure that baseball lost a few fans, who probably thought the magic was gone forever.

New fans came along, and die-hard fans stuck it out. Baseball survived, and time past slowly, bringing fans back to the game and losing some to other sports. The 1994 baseball strike certainly sucked big time for the fans waiting for the thrill of a good game. The players and the game did return.

Since then, new moments are continually being created, and the game and the magic lives on. One thing different about baseball is that the minor league system forces a lot of good players to have to fight hard to get to the next level. You're not an instant millionaire right out of college, like a star football or basketball player would be. With baseball there is a fantastic amount of wanting to play the game.

Scandal cannot end the magic. Over time that just becomes part of the story and the drama that make people watch.

Apple

Let's switch gears and talk about Apple. First off, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak are Apple. Wozniak doesn't even work there any more, and he still gets interviewed regarding his opinion all the time. The return of Steve Jobs was like the return of vision to the company. Jobs knows that at its heart, Apple is a hardware company. He saw right away that Gil Amelio's attempt to license the Mac OS was bad news. It was the first thing he killed when he returned.

The icon garden, Claris the cowdog, the multicolored Apple logo, or the disappearance of the smiley face Mac are not signs that the magic is gone. (I really hated it when the smiley face Mac was gone.) Apple has again become a reflection of Jobs. The twenty-something millionaire who loved listening to the Beatles and selling blue boxes to let people place free phone calls is now an older man. The company reflects this change. Yes, it is a pain growing up and growing old, but that doesn't mean Jobs or Apple have lost that special something to deliver a fantastic product.

I owned two of Apple's most problematic computers, called Road Apples here on Low End Mac: a PowerBook 5300 and a Performa 6300. (If you ask me, the iBooks with the failing logic boards need to be added to the list.) I was a Mac addict through these not so great times with Apple.

Today, with my new MacBook and Mac Pro, I am even more of a Mac addict. These are both a hell of a lot better computers than many of the ones made before Jobs returned. I definitely think Apple still has the magic - or at least they make a damn good computer, and there is a wide-open road to keep going places.

Keep your eyes open to the new moments, Mr. Moore, and you'll see plenty of magic from both MLB and Apple.

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