This article was originally published on MacDaily,
a site which no longer exists. It is thus reprinted here without
permission (which we would gladly obtain if possible.) Links have
been retained when possible, but many go to the Internet Wayback
Machine.
We profile Mac evangelist Rodney O. Lain, columnist for
theiMac.com, Low End Mac, Semper Mac, and MacSimple.
Rodney Lain first used an Apple computer in 1981, when he
learned BASIC in junior school. He next used Macs in the late
1980s, when he learned desktop publishing. He naively thought that
all computers were easy to use, until, in 1995, when he accepted a
job teaching college-level writing in labs equipped with PCs
running Win95. Luckily for him, his office was equipped with a Mac
with which he found comfort and solace from dealing with crashed
PCs. It was during this time that he ran across the original
EvangeList and the Mac Web. He's been a Mac-head ever since. He
lives in Minnesota, where he writes for theiMac.com, Low End Mac,
Semper Mac, and MacSimple.
Q: What was your very first Mac experience?
A: Let me relate my first "experience," not my first
experience:
In graduate school, our computer lab was all PC. I'd used Macs
before, but never felt passionate about them. Then one day, I
overheard a classmate (a Mac addict) arguing with the lab
administrator (a PC user) about which OS was better. I didn't
understand what the big deal was, even though I'd had several PCs
crash and lose important work.
It would be three years later before I became a dyed-in-the-wool
Mac user, when I would teach classes on Windows 95 and do personal
stuff on my office-assigned Macintosh. The twin experiences led me
to buy my first computer - a Mac.
Q: What was the first Mac you owned and what do you
currently use?
A: My first one was a Power Mac
7200/120 with a 17" Apple monitor and a LaserWriter purchased
in 1996 (for $3,000+ !!). We still own it (my wife uses it). I
currently swear by a PowerBook G3
WallStreet, with 96 MB of RAM and OS 8.6. I'm too lazy to
upgrade to OS 9, because all of my shareware would probably
break.
Q: What inspired you to start writing about the Mac
and evangelizing the platform?
A: I joined a user group when we moved to the Twin Cities
in January of 1997. I was appalled at the group's lack of
enthusiasm for the Mac. I offered my "humble" services to them, and
I never received replies to my letters, email, and phone calls (but
they did take my membership fee). Disillusioned with them, I took
matters into my own hands by getting a job at Best Buy selling
iMacs. In disgust, I left them for CompUSA right before the iMacs
were pulled from Best Buy (at no surprise to me).
That wasn't enough evangelism for me, so I offered to write for
theiMac.com. I then added Low End Mac to my writing chores, followed by Semper
Mac. As I do this interview, I notice that I just received an email
offer to write at MacSimple. I don't plan to write for any other
sites.
It sounds like a Herculean task, but I love to write, and I love
the Mac. So all of my laboring is a labor of love...
Q: Low End Mac, theiMac.com, and Semper Mac are all
very different sites. What incented you to write for each
one?
A: I felt it would be mono-faceted to write for only one
site, and I felt that I each website reaches different audiences. I
chose three obviously disparate sites because that allowed me to
reach wider audiences than any particular site would reach by
itself.
TheiMac.com, for example, caters to "newbies" more than Low End
Mac, which is for more seasoned Mac users. Mac Simple and Semper
Mac, by contrast, are trying to take online journalism to the next
level - writing with a single, collaborative sense of purpose -
more of a mission, if you will. I admire that and want to be a part
of that. It appeals to the itinerant evangelist in me, I guess
:-)
I honestly think online journalism will take off in the near
future, and I want to be "in media res" - in the middle of
things.
But I want to do it without losing quality in my writing. I want
to write my best for each of the sites. The guys in charge of each
site are gracious not to tie me to a set-in-stone schedule (except
at theiMac.com, where I've agreed to submit weekly columns and
produce the weekly newsletter). This way, I'm forced to write by
deadline on one site, while I also get to write for the others
whenever the Muse strikes - and that's often, thanks to the steady
stream of news and gadgetry from Apple.
But if readers think my writing is getting stale (and I do have
my vocal critics, mind you), I will pare down my writing chores -
or get better.
Q: The can't-live-without resources that you use
online or offline?
A: Here goes, in no certain order:
- Eudora Pro 4.2.1
- Consultant 2.58
- my Palm III
- my PowerBook
- PPP Menu
- Internet Explorer's "Favorites" feature
- all of the blood-sweat-and-tears-created Mac news sites (which
I refuse to name for fear of offending)
- the "Apple menu"
- the one million extensions in my System folder
- Sherlock
- reruns of Late Night with David Letterman)
- a dog-eared copy of On Writing Well by William
Zinsser
- MacDesktops.com
- Dilbert
Q: How would you have handled the G4 incident?
[Editor's note: This refers to Apple dropping the clock speed of G4
Power Macs by 50 MHz with no decrease in price. dk]
A: I would have had in place at least one or two
contingency plans. Always have a "Plan B." Regardless, I would
not have charged the same price for the G4 after reducing
the feature sets. I would have done everything in my power to make
sure customers were not given short shrift.
I would have made sure that the customer is always first. The
profits will follow.
I'm just glad that cooler heads prevailed.
Q: Do you think Apple was in the wrong or do you think
they were justified in their initial decision?
A: Let me preface all of the following by saying that I
haven't the foggiest about what really happened behind Apple's
closed doors. That said...
In light of rising RAM prices and the Taiwan situation, I can
give them the benefit of the doubt in raising prices
. . . but I think it was much more than that.
Evidence indicates that Apple was trying to score PR points
against the competition by announcing the G4 as early as possible,
even though the chips hadn't been produced (totally) nor tested
(thoroughly). That would explain the G4/400 that's been code named
"Yikes!" by the
Mac Web. They were obviously pulling a bluff of some type until the
actual G4 shipped.
On a side note: If you read any of the history of say,
Microsoft, you will see that risk-taking (read bluffing) is part
and parcel of corporate America. Hence, I imagine this isn't the
first time that Apple counted their chickens before they hatched.
It's just that this time, the chickens didn't hatch.
Regardless of what you may feel about the G4 incident, remember
this: Apple is one of the most scrutinized companies in existence.
Microsoft can complain about the DOJ spotlight, but look at their
list of PR disasters: the "Halloween memo"; the phony survey of
educators supporting Microsoft; Microsoft's warning that halting
release of Win 98 would hurt the US economy; their botched plan to
pay journalists to praise MS in the press . . . need I go
on? In each case the public has allowed these multiple instances of
blatant arrogance to slip out of sight and out of mind.
But let Apple have an infinitesimal number of PowerBook 5300s
sparking up in lab tests, and the incident is repeated and
magnified for years after that. (stepping off of soap box)
Pardon me . . . was I shouting?
Q: How much does Steve Jobs have to do with Apple's
current success?
A: Steve has everything to do with Apple's success.
Sure Jonathan Ive is the genius behind the industrial design of
the iMac, but even he admits that he would have been gone if Steve
wasn't there. I remember that one game developer was quoted in the
Fortune article as saying, "I got to meet Steve Jobs. Cool. I'll do
whatever they want." Come on... would Gil Amelio have been able to
marshal the troops and inspire the iBook? Doc Amelio, bless
his heart, reminds me of the old joke about Richard Nixon: the man
looks so uptight, I'll bet he was born in a three-piece
suit.
The smartest thing I've seen Steve do is draw focus off of
himself and cast it onto his management team. He will always draw
spotlight because he Steve frickin' Jobs. A good boss never makes
himself the star of the show - not if he wants the company to last
beyond his generation, anyway. Steve is positioning Apple, so that,
regardless of whether or not he stays, Apple will be an influence
on the PC industry.
To answer your question: Steve has a lot to do with Apple's
current success, but the rest of Apple's employees need to
internalize the Macintosh worldview if they are do be more than an
iMac footnote in history.
Q: Do you think we're near the end of his tenure, or
is it possible that he may one day assume the top spot
permanently?
A: Only Steve knows. Only God knows. At risk of sounding
blasphemous: Were those last two sentences redundant?
:-)
Q: What does Apple have to do to stay on top of their
game?
A: Create the Next Big Thing. Desktop video (a la iMovie)
may be a next big thing, but they need to got beyond that to get
the Next Big Thing. What is that? I think it is to take the GUI to
another level. I think it is to evolve the personal computer so
that it is as pervasive as the cellular phone. Or the television.
Or . . . the PC.
Call it bias, but I don't think the Next Big Thing will be
introduced by any Wintel company. To paraphrase Bill Gates, it will
be introduced on the Macintosh. Hell, it may even be a
Macintosh.
Q: In your opinion, what was the best product that
Apple came out with in 1999?
A: The iBook. I predict it will be more of a fashion
statement than the iMac is. Since when was a laptop a conversation
piece? When you have one with you, people can pretend that they
don't notice you . . . but they do. They all do.
I did a little test on Sunday. I risked getting fired from my
weekend job at CompUSA's Apple Store Within a Store. I have a
strong relationship with the Retail Manager there, so I get certain
liberties. One was taken on Sunday (October 24), when I borrowed
the demo iBook to lunch. Imagine being at Wendy's, scarfing down a
burger and having the Star Wars trailer playing in QuickTime on a
blueberry iBook. The kids next to me couldn't keep still. Nor the
grownups :-)
If I was single and had a hard time getting a date, I'd buy an
iBook and hang out with it. Talk about a Babe Magnet. Or a Hunk
Magnet (admittedly, I'd be more attracted to a lady with a
PowerBook. "Come to Butt-head." :-)
Q: A product or service that you would like Apple to
come out with in the Y2K?
A: Apple needs to take its customer relations and do to
it what has been done with its product lineup, knowhatI'msayin?
And, under "customer relations" I'd like to place the Mac web
community. We are grossly underappreciated. I wish there were some
way to count how many people stayed with the Mac or "converted" to
the Mac from the efforts of sites like MacDaily.
I think we'd be viewed as a priceless resource as a
result...
Q: The first words/phrases that comes to mind when you
hear:
A:
- Success - you can't achieve it alone...
- Evangelism - Guy Kawasaki
- Innovation - not to be confused with imitation (are you
listening, PC makers?)
- Daily - make a difference in the lives of others
- Paradise - ...on Earth, if everyone owned a Mac
:-)
