Bong! . . . :-) . . . Welcome to Macintosh!
Yesterday, Welcome to Macintosh started
a series of interviews called The Legends of 68k. I sat down and
interviewed Jag of Jag's
House. This is the second half of my interview.
Tommy: When you look at what Apple was and what it's
become, what's the main difference in your mind?
Jag: They are back on top, innovating and making more
money than they ever have. I remember when I was at Apple and a 10
million dollar profit was great news. Now it's four hundred
million!
Tommy: Whoa, back up a minute! You worked for Apple? Do
tell!
Jag: Tech support hell, see this page: http://www.jagshouse.com/thingsivedone.html
Tommy: Thinking forward, what do you see happening with
Apple and the Macintosh?
Jag: The Mac will no longer be made by Apple, and Apple
will slowly become a software only company. They are making more
money now with just the iPod than they were just a few short years
ago with everything (Macs, software, spin-off companies,
etc.).
Tommy: I see that happening as well. The Mac has slowly
become a PC hardware-wise. The only difference I see now is in the
exterior design of the Mac itself and, of course, the OS.
Would you say that Apple could one day try their hand again at
licensing the Mac OS or even selling OS X for any PC?
Jag: Yes, I think that is inevitable.
Tommy: Have you ever seen Pirates
of Silicon Valley? I know I've seen it a couple
times and thought it was interesting. Your thoughts?
Jag: It was quite interesting to see the story of the
birth of the Mac. I especially enjoyed the Steve Jobs quote,
"You're stealing our stuff!!!!!!!!"
Tommy: I enjoyed it, too. Steve Jobs made a lot of
interesting remarks. Seeing the rift between Bill Gates and Steve
Jobs was very interesting, to say the least.
Macs vs. Windows
Tommy: When you think about using Windows vs. using the
Macintosh, do you think that Microsoft has bridged the gap in
user-friendliness between Windows and the Macintosh?
Jag: Um, no. Not even close.
Tommy: Why do you think that is?
Jag: Because Microsoft has never been an innovator. They
sit back and wait for Apple to innovate, then they copy Apple - and
they still don't get it right.
Tommy: What comes to your mind when you think about the
open-source movement and Linux?
Jag: It's cool but still way too kludgy and not even
close to being usable by Mom and Pop. They said it would have been
ten years ago when Red Hat first came, out but it's still a long
way from that.
Tommy: Do you think the open-source movement could ever
gain a foothold in the consumer market?
Jag: No. Apple has "stolen" the open source features by
offering the first consumer PC with Unix as the operating
system.
Classic Mac OS vs. OS X
Tommy: Was moving to OS X a smart move for Apple in the
sense of the user interface compared to the Classic Mac OS? Some of
the things Classic Mac OS users were used to - such as the "real"
Apple menu and the Application menu - vanished with OS X.
What are your thoughts on this?
Jag: I'd much rather have the stability and features of
Mac OS X and lose a couple of old odds & ends than still
be using Classic. Time marches on, and so does innovation.
I haven't missed anything from the old Classic days; in fact,
OS X looks more like OS 6 than OS 9 did.
Tommy: Moving from PowerPC to Intel. Again, a smart move
for Apple?
Jag: Ditto. Apple has doubles it's laptop market
share in six months! That's undeniably absolutely tremendous
news. They've been trying to increase market share for over a
decade, and they did it by going Intel and offering Boot Camp.
Jobs at the Helm
Tommy: Do you believe that Steve Jobs being CEO back then
and since his return in the late 90s has been a good thing or bad
thing for Apple?
Jag: Definitely good. He saved Apple and is
single-handedly responsible for their current success. He made them
profitable again, and Apple is now making more money than they
ever have in the history of the company.
Tommy: Overall, big picture wise, do you think that Apple
has made the right changes, good changes?
Jag: Yes, but on the down side their customer service is
atrocious, and their quality control is not good. They currently
have problems with the MacBook, MacBook Pro, iMac G5, PowerMac G5,
iBook, and eMac's. That's every Mac released in the past three
years except the Mac mini.
Fun Questions
Tommy: What does the Jagster do for a good time?
Jag: Play my cigar box
guitars and play blues festivals and local clubs.
Tommy: That's cool! I bet the clubs are packed when
you're playing!
Have you met anyone from any other Classic Mac websites or from
your forum in person?
Jag: Not yet.
Tommy: What's your day job?
Jag: Fixing Macs, what else.
Tommy: How far have you gone or would you go to save a
Classic Mac from a tragic end?
Jag: Not far; I can get a replacement for peanuts, so I
don't put any time into restoring oldies anymore. I've got
multiples of practically every Mac ever made, so I'm good to go
anyway.
Tommy: What's your take on life?
Jag: Have fun!
Tommy: Thanks a lot for the interview (shaking Jag's
hand) and here's to many more years of Jag's House!
Jag: Thanks!
That Jag, he's quite a character! Be sure to check out Jag's House.
I'll be continuing The Legends of 68k with more interviews with
the Legends of the Classic Mac websites that you won't want to
miss.
Now I dip into the mailbag to pull out another wonderful story
of how one of our reader's joined the Apple world! I want to thank
all those who've sent me their stories so far! :-) If you
have a story to share about how you joined the Apple world, shoot
it to me at thomas (at) lowendmac (dot) com! Who knows, it may even get
included in a future Welcome to Macintosh article! :-)
This one comes from Bob Michael, who started out with a Commodore
VIC-20 and joined the Apple world with an SE with dual-floppy
drives:
"As soon as computers became available to the public, I was
interested. I would have liked to have had an Apple II but couldn't
afford one. I got a Commodore VIC-20 and had as much fun with that
as I could.
"The industry progressed, and it came time for something more,
so I did a lot of research. From what I read, I decided to try a
Mac - mainly because it came with HyperCard. I was convinced
because of the alleged ease of use of the Mac and the ability to
write my own programs with HyperCard."
"I bought my first Mac in 1987. It was an
"I ended up teaching Macs and HyperCard to teachers through a
friend's consulting company for a while. I had a lot of fun doing
that. People I met during those teaching days still talk about 'the
beginning'. The industry grew in leaps, the Macs got left behind in
a lot of schools, and my friend got out of the instruction
business."
"I've been Mac ever since, having a couple of models and using
them probably past their prime. My kids are Mac fans now, having
grown up with them.
"I evangelized Macs to friends for a while, but it is a futile
effort most of the time. I'm glad just to enjoy mine now. I use a
PC at work, and the users have been through plenty of frustration,
so when I get my next computer at work, I think I'll try for a Mac,
since it can run Windows so well (the usual stumbling block) - and
maybe make a few converts again." 
Go to the Legends of 68k
index.
