Apple’s First Portable Gets Posh Coming-Out Party
Not to ruin your day, but Apple Computer Co. is tossing a lavish $1-million-plus party at the Universal Amphitheater this morning and chances are you aren’t among the 5,000 computer salespeople, technology analysts and reporters who will be attending.
But that’s OK. If you really want to be a part of the festivities surrounding Apple’s introduction of two personal computers--including its first-ever portable Macintosh--you can tune in to the satellite television broadcast. (Of course, you’ll need one of those monstrous dish receivers, but odds are if you’re that interested in all this, you’ve already got one.)
The four-hour party marks the unveiling of the portable model that Apple executives have been promising for years, but have been unable to deliver until now, they say, because the technology for its state-of-the-art screen wasn’t available and the company’s engineers didn’t want to settle for anything less.
“This is a no-compromise machine,” said a company spokesman.
Jean-Louis Gassee, president of the Apple Products division, called the machine “a Macintosh through and through.”
Now that it’s here, many analysts say the machine--particularly its bright, clear screen--is just great. But they have three key problems with it: It’s too big, too heavy and too expensive.
Many analysts have focused on the portable’s price tag: about $8,000 when fully equipped with all the key options. By comparison, the top-of-the line Macintosh, the IIci model also being introduced today, will cost about $10,000 when fully loaded.
“One can only wonder how many people are willing to pay $8,000 for what essentially is a second computer,” said David Cearley, an analyst with the Gartner Group in Stamford, Conn.
Others have complained that the portable Macintosh really isn’t portable. It weighs nearly 16 pounds when fully equipped and can fit on the lap of only a very large person.
The portable’s introduction comes at about the same time two other Silicon Valley computer companies, Poquet and Atari, have introduced portable models that weigh less than two pounds and fit in a coat pocket. The coincidence has not escaped notice.
“There’s certainly room for improvement with the portable Mac,” Cearley said. “But it’s clear to me that this is just their first entry.”
Added Richard Shaffer, editor of a personal computer newsletter in New York, “This machine would have been OK 12 months or 18 months ago. But not today.”
Nevertheless, analysts agree that Apple should have no trouble selling the portables in their first year on the market. Cearley estimates first-year sales of 50,000 units, the equivalent of up to $400 million in revenue.
“There are enough people who really want this machine,” said Jeffrey Tarter, editor of a PC software newsletter in Boston. “They’ve been waiting a long time.”
Which brings us back to the million-dollar party.
Apple folks variously describe it as “glitzy,” “a really big event” and “an extravaganza” designed to build market momentum and enthusiasm for the machine.
Some party-goers are to arrive in Los Angeles from San Diego and Orange County via exclusively reserved Amtrak cars. They are then to be bused to the theater.
The party is to open with a two-hour show featuring Apple chairman John Sculley, a laser light display, a computer animation show and a concert of specially commissioned music played on compact disks by several Macintoshes.
“We have a lot of enthusiasm and passion for our products,” says Christopher Escher, an original Apple employee who is handling the big show, “and we think it’s important for people to celebrate our work.”
