EvangeList Digest Saturday, February 20 1999 Volume 01 : Number 1377
In this issue:
$$ - AuctionMac.Com Special Deal! ?? - Lego Mindstorms Software $$ - Discount On Inkjet Cartridges Tidbit - iMac "Undercover" Success Story A Report From Macworld Tokyo PR - MacLiving's new In Box
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Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 02:05:17 -0800 From: The EvangeList Mailing List <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: $$ - AuctionMac.Com Special Deal!
This special offer is from:
Shay Fulton <mailto:sfulton@classmac.com>
AuctionMac.com is now open! AuctionMac is an exciting new service for Mac users, offering a complete, full-featured auction service for all Macintosh users. With a professional design layout and fantastic, unique auction programming, AuctionMac.com will fill a large gap in the Macintosh community. Our system is speedy, reliable, seamless, and fun to use.
AuctionMac is packed with features for all users... We offer proxy bidding options, bidder/seller protection, complete search options, account management, feedback services, reserve price options, user-set bid increments, up to 7 day auction durations, bold title options, outbid notification, and much more...
AuctionMac is focused entirely on the Macintosh, with 12 categories of auction items and fast, simple item placement. The site is designed to be as easy to use as the Macintosh itself. There are absolutely no hassles in posting, bidding, or browsing. Load time is amazing, navigation is streamlined, and the auction system is seamless.
Registering to use AuctionMac.com is entirely free. So is bidding, browsing, and buying. Rates for auction posting are insanely low, based only to support the service. There are no insertion fees, only low fees based on the final value of your item. And all users start out with at least $10.00 credit in their account with no obligation. This allows users to immediately start posting items for sale with no fees incurred. It's simple, easy, and exciting! Additional credit can be purchased later if desired via credit card (secure), check, or MO.
We would also like to offer EvangeListas a special deal... Normally, registration automatically earns $10.00 posting credit. We would like to extend this to $15.00 credit for EvangeListas. To get this exclusive $5.00 bonus, just register up using the URL we set up especially for Apple Evangelistas. Use the URL below.
We invite all Macintosh users and interested parties to stop by, register, post auctions, and dive right in to the auction fun. We're fully confident that we will fill a large gap in the Macintosh universe with our services. We invite you to take a look...
AuctionMac is located at: http://www.auctionmac.com/evangelist.html
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Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 02:06:06 -0800 From: The EvangeList Mailing List <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: ?? - Lego Mindstorms Software
This request is from:
Greg Betzel <mailto:kelleysoft@pressenter.com>
Dear Evangelistas,
We're looking into writing software that would let you program/control Lego's popular Mindstorms Robotics Invention System with a Mac, and we're wondering what kind of demand there'd be for such a product.
We're aware of a couple of other Mac solutions that address this already. We recognize & salute thier efforts. Our goal is not to compete, but rather compliment by targeting different kinds of users & market segments.
Please email us at <mailto:kelleysoft@pressenter.com> if you are or aren't interested in such a product, and why. Any other comments or suggestions are welcome also. We'd love to bring Mindstorms to the Mac...we just need enough people to ask for it. :)
Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 02:06:01 -0800 From: The EvangeList Mailing List <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: $$ - Discount On Inkjet Cartridges
This special offer is from:
Robert Burns <mailto:wetfirev@coho.net>
I am a new distributor of compatible inkjet cartridges and refill kits from Renewable Resources, makers of REINK brand products. I have just put up a web site which has a shopping cart attached. I know that it will probably be several weeks before my site is listed in any search engine (and when it is, it will probably be on page 13). Anyway, in order to generate some income to help pay for this site, I will give a 10% discount to my fellow Evangelistas. The catch is, you must use the Mail/Fax form from the site, rather than the shopping cart. Ask for your Evangelist discount in the comments box on the form. (The shopping cart doesn't allow for comments.)
Renewable Resources has cartridges for Epson and Canon, and refill kits for Epson,Canon, HP and Lexmark. All are guaranteed. These products can save you up to 70% over the OEM price; maybe 80% with your discount.
The site lists everything that they make. Before e-mailing me to see if they have something else, see if your original cartridge number is listed. If it is, go with it, even if it's not showing your printer model. Manufacturers will many times use the same cartridge across several model printers.
My url: <http://www.inkjetman.com>
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Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 02:06:09 -0800 From: The EvangeList Mailing List <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: Tidbit - iMac "Undercover" Success Story
This tidbit is from:
An EvangeLista Who Wishes To Remain Anonymous
I work as an IT Systems Manager within a division of a Fortune 500 retail company. I can not tell you who I work for (and I would prefer to remain anonymous) for reasons set out below.
The company was very mainframe-centered until pretty recently. All of the various divisions nationally have large Advertising departments (advertising is an essentail part of retailing) so starting in the late 1980's the Macintosh began entering the creative and production departments, and eventually into the "business" side (accounting, media buying, marketing, special events/PR, operations, etc) of the Advertising departments too. Then the corporate IS division suddenly woke up to the Desktop Revolution and started to deploy Windows everywhere about 5 years ago. They would not support the Macintosh so the Advertising departments became islands within the corporate Windows Sea. That sea began to erode the edges, the aforementioned "business" side of Advertising has been converting to Windows under pressure from IS. They would not allow Mac to connect to any of their services despite many demonstrations to the contrary and even support from Apple.
At my suggestion a couple of months ago we brought in an iMac to test some of the Advertising "business-side" needs, especially using Connectix's VirtualPC to handle the connections to the corporate network. Needless to say it was a big success and we have been replacing both old (vintage IIci, IIfx, LC and Quadra) Macs and more important - Windows PC's with iMacs. Everybody wants them, especially now that they come in colors. The irony is, that we have to tell our Apple dealer to deliver them WRAPPED IN BLACK PLASTIC GARBAGE BAGS. We want to keep this whole operation a complete secret until we have replaced ALL of the PC's, because it is better to ask forgiveness than permission.
Shades of 1984.
__________________________ Digital Guy Sez:
Why was I suddenly reminded of "plain brown paper wrapping" when I read this?
Congratulations on an amazing guerilla tactic! I I were you, I would also wait until someone noticed that your support costs had dropped substatially, and you were asked how you accomplished it. ;-)
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Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 02:06:14 -0800 From: The EvangeList Mailing List <evangelist@apple.com> Subject: A Report From Macworld Tokyo
This tidbit is from:
"Cafiero, Lawrence" <mailto:LCafiero@mofo.com>
Apple iCEO Steve Jobs addressed a few thousand of the Mac faithful and others in the Land of the Rising Sun at Macworld Tokyo this afternoon (Thursday afternoon). While some folks were expecting some big things (including yours truly, who embarassingly contributed to the rumor mill yesterday or two days ago), perhaps the biggest news to come from the keynote speech was that today (Thursday) marks the opening of the on-line Apple Store in Japan.
Please forgive me if this is a rehash of what happened at Macworld last month, but Jobs and crew were outstanding, even in the face of two minor technical glitches (which I'll get to in later). Jobs wowed the audience first with the G3 and demonstrated its superiority over a Compaq Presario equipped with the fastest "snail" - the Pentium II 450. The G3 rolled and smoked the Compaq in the customary Photoshop test, even when the Wintel box was given a head start in one test. Later, in a discussion that would have pleased gamers to no end, Apple's new-found dedication to games ("Prior management didn't like games," said Steve. "We like games.") was manifested by a head to head test between a G3 and a Compaq equipped with a Pentium II 450 with a Voodoo 2 card; both machines running a demo of Dark Vengance. The G3 once again kicked butt. Later in the presentation, games came up again in the form of Connectix's Virtual Game Station, which will be available in the Land of Sony this summer. Apple exec Phil Schiller (sp?) got to try out Play Station's Grand Turismo, a popular Japanese racing game, and his prowress in the game (this observation written tongue in cheek, of course) was ample warning that you should probably decline any rides from him, should he offer.
G3 expandability and graphics were also discussed at length, which segued into an informative and enlightening introduction to FireWire and USB. The expandability of the G3 was also discussed at length, and the crowd "ooh-ed," "ah-ed" and "hmm-ed" in the same way the crowd seeing the same presentation a month earlier in San Francisco might have.
Microsoft rep Ben Waldman's Japanese was impeccable, however his demonstration of the new Internet Explorer 4.5 didn't go so flawlessly. When a glitch in using the new web browsing addition to the only-for-Macintosh Microsoft family, Waldman alluded to a "hardware problem," which elicited a less than sotto voce response from someone in the press corps (not me, I swear -- but I wish it had been!) that "maybe it's the browser, Ben, not the hardware." The technical glitch, hardware- or software-related notwithstanding, was sorted out and a demonstration of the browser's capabilities to work with Sherlock was demonstrated. Also, much to the delight of the crowd, an improved Japanese writing capability of the browser was demonstrated in this segment of the presentation.
[It might be interesting to note that the presentations, with the possible exception of Waldman's foray into Japanese in his opening and closing statements, were translated into small radio transmitters given to the Japanese attendees at the door. These are the same kinds of small transmitters that are given to foreigners before kabuki performances to listen to translators give the narration of the play]
When talking about the iMac, Jobs made an interesting statement about the demographics of Japanese iMac users: 46% of iMac purchasers are first time computer users and 16% are Wintel converts, making 62% of the iMac users. Outlining the improvements to the current multi-colored model, the iMac was announced as starting at 158,000 yen. The numbers 1,559 and 901 have particular significance, too, as the former is the number of new and updated applications for Mac since the release of the iMac and 901 is the number of Japanese applications introduced at the same time.
MacOS X, which was announced to be released this month in the States, was announced to be released in Japan in April. Using an iMac without a hard drive (a "discectomy," Steve said, holding aloft the iMac's removed hard drive), OS X was demonstrated to the awe of the crowd. The finale would have been amazing, had it gone without a snag: Using OS X running on a G3 connected to 50 iMacs (49 on a 7-by-7 iMac display unveiled on center stage along with the disc-free iMac adjacent to the G3) operating three Quick Time movies. Unfortunately, it took a bit to get started, with some iMacs working flawlessly and others not, but by the time Steve had given up and started walking off stage, the different films had all started, at least briefly.
Video presentations were also part of the keynote. Before Jobs took the stage, the Hal commercial (not yet aired here) in its subtitled glory, was shown. Also the iMac commercial with the waltzing iMacs dancing to the Rolling Stones (which is aired here) was also shown, as well as a video presentation (subtitled) called "The Look of Love."
On the whole, it was a great keynote and had the throngs, who were inching back to the exhibition hall (the number of people plus fact that there was only one exit gave it a feel of leaving a football game), in spirited discussion about the developments all the way back.
If necessary, I will report any further developments in the next two days, should any occur, and I would welcome an correspondence if anyone has questions about Macworld Tokyo.
Kicking Butt in the Land of the Rising Sun,
Larry Cafiero Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan
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Date: Sat, 20 Feb 1999 19:27:16 -0800 From: Guy Kawasaki <Kawasaki@garage.com> Subject: PR - MacLiving's new In Box
This announcement is from:
Trevor Copland, tcopland@macliving.com
It's official, people love MacLiving Daily <www.maclivingdaily.com>, and though we just released it, MacLiving Magazine <www.macliving.com> is getting great response, and more subscribers than we care to count.
Some of you have wondered how you can get your news or tidbits in MacLiving for all the (Macintosh) world to see. It's rather simple, really. Just send a quick message to inbox@macliving.com. Your message will instantly be sent to various members of our editorial staff, and if it's worth it's salt, thousands of surfers who check MacLiving Daily out every day. It might even get into the magazine. Thanks so much for your interest, and don't forget that one of every 250 new subscribers will win an iMac! <www.macliving.com/contests/ What color do you think in?
Trevor Copland Editor-In-Chief
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Order Rules for Revolutionaries <http://www.kickbutt.com>:
