New Twist to Mac Cloning


From: erkyrath@eblong.com
To: steve.jobs@apple.com
Date: August 31, 1999
Subject: New twist to Mac cloning

Dear Steve (or whoever reads his mail):

I was thinking.

A few years ago, Apple licensed Macintosh clones. They were cheaper than Macintoshes, they were fast, some had multiprocessing support, they ran MacOS. They sold pretty well.

And everyone said this was a Good Thing, because more MacOS users means more MacOS software, which means more clones and more Macs. Ultimately.

The problem was, Apple couldn't keep it going. I guess you were losing too many hardware sales -- you'd know the details better than I. The MacOS software market didn't have time to recover from years of shrinkage. So you killed the clones, and everyone said Drat.

Today, it's different. Apple came back, and the MacOS software world really is growing again. So am I going to suggest cloning again? Sure. But here's how to do it, without undermining the iMacs, Blue&Whites, and iBooks that are fuelling your recovery:

You license Mac clones -- with the restriction that every clone must be an opaque rectangular beige box.

There. I'll just leave you with that. Have fun with it.

--- Andrew Plotkin
(MacOS user, LinuxPPC user, geek)

--Z

-- September 2, 1999.

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