The OS That Would Not Be
By Michael Floyd
When Apple CEO Gilbert Amelio took the stage at MacWorld '97 in San Francisco this past January, the company had just made two key announcements. The first was that Apple would take another huge loss in the first fiscal quarter for 1997. The second announcement surprised press and analysts: Apple would pass on its much-publicized arrangement to include the Be operating system in Macintosh System 8; instead, it would acquire Next Software.
Now, all eyes were on the CEO. How would Amelio restore the mindshare of users and developers in the face of financial deficit? Why had the company so quickly shifted away from Jean Louis Gassee's Be operating system? Could NextStep technology be leveraged without alienating the Macintosh community? And what role would Steve Jobs play? So many questions, and so few answers.
Amelio addressed the first question immediately with handwaving and misdirection: The company has $1.7 Billion in cash," he said, "asset management is good...Power Mac and PowerBook sales are strong, and server sales are up 40 percent." He didn't mention that the company's stock had dropped below $10 per share, an all-time low.
The second question was never really answered, at least by Amelio. Instead, a stream of Hollywood actors, corporate partners, musicians and internal developers were brought on stage in a chaotic parade. It was unclear why many of the presenters were there. Later, we would learn of Apple's strategy to upgrade System 7 in the short term and incorporate Next technology into a new operating system, code-named "Rhapsody," over the long haul.
