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Short on Cash in Europe (4/28/99)
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Hmmm, is there trouble afoot for Apple Europe? We'd always had the vague sense that things were looking up on the other side of the Atlantic, what with iMacs providing a needed sales boost and all. Sure, we'd heard reports that Apple Germany had more than its share of problems, most notably its shaky standing with resellers which, if the rumors are true, makes Apple's relationship with Best Buy look like an evening at the carnival. Still, we thought things were better for Apple in Europe than at any point in the past-- so we're a little concerned to see MacWEEK reporting that Apple's European branch is "scaling back its 1999 trade-show plans."
Apple Germany reportedly sent a memo to several third-party developers explaining that, "based on [their] criteria for trade-show activities and after weighing several possibilities, [they] have decided to participate in no further trade shows in 1999." That's a pretty significant statement, given that we haven't even entered the fifth month of the year yet-- especially since, not two months ago, Apple Germany had proposed that they sponsor no fewer than four "large Mac-focused expos" in different major European countries. How they can go from planning to hold four big expos to attending zero trade shows in a scant two-month time frame is beyond us. Did someone at Apple Germany leave a faucet running, leading to a crippling water bill or something?
Of course, poor water conservation techniques are just one of dozens of possible explanations for the trade show back-out. There's unexpected car repair bills, an unforeseen rent increase, the electric company actually reading the meter after months of "estimated usage," etc. The sad truth is, we'll probably never know just why Mac fans in Europe will find themselves expo-less in 1999. We just hope Apple Germany suddenly inherits some cash from a rich uncle, or something...
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SceneLink (1491)
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 4/28/99 episode: April 28, 1999: Looking for the dimension in speed? Then it's time to start saving up for a G4. Meanwhile, Apple Germany drastically scales back its trade show plans for unknown reasons, and Microsoft edges closer to finally shipping Windows 2000...
Other scenes from that episode: 1490: Get Ready To Splurge (4/28/99) Are you one of those people who's just never satisfied? You know what we mean; like, you know you should be happy with that tricked-out icebox G3/400 with a full gigabyte of RAM, three 36 GB Ultra2 SCSI hard drives in a RAID array, DVD-RAM, and gigabit Ethernet (only $17,817 at the Apple Store with an Apple Studio Display 20" monitor!... 1492: In The Home Stretch (4/28/99) Well, we'll be damned-- they just might make it after all. According to a CNET article, Microsoft is mere days away from shipping what they expect will be the final beta version of Windows 2000. Beta 3, which has been anxiously awaited by nervous Windows NT users everywhere, is reportedly "feature complete" and "tuned to approach performance Microsoft hopes to deliver with the final code."...
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