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Apple Archive

Apple vs. Mac Clones

- 2001.02.09

One day last month, Apple quietly dropped support for the first desktop computer to use RISC technology, the first desktop computer to beat the Pentium, and the first desktop computer with "power" in its name. This was the extremely popular Power Macintosh 6100 series. With many still in use today, this may not have been the best decision that Apple could make.

Apple is very lucky that people are keeping their computers for so long. It shows something about what Apple makes - that Apple makes good, solid computers that refuse to go out of date without a struggle.

Let's go to another computer that Apple doesn't support. The Power Computing clones. Okay, so these aren't Apples, and it is debatable whether Apple should support them. But since Power Computing Corp. sold their license to manufacture Macintosh clones back to Apple, I think Apple should take some responsibility with support.

Even though these machines are not supported beyond OS 8.1, it doesn't mean that you have to run 8.1 on them! (See OS 8 or 9 for My Clone?.) Depending on your system, the installer looks at is as a 'real' Apple computer. For example, the PowerBase systems would be looked at as the 6360/6400 series. This lets the installer install up to Mac OS 9.1 on them.

These models were often very inexpensive. With an Apple you were (and are) paying partly for the logo on the front of the case. If you didn't mind a little less fruit, you could get a great deal on a great system.

From the back, these clones look just like PCs. Some of them even sound a bit like PCs with their noisy fans. The good news is that they were very well made, just like Apple's Macs, and acted just like Apple's Macs (they have the startup sound and use Apple ROMs) all while saving you money - and often giving better performance.

You also can check out the reviews of these clones in back issues of Mac User. Most of them got great reviews.

I can see why Apple finally pulled the plug on clones in 1997. These companies were constantly coming up with newer, faster, better things than Apple. Power Computing Corp. even made one of the first machines to use the "Arthur" chip - now called the PowerPC 750 or G3 - even though it was never released.

We are seeing this "lagging behind" again. And again, it's in MHz. Power Computing, Umax, and other companies had computers with faster MHz ratings than the Macs of the time. MHz is important to help sell the product. Saying that a G4/733 is faster than a 1.4 GHz Pentium PC doesn't mean anything to the consumer. They consider MHz as "proof." If something is 1.4 GHz, it has to be faster than 733 MHz, right?

Wrong. Since these chips are two different types, they are measured differently. And this is where Apple needs to catch up. Someone needs to make a standard so that both chips could be measured on the same scale. Or maybe the G4 should have a "Pentium equivalent" rating like some of the Cyrix Pentium-compatible chips did - the 133 MHz was equal to a 166 MHz Pentium, so it was called 166 MHz.

Remember Power Computing's more aggressive ad campaigns such as "fight back for Mac" with Sluggo? A statement to get everyone excited, and one single character that people would associate with the slogan and the company. Chances are that when I mentioned Sluggo, you thought of Power Computing (my apologies to you if you have no idea what I am talking about). This was a good ad campaign, and with it Power Computing sold a lot of systems. Power Computing had a good image as well - rebellious and tough. Kinda like the MacAddict magazine of the computer-manufacturing world.

Apple currently has "Think Different." Good slogan, but perhaps the ads aren't working? They aren't bad ads, but in my opinion, the older Apple ads are better - they leave you thinking "maybe I need a Mac, too." For example, the "dinosaurs" ad: A boy is at a PC with his dad, and wants to play a dinosaur game on his PC. His dad tries to install the game, and after a long time still can't get it working. Toward the end of the ad, the boy is getting his coat on. His dad asks him where he is going. The boy says, "to the Crandalls." His father asks him, "What's at the Crandalls." The boy replies, "They have a Mac."

Now that's an ad that leaves you thinking.

iMacs spinning around to "Blue Suede Shoes" aren't exactly thought provoking.

Apple has blocked off a lot of good advice. The companies who made Mac clones must have been doing something right, otherwise they wouldn't have sold so many systems. Apple's response? The Power Mac 4400 - a high priced Mac using industry standard parts. It much resembled the Power Computing PowerBase low profile models. When that system didn't sell, Apple decided to end the licensing agreements with the other companies. As a result, no Mac clone could ship with OS 8.0 or higher. That was a mistake. Apple needed to look a little harder into how these clone manufacturers were able to afford to build these systems, and then take them on with competitively priced systems that offered similar speeds and options.

Apple didn't do this, and the clone market died, along with another chance for Apple [and the Mac] to possibly become number one in the computing world. LEM

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