Apple was the big news in the computer world last week, but the jury's still out on who the winner will be.
To recap: At last week's MacWorld convention - where Apple acolytes gather every year - head apostle Steve Jobs made a startling announcement: Microsoft is Apple's new savior.
Now, to the Apple faithful, Bill Gates is the devil incarnate. Yet Microsoft is buying $150 million of Apple stock and will port its applications to the Mac OS.
If the best way to be popular is to befriend the most popular kid in the class, then Apple gains new credibility. Microsoft in turn saves its only competitor, keeping the Department of Justice lawyers off its back.
Anyone who's been watching the Apple soap opera during the past few years could have easily predicted this plot turn. Apple and Microsoft need each other. Apple has always stood on its head to be compatible with the dominant PC world. And Microsoft needs competition, not only to deflect monopoly charges but as a fertile field from which to steal the next really great idea.
New board is news
But there's some other news that received less media attention: Apple has a new board of directors, an interesting group of computer industry leaders that could be Apple's A-Team.
At the head of this band is Apple founder Steven Jobs. In a cutthroat game where most are lucky to get one great moment, this guy has hit two out-of-the-park home runs and a respectable double.
First, of course, was Apple. Then NeXT Step, his attempt to create a 21st-century personal computer OS. Then Pixar Studios, creator of the hit movie Toy Story. Mr. Jobs took it public, making fortune No. 2. NeXT looked like his misStep, until he sold it to Apple.
Mr. Jobs is controversial, since he reportedly opposed original efforts to license the Mac OS to clone makers - and rumor has it that he might be against licensing OS 8.
Mr. Jobs has brought with him into the boardroom Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp., William Campbell of Intuit, and former International Business Machines Corp. Chief Financial Officer Jerome York.
Mr. Ellison is an interesting character. The founder of the top database company lately has been talking up the idea of the ''network computer.''
He thinks - perhaps rightly - that computers are too complex and expensive. He thinks that the answer is a simple computer that will get its software from a network, rather than relying on a befuddled user to load it.
This makes perfect sense coming from a leader in the client-server computing world. But until the Internet burst on the scene, it was a pipe dream. Now, it could be future reality.
As Apple's stock dropped like a rock, Mr. Ellison made noises about pulling together investors to buy the company, and using its factories to make network computers.
Think of him as the hardware guy.
Veteran of the Microsoft wars
Beside him is Mr. Campbell, one of the few to actually go head-to-head with Bill Gates and win. Intuit makes Quicken, a nifty money-management package that Microsoft tried to kill, then tried to buy. Quicken took the America Online approach to marketing, putting its software on just about every PC and Mac ever made and hoping that consumers would use it and love it.
They did, and when Microsoft suddenly discovered what was going on, it slapped together Microsoft Money, hoping to kill Quicken. When that didn't work, it tried to buy Intuit - until those pesky Justice Department guys stepped in. Quicken's as popular as ever. (Does anyone use Money?)
Campbell is also a former Apple and Claris executive. Think of him as the software guy.
And then there's Mr. York, another two-time winner. He helped bring Chrysler Corp. back to solvency and worked with Louis Gerstner to restore IBM to financial health.
Think of him as the money guy.
What does this mean for Apple, and the stoic Apple faithful? I don't know, but it sure beats summer reruns.
I think I'll microwave another bag of popcorn.
E-mail Charles Brewer with questions, comments and suggestions at CBrewer@enquirer.com Charles Brewer's columns can be found athttp://enquirer.com/columns/brewer