“The latest word is that the brand new iMac will make its debut on Tuesday, August 7, just in time for production to ramp up to meet back-to-school needs, ” ThinkSecret reports via PC Magazine.
“Published reports indicate Apple will include a new keyboard with the iMac, a sensible decision given the iMac’s fresh aluminum enclosure,” ThinkSecret reports.
“Think Secret sources have also cautiously suggested that Apple’s next iLife suite may find its way onto the new iMacs, as well… Surely more by coincidence than anything else, August 7 will also mark one decade since Bill Gates, then Microsoft’s CEO, took the stage at Macworld Expo Boston to announce Microsoft’s renewed commitment to the Mac. That event, which many Apple watchers likened to a scene out of 1984 with the giant projection of Bill Gates appearing behind Apple CEO Steve Jobs onstage, had been attributed to reviving confidence in Apple at the time, which many had left for dead following several consecutive struggling quarters. Gates at the time also announced a $500 million investment in Apple; the stock has since appreciated roughly 20-fold,” ThinkSecret reports.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple, not $500 million. At the time, Apple had $1.2 billion in cash on hand and a stock market value of about $3.3 billion (Apple’s market value today is $121.4 billion); the investment amounted to about 4.5 percent of Apple and was largely symbolic. The $150 million was in non-voting shares and was reportedly divested by Microsoft in 2000-2001 (bad investment move to sell, MS). More importantly, Apple and Microsoft entered into cross-licensing agreements for patents (not for technology), Microsoft committed to Office for Mac for a period of five years (ended 2002, Office for Mac continues to be developed), Apple agreed to inflict Internet Explorer as the default Mac browser (long since expired, thankfully), and Microsoft paid an undisclosed amount to Apple to settle ongoing lawsuits. Because the stock did not confer voting rights, Apple maintained complete independence from Microsoft.
Macworld Expo Boston 1997 – Steve Jobs revs up the RDF and grins and bears it while explaining the Microsoft deal: