Ha! It worked! By writing an article last issue speculating on the consequences if Apple were to go bust, next thing you know, they are making a profit.
They were announced for the last quarter of '97, which followed from many quarters where they had been lost millions - but this doesn't necessarily mean a turning point; Apple made a profit some time in 1996 after making several losses, only to return to making losses afterwards. There was a joke that they only made a profit then because someone discovered a cheque for $50 million that hadn't been paid in...
The last quarter of 1997, understandably, coincided with the release of Macs based on the new G3 processors, the next generation of PowerPC CPUs.
What does this mean for the Amiga and its users? Well, we can no longer tease Mac owners about the idea of business being to make money - but it makes PowerPC look a more healthier choice again. IMHO, it is still the favourite if we don't want the Intel x86 series, and given that Intel have bought out the Alpha. The G3 processors show that the PPC range is more than capable, and speeds of 1GHz are expected by the end of '98.
Another consideration is that despite the PC domination out there, there are plenty of G3 Macs being sold. I have no idea on the proportions they are being sold to various sorts of people, that is, I imagine there are far greater numbers being sold to commercial firms (DTP, etc) than individual users.
How does this compare to the Amiga? Well, at the moment, the Amigas available are little more than A1200 Tower clones based on 680x0 and AGA, hardly the most efficient way of doing things. As a result, although there is an interest in tower machines, a lot of users are sticking with desktop A1200 systems, with nothing more than '030 and AGA. The Mac on the other hand has PowerPC well established, and the G3 machines are just an extension of this.
So with new Amigas, as in really new, this could change. Things have started with the new motherboards from DCE and Index, which will hopefully offer much better value than an A1200T system, especially when their PPC cards are available. Things could get even better, with PPC as standard, PCI slots instead of Zorro, and 680x0 emulation replacing a true 680x0 CPU. Then hopefully, lots of existing Amiga users will be tempted to buy them, along with those who may have migrated to the PC only a year or two ago, but vowed to return if things got better. If machines made it into the shop, the sort of thing that Gateway 2000 would be handy for, we could see new comers to the Amiga for the first time in ages.
What about the Amiga's 'professional' markets? The likes of 3D, video, animation and multimedia, but sadly these are far smaller than the Mac's (just think of all the companies producing magazines and newspapers for starters). Even so, it is important to keep hold of them. Even in its 'current state', the Amiga is more than good value in these areas (like the new Nova machines, which are still just based on an A4000T, or the A1200s that AI have recently sold to firms in India for video/broadcasting purposes), but new machines could make things much better (by making NewTek be more supportive of the Amiga, to begin with).
Although Macs might not be as good value, specification wise, as a PC, at least there are, and have been, a broad range of decent (ie, PPC and PCI based) machines available, and new machines will continue to sell well.
Look at the Amiga; it is somewhat stereotypical that the average Amiga user is so loyal and dedicated to his machine that he will stick with it, happy with 680x0 and AGA machines, and just shoving more upgrades into his 5 year old computer, and hoping one day, things will be better. And of course, many users who would have liked Amigas, have given up waiting and bought a PC because there's nothing else decent available. Before you get depressed, look at it another way.
New Macs sell well - new Amigas will sell well.
The Amiga has survived all this time, without decent processors, graphics, new machines, advertising or parent companies. Now, with Gateway 2000, new Amiga clones, PowerUP, etc, things are starting to look a lot rosier. If we see 1998 drawing to a close with new Amigas (whether from AI or clone makers) with PowerPC, PCI slots, AmigaOS 4, backwards compatibility, at a decent price, with decent marketing and distribution, the boost to the Amiga world will be far greater than a new generation of Macs is to the Mac world, and things can only get better from there on.
And remember, such PPC, PCI machines are no longer speculation and vapourware - new machines and motherboards are now appearing, and hopefully many more will follow.
Mark