CompuServe Messages

The IBM/Apple non-announcement (I believe it was a premature leak) is not intended to affect the existing IBM-PC or Mac product lines, IMHO. I believe the real intent of such an agreement is for Apple's user interface software to be rewritten to run on IBM's RISC chipset hardware. Intel-based 80×86 PC's will not be running the Mac OS in a few years; instead, I believe Apple and IBM to be building a long-term plan, recognizing each other's strengths (and their own weaknesses). Intel has been slowly but surely becoming the single-source for the primary hardware component of a platform with a huge market. This agreement attempts to break away from Intel, replacing them with IBM and Motorola (IBM-licensed) manufacturers, as well as teaming up the two largest players in personal computing today: IBM and Apple. This agreement intends to produce the next generation of personal computer; based on the IBM RISC chip and the Apple U/I, it has a lot of potential. And Microsoft would find itself in the position of 3rd party application developer. The impact on Amiga? Only that such a deal might unite huge pieces of the market, and that might hurt Amigaland, since the more fragmented the market, the better Commodores chances of being accepted as a winner.