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Sculley's most important task was to untangle Apple's line of computers. He compressed development timetables for the production of cheaper and more expensive spin-offs of the Apple He computer. He has also pushed work on a series of Lisa products and has tried to make them compatible with Mac. The new Lisas, which range in price from $3,495 to $5,495, will run programs written for Mac. The pace has taken its toll. Complains one Apple staffer: "People are working their buns off. It's difficult to see straight. We've got crazy schedules."
The early verdict of those who have used Mac is generally good. Says William Gates, chairman of Microsoft, the largest personal-computer software firm: "Macintosh is the only computer worth writing software for, apart from the IBM PC."
Says William Cranz, a Huntington Station, N.Y., computer dealer: "Mac is light-years ahead of the IBM PC." Mac has some of the hallmarks that made the Apple II such a hit. The engineering is compact and elegant, and the machine is perhaps the first moderately priced computer that is easy to use. But Mac has some drawbacks. It is difficult to expand, has a small memory and does not have a color monitor. Apple will have a more powerful version out later in the year, but color is far in Mac's future. And although Mac can be linked to IBM mainframe computers, it will not run software written for the popular IBM PC.
Jobs claims that 100 software companies are developing products for Mac, but only five programs will be available this week at its introduction. Versions of the industry's current bestsellers, like Lotus' 1-2-3, will not be ready until summer.
Apple hopes that Mac will appeal to small businesses and college students. The company believes that executives in small firms will not be as tied to IBM machines as their colleagues in major corporations. Apple already has contracts to supply Macs to students at Stanford, Carnegie-Mellon and Drexel. Cautions Fred Gibbons, president of Software Publishing, based in Mountain View, Calif.: "It may take Apple a year to learn how to sell Mac."
Apple must also make its brand-new $20 million Mac factory run smoothly.
Last week the factory, built to combat the manufacturing know-how of Japanese computer makers, was still having startup troubles.
The Mac represents a conclusive personal victory for Jobs in the battle of office politics. The final proof is that the company's Lisa and Mac divisions will soon merge, and he will take over as head of the combined group. But now the Master of Mac must wait and see whether the public approves his bold machine.