Saturday, January 25, 2014

Mitch Kapor remembers Lotus' Macintosh bomb | Apple - CNET News

Excerpt from another snapshot of the early days of the Mac

"Kapor later discovered that Lotus rival Microsoft had an exclusive contract to bring its Multiplan spreadsheet to the Mac. "That fact was not disclosed and that's why Mike Boich was discouraging to us, and he was embarrassed or was difficult," he said. "It was Bill [Gates] being brilliantly strategic again, cutting us out from being there early, so 10 points to Gryffindor on that."
[...]
"It [the Mac] set the tone for a consumer information technology product that was about elegance and simplicity, and aesthetics. In hindsight, we could see it was mostly selling the promise," Kapor said. "At the time, because I was so in the geek world, it really seemed like this was it. Now, when you look where things have gotten in 30 years, you go, 'Oh, it just had the taste.' I think it's one of Steve's great creations. As a cultural artifact, people are going to be talking about it for centuries. That's part of its legacy.""
Mitch Kapor remembers Lotus' Macintosh bomb | Apple - CNET News

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