Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Why MacOS X Server?
Author: Lixian B. Chiu Posted: 3/11/1999; 9:15:39 AM Topic: scriptingNews outline for 3/11/99 Msg #: 3950 (In response to 3944) Prev/Next: 3949 / 3951
I am sorry, but I really doubt that by integrating a Web Server into the MacOS a few years ago would help Apple positioning itself in the web industry any better. I am not saying that if they DIDN'T do that, they would be in a better position, I am just saying a Web* in MacOS is not going to help Apple.Why? Let's rewind back to a few years ago. High bandwidth connection was a luxury. Inidividual users and small business did not have the money to get a dedicated line. In addition, home networking and small business networking was new to many people. Softwares were less user-friendly than they are now. Given that the Mac OS's target users are not technical people, I really doubt how many people would ever turn on the MacOS Web*.
Of course, there were people who wanted to use a web server back at that time. But I think when they was making a decision on what web server to use, 90% of them would be turned away from the Mac, NOT because of Web*, but the MacOS itself. w/o preemptive multitasking and memory protection, selling the MacOS as a webserver would be very difficult.
The problem, as I said, is not WebStar, but the MacOS itself. If one wanted to set up a website on a dedicated line three years ago, there is a very good chance that this guy was using it to do business, and make some real money. And, of course, he would think of growing his business! Then he would think, can the MacOS handle my site's load if it grows n%? The greater this "n" is, the less likely that this person will use the Mac.
I totally agree with the MacWeek article, Apple is late. In fact, it's so late that I don't really see how it can turn around. But I don't agree that it's because of not integrating Web technology, like WebStar into the core of the MacOS. The problem is much bigger than that -- the Mac OS is such an old system that it doesn't fit well into the modern internetworking/multitasking environment, and Apple was improving the OS too slowly.
Apple was totally lost in direction before Steve Jobs came back. Remember how long they had been talking about "Copland" w/o delivering it! If Steve Jobs didn't take over Apple again, I wouldn't be too surprised that Apple is a history name now.
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