THE TEMPLE OF APPLE 

BACK IN THE EARLY DAYS OF COMPUTING WHEN WHITE-SMOCKED PRIESTS GUARDED THEIR MAINFRAMES A CURRENT JOKE WENT SOMETHING LIKE THIS: AFTER ALL THE ROUTINE WORK HAD BEEN HANDLED EFFICIENTLY BY ONE OF THE LATEST MODEL COMPUTERS, THEY ASKED IT A WEIGHTY QUESTION. "IS THERE A GOD?"

THE ANSWER FLASHED BACK AT ONCE: "THERE IS NOW".

LAST WEEK I ENTERED -- THROUGH A 'STARGATE', NATURALLY, WHAT MIGHT WELL BECOME A "TEMPLE" OF THE NEW AGE. IT HAD, FOR ME AT LEAST, SOME OF THE FEELINGS OF AN ANCIENT EUROPEAN CATHEDRAL EVEN THE WORDS USED BY THOSE IN ATTENDANCE HAD RELIGIOUS CONNOTATIONS. THE 'HEAD MAN' IS OFFICIALLY CALLED "THE EVANGELIST".

IS THIS SOME NEW CALIFORNIAN CULT? NO IT IS THE EXCLUSIVE HOME FOR APPLE COMPUTER'S NEWEST -- AND MOST EXPENSIVE -- IN-HOUSE "TOY". THEIR U.S. $14.5 MILLION ($20 MILLION CDN.) CRAY SUPERCOMPUTER.

UP TO NOW ONLY THE MILITARY, GOVERNMENTS AND NATIONAL WEATHER BUREAUS COULD PRY UP THE FUNDING TO MAKE SUCH A MAJOR PURCHASE. EVEN TODAY THE NUMBERS OF THE LATEST MODELS OF SUPERCOMPUTERS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD REMAINS LIMITED TO THE "DOZENS" CATEGORY.

HE APPLE UNIT IS THE CRAY X-MP/48. SERIAL NUMBER "10". LAST WEEK I SPENT SOME TIME IN THE "TEMPLE", WITH THE "CRAY EVANGELIST", R. KENT KOENINGER. HE COULDN'T GET ANY CLOSER TO THE CUTTING EDGE OF THIS FUTURE IF HE WAS ON A STARSHIP IN "STAR TREK".

KOENINGER AND APPLE SAY "IN ORDER FOR US TO REMAIN A TECHNOLOGY LEADER IN THE PERSONAL COMPUTER INDUSTRY, WE MUST BE WILLING TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT INVESTMENTS IN RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT." THIS IS A SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT, EVEN FOR APPLE WHO DID TWO BILLION DOLLARS WORTH OF BUSINESS LAST YEAR.

"WE WILL BE USING IT TO SIMULATE ADVANCED CONCEPTS, CIRCUITS AND FUTURE COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE" SAYS THE EVANGELIST. IT OBVIOUSLY WILL BE USED TO EVALUATE FUTURE PRODUCT DIRECTIONS AS WELL. WITH THE RECENT INTRODUCTION OF APPLE'S LATEST MACINTOSH II AND ITS RELATED HYPERCARD SOFTWARE, INDUSTRY OBSERVERS SEEM GENERALLY TO AGREE THAT APPLE CURRENTLY HAS A ONE AND PERHAPS TWO YEAR LEAD ON THEIR MAIN COMPETITOR, IBM. IN AN INDUSTRY THAT MOVES WITH THE SPEED OF LIGHT THAT IS A DISTINCT ADVANTAGE.

I FIND MYSELF UNCONSCIOUSLY "SPREADING THE FAITH" ABOUT APPLE'S MACINTOSH MYSELF. I HAVE ONE OF THEIR "OLDER" (ACQUIRED A YEAR AGO) MACINTOSH PLUS MACHINES AND CAN'T PRAISE IT ENOUGH. SO MUCH SO I SOMETIMES FEEL GUILTY WRITING ABOUT IT SO FREQUENTLY.

MANY PEOPLE I CONSIDER CREATIVE AND INNOVATIVE ARE USING THE MACINTOSH. THE "NUMBER CRUNCHERS" AND THOSE WITH ROUTINE OFFICE CHORES HAVE IBM'S. TO PLAY IT SAFE MANY OFFICE PURCHASING AGENTS BOUGHT IBM, BASED MAINLY ON THEIR FULLY DESERVABLE REPUTATION. AND, AS THE SAYING GOES, NOBODY EVER GOT FIRED FOR BUYING IBM. BUT THOSE THAT GAMBLED ON THE MAC, IN MY OPINION ARE NOW THE UNQUESTIONED WINNERS. THE IBM MICRO'S SINCE THEIR INCEPTION HAVE BEEN 85 PERCENT OFF-THE-SHELF PARTS FROM THE FAR EAST ASSEMBLED AS AN IBM PC. EVEN THEIR LATEST EFFORTS ARE NOT, TO ME AT LEAST, IN THE SAME COMPANY AT THE MACINTOSH II PRODUCT. THERE NOW. THAT'S THE LAST I AM SAYING ABOUT MY MAC. YOU WOULD THINK THIS WAS A LOVE AFFAIR. I SUSPECT IT IS.

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