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Several universities have already bought into the NeXT. Brown has
made room in its new computer center for 30 NeXTs in the language
labs. Schools like Carnegie Mellon and Stanford will also embrace
the machine early, says Michael Carter, director of Systems
Development at Stanford and a member of NeXT's academic advisory
board. Those schools will develop programs and pave the way for the
next tier of buyers, he says. "First, 30 universities will buy, then
300, then 3,000 . . . By the fall of 1990, it should be a very
popular machine selling in the campus bookstore." Many smaller
schools say that less expensive, available technology meets their
needs. Joseph Moeller, director of computing for Stevens Institute
of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., says his school won't jump on the
NeXT bandwagon yet: "You don't necessarily have to have the latest,
greatest, most comprehensive system."
NeXT faces another serious obstacle: Microsoft's William Gates.
As the producer of operating systems for the IBM PC and IBM's new
PS/2 line of computers - as well as many of the important
applications for IBM and Apple computers - the 32-year-old Gates
dominates the industry. He is Jobs' opposite. A virtuoso software
engineer with virtually zero charisma, he is the ultimate
entrepreneur. Jobs invited Gates to contribute software to the NeXT
machine, but Gates declined, saying there wasn't enough money in the
narrow market Jobs was pursuing. In the midst of the hoopla
surrounding the NeXT rollout, Gates remains its most dour
critic.
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Some industry observers suggest a dark motive for Gates'
skepticism. The deal between Jobs and IBM centers on Unix - one
major operating system Gates doesn't own. If the NeXT program helps
Unix become a standard, Gates may lose money and power. The two
wunderkinder have a stormy relationship. "Steve always yells at me,"
Gates says. "Sometimes with a positive tone in his voice, sometimes
a negative tone." But analyst Dyson predicts that if NeXT catches
on, Microsoft will eventually produce software for it. Gates "is a
good businessman," she says.
The industry is also watching to see how another rival - Sculley
- responds to Jobs' comeback. Jobs insists he bears no grudge
against Apple. "I'm still happy when they ship a Mac," he says. He
still owns "just enough" Apple stock "to get the annual report." But
there's bitterness in his voice when he says: "I spent 10 years
trying to build something, and most of what I built has been
dismantled." He clearly still feels enmity toward Sculley, who seems
to want to mend fences. Sculley sent Jobs a copy of his book
"Odyssey." Jobs says he never read it. The day before the NeXT
rollout, Sculley called Jobs to congratulate him. Jobs says the
conversation was cordial: "I thought it was a gentlemanly thing to
do."
The new Jobs, too, seems to be more of a gentleman. If he's not
more humble, he's doing a good job of faking it. At the rollout he
said self-mockingly: "We're in our 30s now. We don't need to
reinvent everything." Jobs has been compared to Henry Ford for
bringing computers to the public. But at NeXT, the name that comes
up is Preston Tucker, the car maker who built a dream machine but
couldn't market it. In the movie "Tucker," Howard Hughes meets the
maverick automaker and tells him about his disastrous plane, the
Spruce Goose. "They say it can't fly," whispers the
multimillionaire, "but that's not the point!" For Hughes and
Tucker, it may have been enough to dream big dreams. Jobs doesn't
have that luxury: he will win or lose at the cash register. Those
returns won't be in for months, or years. But for one week, Steven
Jobs reminded the computer industry of its youth - the excitement
and opportunity of the go-go early '80s. "It's great to be back,"
Jobs told his audience. He really was back at least for
another round.
JOHN SCHWARTZ
with MICHAEL ROGERS in Palo Alto and RICHARD SANDZA
in Washington
Photographs:
The naysayer and the bankroller: Bill Gates of Microsoft
(left), NeXT backer Ross Perot (right). Photograph by: Larry
Barns (left), Chuck Nacke - Picture Group (right) |
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