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A brief early-evening DaveNet, an unusual thing, so you know something interesting has happened.
A big news bit and a littler bit confirming that we are correctly reading Apple's new attitude.
***First the attitude thing
In yesterday's piece, "Steam!", I suggested a position that Apple could adopt that would make for more a comfortable relationship between Apple and Mac developers.
The response I suggested: "We're delighted that you're investing in an Apple platform. Look at all your options, make the best decision for you and your customers. If your market and technology are well-served by the features of System 7, by all means, use those APIs. If it makes more sense to use the Next APIs, go for it. Either way, we support and thank you for your investment in our platforms and for your trust of Apple."
Ms. Hancock, hancock@apple.com, gets a lot of email. I got a brief response and wanted to pass it on.
She said: "I agree... and wish I had said that... Thanks."
Yeah it's a new attitude. Apple listens and responds. Apple groks the subtleties. Understands that developers have interests of their own. This is good. It's respect. Thank you Ellen.
***Another realignment
Just when you think you understand how the planets line up, forget it, another news item comes along to throw all the cards in the air.
www.news.com is running a story, which if true, will have significant effect on the web developer community on all platforms.
Is Apple going to bundle Microsoft Internet Explorer with the Macintosh OS?
That's what news.com is saying.
So, congratulations to Don Bradford and his team. Cagey dude! I talked with him last night, a long conversation, we covered a lot of ground. But I didn't hear anything about this. Oh man! I guess I'd better check to see how all my pages look in MSIE 3.0.
See you tonight at the Mac-the-Knife party.
Dave Winer