The recovery of Apple Computer, Inc. over the past year has brought a lot of the "what's the point of the Mac" crowd out of their foxholes and into the field of battle again. After all, it's not nearly as much fun dancing on the grave of a dead company as it is trying to kill that company when its alive and vibrant.

Like today's Apple.

Enter my latest correspondent, a student at SUNY-Albany, who also sells computers part-time at a CompUSA and his anti-Mac rave:

"First off, if you are a new computer user, why do you want a Mac? The Mac OS user interface is smoother than Windows 98, but what does that mean to a new computer user when he runs into a problem? Nothing. I have encountered people who will pay CompUSA $40 to install software, rather than do it themselves."

I have encountered people who will pay a car dealer $100 to install $5 wiper blades. So what? The fact that the Mac OS is easier to use and to understand, even when problems occur, means that the Mac user typically spends less time paying someone $100 to install new wiper blades compared to the Windows user, because they can install them themselves, or at least fix the old ones so they don't streak the screen.

"Second, Mac prices are too high! Mac G3's range from $1,799 to $2,999, without monitor; add necessities like a modem, monitor, printer, etc...and your total cost skyrockets to $2,500 and up. That may have been acceptable three years ago, but the day of the $500 computer has arrived!"

Actually, the list price on Blue G3s runs from $1,599 to $2,999, and some dealers discount below those levels. But the Blue G3s are NOT entry level PCs. Apple has a value-priced computer line; it's called iMac. Considering that some stores are selling Rev A iMacs for under $600 and Rev B iMacs for under $900, entry level pricing for a good computer is obviously something Apple has figured out. And even at the list price of $1,199 for a new fruit-flavored iMac, that pricing is very competitive with Wintel brands. The day of the $500 computer may have arrived, but no one in their right mind wants one, especially if it's a generic hunk of Wintel junk.

"What about iMac? If you're already a Mac owner, you must throw away most of your current equipment (printers, 17" monitors, etc.) and put $1,200 down to buy a non-upgradeable machine. Or take out a five-year Apple loan."

Not true. There are adapters that let you use your SCSI peripherals (that convert USB to SCSI) and your existing monitors. They are also USB to serial converters if you want to use an old serial printer; plus the iMac provides a 10/100 Ethernet port that networked printers and peripherals can be attached to. As for upgradeability, the iMac comes with upgradeable RAM and USB ports that let you add peripherals. How many users of $1,000 computers will REALLY want to add a bunch of PCI boards or replace the CPU? Apple believes the answer is "not many." I think they are right. About 1,000,000 iMac buyers tend to agree. As for Apple's low-cost loan program, exactly how is that a bad thing? Would it be better to tie-up a credit card, at a higher interest rate, with the purchase?

"How about buying a competing Macintosh product? Oh, yeah, Apple got rid of them... (I thought Apple hated monopolies?)."

Excellent cheap shot! I was against Apple killing the clones. I still think there was a way to have their clone cake and eat it too. But the bottom line is that by killing clones Apple returned to profitability faster than expected. It's hard to argue with the results. I still believe that licensed Mac OS hardware products (aka computers) will become a reality again with Mac OS X.

"Compare this to a NEC or Compaq Pentium 2/350 with a good monitor and printer for about $1,800 that has oodles of software available and a much larger user base to garner support from?"

What's your point? The Wintel box you specified runs software at about the same speed at a fruit-flavored iMac, which is 600 bucks cheaper. And there are oodles of software available for the iMac, too, including SoftWindows 98 and Virtual PC, which allow that iMac to run Windows software directly, should you want or need to. As for the size of the user base and its effect on service and support, let me ask you this: Do you think owners of Chevys get better support than owners of BMWs?

"Finally, why should retailers carry them? The CompUSA I work at had at least 14-15 discontinued G3's and old iMacs that must be liquidated at or below cost, since Apple will not take them back. The same thing will happen again when the scratch and sniff iMac comes out...."

Gee, I bet that CompUSA has never had to undersell old Wintel PCs before, have they?!!! Gimme a break here, buddy. Name my any major PC manufacturers who will take back their merchandise just because new models make it "obsolete." The answer to that, by the way, is "none."

As for scratch and sniff iMacs, what are you LEARNING in college, anyway?