(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| Apple Proposes Future Computing Based on Users' Needs: Apple Japan President
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September 21, 1998 (TOKYO) -- Apple Computer Inc. will propose future
computing styles that reflect user needs, Eikou Harada, president of
Apple Japan Inc., said at the 10th convention of the Japanese Association
of Computer Science Sept. 13 in Yokohama.
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Susumu Furukawa, chairman of Microsoft Co., Ltd. of Japan, and Kazuhiko
Nishi, president of ASCII Corp.'s Education Company, also spoke at the
panel discussion entitled, "The Future of Knowledge and the Future of
Computers."
The panel discussion followed special lectures given by each panelist.
At the special lectures, the three panelists introduced their abstract
theories, but they failed to enliven the audience. As Nishi took the
initiative in the latter half of the discussion, however, the audience
began to hear what they had expected.
The panelists discussed how to assure the quality of information in an
era when there has been a flood of information since the infrastructure
to distribute such information was improved.
Harada predicted that, in the future, the operating system will assist
users in selecting only information they will need. "The operating system
of personal computers connected to the network will evolve to be an
agent in the future," he said. The whole audience listened attentively
to the speech made by this "Knowledge Navigator."
The argument then developed into each company's stance on product development.
Furukawa said Office 98 Macintosh Edition reflects the needs of Mac users,
and emphasized Microsoft's established system reflects users' requests
in product development.
Nishi then asked Harada whether product development driven by engineers'
pure needs is out of date. "Engineers would say they have developed
what they wanted. Is this kind of product development by computer manufacturers
(such as Sony Corp.) passe?" he asked.
In response to the question, Harada of Apple Japan said it is important
to reflect opinions of users in product development, but manufacturers
should still take the leadership. He thus confirmed Apple's stance of
proposing future computing styles to its users, just like Sony.
Shortly before the end of the panel session, Harada said the ongoing
argument of Apple vs. Microsoft and Mac OS vs. Windows is not appropriate.
He criticized the mass media for its simplistic but dominant observation
of a platform battle by the two camps, which he said just confuses users
more.
"Although Apple and Microsoft may develop technological battles to explore
the future possibilities of the computing society, they are not just
trying to develop product battles and compete each other to grab more
market share," he said.
(Nikkei MAC)
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