Disney Rumor Echoes Blast From The Past

Feb 19, 1999

Precisely three years ago today, in the midst of Apple's darkest hour, FORTUNE magazine published an article entitled Paradise Lost. Among its revelations was a reference in the article to a nascent relational database technology which was to have been a key ingredient of the botched Copland project and which would evolve eventually into the search tool we know today as Sherlock. Equally revealing was the candid remark that the once-and-future leader of Apple himself had made when asked what he would do if he were running the company.

However, the raison d’être of the 1996 article lay in its revelation that as far back as 1986, Apple had seriously courted — or been courted by — such potential partners as Kodak, Sony, Compaq, IBM, and more recently Sun, in discreet merger talks. As we are all well aware by now, nothing materialized out of all these, and Apple is today still an entity.

In light of the recent Disney rumors, however, the three-year-old article co-written by Brent Schlender and Michael H. Martin might now enjoy some renewed attention due to its interesting resonance with current events. Still, so much has changed in just three short years. When a merger between Apple Computer and Sun Microsystems in '96 seemed imminent, it was generally looked upon as a last-gasp attempt by Apple to stay afloat. It also threatened to signal the end of a rocky era for Apple both as an embattled independent enterprise and as a culture.

Things are a little different today. Who could have envisioned the dramatic turnaround in Apple's fortunes within the last three years? Honestly speaking, I think no one. Because everyone was either busy nailing the coffin shut, or scripting out the obituaries.

Disney isn't one of Apple's erstwhile competitors in the computer industry, but an entertainment empire reigning over its own sphere of influence. The two are complementary to each other, and the idea of Disney and Apple (and not forgetting Pixar) jointly entering into any kind of business agreement must seem tantalizing. If anyone were to start an opinion poll right now about a possible Disney-Apple merger, I'd say not to bother, because we all know what the results will be. But there's no harm for the parties involved to float the idea through carefully orchestrated leaks, is there? If the rumored tripartite alliance appears to be popularly accepted, who's to say what events might unfold? (After all, who's to say that the flap of a single butterfly's wings somewhere in Singapore won't lead eventually to a big storm in Burbank, California some months later.)

Wishful thinking? Perhaps. But until someone can offer compelling evidence that this is all nothing more than just empty talk, I'd like to think that anything can happen.

I guess I'll end here for now by saying that Apple is certainly on the comeback trail; anyone who still doubts that must be caught up in some other reality distortion field. This deal — if it materializes at all — will be a very big deal, as a certain someone would best describe it. And it may just be the fast-forward button Apple needs to push to propel itself to new heights that it would not have reached without the clout of Disney. If it doesn't materialize, well, let's cross the bridge when we come to it.

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About That Hidden Mickey

The best word to describe it would be serendipitous. The revelation by Apple Recon of that famous silhouette cleverly hidden within the Blue Power Mac G3 logo is remarkable, to say the least. Matching the best of the many documented hidden Mickeys before it for sheer ingenuity, it bears the trademark attributes that those in the know are familiar with — except that it is found on a product not associated with Disney. (Not yet, anyway.) And it is difficult upon its discovery to dismiss it as a product of an over-zealous imagination. For sure, both the overt and latent icons were established long before the paths of the corporations whom they represent ever crossed.

Is this all a playful harbinger of events to come? You tell me.

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