Despite lack of any visible sign of movement, and the demands the story places on one’s credulity, our sources insist that the plan for IBM to acquire Apple Computer Inc remains on course, and there is one new pointer and one additional reason to back it up: IBM’s announcement this week of Advanced Program-to-Program Networking specifically highlighted ease of integration of the Macintosh and AppleTalk into SNA networks (CI No 1,626), and today’s news suggesting that Apple’s look-and-feel suit against Microsoft Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co seems to be going Apple’s way is a potential worry for IBM since an Apple win would be a threat to OS/2 Presentation Manager – if IBM owned Apple, there would be no problem; another vague pointer is that about 18 months ago, IBM set up a Business Unit specifically chartered to make waves in the desktop publishing arena, since when IBM seems to have made no impact at all on the desktop publishing market, where Apple’s Mac still rules the roost.
