APPLE is to shut down its eWorld Internet service on March 31st, and will be offering its users a method to transfer to other service providers.
Subscribers of eWorld were also told last week that their email would be continue to be handled for three months after the shutdown, and they will receive copies of Apple's Internet kit.
The eWorld service was launched amid much fanfare in June 1994, but it has attracted fewer than 200,000 members. On Friday, Apple declined to comment on a report in the San Jose Mercury News that it may begin dismantling eWorld much earlier by turning away new subscribers this week.
As of last Friday the Web page for joining eWorld (http://www.online.apple.com/webcity/eworld/join.html) gave no indication that the service was about to be shut down.
"We will be transferring eWorld to be part of our Web presence," a spokeswoman for Apple Internet Services said. Apple has already begun to provide content on the Internet, including a "webcast" of last month's Grammy Awards.
The collapse of Apple's Internet strategy follows several months of financial headaches and management reshuffles. Its sales rose to a record $11.1 billion in the 1995 fiscal year, but fourth quarter margins and profits fell because of product delays and pricing pressures. Then it reported a $69 million loss in the first quarter, and announced plans to lay off 1,300 people (although its Cork factory is said to be unaffected).
Last week Apple named Fred Anderson, formerly chief financial officer (CFO) of Automatic Data Processing, as executive vice president and CFO.
Anderson succeeds Joseph Graziano, who left the company last year after differences with former chief executive Michael Spindler, who was later ousted as the company's market share and stock price eroded.
Anderson's appointment is the second made by Apple's new chief executive, Gilbert Amelio.
Meanwhile the fastest Macintosh ever is now available in this country - a "clone" manufactured by Power Computing. Its Irish agents, Power Direct in Baggot Street, Dublin 2, are taking orders for its 150 MHzPowerPC 604 based PowerWave clone.
Power Computing was the first of the Mac cloners to hit the mass market since Apple began licensing its operating system (OS) last year. With a "Build Your Own Box" slogan, it allows customers to specify their machines' specific configurations, down to whether or not to have an internal Zip drive.
The 601 based machine has 32K of on chip cache and 256K Level 2 cache, 8MB of RAM, a 540MB SCSI hard disk, desktop case, keyboard, mouse and Mac OS 7.5 and £500 of bundled software (including Claris Works and Quicken) for £1,599. Monitor and VAT are extra.
At the other end of the price range is the PowerWave machine, which costs £4,000 (plus monitor and VAT). It accommodates both NuBus and PCI expansion slots.
Brendan O'Sullivan of Apple Ireland welcomed the Mac compatibles to the Irish market. "Mac clones are good for the overall Mac platform and it is good for customers to have choices," he said. "We will continue to differentiate between IBM compatibles, Mac compatibles and Apple products. The Apple logo on the box means more than a Mac OS."