Business World

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Jul 24, 1998

Hardly altruism

SEATTLE (NYT) -- When Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple Computer last August, the action was viewed as a kind of self- interested donation. In the bargain, Apple agreed to drop a lingering patent suit against Microsoft and also agreed to use Microsoft's Internet Explorer as the standard browser on its Macintosh machines. With Apple then in dire financial straits, Steve Jobs, the company's co-founder and acting chief, said the appropriate response from the Apple faithful was to "treat Microsoft with a little gratitude." Lately, though, the deal appears to have been a shrewd investment for Microsoft in other respects. Apple's shares have outperformed Microsoft's.

Since Aug. 5, 1997, the day before its deal with Apple was announced, Microsoft shares have advanced 65 percent, after adjusting for a 2-for-1 stock split in January. Last week, Microsoft stock closed at $117.9375. But over the same period, the Apple stock price has surged 87 percent, closing Friday at $36.875. Hardly a charity case for Microsoft, whose $150 million investment is now worth $280.5 million.

For his part, Jobs had been criticized for unloading all but one of his Apple shares in the spring of 1997, only a few months after he had sold his Next Software to Apple. Instead, most of Jobs' personal wealth is in Pixar, the animation studio that in partnership with Disney made Toy Story and whose next film, A Bug's Life, is scheduled to open in theaters in November.

Another astute investment, it seems. Pixar's stock price has more than doubled since August 1997, closing at $48 on Friday. Jobs' 68 percent stake in Pixar is now worth more than $1.4 billion. Certainly no charity case, either.

Best seat in the house

NEW YORK (AP) -- Internet connections, bathrobes and heated towel racks are becoming so commonplace in upscale hotels -- so what can a luxury lodging establishment do to set itself apart from the crowd? At the Rihga Royal Hotel New York, the answer appears to be an electronic bidet-toilet. This piece of posh plumbing includes a heated, ergonomically designed seat; twin warm-water nozzles and a quick-drying warm air flow. It also has a special safety system so guests' inquisitive children can't soak the place.

Biting the `millennium bug'

NEW YORK (NYT) -- The "millennium bug" -- the inability of some computers and programs to deal with the transition to the next century -- has already bitten 40 percent of the United States' biggest computer users. That's the finding from the latest edition of a periodic survey of how Fortune 500 companies are coping with computing's Year 2000 challenge. Put simply, the problem is that many computers and programs fail to recognize that the year 2000, often represented in computer code by the digits 00, comes after the year 1999, represented by 99.

Although many Americans think of the Year 2000 problem as an event that will strike almost a year and half from now, the number of computer programs with warranties, leases and other business activities that involve schedules running into the next century climbs each month and will soar early in 1999. Cap Gemini America, a New York-based consulting firm that has been sponsoring the surveys by Rubin Systems since 1995, said that the number of companies encountering Year 2000 trouble jumped sharply early this year.

In the survey, 87 percent of the companies that had already encountered problems had experienced at least one disruption in normal computer processing. Nearly two-thirds of those with trouble had programs that made financial miscalculations when confronted with year 2000 dates, and some of the mistakes lost money for the companies. More than one-third of the problems were in customer- service programs, and 44 percent had difficulties involving suppliers or distribution of products.

"That supply-chain figure is low because people haven't really started testing it yet," said James Woodward, senior vice president and head of Cap Gemini's Year 2000 consulting and remedies group.

The latest survey also showed that the number of companies focusing on contingency planning jumped to 72 percent from 3 percent in April. That, Cap Gemini said, reflected the growing recognition that Year 2000 complications are more common, harder to locate and more expensive to fix and test than was originally thought. "Corporate America is finally dealing head on with the year 2000," Woodward said.

Air bag inflation

NEW YORK (AP) -- Airbags have survived questions about their safety and become not only more popular, but more ubiquitious. Ward's Auto World reports that some luxury cars have six air bags or more. Some of the bags supplement the side airbags that are becoming standard equipment and provide extra protection against injuries. Several automakers are using inflatable "curtains" intended to provide similar protection. The magazine also reports some cars carry airbags in their bumpers, designed to limit damage in collisions with other vehicles.

Must see Dostoyevsky?

PASADENA, Calif. (NYT) -- So you're a television network; you're got two classics from the world of literature, Shakespeare's Tempest and Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, on your schedule next season. What do you do to get people to watch? If you're NBC, you make sure two things are very certain: You don't mention the name Shakespeare, and you don't even think of trying out the slogan "Must See Dostoyevsky."