Donn Denman: Apple is getting 'more connected'
April 7, 2004 - 11:37 PDT   by Dennis Sellers - Donn Denman, who joined the early Mac team at Apple in 1982 with the task of building a BASIC programming language interpreter for the new computer, feels that today's Macs are not all that different from the ones built 20 years ago, but thinks we'll see a lot of changes in the next 20 years.

Still an Apple fan, he says the company makes "really great" hardware and software. But Denman describes Apple is a software company masquerading as a hardware company. When almost all the company's revenue comes from hardware sales, it's hard to make a big investment in software; however, it's the investments in software that have always driven the big jumps in hardware sales and market share, he explains.

"Apple needs to make another huge investment in software in order to grow again. Recent developments at Apple, and the marketplace make me think this is possible," Denman told MacMinute. "Apple has always been an island apart, unconnected to the rest of the computing world. But now some bridges are being built to the mainland. With OS X, there's a bridge to Unix, and that brings in many opportunities for certain kinds of development. With products like iTunes for Windows and the iTunes Music Store there are two bridges: one into Windows software, and one into the world of software services. Apple is getting more connected, and that's good."

These new markets actually help drive hardware sales by providing a compelling reason to buy a Mac, he adds. The iPod, the iTunes Music store, and iSight may work on a PC, but they come out first and work best on the Mac, Denman says.

"My wife bought her Mac because she was dying to get an iPod," he adds.

Denman feels that Apple's unique position as both a hardware and software vendor is one of the company's enduring strengths, as this allows Apple to set standards while technologies are still under development. The iSight camera and iChat show how Apple can deliver an integrated solution that's truly plug-and-play, while the PC has chaotic confusion in video conferencing, he adds.

"Apple needs to continue its tradition of tight hardware/software integration even while selected products venture into the software-only and service markets," Denman says. "The next five years look good for Apple because the growth of digital media should help drive personal use, and hardware upgrades. The iSoftware suite is really strong, and ends up driving hardware sales. iPhoto helped me decide to buy a new digital camera, and all those big pictures helped me buy a faster computer with a bigger hard drive and big screen."

Still, over the next 10 years computing will go through some fundamental changes, and he says it's difficult to predict how Apple will fare. One scenario builds off Apple's software strengths leveraged into the embedded market.

"I'd love to own an Apple phone, camera or set-top box," Denman says. "Apple's development into an American Sony will be difficult because these markets are already highly competitive. I think the entry into the TV settop world will be tricky, but critical. What will a future iTV Mac application look like? Will it be anything like iTunes and the music store? Any scenario without Steve Jobs, or without the right balance between embedded, desktop, laptop and service markets seems doomed."

He feels that Linux could seriously cut in to Windows market share over the next five years. The transition could be a few years out, but when it gets going it could be "pretty sudden." While Apple won't be the driver of these changes, the company should benefit greatly from the transition, he adds.

Denman's brother (Matthew) works at Apple (he's a software engineer in the iMac CPU software group) and he himself would like to catch up with Jobs, but says the CEO hasn't called lately.

"Hey [Steve], I got over the MacBASIC thing, OK?" Denman says. (More on MacBASIC in a moment.)

He himself has thought of returning to Apple "quite often," he told MacMinute.

"I've been wondering for the last 10 years when Apple will make the next quantum leap in UI [user interface], as we did moving to the GUI [graphical user interface]," Denman says. "Maybe I just want to repeat the experience, but I think the paper on a desktop metaphor has been stretched to its limit. The next big jump is to VR-style 3D applications. Like the Mac-era GUI jump, we'll need a new pointing device, new kinds of widgets, and new ways to organize our data. At first, people will call it a toy, and won't take it seriously. But I think this is the future. In the last five years I've started to think this will happen outside Apple in the open source world, but I'd love to be part of any Apple effort to start another revolution in UI."

Whether he's on board or not, he hopes the company will keep moving toward open source and "keeping up the good work." Denman owns a high-end Power Mac G5 and a Cinema Display.

"I'm very impressed," he says. "I'd forgotten how great Web browsing is on a fast machine!"

As for advice to Apple, Denman urges the company to build a laptop that instantly awakens from sleep. It's areas like this where Apple holds the advantage, and where improvement can press the competition, he says.

"Keep improving the core product, even while building new products and services," Denman explains. "Apple has always produced the premium product. It needs to stay that way."

He's currently finishing a period of time off, in which he's been catching up on various long-neglected projects around his house and yard. He's also spent time reading and dreaming about the future of computing.

"I also enjoy speculating about what computers will be like 120 years from now, when they will seem infinitely cheap, small, and powerful," Denman told MacMinute

After leaving Apple 10 years ago, Denman switched his focus to smaller devices. He decided to venture into the set-top box world, first at the 3DO company (doing tools for video games) and then at PowerTV.