The Cutting Edge: COMPUTING / TECHNOLOGY / INNOVATION : Apple Touts Net Uses at Macworld

Beleaguered Apple Computer Inc., searching for a way to reinvigorate its business, is trying to use the Macworld show here this week to position its Macintosh computer as the ideal vehicle for cruising the information highway.

Like many companies in the computer industry caught off-guard by the popularity of the Internet--and particularly the graphical portion known as the World Wide Web--Apple is scrambling to put together a business strategy to capitalize on the Net. But it’s trying to do so even as it is being buffeted by shrinking profits and widespread criticism of its management.

Nonetheless, James Buckley, Apple’s vice president of worldwide sales, sounded an optimistic note during his Tuesday morning keynote address. “The Net has changed all the rules, and they’ve changed big-time . . . in our favor.”

Apple has some reason to be optimistic: The Macintosh has always been popular with younger computer users who learned to use them in school, and many of those younger Macintosh users are also devotees of the Internet.

Buckley said Apple will continue to incorporate more Internet access capabilities into its systems software, the brains of a personal computer. And it will continue to make tools for creating “content” for the Internet.

But he stopped short of articulating a broad Internet strategy for the company, as rival Microsoft did several weeks ago. And some wonder whether the company can make the necessary investments while it deals with shrinking profits and contemplates layoffs.