I'm not one of the arrogant know-it-alls that thinks they have a better grasp on business strategy than the most successful tech company in the world. Present company included. Boy howdy, present company included.
I don't call having an opinion and thinking for myself being 'arrogant'. I call it being a human being. You, however, are one of those types who clearly thinks that "Apple knows it all" and so why question the queen bee type or bother to think for yourself and have an opinion of your own. You don't want to think and yet you don't want anyone else thinking either so you insult their opinions as being worthless yet present no ideas of your own, only mimicking statements coming from Apple or your interpretation thereof. If I wanted Apple's opinion, I'd read the newspaper, not go to a discussion forum. I suggest you do the same.
Just because you want this to be true doesn't mean it is. Do you have evidence for this assertion? I'm seriously asking.
The word
true suggests I stated a fact. I have, in fact, stated my opinion on the matter. I believe eliminating their pro products will have a long term negative impact on Apple. The last thing you want when your company falls out of popular favor (and it will; nothing lasts forever) is for everyone else to think you're simply unprofessional and a FAD. Apple has always been able to fall back on its professional reputation in publishing and graphics in the past. While not everyone wanted a Mac, many people at least respected the platform.
As it stands now, the Mac is not a gaming computer and never has been so it has no real market for that genre and anyone looking for a 'do it all' computer can look elsewhere unless they plan on installing Windows too and even then the hardware isn't great for it. So if the Mac loses all its professional and business market and simply becomes a handy 'consumer device', what happens when someone finally builds a better mouse trap? Have you EVER heard the saying,
do not put all of your eggs in one basket? THAT is what I base my opinion on.
Nothing lasts forever and so you better have a backup plan, preferably two or three. You can be sure that Windows has its hand in everything. It doesn't do everything the best either, but it does tend to do almost everything. And in that respect, I imagine Microsoft will be around 25 years from now. I'm not so sure about Apple. It has done up and down in the past and gauging by their "let's get out of everything that isn't instantly profitable right now" instead of looking at the long term future, I can easily see history repeating itself, especially now that the visionary that brought Apple back from the brink has left the building.
Now you can disagree with that all you want and that is fine. But don't insult me for simply having a different assessment of the situation. I simply don't think dropping the Pro lines because they're not making the same kind of money that the iOS device lines are making is a good decision since it's based on today and not looking towards tomorrow.
Apple should also know that their sales will always drop if they provide no updates and bad value to their intended market. When was the Mac Pro last updated and when did it last offer features true professionals actually need or want? You should never ignore your target market, but Steve Jobs believed that he knew better than any of his customers. But in terms of 'pro' users, I think he simply lost interest in the market period. He didn't put out
better Pro products, he just stopped putting out products period so I can hardly judge his 'vision' in that particular area except to see that he didn't have one since he didn't care about it. The same is true for gaming on the Mac lines; he never even TRIED to get any market share there.
So why do people throw "Apple makes billions" in our faces when we talk about those areas? So what? So do oil companies! WTF does that have to do with their professional computing offerings or the desktop/laptop gaming market (or rather the lack thereof)? NOTHING, because that is not where that money is coming from!
Then I guess you'll think I'm arrogant.
We just take a different view of the situation.
You are intelligent enough to realize not everyone looks at the world the same way. But the person you are responding to there doesn't share that view. They think their assessment (that Apple is like a god and does everything perfect) is right and you're clueless. I'm afraid we're both wasting our time trying to offer logic in response to zeal. Frankly, I wish someone would set up a "Church of Apple" forum and leave actual friendly discussion for those that want to share their opinion, not be insulted for simply having one.
