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Microsoft has enough money in the bank to buy EVERY startup company in the valley - and the only sort of innovation that you can expect from a corporation as big as Microsoft, Apple or Google is the purchase of innovative startup companies.

Microsoft owns the desktop, more than half of the server market and they also have well positioned embedded and mobile platforms and even one of the biggest game consoles. But more importantly, neither Google nor Apple are players in the corporate market, but Microsoft is huge in that lucrative segment.

No, Microsoft won't be eclipsed anytime soon.

How long can MS rest on their laurels?

I will grant you that MS is significant on the desktop, but their dominance is by no means guaranteed to last forever. As for the server, yes, they are the leader. Exchange *is* email to too many companies, and that is likely to remain the case for a while. But have you noticed Google is making strides there?

The way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. This applies if the predator is an ant or a lion. Neither Apple nor Google are ants, by any means. And they are biting MS where it hurts -- in the public perception.
 
Oh yeah Microsoft is doing really bad these days huuh? Have you heard anything about Win 7, or even Bing?? Some people just have to bash Microsoft any chance they get.

You mean the service pack to Vista. I just read an article a couple of days ago the confirmed my fear. This person was singing MS praises when he first installed it. Then he realized that like all MS OSs Win 7 runs great with a fresh install, but bogs down after about 6 weeks of use. He reinstalled and started to notice the same again. And this was just running office no outside programs. Until the break the legacy or run them as a virtual machine, the registry will be the death of Windows.

I have tried bing, Interesting but the results are never what I want. Sorry.

I wish Microsoft would just come up with their own ideas for a change. They are pretty bad at copying. They just got a way with it when they didn't have to compete head to head and could force their product on the public.
 
As much as I love Apple, I'm hoping this whole incident makes Android better. I haven't really been as big of a fan of Apple ever since they started removing features from their notebook line, particularly the MBPs.

PS: I think it would be funny in Google pulled youtube and google maps from Apple. And the rest of their apps. Just as a gesture of appreciation.
 
No because I'm not on Apple's board (who are the only ones who know the real score here), but as far as I know it's still okay to give an opinion on the net. Lighten up!

This is just too much. This is the internet and we are on a forum run by MacRUMORS. So, please rumor on. :)

Now, someone pass the popcorn...
 
The loser of this war will be Microsoft -- Apple and Google will now attempt to out-innovate each other, and moribund MS will be eclipsed.

HA HA. Microsoft isn't going anywhere...

In fact, judging by the constant bad press that Apple has been getting I really think that it's them who needs to start changing some of the ways they do business.

You mean the service pack to Vista. I just read an article a couple of days ago the confirmed my fear. This person was singing MS praises when he first installed it. Then he realized that like all MS OSs Win 7 runs great with a fresh install, but bogs down after about 6 weeks of use.

Disagree, typical FUD. I've been running the various Windows 7 betas since the first public release and I can call that an outright lie. Remember that MS fans are also saying that Snow Leopard is a Service Pack (IMO they couldn't be farther from the truth). Do you agree with them?

I would never switch from OSX to Windows but I am also not going to lie to justify my choice.

It reminds me of the accusations made by Windows users. It's just easier for them to say that "Mac's are overpriced" instead of trying to understand why they cost more and where that value resides. Same thing that people do here whenever Microsoft's name comes to the table. Whatever they do, it's always "crap".

MS will be overthrown, denounced, thrashed, whatever. They will lose their dominant positions, one by one.

You forget that Microsoft is heavily entrenched into a lot of vital parts of your country's infrastructure, Apple is not.
And besides, when all companies start refreshing their hardware they will think about price (profit) first. Again, cost-wise, Apple is not an alternative.

And frankly, I'm glad while Apple is the underdog. I have a nasty feeling that if they dominated the OS market we would see the "other" side of Apple.

I wish Microsoft would just come up with their own ideas for a change. They are pretty bad at copying. They just got a way with it when they didn't have to compete head to head and could force their product on the public.

Because Apple never gets ideas from other products right?...

It's really a strange world we live on, do we really need to "defend" a billion dollar corporation?

PS - Before you accuse me of trolling MacRumors, check the hardware on my signature and previous posts.
 
Interesting moves. But I don't think that will dramatically change the performance of both companies... yet. Apple is and will still be successful, and Google is and will still be successful!
 
And now the real fun and games begin. Kid gloves are all the way off, gauntlet cast down, curtain raised, "To Arms" has been sounded.

Google wishes to supplant Apple. Apple will fight, and a titanic struggle it will be.

The loser of this war will be Microsoft -- Apple and Google will now attempt to out-innovate each other, and moribund MS will be eclipsed.

We are fortunate to have a real-life model of the Origin Of Species playing out in front of us.

The ONLY way that Apple will be REAL competition to Microsoft, is for Apple to make OS X run on, and available to PC's (All PC's). Then, Microsoft would be more than a little worried. But Apple wants to make money on it's expensive hardware.
 
Oh yeah Microsoft is doing really bad these days huuh? Have you heard anything about Win 7, or even Bing?? Some people just have to bash Microsoft any chance they get.

Actually, Microsoft has not been doing well lately. They reported their first ever year-on-year decline in quarterly revenue in the company's 34-year history just recently.

Windows 7? Yeah, some of my IT co-workers and I have played with, but the average PC user out their hasn't heard anything yet.

Bing? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Apple on the other hand just had a record non-holiday quarter. Their stock has been on a tear, and they recently surpassed Google in Market Cap.

Good times to be Apple.
 
About time


I am actually glad to see him go. He really should have been removed almost a year ago. When they came out with Android that should have been the time. It didn't matter to me that after they revealed they were coming out with it he would leave when there were talks about the Iphone. While Google was working on it and making important strategic decision about their competing product, he was able to learn what apple was working on use that information, while Apple knew nothing of their plans.

The same goes for Chrome and who knows what else. There was a conflict of interest as soon as Google started working on a competing product especially one using the same technologies like Webkit. He should have left the board at that point.
 
HA HA. Microsoft isn't going anywhere...

In fact, judging by the constant bad press that they have been getting I really think that it's Apple who needs to start changing some of the ways they to business.

Alas, how short our memories...

MS will be overthrown, denounced, thrashed, whatever. They will lose their dominant positions, one by one. I'm not saying they will be declared bankrupt (although that can indeed happen). I'm simply saying, they will be surpassed. And it won't happen soon, or suddenly. But it will happen.

I remember VisiCalc, Lotus 123, DOS, and OS/2 (among other examples from ancient history). Conventional wisdom then was, Lotus was king forever. IBM was king forever. And so on. They no longer are, are they?

History has valuable lessons for us to learn, and I see another chapter being written, right before us.
 
How long do you think it will be, OS release versions, before we see Google Maps disappear from the Springboard and replaced by some other Map program..... like Apple Maps, etc....
 
The ONLY way that Apple will be REAL competition to Microsoft, is for Apple to make OS X run on, and available to PC's (All PC's). Then, Microsoft would be more than a little worried. But Apple wants to make money on it's expensive hardware.

No.

You don't seem to understand how Apple functions in the market. And licensing OS X to everyone would defeat the entire purpose of OS X. It'll be a Windows clone. And it'll be just as lousy. All the advantages of OS X would disappear. And judging by Apple's numbers, their tight control of hardware+software is working out beautifully. That is the ENTIRE reason they are successful. Those customer satisfaction reports, year after year after year, don't lie. Macbooks are flying off the shelves. Apple is schooling the entire industry. This didn't all happen by accident.

Apple functions at the Premium end of the market. It isn't one big market. There are levels to it. There are consumers in particular income brackets that are locked out of Apple's demographic. This is one of the defining characteristics of any Premium product.

There are between 50-70 million OS X users. The Mac is understood as, and marketed as, a Premium product. Fewer units sold, but at much higher margins. Apple has stated quite clearly that they refuse to operate at the low-end. This means they provide a vastly different (and very attractive and coveted) user experience that people (who are able to) are willing to pay more for. Apple would not cheapen or muddy its brand image by competing on the same level with the like of Dell, for example. Either you differentiate yourself via some clear, desirable, distinguishing features, or you compete on price like the rest of the pack.

This is what has Microsoft acting so defensive: Windows still has overwhelming unit sale market share, but it is now almost entirely at the low end of the market.There are substantial implications to Microsoft under these circumstances. Just one of the reasons they are opening these Stores. MS is trying very hard to shed its bargain-bin image. A bit late for that, though.

"Market Share" is very often misunderstood. With a fraction of Microsoft's market share, Apple is not only thriving, but it also is in a position as:

1) The industry innovator
2) The most powerful brand in the industry today
3) Producer of the most coveted notebooks and devices in the industry today
4) The one to follow. Apple does everyone else's R&D for them (apparently.)

So when you discuss "market share", you need to determine exactly which end of the market you're talking about. The lion's share of what part of the market? The Premium end of the market pyramid is near or at the top. It's much more narrow, but the consumer approaches tech (and other products) from an entirely different perspective (often not on price), with difference epxectations that Apple happens to cater to. Ideally, you WANT to rule the Premium end. It's these customers that build your brand, that make it desirable, and that will pay top dollar for what you provide.
 
How long do you think it will be, OS release versions, before we see Google Maps disappear from the Springboard and replaced by some other Map program..... like Apple Maps, etc....

Good question. I've been idly speculating, if Apple will ever attempt to get into the web-search fracas themselves. Interesting, but I doubt it. Unless you are correct, and Google and Apple start acting like victims of a nasty divorce with each other.
 
And now the real fun and games begin. Kid gloves are all the way off, gauntlet cast down, curtain raised, "To Arms" has been sounded.

Google wishes to supplant Apple. Apple will fight, and a titanic struggle it will be.

The loser of this war will be Microsoft -- Apple and Google will now attempt to out-innovate each other, and moribund MS will be eclipsed.

We are fortunate to have a real-life model of the Origin Of Species playing out in front of us.

Or, Apple and Google could become so focused on defeating each other, they neglect Microsoft entirely, and then Microsoft comes out swinging and completely bounces back. Right now, MS has publicly shown off the only implementation of a touch screen on a large device (surface) that seems to work well -- and by well I mean usable for long amounts of time. They also have Natal coming out, and if they are able to come up with some cool business end software for it, it could re-invent web conferencing in a way that iChat conferencing tried, but never succeeded, to doing.


No doubt he was asked to leave by Jobs and company.</snip>

Or it could be that he resigned in protest - This is coming right after a google application was pre-approved, developed, and then denied at the last minute. Doing something like that is a big slap in the face, and I wouldn't be surprised if this resignation was in response.

If this is war, however, it means that we the consumer win!
 
I remember VisiCalc, Lotus 123, DOS, and OS/2 (among other examples from ancient history). Conventional wisdom then was, Lotus was king forever. IBM was king forever. And so on. They no longer are, are they?

History has valuable lessons for us to learn, and I see another chapter being written, right before us.
'zactly. Anyone remember WordPerfect? Talk about having a market sewn up. That was a company that was so confident in their current product that they were completely blind to the fact that people wanted a real WYSIWYG word processor.
 
No.

You don't seem to understand how Apple functions in the market. And licensing OS X to everyone would defeat the entire purpose of OS X. It'll be a Windows clone. And it'll be just as lousy. All the advantages of OS X would disappear. And judging by Apple's numbers, their tight control of hardware+software is working out beautifully. That is the ENTIRE reason they are successful. Those customer satisfaction reports, year after year after year, don't lie. Macbooks are flying off the shelves. Apple is schooling the entire industry. This didn't all happen by accident.

Apple functions at the Premium end of the market. It isn't one big market. There are levels to it. There are consumers in particular income brackets that are locked out of Apple's demographic. This is one of the defining characteristics of any Premium product.

There are between 50-70 million OS X users. The Mac is understood as, and marketed as, a Premium product. Fewer units sold, but at much higher margins. Apple has stated quite clearly that they refuse to operate at the low-end. This means they provide a vastly different (and very attractive and coveted) user experience that people (who are able to) are willing to pay more for. Apple would not cheapen or muddy its brand image by competing on the same level with the like of Dell, for example. Either you differentiate yourself via some clear, desirable, distinguishing features, or you compete on price like the rest of the pack.

This is what has Microsoft acting so defensive: Windows still has overwhelming unit sale market share, but it is now almost entirely at the low end of the market.There are substantial implications to Microsoft under these circumstances. Just one of the reasons they are opening these Stores. MS is trying very hard to shed its bargain-bin image. A bit late for that, though.

"Market Share" is very often misunderstood. With a fraction of Microsoft's market share, Apple is not only thriving, but it also is in a position as:

1) The industry innovator
2) The most powerful brand in the industry today
3) Producer of the most coveted notebooks and devices in the industry today
4) The one to follow. Apple does everyone else's R&D for them (apparently.)

So when you discuss "market share", you need to determine exactly which end of the market you're talking about. The lion's share of what part of the market? The Premium end of the market pyramid is near or at the top. It's much more narrow, but the consumer approaches tech (and other products) from an entirely different perspective (often not on price), with difference epxectations that Apple happens to cater to. Ideally, you WANT to rule the Premium end. It's these customers that build your brand, that make it desirable, and that will pay top dollar for what you provide.
QFT.

Folks, don't worry about Apple's "market share" percentage when they are making money hand-over-fist. Worry about it when they aren't. There are some big PC manufacturers that have really great market share numbers but aren't making money.
 
No.


1) The industry innovator
2) The most powerful brand in the industry today
3) Producer of the most coveted notebooks and devices in the industry today
4) The one to follow. Apple does everyone else's R&D for them (apparently.)

So when you discuss "market share", you need to determine exactly which end of the market you're talking about. The lion's share of what part of the market? The Premium end of the market pyramid is near or at the top. It's much more narrow, but the consumer approaches tech (and other products) from an entirely different perspective (often not on price), with difference epxectations that Apple happens to cater to. Ideally, you WANT to rule the Premium end. It's these customers that build your brand, that make it desirable, and that will pay top dollar for what you provide.

Everyone elses R/D.
So Intel, AMD (ATi)and NVidia just to name a few is being designed by Apple?
Interesting.
 
No surprise

Eric Schmidt has been caught calling is bud using GV on a jailbroken iphone during an Apple Board meeting. What's worse than that?
 
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