> For example, your personal physician wants
> to make money doing his job. But his main goal is healing people. Etc.
> Microsoft is solely focused on what it can do to maximize profits.
Microsoft has a duty to its stockholders to do EXACTLY that. My
personal physician is not a public corporation.
> As
> for Apple, and NeXT, and Be, and many other computer companies... the
> goal is to make great products, and hope to make some money along the
> way.
I think you are living in a fantasy world. The goal may be to make
great products, but it's to serve an end: SELLING THEM. And as many of
those products as they can. "Hope to make some money" along the way?
Please - you must not be familiar with the profit margins that Apple
was clocking in the 80's. Profit margins they thought they would last
forever because the masses would continue to pay a premium for their
product. It was incredible arrogance, and it almost destroyed the
company.
> Which may be why all of these companies have had financial
> troubles, but it is also why (ON TOPIC) our beloved Newton exists.
Actually, I think the opposite is why the newt was killed. SJ came
back and was focused on turning the company around, and the Newt did
not fit into his plans. The idea that he killed it because he was mad
at Sculley is just silly. It was a money move plain and simple m-
right or wrong Jobs felt that the best way to make money in the long
run would be to kill it. And IMO it was ok'd in the first place
because Sculley was smart enough to see what a huge market the PDA
market would be and wanted to lead it and own it - not because it was
(is) simply a great product.
> It hardly seems to matter now, seeing as how he is dead and all. Now, if
> you told me the CURRENT Chairman and CEO was a virulent anti-Semite...
> yes, I would probably avoid buying from Ford.
Well, on this we can agree. But there it is, you know? Companies do
what they do and we as consumers get to decide what to buy. Apple
makes a product you love? Great - you buy it and you and they are
happy. The thing is that Apple is not happy because you are except in
as much as that makes you a customer that keeps coming back. And that
is exactly how it should be. MS arrogance may be in the fact that they
don't feel they need to keep people very happy because they own so
much of the market that people and companies will keep buying their
products regardless. But they won't, obviously - and the market
demands that products continue to evolve and lead.
That said, I think XP is quite good. I also love my Macs (usually).
b
Bradford Schmidt
http://www.bradfordschmidt.com
mailto:brad_at_bradfordschmidt.com
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