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Apple produces great hardware to run Microsoft software, even their OS, on.

Apple's switch to Intel CPUs was a good thing in and of itself, it erased the performance gap. However the single thing that did the most to improve Apple's market share may have been Apple's support of Microsoft Windows on their hardware. For decades having to choose PC or Mac blocked sales, some folks were interested in Mac but needed a PC for compatibility with work or gaming. With Boot Camp the PC or Mac choice was no longer a barrier, you could have both on the same system.

To a lesser degree the switch to Intel performed a similar role. Emulation of Windows became practical since the CPU instruction set no longer had to be entirely emulated.

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Perpenso Calc for iPhone and iPod touch, scientific and bill/tip calculator, fractions, complex numbers, RPN

As the old saying goes...Adversity makes strange bed fellows.

Both IBM and Intel were once portrayed as "enemies" by Apple, and both were lampooned in the Apple ads of the day. Partnering with IBM or Intel was once considered inconceivable by Apple's more "enthusiastic" fans. Yet it happened. It would be more difficult in the Microsoft case, but with Apple anything is possible.

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Perpenso Calc for iPhone and iPod touch, scientific and bill/tip calculator, fractions, complex numbers, RPN

Second, there is no recognition of the fact that curiosity is not the same thing as a lost sale in the digital realm.

Your argument is diminished by the fact that many of these apps are $0.99 USD, we're not talking about $50 - $60 PC games. I've observed many individuals who are willing to experiment with a $0.99 product, few with a $60 product.

Personally, in a University bookstore/computer store environment, I've witnessed piracy occurring merely because it was possible. When a vendor producing software accompanying a textbook added copy protection their sales became comparable to textbook sales. Previously sales were a very small fraction of textbook sales.

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Perpenso Calc for iPhone and iPod touch, scientific and bill/tip calculator, fractions, complex numbers, RPN

Who cares about Apple? They are just another player..

The description states that the lost revenue is not just Apple's: "This estimate yields about $459 million in lost revenue for Apple and application developers". Apple keeps only 30% of the sale price, if we accept this $459M figure then $321 is for the developers.

Piracy is a minor problem

For Electronic Arts and Activision, but for small developers and startups piracy is a major problem. I've worked for many years at a big well funded developer and a few years at startups and small developers. Piracy disproportionately harms the small developers and startups, it can easily make the difference between success and failure. I witnessed this in the 80s, the 90s, ...

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Perpenso Calc for iPhone and iPod touch, scientific and bill/tip calculator, fractions, complex numbers, RPN

Using shift to multiply is often a great idea on most CPUs.

In C/C++ shift is not the same as multiply/divide by 2. Multiplication and division operators have a different precedence level than shift operators. Not only is there the possibility of poor optimization but such a substitution may lead to a computational error. For example mul/div has a higher precedence than add/sub, but shift has a lower precedence:

printf(" 3 * 2 + 1 = %d\n", 3 * 2 + 1);
printf(" 3 << 1 + 1 = %d\n", 3 << 1 + 1);
printf("(3 << 1) + 1 = %d\n", (3 << 1) + 1);

3 * 2 + 1 = 7
3 << 1 + 1 = 12
(3 << 1) + 1 = 7

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Perpenso Calc for iPhone and iPod touch, scientific and bill/tip calculator, fractions, complex numbers, RPN

Eye tracking is not just a potential user interface tool, it is also an advertising tool. Advertising may even be eye tracking's primary use. Verifying that you looked at an ad and recording how long it held your attention is useful information for an advertiser. Also consider how ads are typically priced, either by some large number of impressions or by actual clicks. For impressions these are unconfirmed impressions. They may have been inserted into a web page but there is no confirmation that they were actually noticed. With eye tracking a third pricing option may be introduced, one for confirmed impressions where the ad held the user's focus for some minimum time duration.

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Perpenso Calc for iPhone and iPod touch, scientific and bill/tip calculator, fractions, complex numbers, RPN

I'd suggest talking to business students at undergrad or MBA levels, potentially someone who's focusing on M&A.

I'd focus on the MBA level rather than the undergraduate. The graduate level students are more likely to have some experience/contacts in the real world and to be taken a little more seriously by the VCs (possibly unfair but the system is what it is - if you are asking for money you conform to their biases). Also, the graduate level classes are more likely to have real angels and VCs visit, or at least their screeners. In addition to the Mergers and Acquisitions class consider the Entrepreneurship and/or New Venture Management type class, I've met real VCs in the later.

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Perpenso Calc for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch/a>

To be honest, unless you have a successful and *popular* product that has a very high profit margin investors are unlikely to be interested in your software.

What angel investors and venture capitalists are really interested in is the team behind the company. They want to see a diverse group of people who have a decent probability of launching and growing the venture you are trying to sell. Unfortunately you are saying that the team most familiar with the venture wants to quit. Exiting the venture prior to having a popular product and subordinates who can immediately fill the original team's shoes creates a terrible impression.

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Perpenso Calc for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch