Dismal Apple Forecasts Are Wrong

Nutrimentia writes "Tom Yager has a new column at Infoworld disputing poor analytic forecasts of Apple's future, especially based on criticism of Apple's lack of innovation (which seems to me to be pretty easy to refute, but whatever). It's a balanced article that looks at what Apple is doing right and wrong, and he offers some good reasons to pay attention to Apple even if you aren't a Mac fan, namely that the company's approaches to the market help understand many broader trends in effect."

Comments

Re:Apple's Historical Hits and Misses

[Twirlip of the Mists]

I don't see Apple as a life form. It can die tomorrow and I would not mourn. It's a godless, soulless entity as are all businesses. I just like the tech involved.

Have you ever heard the story of the goose that laid the golden egg? Here's a hint: Apple's the goose.

If Apple were to have ceased to exist as a company in, say, 1988, all the great things that they've created since then never would have existed.

If you like the golden eggs, then you'd better not roast the goose. It would make you a fine dinner, but it wouldn't be the wisest move in the long run.

Apps are a large part of a "platform"

[Onan]

If you'd said "don't blame the OS for crappy apps," or "don't blame the hardware for crappy apps," I might agree with you. But you specifically brought up the term "platform," which implies that we're talking about the whole package that's actually available to the user. Application quality is extremely relevant to that discussion.

The software you recommend appears to have a list price of $999.99. Compared to iDVD's price of free, that's a substantial downside. For that additional thousand bucks, you could buy a copy of Final Cut Pro, and once again leapfrog the functionality of the Windows software.

Let's ask the bigger questions.

[thatguywhoiam]

Like, for example: How is it that Apple, while constantly 're-inventing' itself, manages to always occupy the same niche of perception?

Why does the general public think that 5% marketshare is a shameful thing in the computer world?

Why are people threatened to the point of flameage over the simple existence of Mac hardware?

Why does Apple provoke such intense reactions?

They must be one of the most scrutenized companies in the world. And, as everyone knows, the joke is so old its got whiskers: "Sure Apple is going out of business. They'll still be going out of business long after you and I retire."

Is it because MS is the only other mainstream OS provider? I wonder if things would be different, in an alternate universe, where we're buying Atari and Amiga and BeOS boxen.