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Apple Plans to Grow to $10 Billion
mattmcal writes "Fred Anderson, CFO of Apple, this week outlined Apple's strategy for returning to its former self as a $10 billion company. He cited portability, digital lifestyle, and music as the three pimary drivers of this new strategy. Anderson announced last month that he plans to retire June 1 of this year."
10 billion can buy a lot of gay porno!
give it a rest with the whole battery thing.
Whomever has mod points... please label the parrent post a troll.
Ease of use? This is not an Apple hallmark. This is the company that decided that a tiny pinhole for a bent paperclip was "easier" than a media eject button.
Now, on to the iPod. Go ahead. Open the hatch and replace the battery. Oops! There is no hatch! You have to practically bust it open, and there is a not-inconsiderable chance that you will destroy the thing in the process.
Now, go find a $8 walkman-knockoff at Wal-Mart. The cheapo company that made this has an easy thing to do. Now, is that so hard?
Those type of things are going to do more to damage Apple than anyting else. Apple users expect and demand the highest quality for their $$$. Opening up your brand new 15" PB and finding that the right side of your screen is darker than the rest pisses off longtime users as well as new 'switchers'.
Apple could also use some more advertising to battle the overwhelming current thought that Macs are only for 'desktop publishing', musicians and elementary schoolteachers.
Apple has yet to solve the battery problem.
Well, if you read between the lines, Apple is expecting that it's growth will come from new business -- iTunes/iPod/"Digital Lifestyle", which is a very different story than "Macintosh is exciting".
So, while nobody is arguing that "Apple is dying", you could still make the argument that "the traditional Macintosh Platform is dying, and Apple knows it".
Which isn't the greatest news for us Macintosh Fanboys, although the new crop of Apple Inc. Fanboys and Steve Jobs Fanboys might be happy.
Business. Numbers. Money. People. Computer World.
"Thats a reaching statement considering the fact that they dont yet make such a product."
Google these words: apple imusic
You might learn something.
""but with a battery hatch" This would be an important feature if the iPod's battery was non replaceable (it is)"
It is hardly replacable if you literally have to bust into the thing to get to the battery.
"So, you're suggesting that this hypotheticvall competitor will ADD more and yet cost half that which Apple charges"
Absolutely. That is how it is with the desktop computers (Apple vs non-Apple).
"I don't see how Apple could drop the price much more. They're already priced the same if not lower then PCs of comperable specs. "
They still cost hundreds more than comparable PCs, and the comparable PCs typically have things lacking on the Mac (like floppies and standard ports).
""and mass-market the thing." They do this already"
No they do NOT. They specifically go out of their way to limit the places that can sell it. I can get a PC in a dozen or two stores in town. To get a Mac, I have to go to just ONE store that opens hours later than most of the PC stores and closes hours earlier.
" If your post is an indicator or the average PC user... i'd say its an absolute necessity."
Considering that you were wrong on most of the facts...
that even CmdrTaco has a MacOS X system .... That Apple gave him for free so that he'd start a Apple Propaganda section on Slashdot.
This sounds a lot like the argument that Apple is great because they pay movie studios for product placements.
It is the only thing, in regards to the Macintosh. They just look good. Once you turn them on, they come up lacking.
Apple can never die. Last time they almost did, Microsoft bailed them out. If this happens again, Microsoft is sure to do this, as long as there is a Microsoft.
"because it paves the way for everybody but Microsoft to be using the same OS"
This will never happen: there is no sign that Apple is willing to spread OS-X beyond its own hardware.
And then they found the hook in the car door handle, proving that the story was true.
The press from CNN to www.oreilly.com reported it as a bailout: that Microsoft saved Apple's bacon (or sauce as it may be).
That's one HELL of an urban legend, to have completely duped GCN (Government Computing News), CNN, MacDailyNews, and the Wall Street Journal, all of which have talked of this bailout!
It is only some "Apple is Perfect Always" diehard mac-nazis who deny that it was a bailout. I'm sure that they have compatriots in those who insist that Chrysler did fine without having the Feds bail them out, too.
The battery was never intended to be a servicable part. Instead it was intended to last the entire lifetime of the machine.
I won't buy durable hardware products from a company that plans a defined lifetime for them. That would be like letting Microsoft say 'throw the computer away, it no longer is powerful enough to read email with' because they've retired support for Outlook Express on Windows 95.
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And in the culture that I was raised in, something that's designed to have a non-replacable battery is known as 'disposable.'
What's this about the screen only lasting two years, again?
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My Rio Volt uses two AA batteries. When they wear out, I reach in my pocket for a spare set. If I wanted to use rechargables in it, I could get four or six of them to rotate through it. If I'm on a long trip and don't have time to recharge the batteries, I can buy disposable Alkaline cells almost anywhere on Earth.
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Hey, I've even gotten Sun 411 cases open. Which is no trivial matter.
In the 80's I once sweated open the gold lid on a DRAM chip and used a microscope to read the part number on the die so I could determine that yes, the chips were 256K DRAMs house-marked, that I could use.
I've never bought a single thing from Apple retail, but I've installed multiple flavors of UNIX on numerous old Apple computers. Ever run FVWM on an SE/30?
Stick to your 'fash little music diddlybops. It'll never make you a 'geek.' Yer a customer.
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Thanks for proving my point. BTW, you should dry that shirt on low, otherwise it might shrink.