Apart from the friggin splash screen, I don't mind there being a Pro version, for those who need it. If Joe Average would have put out a separate piece of software reading and playing the same formats, noone would whine about it being shareware.
When it comes to Power Computing, I believe Apple wanted to get to their sales functions, which were apparently very efficient, and I think were used as a base for the Apple store. They didn't buy out any of the other clone makers, so I don't think it was only to remove the 'threat'. They could have just cancelled the contract as with everyone else.
I do think Apple is at least trying. Even though they might not have gotten it right just yet, at least give them the benefit of a doubt. They have to get it right this time, or they'll be out of it, and I think they're smart enough to realize that. One can't blame them for past mistakes forever.
I believe Apple didn't make enough profit from the clone makers, since they attacked the market segments where Apple were strong, making Apple lose even more money. At that time, things were looking a lot worse for Apple, too, the stock was down at somewhere around 13 bucks, (wish I bought some back then!)with confidence in the company at an all time low, so they needed every penny they could get. They couldn't wait for the cloning to pay off. Of course, that doesn't rule out that Jobs wanted the cloning to stop, and the two happened to coincide. My guess that if Jobs would come up with a cloning deal today (fat chance, I know.:P), things would look different.
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Apart from the friggin splash screen, I don't mind there being a Pro version, for those who need it. If Joe Average would have put out a separate piece of software reading and playing the same formats, noone would whine about it being shareware.
When it comes to Power Computing, I believe Apple wanted to get to their sales functions, which were apparently very efficient, and I think were used as a base for the Apple store. They didn't buy out any of the other clone makers, so I don't think it was only to remove the 'threat'. They could have just cancelled the contract as with everyone else.
I do think Apple is at least trying. Even though they might not have gotten it right just yet, at least give them the benefit of a doubt. They have to get it right this time, or they'll be out of it, and I think they're smart enough to realize that. One can't blame them for past mistakes forever.
I believe Apple didn't make enough profit from the clone makers, since they attacked the market segments where Apple were strong, making Apple lose even more money. At that time, things were looking a lot worse for Apple, too, the stock was down at somewhere around 13 bucks, (wish I bought some back then!)with confidence in the company at an all time low, so they needed every penny they could get. They couldn't wait for the cloning to pay off. Of course, that doesn't rule out that Jobs wanted the cloning to stop, and the two happened to coincide. My guess that if Jobs would come up with a cloning deal today (fat chance, I know. :P), things would look different.