At 4:24 PM -0500 8/6/10, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
IBM failed to close its shop in time, when they first designed the original ISA PC, and they are now out of the PC business altogether.
IBM was unable to protect the original ISA PC design and the "IBM PC" rapidly evolved into a commodity product. When they tried again to introduce a new platform that they could have complete control over, they failed. The PS2/OS2 platform had a number of technical advantages, but the horses were out of the barn and Microsoft and Intel began to dominate...
Apple instead created a walled garden, and they continue to sell their overpriced products with their limited-use applications.
Stop it Bert, this is simply not true.There is nothing about the Mac platform that is more of a walled garden than a PC running Windows. If anything, just the opposite is true, as every Mac today is capable of running Windows and all of the applications that run on the PC. There is nothing limited about the software that is available for the Mac - the platform continues to dominate a wide range of applications for creative professionals.
The worst one could say about Macs and OSX is that some software foundries, like Microsoft and Adobe have taken a long time to update their Macintosh applications to take full advantage of the platform. With Creative Suite 5, all of the Adobe content creation apps are now 64 bit native on Macs running OSX on Intel processors. The only area where Adobe is still dragging its feet is with their mass market products, Adobe Reader and Flash, which are just now being released in beta 64 bit versions; Flash on the Mac continues to be a CPU hog.
And as Dan correctly asserted, when PCs are configured to the same level of performance as the new Mac Pro desktops they are typically cheaper. The new towers can be configured with up to 12 cores, which make it possible to edit and render HD video in real time. But many professionals are opting for the all-in-one iMacs, like the quad core 27 inch models.
Tell me again why it's a bad idea to protect your technology? I mean, from a company's viewpoint?
Apple has succeeded where IBM failed; the main reason is that they provided a differentiated platform that was superior for many applications and they gracefully managed the evolution of the Mac platform through three processor architectures and a major OS change. As a result they have not only survived, but are now thriving and growing market share, especially in laptop computers.
But far more important, they are now moving into the post-PC era with a range of mobile products that leverage a massive infrastructure that can be exploited by developers, who have developed one of the richest application libraries in the world. You may choose to call this a closed system if you like, but I prefer to call it a managed environment that is largely free from the malware and constant attacks that one must endure with the aging PC platform.
While it may be interesting to argue about the past, what is relevant today is where information technology is headed. CLUE: Apple is taking the lead and growing 30% a year while Microsoft and the PC industry are clinging to the past.
In a way, there is a strong analogy here with what is happening with Microsoft and TV broadcasters, who are both riding out the product life curve of businesses that were once dominant monopolies/oligopolies...
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