http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmp...pple_stocks_dc

"John" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in 104i6dh5om4thc7@news.supernews.com on
3/5/04 5:22 PM:

Chief Executive and founder Steve Jobs has proved time and again that he has
a keen eye for noting technology trends among consumers and capitalizing on
them, analysts said.

"Steve really understands what the pulse of the consumer market is, and he's
got a strategy to go after that with an Apple brand," Bajarin said, noting
that that's precisely why a Sony bid for Apple would make no sense.

"To me, that's the last thing he'd want to do is get mixed up with Sony,"
Bajarin said. "They are (Sony and Apple) just diametrically opposed to how
they would run the business."
---END QUOTE

Thanks... decent article....

In article <BC6E6974.4213F%snit@nospam-cableone.net>,
Snit <snit@nospam-cableone.net> wrote:

I'd be real surprised if Jobs sold out to anybody, much less Sony.
Problem is that Sony would gut the company for those core assets that it
wants, and shit-can the rest. It would, as likely as not, mean the end
of the Mac.

--
George Graves
------------------
My Three Favorite Words WRT Women, Wine, food, cars and motorcycles:
"Made in Italy"

"John" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:

don't you know... it's spring!

for years, this has been when these rumours sprout...

oxford

-

George Graves <gmgravesnos@pacbell.net> wrote in message news:<gmgravesnos-0F2F49.17151805032004@news.sf.sbcglobal.net>...
You'd be surprised. What's the exit strategy for Jobs at Apple, 5-10
years down the road?

Looking at unit sales, Apple has been treading water, at best, vs
Wintel this decade. Apple is boxed into its segmenting strategy too
tightly; it has to cripple the low end to keep from losing
higher-profit sales.

If I were doing the Apple product matrix, I'd have 3 desktop models,
the A500, A1000, and A2000.

The A500 would be a 1.0Ghz low-power G5 integrated into a keyboard.
The A1000 would be 2.0Ghz G5 cube.
The A2000 would be a dual 2.5Ghz G5 tower.

Three portables the P100 (12"), P200 (15"), and P300 (17").

Who says that's not what Steve would want? If I were he I'd love to
get the next generation PC ball rolling. Imagine Macs at half their
current prices! Wouldn't that be awesome? Partnering with Sony gives
the company organizational flexibility to go for marketshare and not
profits, maybe.

Snit wrote:

How a computer company with a dwindling marketshare can have a visionary
and a marketing genius at its helm is truly beyond me. And note that
this is not based on the release of a CPU, which is what the company is
known for, but for an mp3 player.
As for Sony, that's why they are sometimes called hostile takeovers.
Even though Jobs doesn't want anything to do with Sony ( I wonder why,
they're a very innovative company), a takeover may and can happen.

Nicolas

Heywood Mogroot wrote:

Yep.

Marketshare doesn't seem to be a priority with the people in charge at
Cupertino.

Nicolas

imouttahere@mac.com (Heywood Mogroot) wrote:

nah, steve would never loose control of apple again... i highly doubt
there ever been thought of an exit strategy, maybe when he is 75-80, but
not at age 49, his prime is still ahead...

treading water? don't you meaning... waiting for the 970FX in higher
volumes? apple could easily churn out cpu if it wanted to lower pricing
by $100... they are waiting for timing, nothing more...

yes, apple's matrix is lopsided, the lowend is pretty out of balance...
and again the 970FX is the hold up... we need a slab NOT a cube... $999
would be a sweet spot...

I guess you could see a Sony distribution contract, similar to the
HP/iPod deal... but Sony buying Apple... HA!

"Nashton" <ndk@NOSPAM.nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in
NVk2c.111189$IF6.3489160@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca on 3/6/04 7:06 AM:

Really? I am not sure I would call Jobs a marketing genius, but the idea of
calling him a visionary seems to be almost a no-brainer. Like or hate
Apple, it is hard to deny that much of what they do, even with a small
market share, has had a huge influence on computers and other tech for
decades. What other company, esp. one with such a small market share, has
had 1/2 the influence of Apple?

Could... but I do not see it. I may, of course, be wrong...

Snit wrote:
INHO, it speaks more about the sad state of the computer industry in
general than the "genius" of Jobs.
BTW, niche and high end companies always rub off on smaller ubiquitous
ones, whether it's in the industrial sector or the service sector.
Nothing new here.
Apple is just another company, trying to milk money from the consumer,
trying to sell outdated technology in a pretty package for big bucks, a
la iMac.


You're kost likely right.


Nicolas

"Nashton" <ndk@NOSPAM.nbnet.nb.ca> wrote in
9gn2c.111274$IF6.3492693@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca on 3/6/04 9:47 AM:

Sort of like why millipedes are called millipedes - it is not that they have
a million legs as the name would imply, but that most people can not count
past 4.

Certainly Apple stands out in the areas of innovation, visionary products /
trends, and influence. Are the folks who run Apple brilliant or are most
other PC companies run by fools? Either way, Apple clearly stands out as
being comparatively excellent in many areas.

Well, they want to make a profit. One would hope. Often they do it in a
fair and reasonable way. Other times... no so. Pretty true of any huge
corporation, especially in a cut throat market.

What is outdated about the floating LCD? Nobody else has even copied that
one - YET. Others will eventually. Wonder how long it will take the PC
market to catch up with this outdated technology? Any guesses?

Snit wrote:

Yeah.. your correct. And, I'd like to add, that in a market absolutely
jammed packed with MP3 players, what makes the iPod so good? This guy
wrote the reply to you like he thinks it was just dumb luck that makes
the iPod awesome.. wrong! Innovation among all these PC clones is what
people like, combine it with intuitive engineering and the fact that it
just works well..

No doubt about it.. Apple is awesome, even from a PC owners point of view.

-Richard

In article <NVk2c.111189$IF6.3489160@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca>,
Nashton <ndk@NOSPAM.nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

I think there's a pretty straightforward answer here: Jobs is a
marketing genius, but that doesn't help much with selling personal
computers, because the Microsoft monopoly has grossly distorted the
personal computer market.

These rumors get floated about once a year. They never amount to
anything.

--
"In my judgment, when the United States says there will be serious consequences,
and if there isn't serious consequences, it creates adverse consequences."
-- George W. Bush on Meet the Press, Feb. 8, 2004

In article <NVk2c.111189$IF6.3489160@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca>,
Nashton <ndk@NOSPAM.nbnet.nb.ca> wrote:

And it would mean the end of the Mac. Not good as far as I'm concerned.

--
George Graves
------------------
My Three Favorite Words WRT Women, Wine, food, cars and motorcycles:
"Made in Italy"

In article <dd5de929.0403060159.328d67e3@posting.google.com>,
imouttahere@mac.com (Heywood Mogroot) wrote:

Sony wouldn't let that happen. Sony would kill the Mac almost instantly.

--
George Graves
------------------
My Three Favorite Words WRT Women, Wine, food, cars and motorcycles:
"Made in Italy"

On Sat, 06 Mar 2004 12:49:39 -0500, ZnU <znu@acedsl.com> chose to
bless us with the following wisdom:

Meanwhile, back here on Earth, Jobs couldn't sell sell water to a man
dying of thirst in the desert as Apple's still falling marketshare
attests to.
Is there any further proof needed that Maccies are living on a
different planet from the rest of us?

--
"Other companies are much better than we"

Apple's spokesman for the Cork Ireland plant

In article <t44k40huo4uf3crs4uhmor5jfmpbh9gh3t@4ax.com>,
Mayor of R'lyeh <ev515o@hotmail.com> wrote:

Is there some reason you cut my sentence in half, and didn't respond to
the actual point I was making?

--
"In my judgment, when the United States says there will be serious consequences,
and if there isn't serious consequences, it creates adverse consequences."
-- George W. Bush on Meet the Press, Feb. 8, 2004

On Sat, 06 Mar 2004 13:10:31 -0500, ZnU <znu@acedsl.com> chose to
bless us with the following wisdom:

Because your point is nonsensical. A true marketing genius could
overcome Microsoft. A true marketing genius could raise marketshare
instead of having it steadily decline.
All Jobs did was preach to the ever shrinking choir. He excited them
by tossing them some fluff telling them it was substance and knowing
that they wouldn't think deeply enough to tell the difference.


--
"Other companies are much better than we"

Apple's spokesman for the Cork Ireland plant

In article <q95k405ua8od5uiae9noftsdl5r39gfm3b@4ax.com>,
Mayor of R'lyeh <ev515o@hotmail.com> wrote:

That *isn't* what Jobs has been doing with the iPod. That's the entire
point, which you seem to be ignoring. What's the difference between the
iPod and the Mac? My position is that the major factor is that the MP3
player market is a relatively normal consumer market, while the personal
computer market is not.

--
"In my judgment, when the United States says there will be serious consequences,
and if there isn't serious consequences, it creates adverse consequences."
-- George W. Bush on Meet the Press, Feb. 8, 2004

"John" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:104i6dh5om4thc7@news.supernews.com...
Back in 96/97 Sony original designed the Vaio laptop to be a Mac compatible,
Steve Jobs went to the Sony R/D Labs in Tokyo to see a prototype with the
result he pulled the plug on the whole Mac clone program.

They just blew away the PowerBooks (remember the original PowerBooks G3)

Apple could have been a contender with a big name partner on board but they
blew it big style *again*

Sony wasted a lot of money, redesigned the machine as a wintel laptop and it
went on to be a huge success.
*maybe this is why Sony Clie Palm handhelds ARE NOT MAC COMPATIBLE IN THE
BOX*

Meanwhile Apple are sliding into MP3 player obscurity and Linux is looming
large in their mirrors.