“It seems that the people at Microsoft have lost faith in the personal computer. Maybe they’re right–maybe the PC as some of us once knew and loved it really is history,” Peter Huber writes for Forbes.
MacDailyNews Take: Nobody loves Windows PCs except Bill Gates (for his bank account) and IT-tards (for job security).
Huber continues, “Microsoft’s latest spasm of software [Vista and Office] –call it Blunder 2007–will drive a lot of users to Apple, perhaps even enough to shift the whole PC software market past the tipping point, leaving Microsoft on the wrong side of the landslide.”
“Twice before in this industry’s short history companies have paid a terrible price when they made one pivotal mistake. Microsoft itself was created by Blunder 1981–IBM’s decision to license the operating system for its first personal computer from Bill Gates. Gates cooperated with IBM long enough to secure his company’s dominance of PC operating systems, then casually tossed Big Blue overboard. Apple’s Blunder 1985 did just the opposite: The company spurned Microsoft’s proposal to license Apple’s operating system with its neat graphical interface and adapt it to run on other computers. This forced Microsoft to develop what later became Windows,” Huber writes.
“I bought all the pieces of Blunder 2007 earlier this year and gave them my very best shot. I’m now going through the horrendous process of dumping them piece by piece. At least one of us–Microsoft or me–is getting old,” Huber writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Better to wake up late than never. 1985 was not a blunder. It was a blessing:
Apple has proven that vertical integration works better – October 24, 2006
Microsoft tries to match Apple’s vertical approach – October 11, 2006
Apple was right all along: vertical market quality trumps horizontal market woes – April 30, 2006
Blunder 1985 wasn’t Apple spurning Microsoft. It was Sculley firing Jobs.
“Forbes: Microsoft’s Windows Vista and Office ‘Blunder 2007’ will drive a lot of users to Apple”
When they get there, they’ll find how exquisite it is driving a Ferrari after limping along in an old Skoda for years.
> Apple’s Blunder 1985 did just the opposite. The company spurned Microsoft’s proposal… This forced Microsoft to develop what later became Windows
It’s turned out not to be such a blunder after all, hasn’t it? If Apple had licensed Mac OS, there would not be any Macs today. There would be no iPods, and Apple would have been acquired by another company long ago.
I have issues with this article. It’s obvious that the writer was secretly exposed to a high level dosage of concentrated RDF!!! Once he is back to his element, that will wear off and he will feel like a total fool for writing such dribble. Vista and Office 07 is the pinnacle of software design. Nothing is more powerful that Office, the Ribbon alone is the most innovative feature ever created by that double knock out duo Bill Gates and Ballmer. They are a force of nature that drives innovation to the highest levels of the industry. I’ts only that toxic RDF thats causing these writers to temporarily lose their sanity. Once they get back to using Vista in all its glory, he will regret those words. Perhaps Zune Tang will write to this heretic and point him back to the light.
Can’t we go back to referring to vista as Longhorn.
I really like that better, and it was more a more accurate nomenclature for all things B.S. err I meant MS.
Actually, Jobs left Apple, he did not get fired.
Tommy Boy – I think Steve Jobs needed to be fired to become the person he is today. If he had stayed on board the ship would still have sunk, and then he’d have been thrown out too late to ever come back. His experiences away with other creative endeavors have taught him a lot about what makes him so successful now.
“This forced Microsoft to develop what later became Windows,”
1. Apple didn’t “force” MS to do anything. Gates chose to take copy the Mac GUI because he knew MS-DOS was toast.
2. MS didn’t as much “develop” Windows as stole Apple’s intellectual property for Windows.
1985 would have been a much bigger blunder if Apple had licensed their OS and sat back while Microsoft screwed over their partner Apple just as they screwed over every other partner they ever had.
As it is, when they didn’t license the OS, Microsoft screwed them over and stole it anyway.
OK, it’s obvious that Origionalrecipes is a satirical spoof on Windows trolls.
I am sorry for ever thinking Origionalrecipes was anything but a joke.
“Tommy Boy – I think Steve Jobs needed to be fired to become the person he is today. “
100% correct. The SJ of 1985 was not the SJ of 1997 or 2007. Jobs greatest strength is the he is and always was a dreamer and a great pitchman. But he had little of the business genius and savvy that we have come to know.
Jobs failed to understand that MS was the enemy instead believing that IBM (or Big Brother) was the only dragon he had to slay. His wreckless management style caused more friction at Apple and his mass firings and threats did more harm than good. He terrorized employees and wasted millions on products that should of had the plug pulled on (ie. the Apple III)…….
Somewhere during the “Next” and “Pixar” years, Jobs matured into the total leader, the total professional – still a dreamer and still a great pitchman, but tempered with a firm yet fair management style that not only won over his employees, but peers in the industry and investors.
I submit that getting pushed out of the way by Sculley was, IMO, an important episode in the building of the Steve Jobs the world knows today.
But even in 1984 Steve wanted to sell the Mac for $1999 and Sculley forced the price up to $2499.
That was a strategic mistake that would haunt Apple for years because they needed market share for the Mac. The Apple II was a dead end even though it gave Apple a 12 -14% market share at the time.
Still, we have to worry a bit. Steve is starting to get a might arrogant towards the media companies and telcos, and that creates a lot of pissed off executives, plotting their revenge.
Apple is starting to believe that it has the unilateral authority to define their key industries as they wish. Great for the short-term, but without some concensus and team-work at the table, the other players will eventually not play ball. This happened to MS, and it will probably happen to Apple too.
As Will put it:
“All’s well that ends well.”
anyone know the anniversary date that marks the 10 year point for Jobs’ return to Apple?!?
Macaday:
“On July 9, 1997, Gil Amelio was ousted as CEO of Apple by the board of directors after overseeing a 3-year record-low stock price and crippling financial losses. Jobs stepped in as the interim CEO (iCEO) and began a critical restructuring of the company’s product line.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer#1994_to_1997:_Attempts_at_reinvention
Jobs announced his return as full-time CEO (dropping the i) on Wednesday, January 5th, 2000 at Macworld.
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/TECH/computing/01/05/macworld.keynote/index.html
The author of this article is one of those “computer-retards”
I’m sure you all know someone like this (personally/at work)
1 Look down to grab a hold of the mouse like it’s going to run away.
2. Roll the mouse it around a bit to find out where the pointer is on the screen.
3. Look around the “screen” to find the “icon” for the “internet”.
4. Type in the website he wants to visit in Google instead of the address bar. (like cnn.com)
You can spot these idiots from a mile away. As soon as I read the first paragraph I knew this guy was a total Joker.
Now for the comments… .
Mac is a Ferrari? Hmm…. Maybe now that they ditched Motorolla processors… OK Maybe Mac’s are comparable to PCs – a real Ferrari.
Mac’s are gayed out, dumbed down versions of the “computer”. But whatever, if that’s your thing Enjoy it – some people want to be able to do whatever they want with their “computer” so they won’t get the all-in-one gayed out looking box that everyone else is getting.
The problem with Microsoft is that they are trying to do the same thing because it’s attracting all these idiots, but for some reason or another Microsoft is just doing a bad job at it.
Whatever, get a PC (non Motorolla CPU) with a real OS (a *nix) – then maybe you can talk about Ferarris…
Correction: Jobs dropped “interim” and shortened it to iCEO (jokingly) – but still took on the job full-time in January of 2000.
Matt,
Here’s a little tip for you: straight men aren’t afraid of people thinking that they’re gay. That’s something that only you closet cases worry about.
-jcr
1. Look down to grab ahold of the key like it’s going to run away.
2. Turn key to start.
3. Pull shift lever into Drive.
4. Drive to the mall.
Yeah one can spot these idiots from a mile away as well. Gayed out, dumbed down “cars”.
Whatever. Get a real car, where you have to tune the motor and shift the gears. Then maybe we can talk about Ferraris.
Every Mac fan should hit their knees every night in thanks to the Almighty that M$ finally inflicted Vista/Longhorn/F-Up (whatever) on the masses this year.
It has allowed millions of Windows sufferers to come to a long-delayed but inevitable “sad realization” and finally wake up to the other option that’s been there the whole time: OS X on a Mac.
By the way, IMO Mark Cuban is way more brilliant than you guys are giving him credit for to have somehow created a multi-billion-dollar empire using PCs and not Macs! Wow, Einstein, da Vinci, Newton, et al take notes!
My lady friend just gifted me with a new 20″ aluminum iMac a week ago to start my empire with. I wouldn’t touch a Windows box with your…uh, you get my drift.
Peace.
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Olmecmystic
@Matt,
> Whatever, get a PC (non Motorolla CPU) with a real OS (a *nix) –
> then maybe you can talk about Ferarris…
Last I checked Mac OS X was a *nix.
http://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/technology/unix.html
Get a Mac with Mac OS X, then maybe you can talk about Lamborghinis….
Vista isn’t a blunder. MS put 5 years of extraordinary effort into making Vista the best possible heir to XP. They did their best. The problem is that Vista is based on ancient Windows code that is based on even more ancient DOS code. When you start with a POS there is only so much you can do.
Apple did the right thing by starting over with OS X. It was painful for awhile, but look what we got now. Just think if Tiger and Leopard were forced to be written in pre-OS X code. They would look & operate like Vista. Gives me the shakes just thinking about it.
Something’s going to happen…
OSX will eventually be overtaken by Linux or another version of UNIX. I’ll still use Apple hardware just ’cause I like Macs.