RE: [Leica] OT - Apple comments

[Pete Su <psu@esgear.com>]

	--> Apple was managed by a man lacking vision
> 	who never gave much to the computer world
> 	much to Pepsi and even more to his ego;
> 	it nearly toppled the firm.
> 
> 	--> Enter the natural leader Steve Jobs,
> 	made to order for this creative and daring corporation.
> 	Here's marketing genius at work: gain back all market
> 	share, get out of the red and manage to show substantial
> 	profits + create an even more daring "alien" computer,

Just to clear up some confusion. It was Jobs that *hired* Sculley in mid-80s
to turn Apple from a joke with a few niche products into a respectable force
in corporate computing. It was this turnaround that gave apple significant
marketshare even against the windows juggernaught until around 1990. It was
at point that Apple pissed away its technical advantages to the PC world by
becoming unfocused and technically paralyzed.

While the iMac has certainly been a marketing success, to compare it to the
technical tour de force of the original Mac developments, and the refinement
of the Mac environment that occured between 1985 and 1990 is just a joke.
The iMac is little more than a repackaged, relatively crippled, fairly
overpriced PowerMac with a slightly faster than average CPU and a funny
colored case. Jobs has always had a flare for packaging and design. He
appears to have tamed his ego and temper to the extent that he can
effectively run the company. This was not the case 15 years ago. In any
case, he has managed to convince people that a cool case and easier setup is
a reason to spend a 20 or 30% premium on a computer. The people willing to
do this have always been Apple's core market. It was just a matter of making
the machines good enough to get them back.

Still, the only real compelling reason to use a Macintosh is still for
Photoshop.

Hoping to stay out of off topic stuff from now on.

Pete