Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/12/03
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Godfrey, Its Sun Tsu, and is really the name used by "unknown" Chinese authors who penned the sophisticated and formal writings on philosophy, logistics, espionage, strategy and tactics we know as "The Art of War." Personally, whether or not Bill Gates use machiavellian tactics to foward the company is of little consequence. In the end, even if the company is broken in two they still win and so do the shareholders. I think the As Sun Tzu said it best, "The best battle, is the battle that is won without being fought." Peter K - -----Original Message----- From: Godfrey DiGiorgi [mailto:ramarren@bayarea.net] Sent: Thursday, December 02, 1999 9:27 PM To: Leica Users Group Subject: [Leica] Re: OT - Apple comments I won't belabor the question of Mr. Gates' "marketing genius" with long elaboration of the Justice Department findings on how Microsoft Corporation has achieved much of their wealth. Suffice it to say that Mr. Gates is more a skilled business player, learned in Tsung Tzu's "Art of War" than a marketing genius. >A little objectivity here, please? I, too, plan on getting a G4 one >of these days for my PhotoShop work. But 5 percent of the market is not >"back from the dead." Apple could have been where Microsoft is today - had >they had Gates marketing genius. Instead, they are "back from the dead" as a >boutique manufacturer. To correct the misstatement quoted above: Apple Computer's market penetration is more like 12-15% of the marketplace (we have over 60% of new computer sales in the consumer market space in Japan right now with the iMac and iBook; the iBook is currently the best selling laptop in the US and possibly the world according to the independent sales reports in the financial papers this past Wednesday). Apple's stock price, long undervalued, closed Thursday at about 110 (10 points higher than Microsoft at present), and is rated a buy by most of the stock market analysts and brokerages. The Power Macintosh G4 computers are the fastest, most powerful computers in the price class in the world, rated by PC Magazine and other independent testers on Intel's benchmarks. The PowerBook G3/400 is also the most powerful laptop computer in the world presently, rated by the same standards. These are not the signs of a "boutique manufacturer". Godfrey