Microsoft's investment on Apple : Deal worth it or not?
I've just gone through a post on businessweek.com and I was surprised to hear about it.
#-Link-Snipped-#
What do you think about this?
Was it a bad un-foreseen decision that Microsoft took at that time? Or do you think Microsoft was too proud of it's accomplishments at that time that it did not imagine a mightier Apple in the future. Would we have had such good products like iPhone/iPad if Microsoft hadn't gone all the way to do this favor for Apple?
P.S.: This is the first time I've come to know about this issue.
Hoping to hear a good response from all fans of Apple, Microsoft and even Linux/others here!
#-Link-Snipped-#
What do you think about this?
Was it a bad un-foreseen decision that Microsoft took at that time? Or do you think Microsoft was too proud of it's accomplishments at that time that it did not imagine a mightier Apple in the future. Would we have had such good products like iPhone/iPad if Microsoft hadn't gone all the way to do this favor for Apple?
P.S.: This is the first time I've come to know about this issue.
Hoping to hear a good response from all fans of Apple, Microsoft and even Linux/others here!
Replies
-
Kaustubh KatdareThat sure is an interesting deal; but I do not thing it's the worst deal of them all. The investment decisions are very strategic - and are done keeping the longer term in sight. Everyone was surprised when Microsoft invested hundreds of millions for about 1.6% stake in Facebook - but from a pure investment perspective - they will make a LOT more money in the longer run; provided Facebook works!
Now no company can remain at the top forever. Microsoft enjoyed dominance for a very long time; and now it's the time for Apple to enjoy its term. Be assured that Apple will go down and someone else will emerge as the new leader.
Look at how things are evolving (actually coming back to where it all began). First - we started with desktop, with each machine having a copy of software. Then came the 'cloud' fad where Google promised that everything can be kept 'online' and done from a browser. When people were riding on that wave; Apple came in and popularised apps - which are basically stand-alone software installed on individual phones; just like desktop software.
The big thing that has changed is that home users now do all their computing (listening to music, watching videos, checking mails et al) on tablets and mobiles. They don't need a big box to do any of that. But the real work still happens on desktops and I don't see that going away anytime soon.
Microsoft may make sure that they continue to command all the business machines and that may give them a long time sustainability. Being #1 shouldn't be the aim.
All that said - iPhone and iPad may have been launched by some other company. Because it was just a matter of time that people found their entertainment devices in their pockets. Even without Microsoft's help - Apple would still have gone ahead and launched those products. Money is invented by humans. There can never be a shortage of it.
You are reading an archived discussion.
Related Posts
Engineers are the core of entrepreneurship but the front end problems arise with legal hitches. Many startups fail in absence of proper compliance. Many vanish with bad contract deals. But...
Liquefied Natural Gas or LNG is fast gaining the interest of many people in different countries as we fight for an alternative source of energy in the fight against the...
Hello Friends
I am doing my final year mechanical engineering... I got an Industrial Project.. A furnace door is opened and closed repeatedly to charge and discharge the steel block...
You get a call for an interview and it is scheduled the same day or the very next day. Most people I know are scared to face the interview and...
CyanogenMod Android firmware users have received an additional security feature on Monday with the incorporation of Open WhisperSystems' TextSecure protocol. Open WhisperSystems, founded by security researchers Moxie Marlinspike and Stuart...