Microsoft's Real Problem: The Second Coming of Apple

To Yahoo Finance User - you don't know what you are talking about. There are dozens upon dozens of cost comparisons showing that there is clear price parity in the hardware side. Its just that Apple doesn't chose to build cheap, low cost computers that people would have to replace every other year. Try loading the full business version of Vista on one of those cheap computers, or graphics intensive programs. They are dogs and that is why they are priced where they are. As others have stated, when you factor in reliability of the OS, extreme ease of use, speed of the hardware these all add up to much better productivity for the user versus a Wintel machine. And you don't have to keep paying MSFT and the equipment companies outrageous amounts of money for upgrades. Further, with the software you DON’T need to purchase factored in, AND the “free software” you get with each Mac which gets rave reviews for ease of use and functionality, along with a greatly reduced need for IT support, Macs are in fact LESS expensive for a comparable machine! Do your homework if you are going to try to sound like an expert.

John B. - You are correct with the Xerox connection. As I recall however Xerox was not trying to perfect a personal computer and the application that Woz, to use your term stole, if memory serves me correctly bore little resemblance to the first Apple. Alternatively, Gates et al purchased the dos system from a third party - sold it to IBM almost unchanged but was smart enough to see what they had when IBM didn't require exclusivity. Only when dos was sputtering and apple was growing, did Microsoft copy. The point of my post was that part of the Microsoft investment in Aplle was the lawsuit settlement. The point of

I believe, Yahoo Finance User, that you are actually making the author's point. You have dismissed the Mac OS as a niche player on "insanely expensive hardware" and irrelevant. By your second post it's clear that you only see value in their iPod and iPhone consumer electronics. Your inability to see what is happening right under the nose of Microsoft's dominance is exactly what this author is trying to say. You think it's a non-issue and you ignore it. Yet the OS is appealing to more and more people including enterprise. And if you think the iPhone is just a phone that does neat stuff, again you're mistaken as to what is really happening. iPhone as a platform is important and you may look back to 2007 and wonder how the hell Apple Inc of all people took over the entire mobile market a la Windows in the 90's/00's.

To Yahoo Finance User - you don't know what you are talking about. There are dozens upon dozens of cost comparisons showing that there is clear price parity in the hardware side. Its just that Apple doesn't chose to build cheap, low cost computers that people would have to replace every other year. Try loading the full business version of Vista on one of those cheap computers, or graphics intensive programs. They are dogs and that is why they are priced where they are. As others have stated, when you factor in reliability of the OS, extreme ease of use, speed of the hardware these all add up to much better productivity for the user versus a Wintel machine. And you don't have to keep paying MSFT and the equipment companies outrageous amounts of money for upgrades. Further, with the software you DON’T need to purchase factored in, AND the “free software” you get with each Mac which gets rave reviews for ease of use and functionality, along with a greatly reduced need for IT support, Macs are in fact LESS expensive for a comparable machine! Do your homework if you are going to try to sound like an expert.

Yes, Microsoft is on the way to go down - just like Lucent technologies in 1995. I do not think Apple will be huge successful because the current glory of Apple rely on two: 1. Al Gore's backup in White House 2. Steve Jobs's special logic Once Steve retired (he is quite sicky and old), and Al left (complains from public), Apple is a big question mark? How long to sustain?

Apple's iPhone is going to be replaced by a small company across the street of Tony Fadell's office (the boss of iPhone and iPod). This company has lots of IPs on iHand - the 4G "iPhone" designed by the same architect of iPhone 3G wireless chipsets. There is a link on iHand at: sieneon.com/ihand.htm

Just over 4 years ago my PC and all the PCs in our office died in a virus attack - we lost over 100,000 in mortgage commissions over 3 days (I personally lost $18,000) and I spent around 3,000 in clean-ups on my own computer that year. I switched over to a Mac and use the PC for only one program - I have not had a crash or any computer problems since. Mortgages are dead now but my business is/was primarily marine manufacturing and publishing (loans were fun during the lunacy, but only a sideline). Mac's rule!!

Lots of nice stats but I get the feeling the author probably hasn't worked in a Mac environment when he says: "It is safe to say that the majority of these units won't be running Windows. It's also probably safe to say that most won't be running Excel, Word, or Outlook, either." Not that I'm a fan of Microsoft, but I'd guess the majority of Mac users have Word and Excel on their machines.. What are the alternatives?....iWorks...Text Edit? Apple's great for things like Final Cut Pro but it's contributions to the basic software world are pretty weak. Just try using Safari as your browser

Hey anonymous Yahoo! Finance User: Just checked Yahoo! Finance stats for AAPL, and it looks like shorts are a mere 2.2% of float. Hope you don't have too much of your kids' college savings riding on 150 puts backing your "Apple is on its way below 150!" prediction.

user buys iPhone or iTouch ------- www.me.com (sync's their life) ----- www.apple.com and buys a mac -------- iLife changes behavior and --- they ask office IT dept to allow them to use a mac at work... This just might work.. Or - as its happening today user buys iPod ----- windows crashes again and again ----- goes to friend who uses a mac and that person says iLife is great, Mac runs great ----- buys a Mac for kids or family ------ goes to the office, small business etc.... I see it happen every day, at least 50% of our friends are buying at least one mac at home. All are asking for them at work after that. I know its not scientific analysis but its happening.

Finally a mainstream media guy who understands. Prediction. Windows will be an historical footnote by 2015 with exactly zero new computers running it. Apple? Unfortunately it will probably be an intermediate term winner here. If folks thought msft was the evil empire wait til appl owns most of the pc market -- with their walled garden, their total control over hardware ande software and apps, they will be far, far worse for consumers than wintel ever was. Here's hoping cloud computing gets big fast enough to keep appl from gaining a total lock on the industry.

mr. softy will eventually see the light of day; but what day? we all ponder. all this bickering between ballmer, icanh, and yang. and now they're bring sue into the mix. my God! it's like a mexican soap opera. or yapping between old ladies. it's fun to watch @ first, but Damn! mr. softy is going no where. i soon get tired and my MSFT stock is idling.

@standbyprogram. Not sure what you meant by 'Just try using Safari as your browser'. What can it not do? As for basic software, everyone needs Excel and Word? There's a trial version of MS Office on every new Mac shipped for years. The trial period runs out and majority of Mac users buy the license? I really doubt that. You are generalizing based on your anecdotes.

I think Windows will still be in majority of machines for a long time. However, MS recently announced $300 million campaign to fix their image against Apple shows that Apple is on their radar, which means Apple is a significant threat to MS again.

...and - iPhone/iTouch will be a computing appliance all its own. Creative methods for designing hardware appliances is what sets them apart, the operating system is simply a method of taking advantage of these interesting technologies (touch, gps, etc.). Who wants a big block that sits on their desk for most things. The Mac will be something else in less then five years anyway. They will be integrated with whatever Apple turns www.me.com into and utilize either Apple developed or third party (ie Google) developed applications that people collaborate with. Even Microsoft has to build SaaS applications. Look at the big announcement from Intuit - they completely restructured because their customers told them with their pocketbooks - we want web-based not PC based software. We want flexibility - the Personal Computer is dead.

The worrisome thing here for MSFT is not the corporate or SMB buyers of Apple, but the current iPod/iPhone owners who would upgrade themselves into buying an Apple Mac.I agree with Kievn_Arnold_99 above where Apple is becoming more of MSFT style. The one OS/Systems platform and recent opening of iPhone SDK is a clear mimic of MSFT. The good for consumers is the alternative through duopoly instead of the prior MSFT monopoly , but the bad news also means the higher prices are here to stay unless there is a third alternative that brings best from MSFT and AAPL.

cool

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This article should be entitled "How to Lie with Statistics". According to Gartner, Apple sold 6% of the PC's sold in the US but when one considers the global market, which is the market after all TT - ahem, Apple's sales were 1.5%. Apple was on the brink of extinction and was saved, not by the Mac, but by the iPod. Regardless of what percentage of PC's sold are Apples, a percent of a tiny percent is a very tiny percent. The press has a love affair with Apple pure and simple. What will always hold Apple back from becoming a serious threat are two things: arrogance and price.

Agreed with most everything here - but Apple's hardware is not insanely expensive - that's a myth. In actuality, in terms of total cost of ownership and overall value most Apple hardware beats out Wintel 9 times of 10.