Apple's decision not to make iPads run a desktop MacOS was the best. It just never worked for Windows and other desktop OS's. A tablet is not meant to be mouse-driven but touch driven and the UI should be optimized for fingers, not cursors.
Fortunately for we customers, Apple doesn't listen to the Internet.
They still don't which makes we wonder what we are doing here?
Apple's decision not to make iPads run a desktop MacOS was the best. It just never worked for Windows and other desktop OS's. A tablet is not meant to be mouse-driven but touch driven and the UI should be optimized for fingers, not cursors.
Fortunately for we customers, Apple doesn't listen to the Internet.
They still don't which makes we wonder what we are doing here?
Are you under the impression these forums are a way to submit consumer feedback to Apple? I’m under the impression that it is not, and is instead a place for people to discuss Apple.
It is often mentioned that Apple was 6 months from bankruptcy when they acquired Next. What was the deal for Next? What would have happened if Apple did go bankrupt? Would Next be able to continue on it’s own? Seems like a kind of stupid idea to sell to Apple at that time. If Steve Jobs wasn’t their boss, would they ever had agreed?
We were three months from bankruptcy before Steve laid off 5,000 [half the employees with one-third ready to go on twelve weeks paid sabbaticals] and then took twenty-three marketing departments and converged them into one. Then the hardware gutting down to a two by two matrix with a few products yet to be achieved--one being the iPod. Those changes occurred during 1997, and by early May of 1998 the iMac was released.
We were about to have an IPO at NeXT but believe me it was not a multi-billion dollar IPO and with the fact the world was embracing Java instead of WebObjects/EOF/NeXTSTEP would have meant a very short-lived IPO or eventually become another Java Service Provider. Everyone of my fellow NeXT colleagues were either psyched about the merger or psyched that their phones were ringing off the hook for double and triple their current salary offers. I wish more had come along with the merger because we lost some exceptional people due to short-term greed. I have yet to know one who did not regret not taking their shares to Apple.
Two major factors that helped Apple survive — 1. the success of the iPod/iTunes and 2. Microsoft’s infusion of cash and commitment to continue to make Microsoft Office for the Mac.
The cash infusion came with Apple dropping a $10 billion dollar protracted lawsuit that both parties agreed was a waste of energy and resources. As a sign of good faith those one hundred and fifty million non-voting shares worth of stock and four major releases of MS Office on the upcoming OS X made it clear that Bill thought the idea of making even more money on the OS X platform was a good idea.
Baloney. Next was a failure. Apple bought Next to get Jobs back, our and simple.
Core technology wise and culture-wise, not so. It’s often been cheekily referred to as a reverse acquisition. iOS class libraries used the “ns” prefer for NextStep until fairly recently.
It’s interesting how it all went down in 1997. In hindsight, Amelio made some huge mistakes in 1996. Perhaps the single biggest decision he had to make in 1996 was determine whether Apple would be a hardware company or a software licensing company. If it was the latter, he would have to had the hardware division spun out of Apple and give up on 90% of their revenue. If it was the former, he needed to kill the Mac OS licensing program immediately. He chose to not really do anything, and proceeded to have a 1H 1997 that ended up with over a billion in losses and Apple a few weeks from bankruptcy. This after the huge round of cuts in 1996 just to get Apple’s ok in the 2H 1997.
Once he and Hancock were pushed out of the company and Jobs put in charge, the NeXT takeover began en masse.
Avie Tevanian, the NeXT software chief became SVP of software at Apple. Jon Rubinstein, ex hardware chief at NeXT become Apple SVP of hardware. Nancy Hienen, NeXT’s chief lawyer became Apple’s SVP of legal. Mitch Manditch, NeXT’s chief of sales became Apple’s SVP of sales.
Jobs brought in Schiller, Cook, and apparently got Jony Ive out of the basement. Then, 2/3rds of the board were convinced to quit, and Jobs handpicked people he knew, like best friend and next door neighbor Larry Ellison, to replace him and his power would be complete. A NeXT person has been SVP of Software for 22 years running now.
There was no real decision to make for Amelio. The only choice was to get rid of the Mac clone licensing. As long as MS Office was required in businesses and government, it wasn’t viable to be an operating systems vendor in the 90s and 00s. Jobs making that deal with MS for Office support was a gigantic success.
I had been watching NeXT since the NeXT Cube was released. NeXT had great products but couldn't gain market share. It was a struggle. In the mid or late 1990s I bought an OpenStep computer for my use. It was dual boot OpenStep and Windows as I needed programs available on Windows but it was OpenStep that I thought was the cat's meow. Audio recordings in email! Wow! It was elegant and useful but didn't have many apps. I still have that computer. I haven't fired it up in a long time and would like to for fun but I need an old keyboard and mouse to do so.
Apple's buying NeXT was mutually beneficial. Apple needed something and NeXT needed to grow or it too would go away. Sometimes the combination of two entities near the end of their ropes leads to spectacular results. Plus the amazing talent of the remaining crew was awesome.
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We were about to have an IPO at NeXT but believe me it was not a multi-billion dollar IPO and with the fact the world was embracing Java instead of WebObjects/EOF/NeXTSTEP would have meant a very short-lived IPO or eventually become another Java Service Provider. Everyone of my fellow NeXT colleagues were either psyched about the merger or psyched that their phones were ringing off the hook for double and triple their current salary offers. I wish more had come along with the merger because we lost some exceptional people due to short-term greed. I have yet to know one who did not regret not taking their shares to Apple.
The cash infusion came with Apple dropping a $10 billion dollar protracted lawsuit that both parties agreed was a waste of energy and resources. As a sign of good faith those one hundred and fifty million non-voting shares worth of stock and four major releases of MS Office on the upcoming OS X made it clear that Bill thought the idea of making even more money on the OS X platform was a good idea.
Once he and Hancock were pushed out of the company and Jobs put in charge, the NeXT takeover began en masse.
Avie Tevanian, the NeXT software chief became SVP of software at Apple.
Jon Rubinstein, ex hardware chief at NeXT become Apple SVP of hardware.
Nancy Hienen, NeXT’s chief lawyer became Apple’s SVP of legal.
Mitch Manditch, NeXT’s chief of sales became Apple’s SVP of sales.
Jobs brought in Schiller, Cook, and apparently got Jony Ive out of the basement. Then, 2/3rds of the board were convinced to quit, and Jobs handpicked people he knew, like best friend and next door neighbor Larry Ellison, to replace him and his power would be complete. A NeXT person has been SVP of Software for 22 years running now.
There was no real decision to make for Amelio. The only choice was to get rid of the Mac clone licensing. As long as MS Office was required in businesses and government, it wasn’t viable to be an operating systems vendor in the 90s and 00s. Jobs making that deal with MS for Office support was a gigantic success.
Apple's buying NeXT was mutually beneficial. Apple needed something and NeXT needed to grow or it too would go away. Sometimes the combination of two entities near the end of their ropes leads to spectacular results. Plus the amazing talent of the remaining crew was awesome.
Apple Deathwatch: Now in its 45th Year.