Speaking of Office, time to throw in a prediction.
When I heard snow Leopard was going to bundle exchange support I thought it was just because Apple was unhappy with the quality of Entourage (garbage!!) & so they were trying to create their own solution to the problem to help with their advance into the business market. Now with the latest focus on iWork at MacWorld I see something far more interesting in their future.
It is my belief that Apple is secretly working on a version of iWork for Windows (just as they touted MobileMe as a service for Mac or Windows users). If Apple comes out with iWork for Windows then it is very likely a grumpy Microsoft may pull the plug on Mac BU. If this occurs then Apple will need to have an alternative to keep their momentum in the business market.
Don't think so. iWork as well as iLife is just another reason why to buy a Mac. No creative software Apple develops is available for Windows. Low price of iWork on Mac may eventually force Microsoft to lower prices of MS Office for Windows platform to even stay competitive. Price is getting the only aspect Windows-based systems are competitive. But I cannot imagine that happen until something like iWork '10 or '11, because some features are still missing. iWork is just an indirect strike on MS core business.
It is currently profitable when you look at it on a quarter by quarter basis (which is what you look at when you decide weather to shut down a business or not). The xbox is providing positive cash flow to microsoft.
It has not been profitable if you look at the whole project, including the $10 billion or so in sunk cost microsoft has spent since the beginning of xbox 1. It is likely that it will never be profitable on that basis.
Right, so it's been an unprofitable venture and a largely unsuccessful one. The original Xbox (which was the only console I owned last generation) nor the GameCube could touch the PS2. This generation, neither the 360 nor the PS3 can touch the Wii, and Sony's PS2 is still selling quite well too.
Then factor in a sizable portion of 360 "sales" have been from users having to buy new systems when their original overheated.
Don't think so. iWork as well as iLife is just another reason why to buy a Mac. No creative software Apple develops is available for Windows. Low price of iWork on Mac may eventually force Microsoft to lower prices of MS Office for Windows platform to even stay competitive. Price is getting the only aspect Windows-based systems are competitive. But I cannot imagine that happen until something like iWork '10 or '11, because some features are still missing. iWork is just an indirect strike on MS core business.
iLife is bundled with a Mac & I am not suggesting it will ever be ported. iWork on the other hand is a stand alone app & porting it along with a copy of iChat A/V could be a big gain for Apple.
Everyone I know who is switching to Mac is switching for the hardware, OS, & iLife package. Not one of them really gives a hoot about iWork at the time of purchase, they only get into it after the fact.
I stand by my prediction, especially considering it is only a matter of time before Apple gets slapped with a monopoly suit. It's just the world we live in now.
I stand by my prediction, especially considering it is only a matter of time before Apple gets slapped with a monopoly suit. It's just the world we live in now.
I don't follow you - in what area would Apple get hit with a monopoly suit ?
I came here to laugh at Ballmer but instead let's clear a few things up about the Xbox 360:
- It's now profitable. MS have totally re-couped their money yet, but it's profitable and has been for around a year.
- It outsold the PS3 this Christmas across the world and saw a big peak in sales thanks to the price cut. See the VG Chartz graph being referenced earlier. Sales are certainly not flat.
- No, the PS3 isn't more technologically advanced from a games point-of-view. Both Grand Theft Auto 4 and Fallout 3 look significantly better on the Xbox 360.
- The Xbox 360 and PS3 are both being destroyed by the Wii, but who cares? I don't want to play Me & My Horse 2.
I've always wondered why no one hacks together a way of playing XBox games on a regular Apple computer like Paralells does for Windows itself. I guess it would be illegal so no commercial product, but how hard could it be to do it for the casual market?
XBox platform is only as good as the games it has, there is absolutely nothing special about it otherwise. If all of a sudden you didn't need to buy an XBox to run he games (or even a Windows computer), it would easily die as a separate platform in two years.
The iPhone or the MacBook would still be around even if the OS failed as it's excellent hardware. The XBox is just a cobbled together pile of junk that exists only because Microsoft has all the most popular games. Halo has already stopped development of new games for XBox, let's hope they come out with something for the (superior) Mac hardware and history reverses itself.
Kinda funny how people think that iPhone 3.0 is coming anytime soon with feature parity of the Pre and other smarthphones. How quick are we to forget that Apple can't even get PUSH functionality out the door on time. What makes you all think 3.0 will be available soon or be this great catch up update?
Am I reading you right here? Are you saying that Apple needs to catch up to an announced product that is months from delivery and may be run on an even more inferior network?
I don't know the Pre, though by all accounts it is a nice piece of work for Palm*, but I think it a little premature to give them the lead at this point...
* I almost used "beleaguered" here. But I still can't see that adjective used for anyone but Apple...
Mr. Oldtimer is somewhat embittered, apparently, and palpably yearns for Apple to be beaten senseless.
At least the Pre makes a pretty good looking club, compared to some of the previous "now comes the reckoning Apple so righteously deserves" enthusiasms we've seen from the "anybody but Apple" folks.
- No, the PS3 isn't more technologically advanced from a games point-of-view. Both Grand Theft Auto 4 and Fallout 3 look significantly better on the Xbox 360.
If those comparisons are to be believed, that's nice for Xbox 360 owners who have HDMI-equipped systems. See that's the problem with cutting corners, especially when you don't get around to addressing such shortcomings until nearly two years after the fact.
I think you mean 10.7. No one knows for sure, but in the past release is about 1.5-2 years from first beta, which would probably mean it competes with ArcticBlizzard Leopard.
hilarious
my friend had a long running joke that apple would eventually start running out of types of cats and start having to name them after his mom's cats. he was eagerly anticipating the release of "OSX Gray Kitty"
iLife is bundled with a Mac & I am not suggesting it will ever be ported. iWork on the other hand is a stand alone app & porting it along with a copy of iChat A/V could be a big gain for Apple.
Everyone I know who is switching to Mac is switching for the hardware, OS, & iLife package. Not one of them really gives a hoot about iWork at the time of purchase, they only get into it after the fact.
I stand by my prediction, especially considering it is only a matter of time before Apple gets slapped with a monopoly suit. It's just the world we live in now.
I think iWork on Windows would be a good move for Apple. Compared to MS Office it is cheaper and simpler. This also gets a greater Mac-like presence in corporations that are trying to save a few bucks. I like the idea of iChatAV for Windows coming with the iTunes DL, but I see that as a non-starter until Apple adds IM support for at least MSN.
Quote:
Originally Posted by markm49uk
I don't follow you - in what area would Apple get hit with a monopoly suit ?
Psystar initially counter with a monopoly claim. While there is no warranted monoploy claim, you can file any claim you wish.
According to the sale info at vgchartz.com (can't vouch for the accuracy) Sony has been keeping pace with the RedRingOfDeathBox360, but the gap between cumulative sales is still the same as it was a year ago. Sony's not dead, but they're not narrowing the sales gap. Who knows what could happen in the future though.
Steve Ballmer is a shoot-from-the-hip kind of guy who usually lets his mouth overload his brain but I will give him credit for one thing...he typically comes clean in the end and doesn't leave consumers and investors hanging, wondering what could have been, should have been.
But, I'll always wonder why all that corporate and engineering talent isn't able to lead the way in tech innovation & development. Is it a leadership failure? Corporate culture failure? Not nimble enough to take advantage of changing consumer desires? What is it? It just boggles my mind that Microsoft has consistently followed in Apple's footsteps (innovation wise) for all these so many years despite outspending Apple in R&D severalfold.
In 15 years time, we'll be looking back and thinking "hey, had a lot of fun on the wii, lots of good times at parties, hey, remember rabbids?" ... and the 360 and PS3 will be relegated to history, unless the PS6 is a 16-core 20GHz Cell with 256 SPUs, 64GB memory and 100 PFLOPS of power ... hope it is, I don't think I'll get time to play my PS3 games until then!
It is easy to imagine Mr. Ballmer participating in the creation and approval of
that incredibly lame infomercial.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Felix01
But, I'll always wonder why all that corporate and engineering talent isn't able to lead the way in tech innovation & development. Is it a leadership failure? Corporate culture failure? Not nimble enough to take advantage of changing consumer desires? What is it? It just boggles my mind that Microsoft has consistently followed in Apple's footsteps (innovation wise) for all these so many years despite outspending Apple in R&D severalfold.
Please see the Songsmith video. Think about the presence or absence of good taste.
It's been shown time and time again that Ballmer is simply out of touch with what's really going on and clearly should be replaced as CEO.
Although still a giant Microsoft is starting to lose ground and eventually it will catch up to them. They make some good products, but lack in style and well thought out user interfaces and of course marketing. This should be directly attributed to the previous CEO and now Ballmer. At least Bill Gates had passion and realized his limitations. Ballmer just seems like a crazy, ego maniac who will stick to his guns even while the ship is sinking.
Microsoft still has a chance to turn it around, but is badly in need of a change at the helm if they plan to compete in the future with the likes of Google, Apple and upstarts we've never even heard of yet.
While still a top giant in the tech industry, one can't help but notice the current direction they're heading.
You are right, he is out of touch... Ballmer is nothing but a salesman and to a salesman they think selling toilet paper is exciting and everyone should be interested in it just because they are. Just because they believe a product is exciting or interesting does not mean the rest of the world does nor will they buy it just because you come jumping out of your cave pouncing your chest screaming religious antics that nobody gets or cares about is just plain ludicrous.
Comments
Speaking of Office, time to throw in a prediction.
When I heard snow Leopard was going to bundle exchange support I thought it was just because Apple was unhappy with the quality of Entourage (garbage!!) & so they were trying to create their own solution to the problem to help with their advance into the business market. Now with the latest focus on iWork at MacWorld I see something far more interesting in their future.
It is my belief that Apple is secretly working on a version of iWork for Windows (just as they touted MobileMe as a service for Mac or Windows users). If Apple comes out with iWork for Windows then it is very likely a grumpy Microsoft may pull the plug on Mac BU. If this occurs then Apple will need to have an alternative to keep their momentum in the business market.
Don't think so. iWork as well as iLife is just another reason why to buy a Mac. No creative software Apple develops is available for Windows. Low price of iWork on Mac may eventually force Microsoft to lower prices of MS Office for Windows platform to even stay competitive. Price is getting the only aspect Windows-based systems are competitive. But I cannot imagine that happen until something like iWork '10 or '11, because some features are still missing. iWork is just an indirect strike on MS core business.
It is currently profitable when you look at it on a quarter by quarter basis (which is what you look at when you decide weather to shut down a business or not). The xbox is providing positive cash flow to microsoft.
It has not been profitable if you look at the whole project, including the $10 billion or so in sunk cost microsoft has spent since the beginning of xbox 1. It is likely that it will never be profitable on that basis.
Right, so it's been an unprofitable venture and a largely unsuccessful one. The original Xbox (which was the only console I owned last generation) nor the GameCube could touch the PS2. This generation, neither the 360 nor the PS3 can touch the Wii, and Sony's PS2 is still selling quite well too.
Then factor in a sizable portion of 360 "sales" have been from users having to buy new systems when their original overheated.
Don't think so. iWork as well as iLife is just another reason why to buy a Mac. No creative software Apple develops is available for Windows. Low price of iWork on Mac may eventually force Microsoft to lower prices of MS Office for Windows platform to even stay competitive. Price is getting the only aspect Windows-based systems are competitive. But I cannot imagine that happen until something like iWork '10 or '11, because some features are still missing. iWork is just an indirect strike on MS core business.
iLife is bundled with a Mac & I am not suggesting it will ever be ported. iWork on the other hand is a stand alone app & porting it along with a copy of iChat A/V could be a big gain for Apple.
Everyone I know who is switching to Mac is switching for the hardware, OS, & iLife package. Not one of them really gives a hoot about iWork at the time of purchase, they only get into it after the fact.
I stand by my prediction, especially considering it is only a matter of time before Apple gets slapped with a monopoly suit. It's just the world we live in now.
I stand by my prediction, especially considering it is only a matter of time before Apple gets slapped with a monopoly suit. It's just the world we live in now.
I don't follow you - in what area would Apple get hit with a monopoly suit ?
I came here to laugh at Ballmer but instead let's clear a few things up about the Xbox 360:
- It's now profitable. MS have totally re-couped their money yet, but it's profitable and has been for around a year.
- It outsold the PS3 this Christmas across the world and saw a big peak in sales thanks to the price cut. See the VG Chartz graph being referenced earlier. Sales are certainly not flat.
- No, the PS3 isn't more technologically advanced from a games point-of-view. Both Grand Theft Auto 4 and Fallout 3 look significantly better on the Xbox 360.
- The Xbox 360 and PS3 are both being destroyed by the Wii, but who cares? I don't want to play Me & My Horse 2.
I've always wondered why no one hacks together a way of playing XBox games on a regular Apple computer like Paralells does for Windows itself. I guess it would be illegal so no commercial product, but how hard could it be to do it for the casual market?
XBox platform is only as good as the games it has, there is absolutely nothing special about it otherwise. If all of a sudden you didn't need to buy an XBox to run he games (or even a Windows computer), it would easily die as a separate platform in two years.
The iPhone or the MacBook would still be around even if the OS failed as it's excellent hardware. The XBox is just a cobbled together pile of junk that exists only because Microsoft has all the most popular games. Halo has already stopped development of new games for XBox, let's hope they come out with something for the (superior) Mac hardware and history reverses itself.
Am I reading you right here? Are you saying that Apple needs to catch up to an announced product that is months from delivery and may be run on an even more inferior network?
I don't know the Pre, though by all accounts it is a nice piece of work for Palm*, but I think it a little premature to give them the lead at this point...
* I almost used "beleaguered" here. But I still can't see that adjective used for anyone but Apple...
Mr. Oldtimer is somewhat embittered, apparently, and palpably yearns for Apple to be beaten senseless.
At least the Pre makes a pretty good looking club, compared to some of the previous "now comes the reckoning Apple so righteously deserves" enthusiasms we've seen from the "anybody but Apple" folks.
- No, the PS3 isn't more technologically advanced from a games point-of-view. Both Grand Theft Auto 4 and Fallout 3 look significantly better on the Xbox 360.
If those comparisons are to be believed, that's nice for Xbox 360 owners who have HDMI-equipped systems. See that's the problem with cutting corners, especially when you don't get around to addressing such shortcomings until nearly two years after the fact.
I think you mean 10.7. No one knows for sure, but in the past release is about 1.5-2 years from first beta, which would probably mean it competes with ArcticBlizzard Leopard.
hilarious
my friend had a long running joke that apple would eventually start running out of types of cats and start having to name them after his mom's cats. he was eagerly anticipating the release of "OSX Gray Kitty"
The PS3 is only beating the XBOX in Japan.
Wii 49.6%
7.67M Japan + 21.12M America + 17.20M Others = 46.00M
XBOX 29.5%
0.89M Japan + 15.85M America + 10.64M Others = 27.37M
PS3 21.0%
2.76M Japan + 7.51M America + 9.18M Others = 19.46M
http://www.vgchartz.com/
I LOVE Wii. I think its the most original thing to come out in the past 10 years.
iLife is bundled with a Mac & I am not suggesting it will ever be ported. iWork on the other hand is a stand alone app & porting it along with a copy of iChat A/V could be a big gain for Apple.
Everyone I know who is switching to Mac is switching for the hardware, OS, & iLife package. Not one of them really gives a hoot about iWork at the time of purchase, they only get into it after the fact.
I stand by my prediction, especially considering it is only a matter of time before Apple gets slapped with a monopoly suit. It's just the world we live in now.
I think iWork on Windows would be a good move for Apple. Compared to MS Office it is cheaper and simpler. This also gets a greater Mac-like presence in corporations that are trying to save a few bucks. I like the idea of iChatAV for Windows coming with the iTunes DL, but I see that as a non-starter until Apple adds IM support for at least MSN.
I don't follow you - in what area would Apple get hit with a monopoly suit ?
Psystar initially counter with a monopoly claim. While there is no warranted monoploy claim, you can file any claim you wish.
On Google Trends PS3 is by far the winner.
URL: http://google.com/trends
Query: Xbox 360, PS3
According to the sale info at vgchartz.com (can't vouch for the accuracy) Sony has been keeping pace with the RedRingOfDeathBox360, but the gap between cumulative sales is still the same as it was a year ago. Sony's not dead, but they're not narrowing the sales gap. Who knows what could happen in the future though.
But, I'll always wonder why all that corporate and engineering talent isn't able to lead the way in tech innovation & development. Is it a leadership failure? Corporate culture failure? Not nimble enough to take advantage of changing consumer desires? What is it? It just boggles my mind that Microsoft has consistently followed in Apple's footsteps (innovation wise) for all these so many years despite outspending Apple in R&D severalfold.
I don't follow you - in what area would Apple get hit with a monopoly suit ?
Duh, you can't just strut around bullying people with 15% of the market, hellooooo
forget phones ... the future is Songsmith
It is easy to imagine Mr. Ballmer participating in the creation and approval of
that incredibly lame infomercial.
But, I'll always wonder why all that corporate and engineering talent isn't able to lead the way in tech innovation & development. Is it a leadership failure? Corporate culture failure? Not nimble enough to take advantage of changing consumer desires? What is it? It just boggles my mind that Microsoft has consistently followed in Apple's footsteps (innovation wise) for all these so many years despite outspending Apple in R&D severalfold.
Please see the Songsmith video. Think about the presence or absence of good taste.
It's been shown time and time again that Ballmer is simply out of touch with what's really going on and clearly should be replaced as CEO.
Although still a giant Microsoft is starting to lose ground and eventually it will catch up to them. They make some good products, but lack in style and well thought out user interfaces and of course marketing. This should be directly attributed to the previous CEO and now Ballmer. At least Bill Gates had passion and realized his limitations. Ballmer just seems like a crazy, ego maniac who will stick to his guns even while the ship is sinking.
Microsoft still has a chance to turn it around, but is badly in need of a change at the helm if they plan to compete in the future with the likes of Google, Apple and upstarts we've never even heard of yet.
While still a top giant in the tech industry, one can't help but notice the current direction they're heading.
You are right, he is out of touch... Ballmer is nothing but a salesman and to a salesman they think selling toilet paper is exciting and everyone should be interested in it just because they are. Just because they believe a product is exciting or interesting does not mean the rest of the world does nor will they buy it just because you come jumping out of your cave pouncing your chest screaming religious antics that nobody gets or cares about is just plain ludicrous.