What Happens When Apple Passes Microsoft In Value? Yes, When. • Hacker News Board

Re: What Happens When Apple Passes Microsoft In Value? Yes, When.

#21

Post by thaumaturgy » Sun, Mar 28, 2010, 5:41 PM UTC

symesc wrote: post #11

encoderer wrote: post #2

What happens? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

What happens to the companies themselves? Nothing. What happens to perceptions? Probably something. There's always mistrust of the biggest player. If Apple become's the most valuable technology company in the world, their propensity to control their stack will be even more a focus for the media. I think Microsoft will relish being an underdog for a change: "Clearly we're not a monopoly. We're not even the biggest tec…

I'm not so sure about this -- it would only play out this way if people's perception of size were based on the company's size, rather than their exposure to the company.

For one example: one of my business clients has a couple of die-hard Mac users (who I'm happy to support), and the administrator there is one of those "bah, Macs are toys, why don't they just get a PC like everyone else?" idiots. I mentioned to him one day that Apple had enough cash in the bank to purchase Dell outright. However, this did not at all change his perception of Apple.

It doesn't help that many individuals' exposure to Apple right now is through consumer devices like the iPhone and iPod, and not so much through "serious" computers.

Oh, and also: software. I'd hazard a guess that most of my clients don't think of the stuff on their iPhone as software in the sense of "stuff that runs on a computer". I suspect that they think of it more as "features", so for them, the only Apple software that they know of is iTunes.

Re: What Happens When Apple Passes Microsoft In Value? Yes, When.

#22

Post by bricestacey » Sun, Mar 28, 2010, 5:42 PM UTC

stcredzero wrote: post #6

FluidDjango wrote: post #3

I realized the headline "question" is just rhetorical and fashioned to be link-bait, but can't resist offering an answer of: "Nothing." ...because this is not the long-dreamed-about NCAA national football title. It's not about titles. Or even dollar totals. Whether Apple as a country can continue to offer great value to its shareholders (wish I were one) depends on its long-term business model (and ability to judge c…

The fact that a single person can create a Google competitor indicates this is something that Apple might not want to get into.

Just because a product can be replicated by a single person doesn't make them competitive in any way. I don't think that is a valid concern.

Also, by your very argument, Google might not have wanted to get into search either. But of course, anyone would laugh at such a statement.

Re: What Happens When Apple Passes Microsoft In Value? Yes, When.

#23

Post by jorgecastillo » Sun, Mar 28, 2010, 6:10 PM UTC

gizmo wrote: post #10

mixmax wrote: post #5

Apple's elephant in the room is Steve Jobs. He's undoubtedly one of the greatest, if not the greatest business leader of the twentieth century, and a lot of Apple's fortunes can directly be ascribed to him being at the helm of the company. It's uncertain what will happen when he passes the torch along, voluntarily or otherwise. There are ongoing concerns about his health, he has had a liver transplant, he's had cance…

Agreed on all points. I suspect the problem is that characters such as Gates and Jobs, who are focused visionaries don't leave much room in the highest ranks for people like themselves. To put in another way, put two Steve Jobs' in one room, and only one will leave. So the people who excel in companies like Microsoft and Apple can't be the same kind of uncompromising visionaries like Jobs and Steve, they are almost b…

I am not really an Apple hater or fan and the only thing I would miss if Apple went down would be Mac OS X. I know Darwin is open source but what makes Mac OS X awesome is the GUI + Darwin.

Re: What Happens When Apple Passes Microsoft In Value? Yes, When.

#24

Post by stcredzero » Sun, Mar 28, 2010, 6:37 PM UTC

bricestacey wrote: post #22

stcredzero wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fact that a single person can create a Google competitor indicates this is something that Apple might not want to get into.

Just because a product can be replicated by a single person doesn't make them competitive in any way. I don't think that is a valid concern. Also, by your very argument, Google might not have wanted to get into search either. But of course, anyone would laugh at such a statement.

Just because a product can be replicated by a single person doesn't make them competitive in any way. I don't think that is a valid concern.

It's not a concern. That was never my position. What it does tell us is that search at that level is becoming a commodity.

The Google ecosystem as a whole, on the other hand, is not a commodity. That is the competition Apple needs to be concerned about.

Also, by your very argument, Google might not have wanted to get into search either. But of course, anyone would laugh at such a statement.

Just because you weren't able to synthesize the facts into something more than a straw man, don't assume that it's not possible. Sergey and Brin were pioneers, so of course it's not commodity when they did it. I think the case is strong that it is now.