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How Would You Save Apple?
Turning Apple Around
by PsychPlayer
(This post comes from our Apple folder on the web)

Apple cannot succeed as a desktop computer company which combines a hardware and software solution. It clearly cannot compete producing "Non PC" hardware, it doesn't have the market volume, and won't gain it back. It should also get out of the Operating Systems business. Like it or not, only a couple of companies are really doing well with Operating Systems. Get out of the schools and universities with your "Next" computer concepts. We're beyond that now, Steve.

Apple has always been a software company, when it did cutting edge things. The "ease of use" issue will more likely be won another way, through some form of TV/PC technology convergence or a Network Computer. You can't win on ease of use for hardware.

The company has to focus on software products for the internet. How about developing state of the art Web authoring software, which could play off their former strength in desktop publishing ? It could acquire some clever internet network software upstarts building out the electronic commerce, network object database, and java applications markets. What about something really fun like internet based applications that tie to home sensors ( alarms, video cameras, climate control, water meter ( I'm out of town, a storm blew through, is my plumbing ok?), .

Apple has a brand value in software that is equal to or in excess of Microsoft. I can't think of another company that can say that, even Netscape. Microsoft puts out all these crappy applications but sells them because the really great software coming from small companies has no distribution channel to business. Run Apple software on Windows and Windows NT, and on Sun Solaris internet servers.

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