[Macworld]

Post your comments for Can Apple ever be doomed again? here

[ingus]

Very good article. Failure has hit elsewhere before, albeit of a smaller magnitude. For Apple's management and employees, they should emblazon one word in their minds. "Compaq"!

[technologist]

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Recall that 1997 was the year Microsoft invested $150 million in Apple’s continued growth—and Apple seriously needed that money.

Oh, please.

[Cupertino, CA. August, 1997.]

Steve Jobs: "Here's the plan. We get the lawsuit and we hold Microsoft ransom for... ONE HUNDRED FIFTY MILLION DOLLARS! " (He looks pleased)

Number Two: Don't you think we should ask for *more* than a hundred fifty million dollars? A hundred fifty million dollars isn't exactly a lot of money these days. Apple alone made 1.7 billion dollars in the quarter ending June 27

Steve Jobs: Really?

Number Two: Yeah, and we've got 1.018 billion dollars in cash and equivalents on our books right now.

Seve Jobs: One point oh one eight...that doesn't sound like much....

Number Two: A billion is a thousand million.

Steve Jobs: Uh. That's a lot of money.

Number Two: Yeah, don't you read these quarterly statements?

Steve Jobs: You're fired. I never liked you anyway. I know this guy Tim, he works over at Compaq and he's a lot less insulting. He can do your job.

Number Two: Fine, I'll go work for some other evil mastermind.

This post has been edited by technologist: 11 January 2013 - 08:09 AM

[wingsy]

Technologist: It's hopeless. That misconception about MS bailing out Apple in 1997 is so fundamentally ingrained into the Apple-bashers that even the pro-Apple crowd has started to believe it. Even when you show them the proof that is isn't so.

[lkrupp]

Ask any Samsung/Google lackey and they will confirm that Apple is indeed doomed to imminent collapse and disintegration...probably today.

[wlunscher]

You mean to say Apple isn't "beleaguered" any more?!

I just hope success doesn't go to their head and they don't get too cocky. The business graveyard is littered with companies that seemed immortal in their time. Apple is still a youngster compared to the likes of GE, the only original Dow component still with us.

[BradPDX]

I still encounter people who think that Microsoft owns a large part of Apple, all because of the stuff that happened 1997. When I tell them that the iPhone alone is more profitable than all of MS, they just stare as if I'd just told them that the government of Canada is made up entirely of sled dogs.

[stainles]

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...as if I'd just told them that the government of Canada is made up entirely of sled dogs.

Wait. That's not true? My faith in humanity is shattered.

Next thing I know, you'll be telling me that "poutine" and "hockey" are just giant jokes by Canadians trying to see how gullible Americans are.

[SockRolid]

"So the next time you hear a pundit claiming that Apple is doomed ..."

... you'll be able to tell whether they're long or short on AAPL.

[leicaman]

Quote

...as if I'd just told them that the government of Canada is made up entirely of sled dogs. Wait. That's not true? My faith in humanity is shattered. Next thing I know, you'll be telling me that "poutine" and "hockey" are just giant jokes by Canadians trying to see how gullible Americans are.

Or that there's a actual sport called Curling!

[HomeCinema]

They might not be "doomed" again but if they're not very serious about iCloud and SIRI they could be left behind.

[Jojhutton]

No company is ever safe from failure. Apple is safe now, but when you really look at the long haul, like a hundred years, will they really be on top at that time? Tough to tell. Look at struggling companies today like Sears. Top of the heap nearly a century ago. Now they are struggling to stay afloat. Its all about how well a company can adapt to the changes in society and technology. Apple seems to be setting the pace now, but that could change in 50-60 years.

[richlove]

Please stop spreading the myth that Microsoft saved Apple with a measly $150 million. Microsoft owed Apple that money and more from a QuickTime Lawsuit.

Refer to this CNET article for the truth...
http://www.zdnet.com...aved-apple/7036

[dannyo152]

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Technologist: It's hopeless. That misconception about MS bailing out Apple in 1997 is so fundamentally ingrained into the Apple-bashers that even the pro-Apple crowd has started to believe it. Even when you show them the proof that is isn't so.

The 150 million may have been a signal to the stock markets. Probably the promise to keep an Mac Office product was more important, at the time.

I don't know if you noticed, but Microsoft wanted licensing fees from Barnes and Noble for the Nook and BN declined, so it went to court. Microsoft argued patents and BN argued anti-trust. They settled before trial with money going from BN to Microsoft for licensing and and investment from Microsoft to a BN subsidiary for developing the Nook. BN probably ended up nearly cash neutral and Microsoft gets its money back (and licensing revenues) if the Nook takes off. If not, well, there weren't going to be any licensing revenues.

Think of the 1997 deal as a small investment in keeping a chip on the table regarding its discussions with the Department of Justice (it didn't work) and a public vote of confidence. Microsoft got their money back, the suits and counter-suits were retired, and Apple took a more sensible approach to success beyond trying to destroy Microsoft. Pages were turned to the benefit of Apple and possibly Microsoft.