Salutations,
>> Basic facts are:
>>
>> 1) Newton was losing too much money and had _no_ chance of being
>> profitable in the near future. Apple couldn't afford to keep pumping =
> money
>> into it.
>
> WOW! You have the 'profit/loss balance sheet??? You said 'basic fact', =
> doesn't this require proof?
Nope, I don't have the balance sheet. But I don't need it. Simple logic
is all that is needed. ONCE AGAIN, Apple was losing hundreds of millions of
dollars a quarter. Steve came in and cut every project except for the 10%
gems he saw. He kept the projects that had an instant future. And I don't
care how much Steve hated the Newton, IF IT WAS MAKING APPLE MONEY HE WOULD
HAVE KEPT IT! If if would of been profitable in the near future, HE WOULD
HAVE KEPT IT!
Think about it. If some company was going to buy a thousand of them, that
would have been several million dollars of profit. No businessman turns
down profit when they are losing money year after year. Hell, Steve would
have kept the Newton alive at least until all of those 'thousands of orders'
had been filled.
While Steve is stubborn, you don't get to where he is today (billionaire)
by being a stupid businessman. And while he hated the Newton, he LOVED the
eMate. He said so many times. Apple would not have killed the Newton if it
was profitable. And while people continually spout anecdotal evidence about
how some company was going to but thousands of them or how some country was
going to standardize on them, the bottom line is that if it was going to
make Apple money, Steve would have kept them.
> ----------------
>> 2) Email services _do_ cost money. Sure, email messages are small but =
> so
>> is a paper cut. Now take hundreds of millions (2.2 million users * =
> hundreds
>> of email messages a day) of paper cuts and tell me how it feels.
>
> This comparison is so _IDIOTATICALLY_ stupid I can not believe anyone is
> making it. There is a world of difference between accidental pain and =
> 'bait-and-switch'. There is a world of
> difference between having an accident and an email address. The =
> comparisons ( and YES, I know someone is gonna try to be a smartass and =
> try the lame 'But their actions are the same' argument ) are moronic and =
> completely discredit anything you would write afterwards.
Ahhh. I see. You are so clever. You took my statements from before,
change them a little, and spouted them back. How clever. How subtle.
NOT!
There was NO bait and switch. This is what a bait and switch is. An
electronics store advertises a 35" TV for $99 (an unbelievably low price,
the bait). They only have one or two of those TVs in stock. So when people
show up to the store, they tell the people that they don't have any of those
TVs in stock so they push other more expensive TVs to the customers (the
switch).
The bottom line is that while it is relatively inexpensive to host a few
email addresses, when the number of addresses tops 2 million it becomes very
expensive. Add internet storage space, web space and the tools that
seamlessly connect them to the OS and it becomes very expensive.
> ----------------
>> 3) If you haven't noticed, many companies are coming to the Mac. Many
>> more are dropping the Mac. So Apple is creating the applications that =
> will
>> bring people to the Mac. This costs money.
>
> 'Bait-and-switch' is illegal.
Yes, bait and switch is illegal. But so is jaywalking. And neither
offense applies here.
> ----------------
>> 4) OS X is perfectly useable and quick. I have a G4 400 running =
> 10.1.5 and I am _very_ pleased with the performance.
>
> _You_ are pleased, _Others_ are not.
I didn't say _others_ are pleased. I said I was. Personally, I couldn't
care less if others are pleased.
> ----------------
>> 5) .Mac will now cost money. ITools used to be free but now it costs =
> money. Sure it would be nice to stay free, but if you haven't noticed =
> almost all free services have dropped by the wayside. Apple is also =
> adding more services to .Mac.
>
> iTools is part of the cost of the Mac OS license.
> Apple should charge only for the extra services.
Just show me where iTools is part of the OS license. iTools is a separate
service. It seems obvious to me.
> ----------------
>> 6) Running Apple costs a fortune. Look at the crappy wintel model.
>
> The Wintel model costs more.
Well, yes, it costs more for ms and intel. But my point is that it still
costs a fortune to run Apple. It costs a fortune to run GE. But that
doesn't change the fact that it costs a fortune to run Apple.
> ----------------
>> 7) Bandwidth _is_ expensive. Apple is not running everything off of a =
> cable modem in the back.
>
> Therefore it was a stupid business decision to offer it in the first =
> place. Now the 'users' after taking the 'bait' have to 'switch' to a =
> fee-based system.
It wasn't a stupid business decision. Do you just not understand the
economies of scale? Do you not understand that it is prohibitively
expensive after over 2 million people use it? And ONCE AGAIN THERE IS NO
BAIT AND SWITCH. See example above.
> ----------------
>> 8) For some reason, I just have the feeling that Apple is making very
>> little profit, if any at all, from each .Mac subscription.
>
> Apple should have advertised 'free for a limited time'.
> Apple lost a lawsuit about lifetime support.
> Apple tried to 'own' people's iDisk.
I have no idea how any of your statements apply to my above point.
> ----------------
>> Apple is spending _tons_ of cash to make the Mac a better product.
>
> Of course it costs money to improve product, but overspending has to be =
> controlled.
Well, yes. And your point?
>> Apple is the Mercedes of computing. It will cost more.
>
> But I drive a Dodge...Oh cr_at_p!...didn't Benz buy out Chrysler!?!
Yes, Mercedes bought out Chrysler. But according to your point, anyone
driving a escort can tell people that they are driving a Jaguar or Aston
Martin.
>> I have subscribed.
>>
>> And it is worth every penny.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> David
>
> Can you spare a penny for my .mac? :-o
Sure. Send me your address and I will mail you a penny.
Cheers,
David
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