>>>>>If I had to bet I'd be looking at the open source community, linux et. al.
>>>>
>>>>If I HAD to bet against MS, I'd put my money on Apple. And I'd ask for long-shot odds. :)
>>>
>>>Apple will be nothing more than a flashy company. They have never been on top, or close to the top, of anything besides MP3 players in the current world of IT. I think their new product, the iPhone, will show a lot about the company - specifically, how they handle bugs, security, and patches like Microsoft has been for years.
>>>
>>>If Microsoft starts to falter I see the opportunistic Google striking either some sort of Linux deal. They are in a good position.
>>
>>
>>You know I think you're one of the good guys but you are showing your youth here. Apple, which was around before you were born, is way more than a flashy company. They were a player in the PC industry before Microsoft was a player. They were a player before IBM was a player. They have consistently innovated and showed the rest of the industry how to do things right. And just when you think they're marginal they come out with a world beater like the iPod. The iPhone may be next; we'll see. What is consistent is a commitment to innovative design.
>>
>>The Macintosh was introduced in 1984. It was, in the words of Steve Jobs, insanely great. It was so far ahead of anything else out there it wasn't even funny. The fundamentals were taken from the work of Xerox PARC Labs, which did not result in a commercial product from Xerox. (Their Star machine turfed). Apple tried the Lisa first -- named after Steve Jobs's illegitimate daughter -- and it fell on the market with a thud due to high price ($15K) and slow performance. The Mac was a different story. The price was OK and the features blew your eyeballs out of your head. Microsoft stole its GUI features shamelessly. Apple may not have market share domination but the computing world has not been the same since.
>>
>>Some things just make a difference. The Beatles. Velcro. Electronic circuits. The Macintosh. You can add some but those inventions are in the pantheon.
>
>I know I don't know the complete history of Apple, so that's why I said "in the current world of IT". :-)


Replying almost a week later ---

Our conversation inspired me to indulge myself with a MacBook. (That's their laptop, if you don't track the Mac world). I have fallen in love with the Mac all over again. There's just something about Macs that rings my bells. Apple has been criticized by some (fools LOL) for putting form over function but to me every little detail is so right, so clean. A thing of beauty.

I am not forsaking the world of PCs and market share, nor will I gas on and on about Macs on a PC forum. But I already know the MacBook is going to be my machine of choice when I have a choice.