Yes, fair point, I was trying to say that rarely does focussing on short term shareholder value actually do that. Look at Steve Ballmer: delivered outstanding s

Yes, fair point, I was trying to say that rarely does focussing on short term shareholder value actually do that. Look at Steve Ballmer: delivered outstanding sales growth at the expense of basically missing every major play Microsoft should've made. An example: by killing off the lower cost MacBooks, students may end up not buying as many Macs (I would almost certainly have got a Windows/Linux laptop if the entry level macbook was so expensive when I was younger). They won't learn iOS development skills, since you really have to have a Mac to do that. Net result: I bet in ~3-5 years all the killer social media apps will end up on Android first. Back in the iBook/original MacBook era Mac laptops were actually about the same price as a comparable Windows laptop, plus they were WAY nicer. I even remember the first core duo macbook being the cheapest dual core laptop out on the market. I bet a load of people who now make iOS apps (me included) learnt because they picked up those machines because they were affordable and offered great value. While I am sure that the new Macbooks offer good 'value' if you like the touch pad, I don't think they are affordable at the entry level.