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I copy from a comment of mine from last week. In case you wanna procrastinate on a fascinating story about how Apple transitioned to NextStep's stack without co

I copy from a comment of mine from last week. In case you wanna procrastinate on a fascinating story about how Apple transitioned to NextStep's stack without completely annihilating their already weak developer base, here's a few links: You get a corporate drama, a human drama and a tech drama all wrapped up in one series of presentations: Jobs' return (as a consultant) 1997, promoting technologies from NeXT. Watch basically everyone asleep at the wheel except Jobs, the man with a plan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QrX047-v-s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QrX047-v-s WWDC Q&A - 'the art of saying no' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iACK-LNnzM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iACK-LNnzM Jobs' hostile takeover in July by doing a (probably illegal?) stock dump https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Amelio#Apple_Computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gil_Amelio#Apple_Computer Announcing a Deal with Microsoft as de facto CEO in August, booed by the crowd https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOs6hnTI4lw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOs6hnTI4lw Internal meeting in September 1997 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMQhOm-Dqo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GMQhOm-Dqo iMac introduction 1998 - Apple is back https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxwmF0OJ0vg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxwmF0OJ0vg Macworld 1998 - Apple is essentially saved as a company https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdYiqVzPjAc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gdYiqVzPjAc OSX Strategy reveal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5dWDg6f9eo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5dWDg6f9eo 1999 - OSX Server launch https://youtu.be/NuCYHrSig94?t=48m40s https://youtu.be/NuCYHrSig94?t=48m40s 2000 - OSX launch https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko4V3G4NqII https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko4V3G4NqII

yuhong 10y ago
I was for a while thinking of the case where Apple bought NeXT but Gil Amelio and later Ellen Hancock stayed as CEO, and CHRP actually happened. While PC margins was declining, I was thinking that Apple could mostly focus on the higher-end PC and workstation markets, especially as OpenStep/Rhapsody was a UNIX.
- m_mueller 10y ago
  According to Jobs they were at times 90 days away from bankruptcy. If that's true I'm thinking nothing but Jobs' full steam turnaround, including getting Microsofts' investor money could have saved the company. Doesn't seem to me like Armelio had either the energy nor the connections to do that.
jackgavigan 10y ago
> Jobs, the man with a plan. Not just a plan but the Plan, which Apple has followed ever since. It's fascinating to watch this section of Jobs's 1997 comeback presentation, knowing how successful this strategy was with the iPhone and the App Store: https://youtu.be/4QrX047-v-s?t=7m40s https://youtu.be/4QrX047-v-s?t=7m40s

yuhong 10y ago

I was for a while thinking of the case where Apple bought NeXT but Gil Amelio and later Ellen Hancock stayed as CEO, and CHRP actually happened. While PC margins was declining, I was thinking that Apple could mostly focus on the higher-end PC and workstation markets, especially as OpenStep/Rhapsody was a UNIX.

m_mueller 10y ago
According to Jobs they were at times 90 days away from bankruptcy. If that's true I'm thinking nothing but Jobs' full steam turnaround, including getting Microsofts' investor money could have saved the company. Doesn't seem to me like Armelio had either the energy nor the connections to do that.

jackgavigan 10y ago

> Jobs, the man with a plan. Not just a plan but the Plan, which Apple has followed ever since. It's fascinating to watch this section of Jobs's 1997 comeback presentation, knowing how successful this strategy was with the iPhone and the App Store: https://youtu.be/4QrX047-v-s?t=7m40s https://youtu.be/4QrX047-v-s?t=7m40s