5 ms·

I wonder what would have been if Microsoft hadn't invested in Apple...

• gecko 16y ago
  Largely nothing. The investment at the time was seen as a public sign that Microsoft wanted Apple to stick around, not a make-or-break deal that could leave Apple crippled if it fell through. That, plus the announcement that Microsoft would continue developing Office for Macintosh, helped assure the public that Apple wasn't going anywhere, at a time when a lot of people feared that Apple had become completely irrelevant, independent of whether Jobs would manage to succeed where Amelio had failed at fixing the immediate problems. I think Microsoft could have not invested and things would be the same. I'm less confident what would've happened if they hadn't pledged to support Office and IE.
  • eru 16y ago
    So the investment was important, but more for its signalling value than for the money?
    • gecko 16y ago
      That's my feeling on the matter, yes.
• dazzawazza 16y ago
  There was a good chance that Microsoft would have been split up (due to monopoly concerns).