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The problem with the early attempt Apple made at inviting the clone market is that they didn't give it time to evolve. The first wave or two of IBM clones were

The problem with the early attempt Apple made at inviting the clone market is that they didn't give it time to evolve. The first wave or two of IBM clones were a mess. A disaster. Compatibility problems galore. People who buy crap don't continue to buy it and they sure as hell don't recommend it. The crap PC clones died a quick death. It didn't take long for the market to evolve and "grow up". Companies like Compaq surfaced. Very soon you had a million hardware ideas iterating from every angle trying to do it better and for less. Today you can buy a PC notebook for a fraction of the cost of a Mac notebook --maybe a third or less. And, frankly, quality is excellent. Today you can walk into a place like Walmart and quite-literally grab almost any notebook computer and walk out with a quality product. That's what Apple missed out on. Everyone got spooked as they watched the evolution begin and they pulled the plug. Also, evolutionary forces are interesting. They naturally select product that people want. Perhaps Apple was afraid that they'd loose a lot more than the hardware war if they let go of the hardware. I don't know. Barring a few details, today a PC and Mac notebook are basically the same machine. Same processor, memory, graphics, etc. Yet Apple isn't iterating the hardware as quickly and efficiently as the PC market continues to. It'll be interesting to read what will be written in business books about this in twenty years.

kamaal 14y ago
Apple isn't successful because of Macbooks, Mac minis or iMacs. Bulk of Apple's success is from their iDevices and its surrounding ecosystem. iPod, iPod touch, iPhone and iTunes app/music sharing infrastructure. So in many ways Apple isn't a computer company anymore. Its more like Sony nowadays. What you will see in the future might be computers dying a slow death in the Apple ecosystem. Expect things like TV, Stereo and other entertainment stuff like Gaming consoles gaining more traction. Slowly but steadily Apple is transforming itself into a consumer electronics company like Samsung.
- gurkendoktor 14y ago
  Actually, Samsung sells pretty much everything a company could possibly sell, even weapons. I know you mean Samsung Consumer Electronics, but it's a tricky example because the network effects (or lack thereof) between all of Samsung's subsidiaries are not obvious. Also unlike Samsung, Apple depends on OS X as their developer OS. The whole WWDC was praising developers for helping iOS take off, and I think rightly so. Of course, Apple does not depend on the Mac Pro.
- jiggy2011 14y ago
  That is certainly where their money is, however they built a lot of their existing consumer business on the goodwill from people who were loyal Apple computer users. All of the original iPod users that I knew where loyal Mac computer users (partly because the software didn't run on anything else at the time). I wonder what would happen if they decided to abandon their Laptop/Desktop business and go purely for consumer electronics? This would certainly piss off many of their loyal fans such as graphic designers/musicians who aren't exactly going to be looking to go back to Windows based PCs for their work and could damage their brand. Perhaps they will launch some sort of "Post PC" device intended for serious work, for that I am thinking something along the lines of the chromebox.
- 7952 14y ago
  Maybe they should bundle Mac OS with their iDevices. Running as a VM stored on the device.
alaskamiller 14y ago
You're not remembering silicon history well. The 90's Apple clones didn't collapse itself because they were bad, Steve Jobs tried negotiating software licensing with manufacturers and Apple opted not to renew. You're also rehashing some old point about Apple missing the boat on low end devices. Why does that matter? Apple sells millions of computers every quarter year over year. They have excessive cash holdings. What would be the point of chasing after some mythical unicorn low end cheap device that has no margins? Evolutionary forces are indeed interesting. They do silly things like insisting on floppy disks, VGA ports, CD-ROMs, and other vestigial residues that hinders progress.
- carlob 14y ago
  He said IBM clones (eighties PCs) not Mac clones (nineties). If you read further he mentions Compaq which has never built a Mac clone.
- carlob 14y ago
  He said IBM clones (eighties PCs) not Mac clones (nineties). If you read further he mentions Compaq which has never built a Mac clone.
- robomartin 14y ago
  Where did I say that Apple clones where bad? All I said was that the model was not allowed to evolve and gave, as an example, the crap-to-good evolution of PC's. There is nothing wrong with floppy disks, VGA ports and CD-ROMs. These and other technologies still have a place in the right context and they tend to die off in an organic manner as industry can justify transitions. Progress? A quick Google search finds estimates that say that there will be about two billion PC's world-wide by 2015. That's progress, not coming up with a new port that nobody really cares for outside markets that can afford expensive new hardware on a regular diet. I think you are confusing progress with innovation. Testing new ideas is commendable. Apple has always been on the forefront of that in some ways. Progress is a different story altogether. One measure, as I am suggesting above, might be just how accessible a technology is to the masses (not just wealthy countries). World-wide Macs only represent 5 to 10% of the installed base. By this measure Apple has failed to deliver progress. If you look at smart phones, then, yes, Apple hit it out of the park.

kamaal 14y ago

Apple isn't successful because of Macbooks, Mac minis or iMacs. Bulk of Apple's success is from their iDevices and its surrounding ecosystem. iPod, iPod touch, iPhone and iTunes app/music sharing infrastructure. So in many ways Apple isn't a computer company anymore. Its more like Sony nowadays. What you will see in the future might be computers dying a slow death in the Apple ecosystem. Expect things like TV, Stereo and other entertainment stuff like Gaming consoles gaining more traction. Slowly but steadily Apple is transforming itself into a consumer electronics company like Samsung.

gurkendoktor 14y ago
Actually, Samsung sells pretty much everything a company could possibly sell, even weapons. I know you mean Samsung Consumer Electronics, but it's a tricky example because the network effects (or lack thereof) between all of Samsung's subsidiaries are not obvious. Also unlike Samsung, Apple depends on OS X as their developer OS. The whole WWDC was praising developers for helping iOS take off, and I think rightly so. Of course, Apple does not depend on the Mac Pro.
jiggy2011 14y ago
That is certainly where their money is, however they built a lot of their existing consumer business on the goodwill from people who were loyal Apple computer users. All of the original iPod users that I knew where loyal Mac computer users (partly because the software didn't run on anything else at the time). I wonder what would happen if they decided to abandon their Laptop/Desktop business and go purely for consumer electronics? This would certainly piss off many of their loyal fans such as graphic designers/musicians who aren't exactly going to be looking to go back to Windows based PCs for their work and could damage their brand. Perhaps they will launch some sort of "Post PC" device intended for serious work, for that I am thinking something along the lines of the chromebox.
7952 14y ago
Maybe they should bundle Mac OS with their iDevices. Running as a VM stored on the device.

alaskamiller 14y ago

You're not remembering silicon history well. The 90's Apple clones didn't collapse itself because they were bad, Steve Jobs tried negotiating software licensing with manufacturers and Apple opted not to renew. You're also rehashing some old point about Apple missing the boat on low end devices. Why does that matter? Apple sells millions of computers every quarter year over year. They have excessive cash holdings. What would be the point of chasing after some mythical unicorn low end cheap device that has no margins? Evolutionary forces are indeed interesting. They do silly things like insisting on floppy disks, VGA ports, CD-ROMs, and other vestigial residues that hinders progress.

carlob 14y ago
He said IBM clones (eighties PCs) not Mac clones (nineties). If you read further he mentions Compaq which has never built a Mac clone.
carlob 14y ago
He said IBM clones (eighties PCs) not Mac clones (nineties). If you read further he mentions Compaq which has never built a Mac clone.
robomartin 14y ago
Where did I say that Apple clones where bad? All I said was that the model was not allowed to evolve and gave, as an example, the crap-to-good evolution of PC's. There is nothing wrong with floppy disks, VGA ports and CD-ROMs. These and other technologies still have a place in the right context and they tend to die off in an organic manner as industry can justify transitions. Progress? A quick Google search finds estimates that say that there will be about two billion PC's world-wide by 2015. That's progress, not coming up with a new port that nobody really cares for outside markets that can afford expensive new hardware on a regular diet. I think you are confusing progress with innovation. Testing new ideas is commendable. Apple has always been on the forefront of that in some ways. Progress is a different story altogether. One measure, as I am suggesting above, might be just how accessible a technology is to the masses (not just wealthy countries). World-wide Macs only represent 5 to 10% of the installed base. By this measure Apple has failed to deliver progress. If you look at smart phones, then, yes, Apple hit it out of the park.