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With Mountain Lion at $19 the trend in software prices continues to go down year after year, propelled by the open source movement. In ten years I'd prefer to b

With Mountain Lion at $19 the trend in software prices continues to go down year after year, propelled by the open source movement. In ten years I'd prefer to be in Apple's shoes. Software can be copied, pirated, or built up from scratch with an editor. Hardware can not.

dman 14y ago
You mean we wont be printing hardware in 10 years?
- SlipperySlope 14y ago
  Yes, at home we will not be printing circuit board and chip hardware in 10 years! Current maker-style single unit manufacturing is very limited as to the allowed input materials - and current trends do not indicate a solution in just seven years. A typical smart phone or laptop contains an astounding number of nano-sized parts made from otherwise hard-to-manufacture chemical compounds. After the singularity, I suppose that robotic logistics will make possible local on-demand customized manufacturing from a very efficient supply chain. Think UPS or FedEx but orders of magnitude more automated and efficient - as input to your locally-shared "maker" - which would be a completely automated robotic CNC, machine shop, electronics fab, paint shop, testing rig, etc. Where manufacturing plants are located, and the degree of customization offered, appear to be functions of the cost of labor and the cost of transporting various inputs and outputs. Post singularity economics may very well favor localized manufacturing when the customized output product is needed tomorrow.
jyap 14y ago
No. Hardware can be commoditized as with the PC market. Apple has an incentive to sell Mountain Lion at $19 which is to increase the adoption of new OS versions. They also make money predominantly on hardware so a lower software cost isn't such a financial hit. Lowering the price of their newer OS also depresses the value of operating system software in the eyes of consumers. This is important with the upcoming release of Windows 8. Innovation and market differentiation is essentially what you are looking for. And ultimately you need a good product and resulting sales.
randomfool 14y ago
Don't forget that free yearly upgrades are the norm for tablets (well, iOS at least. Android, where art thou upgrades?). What will Windows RT users be getting a year from now when iOS7 is released?
- bcbrown 14y ago
  Microsoft is going to have a very hard time moving to an annual development cycle for Windows, as opposed to the 2-4 years they've been at. I don't know if they can solve that problem.
underwater 14y ago
The Apple website says you have to download Mountain Lion through the App Store, which means you need a Mac (with OS X already installed) to get it. That's an update.

dman 14y ago

You mean we wont be printing hardware in 10 years?

SlipperySlope 14y ago
Yes, at home we will not be printing circuit board and chip hardware in 10 years! Current maker-style single unit manufacturing is very limited as to the allowed input materials - and current trends do not indicate a solution in just seven years. A typical smart phone or laptop contains an astounding number of nano-sized parts made from otherwise hard-to-manufacture chemical compounds. After the singularity, I suppose that robotic logistics will make possible local on-demand customized manufacturing from a very efficient supply chain. Think UPS or FedEx but orders of magnitude more automated and efficient - as input to your locally-shared "maker" - which would be a completely automated robotic CNC, machine shop, electronics fab, paint shop, testing rig, etc. Where manufacturing plants are located, and the degree of customization offered, appear to be functions of the cost of labor and the cost of transporting various inputs and outputs. Post singularity economics may very well favor localized manufacturing when the customized output product is needed tomorrow.

jyap 14y ago

No. Hardware can be commoditized as with the PC market. Apple has an incentive to sell Mountain Lion at $19 which is to increase the adoption of new OS versions. They also make money predominantly on hardware so a lower software cost isn't such a financial hit. Lowering the price of their newer OS also depresses the value of operating system software in the eyes of consumers. This is important with the upcoming release of Windows 8. Innovation and market differentiation is essentially what you are looking for. And ultimately you need a good product and resulting sales.

randomfool 14y ago

Don't forget that free yearly upgrades are the norm for tablets (well, iOS at least. Android, where art thou upgrades?). What will Windows RT users be getting a year from now when iOS7 is released?

bcbrown 14y ago
Microsoft is going to have a very hard time moving to an annual development cycle for Windows, as opposed to the 2-4 years they've been at. I don't know if they can solve that problem.

underwater 14y ago

The Apple website says you have to download Mountain Lion through the App Store, which means you need a Mac (with OS X already installed) to get it. That's an update.