• BitOneZero @ .world@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Steve Jobs main claim was that visual design and walling people into marriage of software + hardware as a package was important. And based on the loyalty, profits, he seemed to have focused on the right thing.

    As quick as Apple could, they went away from the kit Apple I into expensive unique-looking systems. The Lisa being US$9,995 (equivalent to well over $30,000 in 2023)… NeXT was pretty much the same high-end vision.

    Bill Gates bailing out Apple so there could be two main companies like Pepsi and Coke, I really don’t get why people don’t criticize that. Microsoft was ahead in the Smartphone area long before the iPhone, if they had not bailed out Apple…

    • time_lord@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Bill Gates bailing out Apple so there could be two main companies like Pepsi and Coke, I really don’t get why people don’t criticize that.

      Because in the late 90’s, the DoJ was going after Microsoft for anti-trust issues. Had Apple closed up, Microsoft would have been a monopoly with pre-existing anti-trust concerns, and there’s no way in hell that Microsoft wouldn’t have gotten split up.

      A lof of the complaints that people had about Microsoft software - like how there wasn’t anything comparable to the iLife suite - came down to MS execs being unwilling to greenlight for fear of the DoJ splitting MS up. That’s why the Zune software was different from Windows Media Player, Photos wouldn’t backup to SkyDrive by default, and tons more that I can’t remember from 15 years ago.