[Proudest Monkey]

what do you think apple is shooting for? what are their goals? I've been an avid apple fan for most of my life (i'm only 22), but what direction are they taking? i don't really see them shooting in my direction anymore anyways. what do you guys think?

[djohnson]

Like every other company, they want to make money. They do have stock holders to look out for...

[wolfen]

They will eventually work with Real Doll to make customized humanoid companions for wealthy people. OSX is just laying the groundwork.

Be patient.

[Proudest Monkey]

Originally posted by djohnson:
Like every other company, they want to make money. They do have stock holders to look out for...

well of course they do. but what was the goal when the company started up? when they first introduced the Macintosh, Power Mac, and iMac?

I'm becoming less impressed with the technology's that apple is creating (here comes the, 'well leave then' 'go to the dark side' comments, but really lets just skip over that).

OS X is great of course, but whats more important? the new dashboard feature coming in Tiger, which does look cool and i have no idea how customizable it is (i'm hoping greatly), could be great.

How about the dock though? Do i need to keep updating and installing 3rd party software to make a basic feature functional? Key phrase- do i ... obviously talking about myself here, but i think most people would welcome some change to the dock.

and other software? Where is AppleWorks? It's been years. I'd much rather use AppleWorks than Office, but when was the last major upgrade?

I love iLife. Starting with iTunes, going into iMovie and all the way through. Until, GarageBand. Do the people who use iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, or iDVD also want to compose their own music? I bet some do, probably not most. The most, probably don't want to pay for GarageBand either - but apple is making money off of it.

The iLife package, and applications individually have matured greatly in the last four years, while something as basic as AppleWorks is left just hanging out.

iLife is certainly a sign of the trends, which we all know apple has been on top of and even has predicted/produced many of these trends. But what happened to providing the essentials for what the computer was used for before iMovie?

Hardware? Can i get a new suitable iMac for $1299 again please? I generally purchase right in the middle - i don't need the best, but can afford something better than the least. The $1299 - $1799 gap is huge. Give me a 17" with the 15" specs for $1499?

I could just spend that $1299 on a new 20" cinema display though.

These are only my thoughts and what i've been thinking lately ... thoughts?

[olePigeon]

I think their current goal is to get a hold on the "Digital Lifestyle" market. Slowly move their products into the livingroom and other places. However, unlike Microsoft, make quality and pleasing products that people would actually want in their livingroom_(or in their car.)

I think they'll stay away from actual appliances, but make awsome accessories to those items. Apple won't make a TV, but they might develop software for a "Media Center" mac or even a PVR. They won't make a new stereo, but they'll make existing stereos cooler by making them wireless (like the Express) or fully intereactive with your Mac. Apple's not gonna make a car any time soon, but I wouldn't put it past them to have an entire "Apple" outfit for a car (built in Mac with OS X, GPS, wireless, navigation software, iPod, etc.)

Stuff like that.

[OH-N'omac]

The goal of any publicly owned business is to Increase Shareholder Value.

Creating more affordable upper-mid-range machines and spending a lot of development time on AppleWorks would likely not support that goal as well as using those resources on other projects.

AppleWorks is probably headed for a shallow grave somewhere in the Meadowlands near Jimy Hoffa, for reasons both financial and diplomatic. It really is in Apple's best interests to keep up to date versions of Microsoft Office available for the Mac. For people who feel strongly about MS products there's always OpenOffice, leaving AW a product without a good argument for existing (In my opinion).

[Proudest Monkey]

Originally posted by olePigeon:
I think their current goal is to get a hold on the "Digital Lifestyle" market. Slowly move their products into the livingroom and other places. However, unlike Microsoft, make quality and pleasing products that people would actually want in their livingroom_(or in their car.)

I think they'll stay away from actual appliances, but make awsome accessories to those items. Apple won't make a TV, but they might develop software for a "Media Center" mac or even a PVR. They won't make a new stereo, but they'll make existing stereos cooler by making them wireless (like the Express) or fully intereactive with your Mac. Apple's not gonna make a car any time soon, but I wouldn't put it past them to have an entire "Apple" outfit for a car (built in Mac with OS X, GPS, wireless, navigation software, iPod, etc.)

Stuff like that.

Originally posted by OH-N'omac:
The goal of any publicly owned business is to Increase Shareholder Value.

Creating more affordable upper-mid-range machines and spending a lot of development time on AppleWorks would likely not support that goal as well as using those resources on other projects.

AppleWorks is probably headed for a shallow grave somewhere in the Meadowlands near Jimy Hoffa, for reasons both financial and diplomatic. It really is in Apple's best interests to keep up to date versions of Microsoft Office available for the Mac. For people who feel strongly about MS products there's always OpenOffice, leaving AW a product without a good argument for existing (In my opinion).

I think you both are absolutely correct; I would say their 2 major goals are to take hold of the digital lifestyle market and increase their stock value. Certainly most of us already supporting Apple are a part of that market in someway � a couple ripped cd�s, photo albums, home made dvd�s w/home produced soundtracks.

I definitely agree that apple will stay away from making actual appliances. I like the idea of making common appliances even cooler implementing some type of apple technology. iPod your BMW is where things are heading ~ anyone know if BMW is running a special to give away iPods w/new purchases?

I think apple is trying very hard to increase their stocks value. If that means less affordable imacs and ipods (��. I would love to lower the price of an ipod��, sure thing steve-o), I guess I disagree. When they have flagship retail stores in LA, SF, NY, Chicago, Tokyo, soon to be London that are setup to �get the word out� and not sell, then who are they trying to get the word out to?

That�s a lot of money being spent on rent and construction on market street, north Michigan avenue and manhattan.

They should be trying to get the word out to everyone; they should want everyone to have an iMac. People want them, but how many more would buy and enjoy them instead of wanting them if Apple wasn't trying to increase profits as much as they are.

I like MS Office, on a PC; I hate the way Office runs on a mac. Everyone knows that office is dog slow on a mac compared to a PC. I�m typing in word (the latest version) on a pc (running xp) right now that has a PII in it. A PII! Its much faster than office v.X on my iMac which is much newer than this piece of garbage.

Trying to raise stock value and spending a lot on rent and construction w/out the goal of selling while not supplying your own market without something as basic as a suitable word processor or spreadsheet is crappy.

I just want a better Apple.

[daimoni]

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[Sven G]

Survive, in a dog-eat-dog world: the "propulsive thrust" of the origins, also with its ideals, seems to be over, sadly...