Apple
Saturday 30th September, 2006 21:29 Comments: 1
Hehe, hindsight is a wonderful thing:
Fortune, 2/19/1996:
"By the time you read this story, the quirky cult company...will end its wild ride as an independent enterprise."
Time Magazine, 2/5/96:
"One day Apple was a major technology company with assets to make any self respecting techno-conglomerate salivate. The next day Apple was a chaotic mess without a strategic vision and certainly no future."
BusinessWeek, 10/16/95:
"Having underforecast demand, the company has a $1 billion-plus order backlog....The only alternative: to merge with a company with the marketing and financial clout to help Apple survive the switch to a software-based company. The most likely candidate, many think, is IBM Corp."
A Forrester Research analyst, 1/25/96 (quoted in, of all places, The New York Times):
"Whether they stand alone or are acquired, Apple as we know it is cooked. It's so classic. It's so sad."
Nathan Myhrvold (Microsoft's chief technology officer, 6/97:
"The NeXT purchase is too little too late. Apple is already dead."
Wired, "101 Ways to Save Apple," 6/97:
"1. Admit it. You're out of the hardware game."
BusinessWeek, 2/5/96:
"There was so much magic in Apple Computer in the early '80s that it is hard to believe that it may fade away. Apple went from hip to has-been in just 19 years."
Fortune, 2/19/1996:
"Apple's erratic performance has given it the reputation on Wall Street of a stock a long-term investor would probably avoid."
The Economist, 2/23/95:
"Apple could hang on for years, gamely trying to slow the decline, but few expect it to make such a mistake. Instead it seems to have two options. The first is to break itself up, selling the hardware side. The second is to sell the company outright."
The Financial Times, 7/11/97:
"Apple no longer plays a leading role in the $200 billion personal computer industry. 'The idea that they're going to go back to the past to hit a big home run...is delusional,' says Dave Winer, a software developer."
Fortune, 2/19/1996:
"By the time you read this story, the quirky cult company...will end its wild ride as an independent enterprise."
Time Magazine, 2/5/96:
"One day Apple was a major technology company with assets to make any self respecting techno-conglomerate salivate. The next day Apple was a chaotic mess without a strategic vision and certainly no future."
BusinessWeek, 10/16/95:
"Having underforecast demand, the company has a $1 billion-plus order backlog....The only alternative: to merge with a company with the marketing and financial clout to help Apple survive the switch to a software-based company. The most likely candidate, many think, is IBM Corp."
A Forrester Research analyst, 1/25/96 (quoted in, of all places, The New York Times):
"Whether they stand alone or are acquired, Apple as we know it is cooked. It's so classic. It's so sad."
Nathan Myhrvold (Microsoft's chief technology officer, 6/97:
"The NeXT purchase is too little too late. Apple is already dead."
Wired, "101 Ways to Save Apple," 6/97:
"1. Admit it. You're out of the hardware game."
BusinessWeek, 2/5/96:
"There was so much magic in Apple Computer in the early '80s that it is hard to believe that it may fade away. Apple went from hip to has-been in just 19 years."
Fortune, 2/19/1996:
"Apple's erratic performance has given it the reputation on Wall Street of a stock a long-term investor would probably avoid."
The Economist, 2/23/95:
"Apple could hang on for years, gamely trying to slow the decline, but few expect it to make such a mistake. Instead it seems to have two options. The first is to break itself up, selling the hardware side. The second is to sell the company outright."
The Financial Times, 7/11/97:
"Apple no longer plays a leading role in the $200 billion personal computer industry. 'The idea that they're going to go back to the past to hit a big home run...is delusional,' says Dave Winer, a software developer."
Yamahito - Monday 2nd October, 2006 09:17 Hmm... Wasn't Apple bought out by Microsoft for a few years around then?