Scully is a strange bird, no doubt about it. Some things to keep in mind:
What if Apple had used x86 instead of PPC?
Hardware at commodity prices/components:
No Apple hardware division. There's no way Apple could have offered extra value in hardware and made any meaningful difference in price versus the Compaqs and Dells of the world, because even $100 is a vast gulf in the PC market.
Even if they did offer higher value hardware on x86, what possible business advantage would result? The Sonys and AlienWare's of the world today do not have marketshare that compares with Apple's current position.
It might be worthwhile to remind those who would give Scully an ear that he almost suceeded in destroying the Apple hardware division, even without x86 in the box. I suppose if he had prevailed, it just wouldn't have taken as long, making the Jobs era moot (too little, too late). Under his helm, the clone era saw Apple's marketshare fall from 10% to 3% in two years; a level that the company is still recovering from. Thanks, John.
Alternately, they could have adopted an archtitecture identical to PCs. Result: No Apple software division. Who would buy "extra" software when Windows apps do mostly the same thing? What developer would continue with MacOS version development when they could simply convince Mac users to adopt Windows instead? Remember, it was business users, mostly accountants used to DOS, who drove the adoption of Windows over MacOS at the corporate/small business level, and it was business adoption that drove the home adoption.
Sounds like Scully's wise musings are good justification for getting him out before he finished the job he started. In either of the above scenarios, I don't see Apple emerging as an $8 billion-a-year company, although I suppose there might be more profit for shareholders (which is what he's really advocating, because he's a bean-counter and always has been. He doesn't care a whit about the company or the computer industry itself).
Hey John! How come Pepsi didn't want you back? Could it be because they make more money than Coke, but it took your leaving for it to happen? See ya'.
[ October 09, 2003, 05:19 PM: Message edited by: gordguide ]