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Apple has an identity crisis on its hands moving forward. War will be waged internally and judged externally.
Apple HQ has always been an environment in which freedom to express ideas and propose new thinking is nurtured and even expected, but since the mid 90′s when Sculley left and Jobs returned there has been one final decision maker. Clear, focused, and undeniable.
They are now sitting on $75 billion in cash with no decision maker and a corporate culture which, with its constant stream of ideas concepts and proposals, has produced proponents, zealots and competing internal ‘schools of thought’ about what should be done and what is important. The impending corporate struggle will, no doubt, be fodder for books, movies and insider stories for years to come.
I was a professional media developer before getting my first Mac Plus in 1985, but since then i have bled the 6 colors of the original Mack logo as a loyal, and vociferous Macintosh evangelist and even though I have been professionally burned by Apple’s past willingness to discard technology, [Let's talk someday about Hypercard and OpenDoc] I have traditionally persevered because they were clearly committed to the future of professional media. That is no longer the case.
I’m afraid that they see a future of rebuilding the world on the ‘thin client’ model. Dumb-but-small shiny baubles that will provide narrow access to personal stuff, the ability to communicate and capture things that masses of folks can play with and feel cool. Oh and btw, these devices will track everything we do, everywhere we go, and every text and email we write.
Apple has had so much success in recent years with their iToys it is hard for me to count on them to suddenly regain an interest in professional hardware, but i hope so.
The future and even the definition of Professional Media is evolving