A few days ago I wrote my salute to Steve Jobs and added my wishes to the multitude of Apple fans who hope he wins his fight with cancer. I wondered, like everyone, what will become of Apple after Jobs. Will it wither, as it did the first time the firm foolishly let him go?
An item on the BBC WOrld News this morning talked about HP's decision to get out of the PC business. The reported noted that IBM made the same decision years ago, when it was the leading seller in the market, just as HP is today. The reason? Razor thin profit margins, according to this newscaster... as thin as 1% sometimes.
By contrast, he added, Apple is able to command up to a 40% margin on some of its products. With six Apples in our family, I feel that the differences between Apple and PC are sufficient to justify the premium prices. The only HPs we own --- can you guess? --- printers. You can get a printed for around $100 that pretty much does it all. Profit margins on these can't be much either, I suppose.
Lastly, the story said that with more and more computing being done in "the Cloud," less and less stuff needs to be on your desk top.
Every time I've been to our local Apple store it is full of folks. Will this continue? I wonder.
And --- a corollary question --- how vulnerable is this "Cloud"? Is it, like the national power grid, as vulnerable as some people suggest? Is it the next terrorist target? What about cyberwars among nations?
Lots of questions in my mind, not too many answers, this morning.
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