...OS, but your Mac history seems to have a "little" bias.
Your first mistake is thinking of Apple as a software company. They are, and have always been, a HARDWARE company. They happen to sell a very good OS to run their hardware.
Apple was in "circle the drain" mode after the clones ate up the profits Apple had enjoyed to that point. The clones did not add to the customer base as the CEO of Apple (and you) thought it would. All it did was take customers away from Apple.
The board Fired the CEO, but had no replacement. For months they could not find anyone who would fill the position, because no one wanted to take the job of "going down with the ship". Let's face it, nobody wanted the downfall of Apple on their resume, and that's where smart money was betting it was headed.
After the board fired Steve from the company he and Woz created, you can bet they tried all options before asking him back. They even made his title "interem CEO" in the hope that some new option would come up.
His first big move was to stop the bleeding of the clones, by buying back all the clone licenses. His second was the i-Mac. Profits returned.
At that point the board probably could have found a new CEO, but they went with Steve and removed the "interem" from the title. Why?
Just now, as it happens, CNN stated that Apple stock is up about 9.5 times it's price from 2.5 years ago. I'd be insuferably arrogant if I could do that. Like Kid Rock said, "It aint bragging if you back it up.
He may not have gone with your choice for the new kernel, and with your choice things would be different, but you can't argue with the fact that his choice is working.
He started Apple in the Woz's garage. If he's so wrong, and you're so right, go out to your garage, and create "Orange" or "Pear" with Linux or the BeOS.
Can't do it? Stop putting down those who can and did.
As for your distain for Apple's market share, I'll be lazy and quote from another post I made on the subject.
Overall market share covers large market segments where Apple isn?t competing ? including markets where Apple doesn?t want to compete. Fifteen or 20 years ago, personal computers were generally only purchased and used by people who were ?into? computers. Today, however, many computers are purchased for use as generic business machines, modern-day typewriters and adding machines.
PCs are used everywhere, from telemarketing cubicle farms to supermarket checkout registers. The much ballyhooed ?network computer? platform never emerged the way companies like Sun and Oracle had hoped (i.e. ?no Microsoft?), but very cheap PCs are frequently used as little more than network terminals. Apple simply doesn?t make machines that would be good choices for extremely low-end tasks. Apple has concentrated at the high-end of the consumer market.
Mercedes has been making cars for over a hundred years. When have they ever had the leading market share? Porsche? Rolls Royce? Austin Martin? When I think of outstanding automotive engineering, those are the companies that first come to my mind.
Do you think of market share? Enjoy your Ford Taurus. There are a thousand companies that make parts for it! So when is Mercedes due to go out of business? Not any time soon I think. Didn't they buy Chrysler not to long ago??
Market share is important but how you define the market is also important. Mercedes is only a small part of the auto industry but it is a giant in the luxury automobile market. The trick is defining your space correctly."
Your space, as is indicated by your numbers, is not so much like overall automobile market share as it is like overall motor vehicle market share. It?s like counting everything from golf carts to tractor trailers as a single category.
Any company that creates, and markets it's creations and services to its customer base well, regardless of industry pundits and stock analysts, will succeed, thrive, and matter. Maseratti, Bang & Olfson, Rolex, Lear Jet, in fact all of the premium, "niche" companies know this.
On the other hand, if being with the "market share leader" is what's important to you, then enjoy McDonalds and Burger King. Me, I had a wonderful steak last night at this place called Diamond Grill. It must be an absolute failure, it's tiny, only about 30 tables, and just like Apple, it's obviously been right on the edge of failure for the last twenty years because of its tiny market share and higher prices. Just look at how many meals they sell a year vs. McDonalds! After all, food is food, right?
Lampie the Avenger
LOL