The deadline passed on Saturday for Yahoo’s response to Microsoft’s bid to merge the two internet giants. Microsoft feels that they need to join forces with Yahoo for both companies to survive the Google onslaught. Alone Microsoft or Yahoo doesn’t stand a chance. Marc Andreessen has a great analysis of the deal in his blog at:
http://blog.pmarca.com/2008/04/if-microsoft-go.html
The Wall Street Journal also has their take on the deal at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120928269478947675.html?mod=technology_main_whats_news
Meanwhile Yahoo is busy making paid search deals with Google and has approached other companies like AOL/Time Warner about merging. It looks like Yahoo will try anything to avoid merging with Microsoft. There was no word today from Yahoo or Microsoft so stay tuned. Are they working out a deal or are they just avoiding each other. Something big is going to happen before this ends whether it’s a new company called MicroHoo or Yahoo will jump in bed with someone else to avoid the hostile takeover bid.
I’ll keep you posted!
Sphere: Related Content[tag-ice]Steve Jobs[/tag-ice] has done it again. [tag-tec]Apple[/tag-tec] announced the world’s smallest laptop yesterday at MacWorld., the [tag-tec]MacBook Air[/tag-tec]. The [tag-ice]MacBook Air[/tag-ice] features a 13.3-inch LED-backlit widescreen display that has a 1280 x 800 pixel resolution. The backlighting saves power and provides "instant on" response from the moment you turn it on. The device has a slightly wedge-shaped profile. It weighs about 3 pounds, and sports a thickness of 0.16-0.76 inches. It’s 12.8 inches wide and 8.95 inches deep. And it carrys a hefty pricetag of $1799.
Every year Apple dominates the headlines with a huge product announcement at it’s annual user conference in San Francisco. The buzz is unlike anything else in the tech world. Last year it was the [tag-ice]iPhone[/tag-ice]. This year the [tag-ice]MacBook Air[/tag-ice]. How does Apple do it every year? Everywhere you look there’s something about [tag-tec]MacWorld[/tag-tec] and Apple. With all of this buzz, why doesn’t Apple dominate the personal computer market? They still have less than 10% of the market which is amazing because they are by far a better computer according to most experts.
Apple always has innovative designs and features. Every product they release is sleek and easy to use. The [tag-ice]iPods[/tag-ice] and [tag-ice]iPhones[/tag-ice] are unlike anything on the market. Apple’s computers are also better looking, faster, and the operating systems is lightyears ahead of Microsoft. Apple is always a generation or two ahead of [tag-tec]Microsoft[/tag-tec] and it’s clear that Microsoft steals everything Apple does in it’s operating system. So why doesn’t Apple dominate the market?
It’s because Apple’s hardware sucks. Everything Apple releases breaks within a year. I can’t tell you how many iPods I’ve purchased for my kids. Within days the cases were scratched, the batteries sucked. the displays faded out, the hard drives crashed and they just stop working. The newer iPods are better but they are far from perfect. So why do people keep buying iPods when they know they’ll break?
The iPhones had a huge return rate when it was first released. Batteries died, the screens blanked out and they were full of bugs. Some sources say that 29% of the iPhones sold in the first month were returned. It’s impossible to verify that number because Apple won’t say but everyone I know that purchased one had problems.
So why do people love Apple? People pay 2 to 3 times more for Apple products and the quality sucks.
Why don’t people hate [tag-tec]Steve Jobs[/tag-tec] like they hate [tag-tec]Bill Gates[/tag-tec]? Why aren’t they dominating the personal computer market? The passionate Apple community is as strong as ever and they’re willing to pay anything for any product Apple releases. Plus they’ll never say a bad word about Apple no matter how many problems they have with the hardware.
How can you build brand loyalty for your business that is as strong as Apple built with it’s users? i’ll explore how Apple did it in my next post.
Until next time.
Ted
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