I find it rather odd that Apple's share price as gone so high; why would Apple be worth more than Microsoft and Google? I suggest this has more to do with stock market investor beliefs than anything tangible. It points to the reason we should not tie our sense of self-worth to the stock market.
Is the business itself actually worth more because people are willing to pay more for its stock shares? No business is actually worth more or less; it has the same physical structure, the same work force, and the same rate of sales and profit margin, regardless of share value.
That being said, Apple has done some very good business, and despite my thinking that the iPhone would soon enough become a second-rate device, Apple had been updating it regularly. Apple has not ignored improvements in other devices, either, and the fact that Apple adopted Thunderbolt before the PC industry did is a feather in Apple's cap. Word is the next Macbook refresh will include screens that are 2880x1800 in resolution and dimension (being 16:10 as opposed to the terrible 16:9 most notebooks these days have), which will put them far, far ahead of any current PC notebook display - and in ways ahead of any monitor available at any price for the computer.
I'm certainly no Apple fan; I didn't care for Job's salesmanship, didn't believe his message, which I thought lacked integrity (though I think he believed it himself, and in believing it, convinced many of it's "truth"). However, Apple has stepped up its game, and a 2880x1800 notebook will get me excited about an Apple product, something that hasn't happened for me since the Lisa.
The sad thing for me will be I'm unlikely to be able to afford such a Macbook - just as I couldn't afford the Lisa when it was available. That, of course, is not Apple's fault at all, but mine.
Regardless, when a heavy PC and Windows user talks about buying an Apple product (something I actually at one time swore I'd never do), who still very much likes his PC and thinks it's the best computer option available and isn't expressing emotional dissatisfaction, you know they have something going on.
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