Total Digression

One thing on my mind. I use a Mac, and everyday I read analysts and journalists predicting the demise of the company because of shrinking marketshare. What they haven't gotten yet, and what was a big lesson from the net-boom of the 90's is what defines the life and success of a company. It's not marketshare, it's profitability.

Case in point: Past internet giants like excite@home and that toys.com sock puppet at one time ruled the market they competed in. They had the most customers and the most brand awareness. I would say they had the share for their markets.

But they weren't profitable. Profitable means you earn more than you spend. The sock puppet was famous for burning through money. Other companies during the boom were similar. Apple is not going away anytime soon because no matter how little or large the marketshare grows, the company remains profitable.

They have managed to spend a lot of R&D money to innovate new products AND become a debt-free company with over 3 billion dollars CASH in the bank. Not that many others can say the same. You can argue that Gateway computers has more marketshare than Apple, but they're not profitable - they're losing money. And one day, they might have to quit.

Because they made no profit.