I was there when IBM announced the PS/2 line of computers. All of them (except for the top of the line which wasn’t actually produced) used 286 chips. I was there next to a Compaq executive and asked him on his take since this was IBM moving away from the PC standard.
His reaction was one of giddiness. He was originally afraid that IBM might be able with their shear size, stage a comeback. However, while all of the IBMs computers used the 286 chipsets. Compaq had stopped using the 286 chip and had moved on to the 386 chips. Compaq machines were already used in businesses, and their machines were faster. IBM, he told me, might as well give up the PC business. They’re no longer a player.
Apple isn’t buying up the entire supply like IBM did. Instead, they’re buying just enough for a quarter. This gives them the discount they need, and guarantees they won’t be stuck with the last generation of parts while everyone else is moving to the next generation.
Apple’s influence in pushing technology. Without Apple, we wouldn’t have Gorilla Glass, the new compact battery packs, or SSD drives. Apple can go in with its massive cash and requirements and almost will new factories into existence. With their sales and cash on hand, they can get companies to build facilities for products that are still on the drawing board.
Not since Nasa in the 1960s, have we seen a single organization capable of pushing the technological envelope forward.
