This is a nice article overall, but this part stood out to me.
The history of Apple and Microsoft’s relationship has often been one of direct confrontation. Whether it’s Surface vs. iPad, Zune vs. iPod, or the classic PC vs. Mac, the two American giants have often competed for the same clientele, trying to sate the same needs.
This is a common misconception. While the two companies certainly had their tussles (the look and feel lawsuit being a major one), most of it was nothing but marketing – riling up their own fanbases. During most of their history, these two companies have had close ties, working together very closely on many projects. The supposedly great rivalry between these two companies existed mostly between its fans, not between the companies themselves. They’ve always needed each other, and continue to need each other to this day.
In fact, in fighting Google, these two companies have been working together more closely than ever before. If you think the sudden onslaught of patent abuse against Android and its OEMs from Microsoft and Apple (and Oracle, another company with close ties to Apple and Microsoft) was a coincidence, I have a bridge to sell you.
I always find it fascinating that the idea that Apple and Microsoft are bitter rivals has survived to this day.
Sorry, but the notion that Apple and Microsoft were, for the majority of their existence, NOT bitter rivals is simply just revisionist history. Yes, they both teamed up against Google and worked together at convenient times, but that does not wipe away the fact that they were still fierce competitors for decades. That fact simply undeniable.
No kidding. Microsoft invested in Apple because they wanted to avoid an antitrust lawsuit. They put their products on Apple now because they realize they are missing out on a huge market otherwise. That doesn’t erase the fact that they aren’t primarily competitors.
Being competitors and partners at the same time is not unusual for big businesses. IBM and Oracle are a good example – huge competitors and huge partners.
Most sheeple are stupid enough to take all the MSApple marketing BS without any own thought.
They are both patents trolls and anti competitive. For a long time they share their patents and lobby for stupid math patents, they even bought patents to create new patent trolls (Rockstar)
Apple and Microsoft used to be rivals, but that happened in the ’80ies and early ’90ies. Since then, long time passed and the companies and their policies and interests changed.
Apple competes with Dell/HP/IBM/Sony/Samsung. Those are hardware makers (OEM).
Apple had a symbiotic relationship with Microsoft where Apple got Office (and for a while even IE as the default browser) and Microsoft got iTunes/Safari, which accidentally is all the proof you need that Apple is good at making hardware and Microsoft is good at making software
Nowadays they do compete in certain areas of hardware, but those are areas where Microsoft is relatively small (Lumia, Surface). On the other end it seems that all software that Microsoft makes, except for Big Enterprise tools like MSSQL, including Windows and Office is running just fine on Apple’s hardware
I would never use IE as proof of Microsoft making good software.
Well, *before* that symbiotic relationship (which started in late 90ies), they used to be real rivals. These days, more often than competing, one can see the two companies allied against other rivals.
Microsoft applications for Mac predates Microsoft applications for Windows. So before the before they were not rivals
Your living in fantasy land.
http://www.businessinsider.com/ballmer-snatches-microsoft-employees…
Admittedly this was 5 years ago but even today it’s considered ‘bad form’ to even carry an Apple product on campus. ( Most Microsoft employees have two phones for this reason – the free Microsoft phone and their iPhone / Android ).
That’s a different thing and to some degree is not a bad thing, is called “eating your own dog food”.
On the other hand, when both Apple and Microsoft are very litigious companies, suing all their competitors (patents and such), can you point to *any* lawsuit between them in the last 10 years? Or when a common enemy appears (example: open standards proposed for video formats on the web), see how they ally to destroy it.
Well, rivalry and competition doesn’t have to be unhealty. That was one core concept of the free market.
Beatles vs Rolling Stones