Apple, Jobs, Pixar & Disney: Deadly media combo?

There’s no doubt in my mind that the creative engineers at Apple are head and shoulders above the competition when it comes to building beautifully seductive hardware (iMacs, iPods, etc.) and computer software (OS/X, iTunes, etc.). And I’m not even an Apple user!

A stroll down memory lane

Too bad Steve Jobs (see pic on left) never became the CEO of an underachieving IBM Corp. Boy did John Akers really f#ck up when an amateur Bill Gates somehow got Big Blue to “license” MS-DOS, thus earning a pay check every time an IBM “clone” was sold. As they say, “the rest is history.” It’s also too bad Jobs didn’t get a chance to be the big kahuna at the now defunct Digital Equipment Corp. (DEC), which was the playground of some brilliant MIT engineers who had no equals – technically. That company was later consumed by Compaq which then merged (er was taken over) with HP. Imagine what Jobs would’ve achieved back then if he was able to get his hands on DEC’s trail-blazing 64-bit Alpha chip along with its super-fast AltaVista search engine. Damn, that’d be scary!

In reference to Gates and Microsoft, I will give them full credit for making computing unquestionably cheaper for the masses. History will forever be on their side, and rightfully so. Let’s face it, IBM didn’t know jack sqat about what it meant to provide “cheap” or “economical” products to the non-corporate world back then.

A step backwards?
To make a long story short, Apple has been losing the performance race to cheaper X86-based processors like Intel’s Pentium-4 and AMD’s Athlon/Opteron chips. Although IBM and Motorola made an excellent Power PC chip, they just could not keep up with Intel and AMD in the Megahertz race, which was not good PR to naive buyers. Most importantly, the general consensus is that a user could get “more bang for the buck” simply by going with a souped-up IBM clone.

Therefore Apple is staking its future on Intel’s new chips leaving IBM and Motorola out in the cold. I’ve read accounts on the Net that Jobs was pissed off at IBM because they were unable to supply the hardware on time as they were more focused on producing chips for the Xbox, Play Station 3, and Nintendo video game consoles. Well, in all fairness, the video game market is more lucrative and IBM and Motorola – being embedded chip suppliers – went for the gold.

Apple co-founder not thrilled with Intel deal
In a rare interview with Canada’s Globe & Mail, the other Apple co-founder and engineer extraordinaire, Steve Wozniak, stated his displeasure about Apple moving over to the “Intel inside” world.

“It’s like consorting with the enemy. We’ve had this long history of saying the enemy is the big black-hatted guys, and they kind of represent evil. We are different, and by being different we’re better.”

I disagree with Wozniak’s view, but I’m surprised Jobs didn’t look into AMD’s chip as an alternative. But then again, Intel has a boat load of cash for marketing, and I’m sure they made huge concessions to get a bite out of Apple. (pun intended)

What next?
Well, with Disney buying Job’s Pixar for a whopping US $7 billion, things are definitely looking up for Apple if the right iTunes “distribution” cards are dealt. And get this, Job’s still owns 51% of Pixar plus he gets a seat on Disney’s board of directors. Can you imagine the creative synergies of these 3 companies in the world of media if egos are kept out of the boardroom? BTW, it wouldn’t surprise me if he actually became the new CEO of the Magic Kingdom.

All I have to say is this. Hollywood’s in for a rude awakening. I know Jobs will keep the majority of its over-rated media executives on their toes because he’s, first and foremost, an IT pro who understands new media.

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Related links:

• Why Apple Really Ditched PowerPC
• Will Apple Adopt Windows?
• Intel Chip Nudges iMac Closer to Perfection
• Year-End Thoughts on Microsoft, Apple, Intel and Lenovo
• Steve Jobs and the New Magic Kingdom
• Apple makes switch to Intel chips
• My NEW Video Game Idea (take a peek at how lucrative the video game market is)