Oi. Market Capitalization Edition

Does it make anyone else wonder how many times a prediction has to be made before it becomes perceived as reality?

Let me give you a hint: if you continuously tell someone it’s 1:00pm, you’ll eventually be correct once a day. Even if you don’t have a clock.

Now that AAPL (Apple) has a larger Market Cap than MSFT (Microsoft), there’s even more new life in the “Microsoft is dead!” rumor mill… I own stock in both companies – I’d prefer that neither go out because, well, that would suck. And true, MSFT has been flat for so long that C (Citigroup) even had a chance to catch up to it, but that’s neither here nor there. One thing is certain: I’m so sick to death of hearing the seemingly endless dirge for Microsoft that I want to push my iPhone earbuds so far into my head that they touch.

People have been proclaiming the death of Microsoft since before launch of Windows 95. First it was the 16-bit vs 32-bit argument. Windows vs OS/2. Bob vs PC’s. Then missing out on the Internet. Then the Browser Wars. Then the DOJ battle. Clippy in Office. Then C# vs Java. XP vs Linux. .NET vs CORBA. Vista vs PC’s. MSN vs Google. The EU seeming cash grab. 360 vs PS3 vs Wii. Windows Mobile vs RIM vs iPhone. Windows 7 vs OSX vs Linux (again). The list is long and it has no end in sight. Why? Because the competition continues. Because Microsoft doesn’t just roll over and die.

Sure, things might not be 100% right the first time. Sure, some products aren’t #1 with 80% market share at first. But it keeps on going. Notice how Apple never mentions their miscues that they’ve had to recover from? They are only recently claiming to be “fixing” Apple TV. What about the insanely defective 27″ iMacs? The languishing MacBook Air. Or Pippin. Or Newton. Or even the Puck Mouse which was so bad compared to the brilliant [original] iMac. They have had a green tomato on the vine before and they also have recovered from them. As does Microsoft. The race may change, the course may change, the game may change, but MSFT will continue to run the race because it’s what we do.

And so with blogs proclaiming MSFT’s death yet again, I wonder how long it will take before they turn on AAPL and how long MSFT has to continue to live until they get bored with the story

…again.


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.