Relic37

Buying Apple Today: Like Buying Microsoft in 1998?

One thing I rarely see addressed in analyzing Apple is the demographic it serves (averaged broadly) It tends to the younger end of the scale - probably skewed to those under 35-40. As these hyper-loyal customers replace the older generation that grew-up with PCs and Microsoft, the natural evolution of things would seem to be continued growth for Apple and diminishing returns for the PCs and Microsoft. My college aged child is hooked on Apple, and so are most of her college friends. Apple would have to stumble BADLY and probably repeatedly to drive them into the PC world.

I'm in my mid-50s and have thrown in the towel on the Dell / Gates product combo. I find it refreshing to use a computer (Apple) that just works - no crashes, no viruses, no problems. The slightly higher cost is not a deterrent because....it works. At this point, I can't conceive of anything Dell or Microsoft could do to tempt me to ever buy their products again. And more and more of my friends are coming to the same conclusion.

The short-term is always a crap-shoot, but long-term Apple is the 200 pound gorilla, rapidly growing large enough to push the 800 pound gorilla off the mountain top. Some day financial analysts may be comparing Microsoft to Sears.