Question: How did Apple flourish despite Neal Stephenson's prediction that proprietary software companies would fail?
Context: Babylon is a computer dictionary and translation program, developed by Babylon Software Ltd., an Israeli public company () based in Or Yehuda.  The company was established in 1997 by the Israeli entrepreneur Amnon Ovadia.  Its IPO took place ten years later.  It is considered a part of Israel's Download Valley, a cluster of software companies monetizing "free" software downloads through adware.  Babylon includes in-house proprietary dictionaries, as well as community-created dictionaries and glossaries.  It is a tool used for translation and conversion of currencies, measurements and time, and for obtaining other contextual information.  The program also uses a text-to-speech agent, so users hear the proper pronunciation of words and text.  Babylon has developed 36 English-based proprietary dictionaries in 21 languages.  In 2008–2009, Babylon reported earnings of 50 million NIS through its collaboration with Google. IBM Lotus Symphony was a proprietary software suite of applications for creating, editing, and sharing text, spreadsheet, presentations, and other documents and browsing the World Wide Web.  It was first distributed as commercial proprietary software, then as freeware, before IBM contributed the suite to the Apache Software Foundation in 2014 for inclusion in the free and open-source Apache OpenOffice software suite. The GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL) is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation (FSF).  The license allows developers and companies to use and integrate software released under the LGPL into their own (even proprietary) software without being required by the terms of a strong copyleft license to release the source code of their own components.  The license only requires software under the LGPL be modifiable by end users via source code availability.  For proprietary software, code under the LGPL is usually used in the form of a shared library, so that there is a clear separation between the proprietary and LGPL components.  The LGPL is primarily used for software libraries, although it is also used by some stand-alone applications. Software monetization is a strategy employed by software companies and device vendors to maximize the profitability of their software.  The software licensing component of this strategy enables software companies and device vendors to simultaneously protect their applications and embedded software from unauthorized copying, distribution, and use, and capture new revenue streams through creative pricing and packaging models.  Whether a software application is hosted in the cloud, embedded in hardware, or installed on premise, software monetization solutions can help businesses extract the most value from their software.  Another way to achieve software monetization is through paid advertising and the various compensation methods available to software publishers.  Pay-per-install (PPI), for example, generates revenue by bundling third-party applications, also known as adware, with either freeware or shareware applications. In the Beginning... Was the Command Line is an essay by Neal Stephenson which was originally published online in 1999 and later made available in book form (November 1999, ISBN  ).  The essay is a commentary on why the proprietary operating systems business is unlikely to remain profitable in the future because of competition from free software.  It also analyzes the corporate/collective culture of the Microsoft, Apple, and free software communities. Terry Benton Bollinger (born February 6, 1955, Fredericktown, Missouri) is an American computer scientist who works at the MITRE Corporation.  In 2003 he wrote an influential report for the U.S. Department of Defense (U.S. DoD) in which he showed that free and open source software (FOSS) had already become a vital part of the United States Department of Defense software infrastructure, and that banning or restricting its use would have had serious detrimental impacts on DoD security, research capabilities, operational capabilities, and long-term cost efficiency.  His report ended a debate about whether FOSS should be banned from U.S. DoD systems, and in time helped lead to the current official U.S. DoD policy of treating FOSS and proprietary software as equals.  The report is referenced on the DoD CIO web site and has been influential in promoting broader recognition of the importance of free and open source software in government circles.  Bollinger is also known for his activity in the IEEE Computer Society, where he was an editor for IEEE Software for six years, wrote the founding charter for "IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine", and received an "IEEE Third Millennium Medal" for lifetime contributions to "IEEE".  He has written about a wide range of software issues including effective development processes, cyber security, and distributed intelligence. Marketo Inc. makes marketing automation software for companies.  In 2012, Marketo was ranked 78th on the Inc. 500, #7 among software companies, and #1 among marketing software companies.  In 2013, the Inc. 500 rank declined to 367th.  In 2014, Marketo did not make it into the ranking. The software industry in Karnataka state in India has become one of the main pillars of economy.  Karnataka stands first among all the states of India in terms of revenue generated from software exports.  Software exports from Karnataka amounted to excess of 487 billion ($11.6 billion) in the year 2006-2007.  This achievement has earned Karnataka's capital city Bangalore the sobriquet of "Silicon Valley of India".  This is because of the presence of major software companies in Bangalore and the revenue generated by exports of computer software.  Though most software companies are located in Bangalore, some have settled in other cities like Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli in Karnataka.  The Nandi Hills area in Devanahalli outskirts is the site of the upcoming $22 Billion, 12000 acre BIAL IT Investment Region, one of the largest infrastructure projects in the history of Karnataka.  This edeavor expected to create four million jobs over by the year 2030.  The infrastructure required for setting up software industries in Karnataka is provided by STPI.  The software industry in Karnataka includes companies dealing with various fields like telecommunication, banking software, avionics, database, automotive, networking, semiconductors, mobile handsets, internet applications and business process outsourcing. A combination company was a theatrical touring company which performed only one play.  Unlike repertory companies, which performed multiple plays in rotation, combination companies used more elaborate and specialized scenery in their productions.  Repertory theatre had been popular in the United States through the 19th century, and it is not clear how the combination system originated.  Combination companies contributed to the early success of Broadway theatre, as most combination companies began their tours in New York City.  Combination companies were fueled by stars.  The Star agenda or star system that had been set in place in mid 19th century America helped greatly in the development of the combination company.  The idea of celebrity was at full force and people would flock to theater houses to see their favorite stars perform.  Stars made famous in New York would travel to stock theaters and perform limited engagements there.  “The engagements of the first important stars… were rare and special events”(Poggi 4).  Audiences would come in from all over to sold out performances at playhouses and see their favorite stars.  The Stock companies would cancel their normal repertory programs for a few nights to allow for the show of the star.  The star would be supported by the local company of actors in the play, which proved to be very frustrating to them (Poggi 5).  After the star left, the company returned to its repertory schedule as per usual.  Yet annoyed by the lack of talent from regional companies, the stars began to search for companies to tour with them.  They began to tour with two or three actors, and then eventually whole companies would tour with them and they would perform a repertory of plays (Wilmeth 200-201).  This switch to companies that support the stars for the whole tour was one more step in the transition from stock companies to combination companies. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services.  The company's hardware products include the iPhone smartphone, the iPad tablet computer, the Mac personal computer, the iPod portable media player, the Apple Watch smartwatch, the Apple TV digital media player, and the HomePod smart speaker.  Apple's consumer software includes the macOS and iOS operating systems, the iTunes media player, the Safari web browser, and the iLife and iWork creativity and productivity suites.  Its online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and Mac App Store, Apple Music, and iCloud.
Answer: Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services.