Had this been any other time in the company's history, I believe updated PowerBook and desktops would have been available for the Christmas season. However, customers aren't the only people Apple needs to impress. Despite's the company's recent success, there are a cadre of very vocal critics who question the prospects for Apple's long-term success. It's my view that Apple has slowed the pace of its new product introductions in order to maintain strict cost controls and all but guarantee high profits for the quarter. Soon after New Year's Day, the patience of Mac users will be rewarded when the company releases its consumer laptop and its next generation of PowerBooks.
Survival is a funny thing.
No matter the era they live in, people are faced with new and exciting challenges. While I don't wish to make an absurd analogy that likens the relative comfort in which Mac users have endured Apple's difficult times to the extreme hardships and sufferings experienced by America's frontier pioneers, I do believe there is something to be said for the way we choose to travel life's journey. It was the Conestoga wagon that aided America's frontier pioneers in their search for land and opportunity. It's the personal computer and the Internet that aids today's families in their worldwide quest for knowledge and information. I can't imagine anyone embarking on the Oregon Trail without regard for the quality of their transportation equipment.