David Sobotta, Circa 2007

After the iPhone announcement in January 2007, noted Apple pessimist David Sobotta:

The iPhone is without a doubt the most elegant of gadgets, but I get the feeling the reflection you see in the shiny surface might well be the high water mark for Apple. Time will tell if the iPhone will live up to euphoria that seems to have gripped the Apple world today.

Yes, it will.

The most overdue announcement was taking ‘Computers’ out of Apple’s name. There is some sadness from seeing that actually happen. At one time Apple produced the computer for the rest of us. That seems to be flipped on its head these days even as Apple’s market share grows. My guess is that in spite of the iPhone and the other i-products, history will still look on Bill Gates more favorably than Steve Jobs. Then again, “One Laptop Per Child” might surpass them both.

Every single quarter since Sobotta said the above, Mac sales have outgrown those of the PC industry as a whole.

(Thanks to DF reader Jonathan Flath.)

★ Friday, 9 November 2012