If you haven't already, check out New York Magazine's profile of Steve Jobs. Most of it is a rehash of former events leading up to the D: All Things Digital conference last month. And then there is this little tidbit:
"I think that Google is going to buy Apple," this person says. "It would be a victory for Apple; they'd get major-league partners, money, and engineers. And it would be a victory for Steve—a huge win that lets him leave the stage."
The speculation about Google has a ring of plausibility. Google CEO Eric Schmidt is now on the Apple board; engineers at the two companies are collaborating on Google Maps for the iPhone; and then there's the YouTube deal for Apple TV.
So, if that happens--and I doubt it will, but still--do we get to see a Bowman vs. Nixon showdown?
Join the fray by reading through and commenting at the end.
He must of forgotten to mention it when he sat with Bill Gates, or maybe they were too busy sharing their feelings...
If the G buys Apple, I'll eat my hat*
*no I won't. But you get the idea.
Even though this seems impossible, Jobs DID sell Pixar to Disney and became the largest stockholder in that company. Selling Apple to Google would give him a pretty big stake in that giant, as well, I'm sure. Again, it all seems unlikely, but wouldn't it be quite a blow to Microsoft if it happened?
"And it would be a victory for SteveĀa huge win that lets him leave the stage."
Anybody who thinks Steve is interested in leaving the stage at this point is out of his mind. This isn't comparable to the Pixar deal at all, since Steve was *not* involved in day-to-day operations of that company. He's a micro manager at Apple who likes to be in control of everything (a good thing, IMHO, for Apple); he was a "big picture" guy at Pixar who filled the important operations positions with the right people.
A takeover by Google, IMHO as an Apple shareholder, would be incredibly stupid. When have companies ever benefitted from merging into ever bigger conglomerates? Apple is good at what it does now, and so is Google. What benefit is there to an acquisition, other than to make different company cultures clash together in one big cluster f***?
Bowman v. Nixon already happened actually. It was a tough fight to call, but those who saw it on TV gave Bowman the edge while those who listened to it on the radio thought Nixon won. People are saying it had something to do with Nixon not shaving.
Greg, make sure you get the rights to "Aoople" before this merger goes down so that you can sell them the name and become a major stock holder in the whole thing yourself. Just think, free powerbooks for life!
Seriously doubtful, but how about this: Apple/Google create a special force of ninjas that spin off (even literally if it helps illustrate the point) and create a new "joint venture" without making a mess of the two parent organizations. The possibilities in this scenario would be just as endless, but a lot less risk to the main brands.
KL may be on to something here. Maybe a sort of "core technologies lab" that builds frameworks and APIs that work across the desktop and the web; and as has been speculated elsewhere, coming up with a replacement for .Mac.
iCal, Mail, Pages, iWeb, iPhoto, Keynote -- Google Calendar, Gmail, Google Pages / Blogger, Google Apps, Picasa.
on that point, Blogger could use a serious overhaul to catch up with WordPress at this point, both in elegance and flexibility.
And of course there could be something new that only comes from both companies -- say, some sort of internet collaboration tool built into GarageBand for jamming, or the easy creation of a MySpace-like band site / integrated iTunes store....that's much easier / more elegant than what we have now.
Would the Apple logo would get its multicoloured stripes back?
No way is Apple selling. And no way x2 is Apple selling to Google.
Selling Apple would be a victory for Jobs? Seems like the exact opposite to me. Apple is victorious right now and getting more victorious by the day *just being Apple*.
I'm tired of acquisitions rumors. Can't we all just be satisified with companies operating independantly?
How about Goopl? In the spirit of web 2.0 :)
Google's personalized home page is already called iGoogle. So maybe just iGoo, and the new tagline is 'We make good goo'. And here in Canada they'll brand themselves as iGloo.
> Would the Apple logo would get its multicoloured stripes back?
*shudders*
> Apple is victorious right now and getting more victorious by the day *just being Apple*.
Anyone remember Wired issue devoted to how Apple was about to die and how to save it? I believe they suggested lauching new products like washer and dryers.
> here in Canada they'll brand themselves as iGloo.
I thought they called it WhackABabySeal.com
"It would be a victory for Apple; they'd get major-league partners, money, and engineers." They have that. It's business 101 that you should stick to what your good at. Google is good at indexing the web and monetizing search. Apple makes great consumer products and theyre pretty damn good at software. But you don't have to merge companies to work together. The only benefit I see in them merging is blowing up the stock price.
I would have to agree with Christopher. I can see them as business partners, but I definitely can't see Google buying out Apple. I like Google but I would be pretty angry, for lack of words, if I woke up tomorrow to see that Google did indeed buy Apple. I think the majority of Apple's cult would feel the same way but I could be sniffing glue.
We would have the genetic forced-mesh of the Best Designed Company vs. The Worst Logo Ever. Somehow this would be a show worth watching.
@ G: nope ... it's iWackSeals sung to the tune of "Oh I;m so pretty, oh so pretty.." with a chorus of "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK" thrown in. Pass the beer, eh! ....
People seem so easy to forgot that Google could purchase Apple without even Apple's consent.
Apple is a public company. All Google has to do to buy Apples stock. THAT'S IT!
I dunno... Makes me think of The Beatles "Yellow Submarine" cartoon when those tall dudes are dropping giant apples on the smaller folk. (different Apple I know) But you know? Such a mighty company might make me want to decide to move into the jungle like the end of Mel Gibson's Apocalypto (just watched that last night and it seemed appropriate). Maybe that should be the name of the new company "Appoocalypto"
There'll be some genetic splicing and we'll see the ultimate designer:
Doul Boxon.