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IBM gave up the common Joe some years ago and left the laptop production to Lenovo.
IBM is all about the Enterprise business. They provide no nonsense solutions in a big scale for heavy duty computer needs. So IBM has probably built the most supercomputers in the world.

But that contact with the common Joe is gone and that is a huge market.

Apple needs a corporate alibi to get away from - or be more than - the "Dancing deodorants with white teeth" superficial fashion image.

So this match comes in handy for both of them.

Exactly what they are going to do is very unclear at this point - but basically they will build apps that extend to anything - and naturally they are all for the "cloud" (aka "give your data to me").

Right now, engineers, designers, and developers from both organizations are working on more than 100 end-to-end mobile solutions, including a new category of mobile apps, that are ready for the enterprise.

Engaging customers "anytime anywhere" will be a possible.

Here is IBM's announcement

In this case, who is the Ying or the Yang

Remember way back in 1984 the Orwellian add from Apple with that old geezer on the Telescreen that looks almost like Steve Jobs.

Yeah Apple did really hate IBM back then - They refered to IBM as Big Brother

This i their add from 1984 (no joke)

That guy on the screen is IBM.
But now Apple is bigger than their former Big Brother and they have brought us Orwell's 1984 more than anyone else in competition with Google.

So the roles have switched.

IBM is all about Enterprise and Apple is one of the biggest Enterprises in the world so they follow the business.
IBM has always been a serious high quality - "just works" company. They score bottom marks on flexibility - but top marks on stability and quality - for top dollars. They have been very important for Linux and use it a lot.

Apple has the flexibility and the tempo that IBM lacks. but not the quality and rock solid stability.

In terms of design Apple has top marks and IBM couldn't care less - they are all about functionality, so there are some comparative strengths to be exploited here.

Microsoft should be worried...

Apple is a boutique IT company no more important that Michael Kors, Channel, Prada, etc... Only appeals to hipsters and pretentious people.

Other than that not a big deal.

The fact is the CEOs and high ranking people are those Hipsters and want their toys to work with the Network.
Any self-respected IT System Admin will say a big NO to put that junk in the network.
So they went where hurts the most, the wallet, find a solution to the problem regardless of how much it cost.

I am under the impression IBM sees this as an opportunity to stick it back to them.
All the protocols and middle-ware that makes it possible could be an intellectual property for IBM and all will be back in the court fighting over crap.

R_Head wrote:Apple is a boutique IT company no more important that Michael Kors, Channel, Prada, etc... Only appeals to hipsters and pretentious people.

Other than that not a big deal.

The fact is the CEOs and high ranking people are those Hipsters and want their toys to work with the Network.
Any self-respected IT System Admin will say a big NO to put that junk in the network.
So they went where hurts the most, the wallet, find a solution to the problem regardless of how much it cost.

I am under the impression IBM sees this as an opportunity to stick it back to them.
All the protocols and middle-ware that makes it possible could be an intellectual property for IBM and all will be back in the court fighting over crap.

I think your being a little too hard on Apple and her customers. While its true a lot of ¨hipsters¨ and pretentious¨ people may use apple products, there are also a lot of ¨hipsters¨ and pretentious people who use Windows and yes, even Linux. Their products are expensive, but they work, usually are of high quality, and ultimately are simple. Technology is not always accessible to particular audiences due to its complexity, but Apple is always there for those who need it spoon fed to them. Not everyone can dedicate 5-10 hours a month or have the savoir-faire for learning and maintaining their Arch Linux rolling distro with full disk encryption and FOSS approved only software as well as a rooted Linux based phone/tablet that will suffer a plethora of setbacks. If people, organizations, and companies want to block out Apple, they better have a realistic alternative available for them or it will be their lose.

With that being said, IBM-Apple is only a natural coalition at this point. Very much in need of each other.

The IBM core business has been to deliver systems that are not easily accessible and do require a lot of configuration and setting up. That is how zillions of IBM consultants are making their money (Worse than Arch roiling release...).

If they start with "works out of the box" strategy then those consultants do not have bright future. But they would probably attract business by more sold solutions.

In any case; a computer and a OS, well the IT solution, needs to fulfill its task.

To many Linux users see Linux as a goal - and that is plain wrong. Linux is for something like every other OS; be that gaming, accounting or engineering.

The goal of having a car is not to fiddle with the motor but to drive it - it is the same thing

It does not hurt to have that knowledge to achieve the goal though.

Perhaps my dear Panther , might be harsh on them.

My wife and my 74 year old mother in law along with my father they are Android people and seems to like it and learned on their own. My mom still on flip phones

Time will tell how this end.


By the way, does anybody knows the fable of the Fox and the Scorpion?

No

R_Head wrote:
By the way, does anybody knows the fable of the Fox and the Scorpion?

Yes, if I assume its the same as the Frog and the Scorpion?

Yes, has been used many other animals but the scorpion

The principle still the same.

Here is the fable on the book of knowledge.

Edit:
Well seems that has been used before a viper instead of scorpion...

Oh well, you all get the point the rest is academia.