Apple is abandoning the professional market

ZDNet by Scott Raymond

It was bound to happen sooner or later. The arguments, the recriminations, the breakups and reunions. After a long, stormy relationship, it looks like Apple is finally calling it quits with their professional customers.

Apple: It’s… it’s just not working out. I think it’s time we started seeing other people.
ProMarket: Was it something I said? I can change! Just tell me what you want!
Apple: It’s not you, it’s me. I just don’t love you anymore.

This has been a long time coming. Since the introduction of the iPod, Apple has been targeting the consumer market, rather than the high end professional market. The iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad devices are all aimed at the consumer market. Business-class hardware such as the Xserve has been discontinued in order to focus on more consumer-oriented hardware.

The OS X operating system has been moving towards a convergence with the simpler iOS operating system; it has been surmised that OS X Lion will be the last iteration of that series of Mac operating systems. That doesn’t mean Apple will stop making an OS, but this will likely be the last familiar version before they head off in a new direction.

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