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A friend has sent you a link to the following article: http://mac360.com/index.php/mac360/comments/912/ Darlings just a few years ago, the Fickle Finger of Fate has removed Sony and Microsoft from their glowing pedestals. Have the gadget, software and content kings been replaced by the new media monopoly from Apple? An Apple monopoly? That’s nonsense, right? Apple topping Sony and Microsoft, as their fortunes fade? More nonsense? I once would have agreed. No more. Apple is on the verge of eclipsing two major rivals and about to claim their own monopoly status. Both Sony and Microsoft were and are kings of their domains. Both are fading fast in the marketplace. Their fade from days of glory is being hastened by Apple’s new arrival as the darling of everything. {embed=“360admanager/content-rectangle-content-A-300x250”}Over the past few years, Apple has bested Sorry Sony and Mediocre Microsoft again and again. Apple has a near monopoly in portable music and media players, while both Sony and Microsoft’s offerings are laughable. Apple has cobbled together a dizzying array of popular gadgets, superb software, and a full range of media content. Apple, Apple, Apple—Apple this and Apple that. You’d think no one else was building competitive products. Sony and Microsoft built themselves to the top of the gadget, media, and computer mountains but have faltered. Sony’s products no longer carry the allure of years past. Microsoft’s fortunes and stock are propped up by deep pockets, not customer loyalty. Apple has all that and seems to weather storm after storm with sunny skies, and mild temperatures; a beach where they can do no wrong. A case in point is the article Apple Wins When Content Is King. Apple is winning in hardware when Sony and Microsoft are not. Apple is winning in software while Microsoft stumbles, and Sony never gets off the starting line. Content? The only blemish on Apple’s recent record of mixing and matching media players, music, movies, TV shows, is the anemic .Mac. “Apple’s strategy is exactly the same as Gillette’s razor/blade strategy. Their long term goal is to get a razor into every house so that they can make a ton of money on the constant replacement of blades. This is also HP’s (HPQ) strategy for their printer and cartridges. It is every mobile phone operators strategy around the world where they subsidize hardware to earn recurring revenue on service.” There’s a major tectonic shift taking place with the convergence of PC, the living room entertainment center, and electronic gadgets. All are competing, but until Apple, no one is winning the war, and no one pieces together all we hold dear; music, movies, TV, portability, ease-of-use, chic flair, and price competitive. Is Apple about to become a totally dominant player where once only giants stood? “So if Michael Dell didn’t get it, I hope he does now. As for Microsoft (MSFT), boy oh boy are they in trouble yet again. If Apple owns the content experience and the hardware to deliver it, they have the opportunity to own everything behind it over time including… all the other software. Of course, Google knocking on the other side giving away free software for ad space isn’t helping.” Will Sony and Microsoft fall to the wayside as Apple becomes a monopoly player? I say yes. The cards are stacked. Sony has fallen. Microsoft is falling. Apple will rise and rule the masses as both Sony and Microsoft did in generations past.