Disney to buy out Apple? 111
This is a total rumor, but it is interesting to think
about.
Bart van der Ouderaa writes "
There is talk about a buyout of Pixar by Disney. While this
isn't really that suprising, Steve Jobs is rumored to
have pitched Apple as well. According to the article, Disney
is going to buy both Pixar and Apple in a multi-billion dollar
deal. In this deal CEO of Disney Eisner would be stepping down
( for medical/personal reasons and becomming chairman of the board
at disney) while Steve Jobs would become CEO of Disney. Details
are expected this week. Will the next iMac feature two giant ears ? "
Tough to see (Score:1)
wow. (Score:1)
Steve Jobs is one smart, scheming S.O.B.
(but a lousy manager.. guess I should sell Disney short...
uh . . . (Score:2)
i started checking the date for april-firstness right around where it said that jobs would become CEO of disney. that's absurd.
and if the rest is true, it's probably not so good. wtf does disney know about computers? heh. OTOH, wtf does jobs know . . .
Of course, you realize... (Score:2)
I can see it. (Score:1)
Can't see Jobs as CEO of Disney. I'm sure he'd be damn good at it though.
The new logo sucks. (Score:1)
The new logo sucks. (Score:1)
What da! (Score:1)
It sounds pretty reasonable for Disney to buy out Pixar because it played a pretty large role in producing "Toy Story" and "Bugs Life". To buy out Apple, on the other hand, sounds if Job's just adding the company in just as an illogical bonus....basically, it doesn't sound right for a computer company to be bought just because the CEO is going to sell the his other company aswell (in this case, Job's second company, Pixar). In short, what does Apple have to do with it?
Hence the question remains "Disney can make use of Pixar, but what is Disney going to do with Apple?"
If this is true however (i doubt it) just as long as Apple shipps out their new iPowerBooks, G4's, and MacOS X in the future, it's pretty much cool with me...just as long nothing changes....other than that....i'm a little skeptical about it... oh yeah and one more thing...an imac with big ears? HAHHAHAA! Actually that would be pretty cool/weird if the ears could flap open so that they can act as speakers...
Eisner steps down? (Score:1)
You gotta be kidding me. Eisner is the 400 lb. gorilla here. IF he were interested in buying Apple (which, by the way, is only a small portion of the larger Internet market he's trying to capture with Go Network), he'd probably keep Steve Jobs in place at most, or send him packing if he starting making CEO noises.
Disney owning Apple is like NBC buying a TV camera manufacturer. It doesn't make sense.
Have I been asleep for six weeks? (Score:1)
Koppel, the Sports Babe, Dennis Prager, Mo Vaughn, Bill Nye, Paul Kariya, and the iMac, all under the jurisdiction of interim-CEO-for-life Steve Jobs?
Will this get me a Linux QuickTime client any faster, dammit?
- Not Enough Coffee Man
--
A church lady responds (Score:1)
Can happen, once Intel embeds each of us with PIIIs. But who will pay them? Could it be... hmmm... SATAN?
--
Remember Atari? (Score:3)
For those who don't recall, Warner Brothers owned Atari at the height of the video game craze where Atari was number one. Because they really didn't understand computers, Atari is a nothing company today. (this isn't entirly true, Warner Brothers got rid of atari in the mid 80s, and those who took it over deserve credit for all their bone headed moves too)
Diseny is a big company, but I don't believe they can manage a large computer company as well as the rest of their empire. I could be wrong.
Let me call my broker to sell my shares of Apple, after all they are high, and If I'm right they won't go higher.
Hi broker, its bluGill.
I'd like to seel everything I've got in Apple
What?
Oh, I forget, I never had Apple, stupid move, I should have bought in 95. Sorry for wasting your time.
So there you have a full discloser from me.
Jobs at Disney? (Score:1)
McDonald's buys SGI! (Score:1)
Crappy BBS service buys Netscape
Amusement park company buys Apple
what next?
What is happening to all the hip, cool & geeky companies?
Jón
Any relation to the Quicktime library for Linux? (Score:1)
Any relation to the Quicktime library for Linux? (Score:1)
Absurd! I don't believe it for a second. (Score:1)
This is just another example of Slashdot's lack of journalistic integrity. Slashdot is just a bunch of momos with a keyboard and a web server.
--
Timur "too sexy for my code" Tabi, timur@tabi.org, http://www.tabi.org
This makes more sense than you think... (Score:1)
Disney has been looking for a new CEO, since Eisner wants to scale back his job for health reasons. But Disney needs a visionary for a CEO, not the sort of egomaniacal bean-counter that is the mainstream CEO. Jobs is one of the great visionaries of American business (whether or not you agree with his vision), and is an effective fiscal officer as well (see the Apple turnaround).
The Pixar buyout is obvious, the Apple buyout less so. But think on these factors: first, Disney might want to get into the computer industry. It's a diverse company, and has hired some of the greatest living minds of the industry (Alan Kay, Danny Hillis, etc) just to have visions. The only existing computer company with the right cachet for Disney is Apple. Face it, Disney wouldn't just sell beige Wintel boxen. They've been toying with portals, but a unique and friendly PC is more, well, Disney. That's the modern Mac.
Second, and more importantly i think, they would own Quicktime. There's a lot of thought going on in Hollywood now about digital distribution of theater-grade films - digital media that rivals 70mm film in quality. Distributing 70mm reels is a HUGE expense. Digital media would be smaller, much cheaper to manufacture, and effectively immune to wear. And Moore's Law pretty much guarantees that it *will* be technically feasible within a few years. Whoever gets the technology to market first, and has the best backing, stands to make *billions* in distribution.
Apple's Quicktime is the best video compression technology currently available, and barring a surprise technical breakthrough, will remain so for years to come. And it may scale size/resolution well enough for film-quality video, given a good storage mechanism. This technology (and other Apple tech), combined with Disney's industry presence and marketing savvy, could put Disney in control of a key choke point for the entire film industry.
Stop thinking like a bunch of obsessive Anonymous Cowards and start thinking like Disney stockholders. This makes sense.
Again? (Score:1)
By the way, nice new Apple icon.
Lets see (Score:1)
I just Hope, mister jobs won't be CEO anymore because I Want to see BeOS running on a Dual G4 altivec powered machine. BeOS is suppose to be The media OS , G4 is the media chip. so lets hope DIsney will help Be --
No fooling! (Score:1)
wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it.
--Lenny
Pixar, yes, Apple, no (Score:1)
Steve Jobs is a great CEO for Apple. He is one of the great visionaries of the 20th century. But I think he is a poor fit for Disney.
I always knew apple was a Mickey Mouse operation. (Score:1)
Remember Atari? (Score:1)
Back OT, I was a HUGE Atari fan from the time of the Atari 400 all the way to 1990, when I had to get a PC for schoolwork (a Mac wasn't even considered because of the price tag at the time).
I lay 100% of the responsibility for Atari at Jack Trammiels feet. They had a few good ideas, the best of which was delivering the most power at the most price, so you had to be plain dumb to prefer a PCjr, which still cost twice what a
But in the end the Trammiels just leeched off Atari enthusiasm and stopped innovating. They kept marketing to an absolute min. and skimmed the rest. They kept promising vaporware, and delivered something as horrible as the Jaguar. The jag would have been cool if they delivered it on time, but they chose cheapie Korean manufacturing which delivered non-working systems, setting back launch. Because the Jag was a cart system, and Atari was so stingy, they only sent games to magazines as LOANERS which had to be returned, which was then sent to the next magazine (does anyone see the sense in sending a cart to a game writer 2 months AFTER release? Who reviews old news unless it's a huge hit?). It wasn't TW that killed Atari, it was arrogant management... Amiga owners can also relate to this I am sure.
If these managers were not so petty and greedy, they could have provided competition to Windows even today, protecting some of us from the evil sheriff Bill. PC's may be everywhere today, but the it's only in 1999 do you see $400 E-machines. Atari was providing cheap yet still modern machines 15 years ago, and had JT been aggressive and took outside investment at Atari's peak, they could still be around...
Then again, if we weren't stuck in this current Microsoft Purgatory, and things were a little better -- would as many people be picking up the Linux banner. There's always a silver lining to a mushroom cloud...
Mickey Ears... (Score:2)
I don't know if the iMac itself should feature mouse ears, but certainly it ought to be considered for Mickey's Mouse. Think of all the marketing tie-ins with Disney owning Apple... You can finally have that Lion King iMac, straight from the source.
Don't you all remember? (Score:1)
You may wish to distinguish between the SoBaps
and the Southern Baptist Convention (official mouthpiece which started the boycott). Many
SoBaps are not part of the SBC, and more than
a few are happy to have left, now that pig-headed Falwellesque zealots have run the show for 20 years.
And Disney didn't sweat the boycott; it
never had to. "Important Southern Baptist market"? That's like saying Folger's is quaking
in their loafers over the Mormon disdain for
coffee. The SBC is as serious a threat to
Disney as Rev. Falwell is to the Teletubbies.
Funny thing, though: one thing that Disney and
Apple have in common is the fact that they don't
buckle in to pressure from social conservative cop-types so easily. (Remember when Apple built their Austin TX facilities? Some powerful locals were upset about Apple's domestic partners benefits program, and threatened the company with
revoking building permits. The response from Cupertino was "okay, go ahead. We can still relocate." The locals saw the light
after that.
I have my own problems with the Mouse (a.k.a.
"Schmaltz R Us"), but not here. Nice to see
someone in corporate America with guts.
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Absurd! I don't believe it for a second. (Score:1)
Market the hell out of it.
Apple has one of the most recognized (and
recognizable) names/logos on the planet.
And Disney is, 1st and foremost, a
marketing machine.
I think the whole deal, if true, is dubious,
but not this particular aspect. It
actually make sense from a mktg. viewpoint.
Very spooky.
-----
Now we know why... (Score:1)
It has to be said... (Score:1)
________________________
Yuck. (Score:1)
headlines of the future? (Score:1)
Apple Rolls Out Another Mickey-Mouse Computer
Goofy Errors Found in OSX
If he can pull it off, Jobs is CEO of the century (Score:1)
You can say what you want about him, but with Pixar, he has proven that he can run an entertainment company. Disney must know that the future of the types of films it makes is 100% CGI.
In fact you could argue that it is time for a real CG-film heavyweight to push the field even further - CG films could be a trillion dollar industry in twenty years.
Steve rescued Apple and made Pixar into a real force in entertainment. Is he the CEO of the century? Maybe.
Absurd! I don't believe it for a second. (Score:1)
It is a rumor.
Of course, you realize... (Score:1)
It figures... (Score:1)
It figures... The computer for the rest of them always has been a Mickey Mouse© computer in the first place...
-- ----------------------------------------------
Vive le logiciel... Libre!!!
uh . . . (Score:1)
Not that absurd. I mean, until his "riding to the rescue" of Apple, he was busy turning Pixar from a software company (anyone remember Pixar Typestry? I still have a copy...) into a movie studio. So, heading up a movie/multimedia conglomerate would hardly be out of character for him. I always thought he was more showman than techie.
What puzzles me is, what the heck would a Disney do with an Apple computer It's not like Disney needs it's own brand of computer (the iMickey!?). I suspect if they do get Apple, they are going to try to squeeze it into a niche market, like just education or just "a kid's computer." It seems to me that Apple just barely survived it's niche trap last time. Putting its foot back into the bear trap at this point would be colossaly dumb.
Remember Atari? (Score:1)
I remember the Commodore 64, one of the ghastliest computers made. Not exactly known for quality
D
We could buy an iMick! (Score:1)
Actually, early Mac models did have a chip called the Integrated Woz Machine (IWM for short).
I think it's fascinating to see the different directions that both Jobs and Woz have chosen.
Warner (Score:1)
Warner is responsible for various genius moves such as the 5200 (Atari 400 + slightly incompatible + no keyboard + shitty joysticks), massive ET marketing tie-ins. (There is some giant landfill full of ET The Extra Terrestial games out in the desert somewhere.), and flooding the market with a mass of overpriced rotten games - leading to the market crash of 1984.
The 400 & 800 computers predate Warner and are from the orginial Nolan Bushnell Atari.
HEY! (Score:1)
Yuck. (Score:1)
What would they do to poor Charles Babbage?
Or Alan Turing?
Mega Merger Mania (Score:1)
What?? (Score:1)
I can hear it now: Those COLORED computers are evil, they're good for nothing and lazy. Buy these nice, baige computers. These here, the ones powered by the K-K-Katmai chip, with the serial number! The LOOOORRRRRRD has so ordered!
Bah! Companies that have little or nothing to do with each other, should not merge. Pixar I can understand, but Apple itself? It's like MicroSoft and Pfizer joining. Hmmm.
No, you should have bought in Dec. 97. (Score:1)
Jobs is a perfect fit for Disney (Score:1)
Now, about those properties: Pixar is trivially obvious. Apart from the fact that Disney uses quite a few Macs, I don't see a compelling case for them owning Apple. Then again, I don't see GM owning EDS, either. I predict that, if this deal actually comes to pass, The Mouse will buy Apple to make Steve happy, then sell it off in a couple of years.
Disclaimer: I own stock in both Disney and Apple. And if Red Hat ever goes public, you can bet I'll buy a piece of them, too.
No shame in that (Score:1)
Tramiel (Score:1)
Not only that, but his Atari ST computers were not very reliable (I owned 2 of them) while the old Warner-era Atari 800 was probably the best of the 8-bit machines (mine still works after 17 years).
Don't know whatever happened to him or his sons. Maybe they're the guys in charge of public and government relations at Microsoft.
Did anyone read the article? (Score:1)
As usual, many people here missed the most important part of that whole article. Apple and Pixar with both be INDEPENDENT subsidaries of Disney. This means that the companies will probably operate much as they do today. Apple will stillbe doing the same things it always was and will still do business as "Apple Computer". Pixar and Disney are an obvious fit. The genius of Steve Jobs is that he sees that Disney and Apple are an obvious fit as well!
(If you can't see why Disney and Apple should be together, just wait a while. It'll come to you.)
Come on people! Now a days all sorts of companies are merging that have *nothing* to do with each other? Microsoft and Web TV? Hmm... what do they have to do with each other? GE and NBC? Proctor and Gamble isa the scariest company in the world as far as I'm concerned.
Only good things can come out of this all around.
Two Giant ears? (Score:2)
There's Already a Mickey Head on the new G3!!!! (Score:1)
I'm not sure the capitalists of the world agree... (Score:1)
There was a suggestion in the one of the January Forbes Op-Ed [forbes.com] pieces which suggested that Steve Jobs should move into the big chair at Disney. This, coupled with other market rumors and a good fourth quarter and holiday season for Apple caused a rise in both Apple's [yahoo.com] and Disney's [yahoo.com] stocks during the first few weeks of last month.
This deal would make some of Disney's major investors very happy. Eisner and his press office have been saying that Disney and ABC are in a ten year cyclical slump and that this is something they expected but anyone who's had a pulse and a clue for the past four years has realized that Eisner hasn't figured out this new market or how Disney can leverage it's position and excellent brand recognition. We'll have to see howgo [go.com] goes, but outside of some of the Disney online content focused on youth, such as Blast [disneyblast.com] they have not gotten into this brave new world.
bnf
Well.... (Score:1)
I didn't post the original comment.
But, if you turn off link underlining (like I do) and you've already read the Apple Insider article, "pitched Apple as well" looks just like the rest of the text thanks to the VLINK="#000000" on the page.
Closed-circuit to CmdrTaco: Can we get a different color for VLINKs -- maybe #666666 or #999999? I know I don't have your sense of style, but I think that'd fit in with the rest of the site.
bad merger (Score:1)
corporations that want 90 year copyrights?
So they can profit from their Mickey mouse.
For more years. It would kill the gutenberg
project. http://www.gutenberg.org
just a thought (Score:1)
There wouldn't be much benefit if Disney bought Apple
Tough to see (Score:1)
This is the most logical thing in the world (Score:1)
(Well at least realizes its monopoly will not last for ever, and has cash to burn)
Sees the needs to diversify away from OS + office applications.
Moves into content (NBC, zdnet etc etc)
Tries to turn itself into a media company.
Disney sees Microsoft as a *major* competitor (Eisner has said this himself).
The future of media==computers.
Disney realize this too.
How they are going to win is not yet apparent, but right now they are just building the arsenal. Disney is a cash-cow, and has money to burn.
As other people have said, the apple brand fits the Disney brand perfectly and vice versa.
Article was REMOVED (Score:1)
Load of garbage (Score:1)
** actual PHOTOS of apple disney deal ** (Score:1)
http://home.rochester.rr.com/finishdish/dizzney
A slasdot exclusive.