Is Apple Dethroning Microsoft as the King of Computing?

At this point, is the bottom line the final arbiter?

Should read

At Any point, the bottom line will be the final arbiter!

I use neither Microsoft products nor Apple Products. Much of what I do on my computer I can not accomplish on "mobile" devices- they just do not have the processing power or the memory I require.

I will continue to avoid both Microsoft and Apple products, because they are not addressing the issues I face with the work I do on my computer...

Most Apple products are "ease of use" superior to Microsoft or Linux. That has created an early entry point for a new generation of users, younger and more aware of possibilities for communications and media.

I would argue that in itself, this is good. On a practical level, I see a decrease in productivity and creativity. I see a general reluctance to investigate. Touchscreen = instant gratification. Text,tweet,facebook = stream of consciousness. If you need curious, driven, hungry for knowledge workers, it's harder than ever. So has this ease of use and early exposure helped? Helped what? Depends on what you want. A touch screen is a menu. We are chef's in our business, not sitting at the lunch counter.

I think that is an excellent answer. I have seen computer programmers with netbooks (linux ones). Because they use them for work. Apple doesn't really make computers, they make status symbols and toys. The status symbols are costly but at least they achieve something. The toys are a costly distraction. If I am tweeting, and texting, and answering CR4 questions all the time, it is likely I are distracted to some extent. I think original thought needs quiet and concentration.

water flows downhill, what's your point. I thought the question was, is Apple dethroning Microsoft.

Ah, yes- I remember the Motorola chips- my last one was a 68004- and it was running computing circles around anything available from Intel. That was also before Windows- I was running HP-UX (in the days when everyone was convinced Unix was "too big" to run on a portable computer) on a "transportable" computer with built-in dot matrix printer (full size pages, no less). That was also back in the days when Hewlett Packard meant quality...before they redefined themselves as a "computer" company...

Curiously, the thing which made Microsoft/Intel dominant, was that IBM opened the design of the (IBM) PC to all comers. If Apple had done the same thing with the Mac. the world would be a different place.