I'm relatively ignorant of the history of personal computers (this may become obvious by reading this OP) but in my 90's youth (I'm 25) there was something of a war between Microsoft and Apple. A war that, if it still exists, has become more of a cold or tepid war concerning mostly markets that do not exactly directly compete.
I remember computer people in my family arguing loudly over Thanksgiving dinner about the joys and laments of both or either. It was always settled by agreeing that the Mac hardware was superior for graphics and gaming, multimedia creation (i.e. music, art, and digital graphics production capabilities) but Microsoft software was superior for more practical purposes. Over the years both have found their niches and caught their strides in very different areas (See the Xbox and iTunes).
My first question is this: Is it possible for Microsoft and Apple to unite over something in the early eighties - for example: IBM decides not to go with MS-DOS and Bill Gates calls up old friend Steve Jobs to give it to Apple for the Macintosh? - to the point of an early to mid eighties merger? Could Jobs and Gates leave their respective companies to go into business together in the eighties leaving Apple and Microsoft both to crash and burn in the face of this new competitor?
My challenge is this: Make one of the above occur by any means necessary, but retain in this new "Macrosoft" or "Applesoft" (or whatever) some autonomy between the two united entities, enough to avoid certain butterflies concerning their respective OTL achievements. (i.e. it defeats the purpose entirely for the two to merge and then never come up with anything that they did OTL. This company must become the king of personal computing in the eighties and beyond.) In short, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs must work for the same company with a POD no earlier than 1977 or so; and that company must achieve many, most, or all of the things the respective companies achieved in OTL.
My second question is this: What are the effects of such a PC megacorps on data entry, gaming, graphics technologies, the internet, music sharing, etc., etc., etc. into the eighties, nineties, and beyond till now?
Sorry if this has been settled in the past, but my search provided nothing substantial.
I remember computer people in my family arguing loudly over Thanksgiving dinner about the joys and laments of both or either. It was always settled by agreeing that the Mac hardware was superior for graphics and gaming, multimedia creation (i.e. music, art, and digital graphics production capabilities) but Microsoft software was superior for more practical purposes. Over the years both have found their niches and caught their strides in very different areas (See the Xbox and iTunes).
My first question is this: Is it possible for Microsoft and Apple to unite over something in the early eighties - for example: IBM decides not to go with MS-DOS and Bill Gates calls up old friend Steve Jobs to give it to Apple for the Macintosh? - to the point of an early to mid eighties merger? Could Jobs and Gates leave their respective companies to go into business together in the eighties leaving Apple and Microsoft both to crash and burn in the face of this new competitor?
My challenge is this: Make one of the above occur by any means necessary, but retain in this new "Macrosoft" or "Applesoft" (or whatever) some autonomy between the two united entities, enough to avoid certain butterflies concerning their respective OTL achievements. (i.e. it defeats the purpose entirely for the two to merge and then never come up with anything that they did OTL. This company must become the king of personal computing in the eighties and beyond.) In short, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs must work for the same company with a POD no earlier than 1977 or so; and that company must achieve many, most, or all of the things the respective companies achieved in OTL.
My second question is this: What are the effects of such a PC megacorps on data entry, gaming, graphics technologies, the internet, music sharing, etc., etc., etc. into the eighties, nineties, and beyond till now?
Sorry if this has been settled in the past, but my search provided nothing substantial.