The Enig-Mac

As Macworld kicks off, Walt Mossberg at WSJ, a long time Apple fan asks when other PC manufacturers will cater "to the rest of us". Here's a better question - when will Apple try to cater to the "rest of us"? Macs have always been popular in media, publishing - but what about traders, accountants, shop floor workers, salespeople?

Apple has never seriously tried to develop an application ecosystem to go after various verticals. Nor has it ever really cared about the mass market. Robert Scobble (disclosure: he is with Microsoft) describes his son's Apple sticker shock here.

If it wants a better piece of the consumer (and enterprise market) it's got to change its economics. It's ok it you want to be a Nordstroms - just do not expect to have Wal-Mart's scale. It's ok if you want to be Porsche, just do not expect Toyota volumes.

Apple is at the cross-roads - again, as BusinessWeek describes. Up to it, to decide if it wants to be Porsche or Toyota.