The IBM to buy Apple scenario may be quiescent at present, but it hasn’t gone away, and MacWeek’s gossip column reports on a not-so-well-guarded IBM Corp document describing company strategy after purchasing Apple Computer Inc – problem is that Apple’s value to IBM has been greatly eroded since the suggestion that such a deal was in the wind first surfaced a couple of years ago, so any document likely dates from that time; that Apple is an acquisition candidate is not in doubt John Sculley shopped the company around for a couple of years before Apple shopped him, and with all the founders out of the picture, there is insufficient emotional capital still tied up in Apple to preserve its independence – all of which leads MacWeek to conclude that the company might begin to look very attractive to Motorola Inc, which despite endless frustrations and accumulated losses with Motorola Computer Systems still clearly holds the computer systems market as one where it wants to become a respected player.
