Then Apple wouldn't be Apple. This makes me think of the reflexivity idea Soros wrote about in Alchemy of Finance. It's valid to bemoan not buying Apple stock 20 years ago, because the purchase wouldn't influence company trajectory. Looking back wistfully at not buying the company completely changes the situation with restructuring, M&A integration issues, key people leaving or losing autonomy, Apple development fitting into the Sun vision rather than independently.<p>I think an interesting counterpoint would be to imagine what some companies could have gone on to accomplish if they hadn't been acquired, then killed. There's been tons of promising/interesting companies acquired, then never heard from again.