ah, that explains our different perspectives (g). Never trust a software developer with a screw driver, a hardware type with a software patch or a user with an idea...
It happens all the time. With new technologies and productivity gains, a small group can outperform the earlier work of a much larger one.
nice generalization, but we have a policy to buy not build, so right or wrong it's moot. We can't buy the Mac stuff. I know, I've been looking for years. I've got millions to spend. If there were viable candidates I'd have come across them. There are some elegant solutions for the things that have been built, but the field of things to choose from is a fraction of the choices in the Wintel world. For good or ill, it's reality.
and I didn't provide my industry for a reason. I'm skating very close to the edge on this.
I can appreciate the situation.