It has been a year, and the masses aren’t switching to Macs. New ads haven’t helped Apple gain market share, Mercury News report. “I can think of the following reasons why this is so” Steve Anglin, a consulting editor, expert witness, and writer specializing in Java and Web services, is presenting.
Why Switch to Mac; Few Customers Switching from Windows
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
191 Comments
2003-07-18 11:48 am
Anonymous
Hi from another kiwi 😉
I understand what you mean, and when you have companies like “The PC Company” producing reasonable machines at reasonable prices people question why they should pay a premium for a machine that doesn’t do anything better than their the one that is cheaper.
ps. What is Jetstart like? do they still have that $29.95 unlimited special or have they scraped it?
2003-07-18 11:49 am
Anonymous
I know enough people coming from linux, first being happy with OS X and now switching back. Others who look at G5s whom I talked to think that those are actually overpowered for their normal use. funny eh? first underpowered, now overpowered. What remained the same is the complaint that Macs are overpriced. So where does Apple go from here? no idea, see if I care.
2003-07-18 11:54 am
Anonymous
I know enough people coming from linux, first being happy with OS X and now switching back. Others who look at G5s whom I talked to think that those are actually overpowered for their normal use. funny eh? first underpowered, now overpowered. What remained the same is the complaint that Macs are overpriced. So where does Apple go from here? no idea, see if I care.
They need to update their consumer line of products and they should have done it when they released the PowerMac G5. Another year, x86 will reach 4.0Ghz soon and the Mac crowd will still try to pull the “My G4 can out perform your 4Ghz P4 according to foobah benchmark”.
2003-07-18 12:19 pm
Anonymous
“damn, i think you’re the only person to ever udder that line 
”
I had a 1000TL2 and a 2500XL. Those where fine computer for their times. I am not the only one that liked those computers. 
2003-07-18 12:19 pm
Anonymous
Stupid people….
Quote:
“Apple also needs to understand that we’re not all on Steve Job’s vast salary (which in itself quite inflates the price of Macs)”
Steve Jobs salary is US$ 1.00
That’s one dollar
Total revenue last quarter was $1,545,000,000 so his salary adds about $.0000000006 to each item sold.
From Apple financials, proxy statement accessible at http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/NSD/AAPL/Proxy_statement_… or from Apple.com
2003-07-18 12:29 pm
2003-07-18 12:33 pm
Anonymous
As a Capitalist I need something that WORKS, not something that crashes 3 times a day, and seems to believe it’s my fault for clicking on a link on a website.
Wow! I always hear this rationale thrown around for the dominance of Windows vs Mac, but to quite honest I’ve owned both and never really saw an appreciable difference in the number of crashes beween the two. The fact that your PC crashes 3 times a day is not a product of Windows — that is not normal. You’re probably messing up somewhere along the line.
2003-07-18 12:34 pm
Anonymous
you need to look at that link you gave more. especialy below the salary table and the bit labled (1)
it goes into the reciving a 90million dollar jet and so forth. The one dollar thing is for show, and for avoiding lots of taxes.
2003-07-18 12:35 pm
Anonymous
I have to agree with others who have said that it’s Apple’s own marketing and brand image that has determined their small market share. OS X is great, but they target themselves towards a small section of the population, and so (by and large) that’s what they get.
I don’t think anyone’s mentioned it yet, but it usually comes up: anyone who hopes OS X is ever going to be ported to x86 is going to be disappointed. One of the reasons Mac OS X is so much easier to deal with than Windows (or Linux for that matter) is because of the (semi) fixed hardware platform. Port to x86 and you’re going to have to support the myriad hardware combinations, and support doesn’t just mean code and drivers, it means tech support as well. Add to this that it would completely decimate the market for their own hardware. It’ll never happen.
Regarding Windows crashes, I have seen plenty of Windows 2000 crashes (server and pro). Not nearly as many as Windows 9x, but they do happen. No idea about XP as I don’t use it on a daily basis. Also, I would have to say an instant reboot in the middle of operation has got to be a hardware issue or a bad driver. TV cards are a big favourite for this one.
2003-07-18 12:36 pm
Anonymous
Sure, the mac is probably a very good computer. But if I’d get a 2:nd computer into my house I’d want something that can run the Mount Everest of software CD:s I’ve got stacked up against the wall.
I don’t know if you’ve ever checked out Virtual PC for the Mac, but that is a very very nice app. I used it for two years without any major issues with my entire Everest-sized stack of PC software. Since the latest release, things have only gotten better.
2003-07-18 12:40 pm
Anonymous
XP is stable, especially if you use Mozilla.
I have had awful experiences with OS8-9 Macs. They were slow, unstable, crappy. At any large university, they were the machines no one wanted.
Things are different now with both OSes.
2003-07-18 12:42 pm
Anonymous
That’s funny, I’m a student and I bought an iBook. Compact, good battery life, sturdy, full featured and Mac OS X is just sweet. Unix with a decent graphical interface. Quite frankly, it’s not that expensive and gives a very good quality.
I just got rid of my iBook for reasons that had nothing to do with its quality. On the PC vs. Apple laptop front, Apple has a clear victory IMO. Having used one versus the other, the iBook shines versus a similarly spec’d PC laptop. If I had to buy another (errrr, if I could), then it would be the iBook. Desktops on the other hand…
2003-07-18 12:45 pm
Anonymous
Hard to build market-share during a recession without cutting prices and offering more features for less money. And cutting your margins.
Dell looked at hard times and said “We’re going to use this opportunity to drive our competitors into the ground — because we want to be the Microsoft of hardware vendors.”
Apple is not in that position. Its whole product line is designed and priced to maintain margins — not draw in new customers with great values.
An additional problem is OSX — which requires lots of CPU power and RAM. If Apple only had OS 9, customers could get away with buying a lot less powerful computer without worrying about it becoming obsolete.
I’m not suggesting Apple push OS 9, just pointing out that OSX’s hardware needs are an additional obstacle to getting prices to attractive levels for new customers.
2003-07-18 12:58 pm
Anonymous
http://www.duncanwil.co.uk/execupay.html Among executives at 100 of the largest companies that had filed proxy statements for 2002, the biggest earner last year was Steve Jobs of Apple Computer, who pulled in $78.1 million while his investors’ return slumped by 34.6%.
http://biz.yahoo.com/fin/l/a/aapl.html Apple made a miserable $3 million net profit in 2002.
SJ is bleeding Apple dry and failing to perform as well.
2003-07-18 1:04 pm
Anonymous
“An additional problem is OSX — which requires lots of CPU power and RAM. If Apple only had OS 9, customers could get away with buying a lot less powerful computer without worrying about it becoming obsolete.
I’m not suggesting Apple push OS 9, just pointing out that OSX’s hardware needs are an additional obstacle to getting prices to attractive levels for new customers.”
And Windows 95 runs very well on a a 32MB 486/66 – so what. OS9 is absolute crap..no protected memory and no premeptive multitasking…a greyscale GUI. Linux on Mac is far better than OS9.
2003-07-18 1:06 pm
Anonymous
>>As a Capitalist I need something that WORKS, not something that crashes 3 times a day, and seems to believe it’s my fault for clicking on a link on a website. <<
A myth. This may have been true with Windows-95. But I use XP all day long, and I have never had a crach. Windows-2000 is even more reliable.
2003-07-18 1:07 pm
Anonymous
http://www.macnn.com/news/16656&startNumber=10 Apple CEO Steve Jobs was the highest paid executive in the second quarter of 2002 with a bonus of more than $43.5 million (although he received no salary), according to the Executive Compensation Index released by the ERI.
2003-07-18 1:09 pm
Anonymous
1) Price
2) Compatability
#1 is largely the reason most don’t adopt, or switch to a Mac. If you’re a geek (as many readers here are), then you can appreciate a lot of what a Mac brings to the table (Everything from the cool new G5 case down to the robustness of a Unix-based backend).
If you’re Ma and Pa Kettle, or even their son, Junior Kettle, you simply want to type your term papers, track your bank account, surf the web, and send your email, etc.
Realistically, a P233 will handle these chores fairly well. When you consider that you can get a fairly well decked out low-priced PC (We’ll say for $300-$400) that comes with a 2.5Ghz CPU for less than $400.00 (http://www.pricewatch.com/1/43/4829-1.htm), this meets the need quite well.
Contrast that with a $799.00 low-end Mac (which will admittedly come with a built in monitor, if we’re talking eMac) which comes in at a measley 800mhz (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/702…), and you can see why people jump on the PC bandwagon.
And you can’t argue the usual diatribe about Macs doing more per clock cycle than a PC because the Kettles don’t know or care about that.
They simply want a PC that works, and the numbers on the PC speak much louder than those of a Mac to the average user. Hell, they could buy a very nice used 21″ monitor for their system for another $150.00 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2742819079&categ…), they’ll still walk away with a couple hundred in their pocket when contrasted to the cheapest Apple.
Apple has to get off their high horse of “You’re paying so much for the quality that a Mac brings to your computing experience”, and realize that if they want to attract the average user, they’ll need more than high prices, and obnoxious ads with people we don’t care about (remember the “Switch” ads awhile ago?).
The second issue (#2), compatability, is another major issue for people.
Most people who buy a PC today have either worked on one before (at the office, in school, or on an older machine that they’re replacing), or have friends and relatives who have a PC. This is kind of a “safe haven” for people who aren’t too up on computer technology, but who know that they want to surf the web, and so on.
Think about it… If you’re even moderately knowledgeable about PC’s, you’ve likely have friends and relatives contact you for assistance of one sort or another (“My PC’s doing <this>… What’s it mean?”).
Similarly, these same friends and relatives (and to a large extent, offices) often have software that they are willing to loan out, and/or copy for their friends. I’m not saying this is ethical, but it is realistic.
Thus when buying a new PC, how many “non-computer” people, who are already worried about spending their hard earned $400, are likely to buy a computer which no one else they know owns, and which will not run any of their existing software, or their friends software?
Yes, people can buy comperable Mac software to replace most of their PC software, but add that cost to the already high price of a Mac, and you’ve got an even bigger arguement for sticking with an x86 PC.
You and I might be saving for a dual-G5, but for most of the computing world (again, average user. Not people reading this site or Slashdot), they probably aren’t even aware of the pending G-5’s that we’re all raving about.
Apple could remedy this a couple of ways…
The most obvious: Cut prices on the their systems. Now. Yesterday. Soon…
Next step: This is one which they may have missed the boat on, but they should purchase a PC emulation company, and integrate the ability to run x86 software into their OS (or at the very least, offer it as a $49.95 addon, and heavily advertise this fact).
Yes, some will argue that this will create less of a reason for people to develop Mac specific software, but I would argue that it will not as PC-emulation would not take advantage of the Mac’s unique features, nor would it likely run quite as fast as a native Mac app.
What it will do is allow those same purchasers to see that they don’t have to immediately purchase all new software if they go with a Mac.
True, the Kettles probably still won’t be able to call up their computer-savy friends and ask them for Mac specific help, but they can still contact them for application specific help, which would be kind of a security blanket for potential buyers.
Basically, this would allow anyone to buy a Mac, immediately start using it as needed with existing software, which they’re likely familiar with, and then they could pick up the Mac specifics as they do their normal computing duties. Once they’re used to a Mac, they’ll start investigating software which exploits more of the Macs unique features, and eventually switch to more Mac software.
I think Apple missed the boat on this though due to Microsoft’s purchase of the the manufacturer of Virtual PC, which is to my knowledge one of the best PC emulators for the Mac. They’d either now have to write such a beast themselves, or purchase one of the up and coming emulators. I am firmly convinced that such features would speed the adoption rate of the Mac though.
Perhaps Apples happy being a niche player, but they sure give the impression of a company trying to get back in the game w/regards to the average computer users. I just don’t foresee this happening without some changes as per the above.
2003-07-18 1:25 pm
Anonymous
//Take for example viruses. Most users don’t realize they can run OS X or Linux and not worry about them//
Really?
Boy, I’m glad you don’t work in my IT department.
2003-07-18 1:29 pm
Anonymous
SJ is bleeding Apple dry and failing to perform as well.
He did the same at Next.
http://dpsinfo.com/essays/next.html
2003-07-18 1:42 pm
Anonymous
//The Tandy’s where good stuff. There rest… //
Good grief. If a FREAKING TANDY WAS THE BEST computer you’ve ever used, you’ve got a lot to learn about PC’s.
That’s about as dumb as saying:
“Of the last 9 cars I’ve bought, 7 of them sucked. The Chevy Citations were good stuff. The rest … “
2003-07-18 1:44 pm
Anonymous
// I had a 1000TL2 and a 2500XL. Those where fine computer for their times. I am not the only one that liked those computers. //
If those were the best you’ve ever used, then we must assume you haven’t used a _quality_ PC in the last nine years.
2003-07-18 2:01 pm
Anonymous
Perhaps Jobs is a little too worried about making money for himself. I’d really like to see Apple get on top just because OS X is so damn cool. The whole “switch” thing was stupid because on TV it never showed the OS in action. Perhaps releasing a very limited version of OS X for PC would be a good idea. This way if people were very attracted to the OS and wanted to do more with it, they would be forced to buy a Mac. Or what about even a demo version of OS X for PC. To push the demo CD, Apple could say “This is what you can do with a mac” by letting people experience it for themselves. However, in reality this isn’t econmically feasible, as it would cost Apple a lot to develop this version that could support a wide range or hardware. However, it could create “universal” support which would support many devices, but would run them in a rather handicapped way. But, there would be the computer retards that would think that that is exactly how it looks on a mac, and wouldnt understand the whole concept. It seems the best solution at this time is to lower it’s prices A LOT in order to draw in customers during the recession. If Apple can hold off for a while without doing this, perhaps it would be a good thing to do once the economy is on the uprise again. The bottom line is that they need followers. If they can gain followers and keep up the things that made them followers, they will be on their way to success.
2003-07-18 2:19 pm
Anonymous
The logic in the original article is a little suspect. Stable or declining market-share does not necessarily mean that Windows users aren’t switching.
The statistics point to a large percentage of Mac buyers in Apple stores being first-time Mac owners. The switch campaign is working to some degree.
The real question would then be, why aren’t existing Mac owners buying new Macs?
2003-07-18 2:27 pm
Anonymous
I mean if your customers won’t budge to anything else, why should you materially improve it? A smart businessman would say, look, there’s much better (mac) and much cheaper (linux), but I still have 97 percent share. So why should I improve the product or lower the price, exactly? This is just common sense. MS is doing exactly the right thing from a business perspective, don’t improve it, just rake in those 90 percent profits after expenses.
2003-07-18 2:30 pm
Anonymous
” “Of the last 9 cars I’ve bought, 7 of them sucked. The Chevy Citations were good stuff. The rest … “”
Damn wish I thought of that one, that was good. Then again I also just saw lewis black on tv, so all the the most resent post were done in his voice, which makes for one heck of a better experiance when comments like yours come up.
But you still bring a good point. So many attack PC as cheap (in the low quality sense) and windows sucking. The truth of the matter is that hasn’t been even a half truth for a long time. Even some of the cheapest computers you can buy, eMachines hold up very well. You would be hard pressed to find somehting that is truely crap on the hardware front. If you could assemble a truely bad computer it probably had a 30 dollar mobo, yes there are those, and even they do fairly well. windows is solid since 2k. I wish people would stop compairing macs to PC ala 1997, even then they were not to bad. And compaired to a mac of the time, just wonderful. I don’t think many on the windows side challenge the quality of macs or osx. Everyone agrees its good stuff, much the same as the wintel side is good stuff. The inverse is not so true, the mac side sees wintel stuff as crap, maybe because they want to think that, maybe cause they haven’t touched a PC in 6 years. Either way its very anoying.
I still can’t belive someone defended tandy
2003-07-18 2:32 pm
Anonymous
as consumers switch more and more to laptops. I think Apple knows this and in the next year and a half, you will see great improvements in the capability of apple laptops (dual procs, G5s, etc.). People don’t get that macs are ultimately cheaper because of their longer “usable” lifetimes. They go for what is cheap initially. So as long as x86 desktops can be had ~$500, Apple isn’t going to make drastic inroads into this market….until people switch to wanting laptops instead. Apple is very competitive price-wise there and build superior machines. Ultimately, I don’t see Apple exceeding 7% market share however as they are more like a “Dell” than a microsoft.
2003-07-18 2:33 pm
Anonymous
The “switch” campaign was never as intensive in Canada, and as a result I have to say it didn’t influence my decision to buy a Mac at all. I think a dearth of advertising and promotion are really what limits Apple’s growth the most.
Background: I’ve been a PC user all my life, and always enjoyed monkeying about inside the cases, installing and upgrading parts as I needed. For the longest time, I was hugely leery of Macs because they were the epitome of “brand name” computers, which I thought of (as a general class, including big name PC manufacturers) as too proprietary, expensive, and uncustomizable for someone on a budget who got more power over time through simple upgrades, rather than buying a new machine. I also found the Mac OS (version 8) to be cumbersome. I remember using it at a web design job I had, and I had to install a lot of new software just to get the computer to do what I wanted.
The introduction of OS X (and the ensuing buzz) is actually what brought my attention back to Apple, as well as things like the stylish iPod and its continuing good reputation among creative professionals. There was a fair bit of buzz last summer around the introduction of OS X 10.2 and it got me intrigued. But all of this was sort of peripheral to any active efforts on Apple’s part to promote itself to consumers.
Through research and a lot of playing around with demonstration models, I made the decision to buy a Mac because it suited my needs the best. Some people consider Macs too expensive, but for me a brand new computer, PERIOD, is expensive, and yet I don’t see a bargain-basement computer as being necessarily a better buy. I’ve gotten burned many a time buy purchasing the lower-end model (be it a printer, a modem, or whatnot) when honestly a few more dollars up front would have purchased something much better that would be more satisfactory down the road.
At the consumer-end of the Mac spectrum there is still a lot of value for the dollar. I accept that Windows has greatly improved over the years, but when the time came for me to buy a new machine, I no longer wanted to mess with drivers, security patches, viruses, and the like. I wanted something reliable and powerful that I could bring to school and get the most use out of.
I bought a 600mhz iBook last November, and have never looked back. I still use my PC at home, but the features, performance, and reliability of the iBook have won me over to Apple. I echo the responses from those who say they are approached by curious PC users when they take the computers out in public. They do wonder if it was expensive, if software will work on it, what I can do with it, etc., but they also want to touch it and play with it and more than one person has expressed remorse for the fact that they were talked into buying a PC laptop because of the conceptions of price, compatibility, etc. I feel like I’m an indirect advertisement, but have had more of an impact amongst my friends and colleagues than Apple’s own efforts.
I think Apple still has a lot to do in terms of providing real information to the public.
2003-07-18 2:36 pm
Anonymous
well you are right on some level. But for sure MS keaps inproving, and what they have does not suck. But its wise to hold on to improvements for when you need them. Keap your weapons on reserve.
Same could go towards apple. They know the die hards arn’t going anywheres, why try to give them a better value or better stuff when they know they can get them to pay high prices for marginal product gains. A die hard mac user won’t go to windows, and certainly not anything else.
On a slightly differant level, but similar concept. How does one know apple hardware is good as it could be. Imagine if other people built mobos for apple systems, like in the x86 world. Poeple could benchmark and see if apple is on par in speed and stabilty for said speeds. Also for cost. But there is and never will be such a setup. So apple can be holding back speed and so forth because they don’t need to and just feed it to users over time, or just eat the profits from using slower but maybe more stable tech.
The basic idea of what you said applies to most all business. Apple is no differant.
2003-07-18 2:39 pm
Anonymous
I love the new Macs but the hardware is still too expensive compared to PCs. And with a PC I can upgrade it very easily and inexpensively.
Apple could increase their revenue by releasing OS X for the Intel platform. But I’m sure Micro$haft won’t let that happen, because it will outsell Windows.
2003-07-18 2:41 pm
Anonymous
I think Apple knows this and in the next year and a half, you will see great improvements in the capability of apple laptops (dual procs, G5s, etc.).
I don’t think I want a laptop w/dual G5’s sitting on my lap! A single G5 will likely be very uncomfortable due to the heat, but two would definately create some major warmth.
Aren’t Apple laptops already notorious for being too hot?
2003-07-18 2:45 pm
Anonymous
Eugenia why don’t you or your superiors simply change OSNews into something like OSFlameWars or OSNoPersonaLife?
Most people here should get a life and not Windows/OSX/Linux based computers! 
Go out, talk to some other people! Get to know each other! Do something because the level dropped in the past few months desperately low… 😮
2003-07-18 2:45 pm
Anonymous
Subsitute ‘Apple’ for ‘Next’ and history repeats
http://dpsinfo.com/essays/next.html
In founding NeXT, Jobs spent money very freely. Too freely. When most start-up companies are frugal, Jobs spent millions on setting up his headquarters and $100,000 for the design of the NeXT logo alone. When most start-ups manage people as competent adults, Jobs micro-managed and routinely publicly humiliated most of his employees. When many managers understand the need to listen to potential customers about their needs and wants in a product, Jobs chose to ignore everything that everyone told him. Jobs had a vision and mere marketplace realities were not going to disturb that vision.
Jobs’ vision for the NeXT computer was that of a “mainframe on a desk.” His original design was for a workstation that college students would buy. The workstation would look different. The workstation would use the newest technology, including an optical disk drive instead of the traditional floppy disk drive.
But a visionary needs capital, and Jobs did not want to use more than a few million of his own money. A few investors took an interest in his ideas, including Ross Perot who poured tens of millions of dollars into NeXT. Stanford and Carnegie-Mellon each invested over a half-million dollars*Dean Pat Crecine of CMU was an early NeXT board member. The largest single investor was Canon, the Japanese printer company investing up to one hundred million dollars.
Despite all the capital investments and despite the potential of the NeXT computer, the system was “yesterday’s technology tomorrow for twice the price.” It was too expensive for the college market, priced at about $4,000 a cube. When NeXT entered the commercial market in 1989, many companies felt the investment in NeXT equipment was too risky. NeXT workstations, competing in the workstation marketplace against the very fast and cheaper Sun SPARCstations, did not fare well.
After several years of struggles and layoffs, NeXT finally announced in early 1993 that it was getting out of the hardware business, and would only sell its proprietary NeXTSTEP operating system.
While Stross’s book is interesting, I found the most engaging chapter to be the chapter on Sun Microsystems, NeXT’s biggest competitor. Jobs is portrayed as so egotistical and so unyielding that parts of the book were literally hard to read. But the book is very useful as a cautionary tale for entrepreneurs who are convinced that “If I build it, they will come.”
2003-07-18 2:47 pm
Anonymous
I think Apple is not marketing their products well. I’ve never seen any Apple’s commercial on TV, for example, while i’ve seen a lot of Intel’s commercials.
Victor.
2003-07-18 2:57 pm
Anonymous
Go out, talk to some other people! Get to know each other! Do something because the level dropped in the past few months desperately low… 😮
I agree, although I generally think it’s due to all of the whiny pissants who post anonymously. Typically they have nothing to offer other than flames and trolls.
They typically post crap like:
Eugenia why don’t you or your superiors simply change OSNews into something like OSFlameWars or OSNoPersonaLife?
And…
Most people here should get a life and not Windows/OSX/Linux based computers!
Really… If these people are so adamant that there’s life beyond computers, then why have they been reading OSNews regularly for the last few months themselves? Would they have an opinion on how bad or good this site is if they themselves were out living their lives and not bothering us with their diatribe?
Your logic boggles the mind o’ Anonymous one. I’ll bet down is up in your world also.
By the way… Good way to improve the site (posting off topic and such just to have your say. Would you like some cheese with that whine?)
2003-07-18 2:58 pm
Anonymous
Macs are just too damn expensive.
Had they gone the extra mile and done a full OS X for the pc rather than just stopping with Darwin, then you would have a migration path, first with software then with hardware. Right now though it is so much easier to just spend $200 to upgrade your pc than having to buy a whole system for the price of a new transmission for my car…I would rather have the pc and a transmission than a mac…
Up until OS X I had never had as many Windows crashes and my mac friends, I didnt even consider such an unreliable platform, until recently…I take that back I had thought about getting an iMac to put Linux on it…
David
2003-07-18 2:59 pm
Anonymous
Ok, lets hypothetically say that Apple would really like to break out of its niche market and grab a reasonable slice of the computer desktop pie. Before we start, wipe the idea of any previous Mac and the current eMac/iMac line up.
1) Break down the desktop into its various components. Yes, AIO (All In One) computers may look funky but the consumer aren’t going to buy something which retards the ability later on to add, remove or change something.
The desktop has to be something funky and unique but functional. A case with the the ability to open the case without the need of tools, the inside logically laid out with colour coded symbols to indicate various parts.
As an example of this, lets look at the SGI O2. At the back, to get access to the motherboard and internals, a flick of a switch, and all you had to do was slight the sides out. No tools required.
The screen needs to come with in 3 sizes, 17 inch, 19 inch and 21 inch. CRT flatscreen trinatron should be the standard.
Mouse and keyboard. The mouse has three buttons, and the keyboard uses the standard UNIX layout.
2) The motherboard needs to be improved in terms of connecticity. Firstly Apple needs to drop OpenBoot and insted adopt EFI. This will enable them to utilise all the PCI/AGP options which are made available to PC consumers.
Currently, one has to wait till a special “Mac” version has been released, which is some cases will never happen because of the size of the market. This will result in a flood of new and more exciting options for Mac users. Oh, btw, EFI is a nice piece of work too if you read and understand the Intel specifications.
In terms of expandability, USB 2.0 and Firewire are a must, SATA completely replaces Parallel ATA, and to be a little more radical, get a CD producer on board to produce a SATA CDR/DVD-ROM drive.
3) For the desktop range, one brand option should be given, namely, ATI. One option, less inventory, less likelihood of over supply resulting in a reduce in costs. The standard video card should be a Radeon 9500 with 64MB DDR, and the option is given for the user to be able to upgrade from 9500 to 9600/9700/9800 if they so wish. The video card must sit on an 8x AGP bus.
4) The processor needs to be upgraded to minium of a G4 1.42Ghz and the FSB boosted to 266Mhz (133Mhz double pumped). The compiler itself needs more TLC spent on it. If it requires that 100 programmers are hired *JUST* to work on optimising the compiler for the G4 and G5 processor, then that is what should be done. This is part of the problem.
5) Software subscription should be offered to customers at AUS$120 per-year, and in return the user receives the latest version of MacOS X once released. This will guarantee a strong stream of income vs the gradual migration that occurs right now.
6) More retail outlets need to be developed outside the United States. The reseller programmes should be canned and instead the current business owners bought out and the original owner given the opportunity to be in charge of that particular Apple branded store. This will result in a strong reseller channel and will keep the piece with anyone who current have issues with the Apple store competing with the resellers.
7) Greater third party solutions on offer at Apple stores. These stores should be seen as a one stop shop for Mac users. Rather than being *just* a Mac should, they should be seen as *THE* shop to go to for ANY IT needs. Of course you would only stock items that are compatible with MacOS X. To boost loyalty, develop a Apple Store loyalty programme which include “members only nights” once a month where buy members can receive discounts on hardware and software.
8) Advertising should be focusing on what one can do with the Mac out of the box. Don’t compare, demostrate the capabilities. When there was a Mac stand in the local mall, people were draw to them and were able to given them a try. Each local Apple should have a road show where by they have a crew(s) which goes around the whole country showing off Macs in malls and getting regular people to give them a try and ask questions.
Also, for television ads. Ones that are fun, catchy and people will remember. If Apple want some help, talk to Saatchi & Saatchi.
9) Better third party relationships. For example, in the education section of the Apple store, why not have a “Mac Art Pack”, which includes a Mac plus various Adobe titles, and students can buy this whole pack for a reduced price than if they bought all the parts seperately.
Have a “Mac Home Pack” which includes a printer, various home related software titles, and again, sold at a discounted price that if one were to buy them seperately. Many companies I am sure will be more than happy to license OEM versions of their software to Apple so that they can be bundled with their hardware.
For small businesses, a “Mac Small Business Pack”, which includes Filemaker, Microsoft Office X and MYOB all in a box ready to use. I know 5 small business owners who would move instantly to something like this if given the opportunity.
10) Better development tools. If that requires buying out Borland, then so be it. There needs to be a development environment where by the developer does not need to relearn an interface to get coding on MacOS X. Support Mono as well, and develop C# bindings for Cocoa so that C# written applications can use the Cocoa framework.
These ideas may appear to some as some PC w*nker talking out of a hole in his head, however, I DON’T want to see Apple go. I would love to see Apple get ti 15-20% and really give Microsoft a good hiding, however, for this “vision” to occur, things need to change. The PowerMac G5 was a good start, now they need to work on the other areas.
2003-07-18 3:04 pm
Anonymous
Mac OS X with 7 million users has about 0.5% of the global marketshare.
From a mainstream point of view, Mac is irrelevant. It is a curiosity, an endangered species.
The most important thing Apple does today is to provide working prototypes for new features to Microsoft’s Windows team.
All the major music software vendors are fleeing the Mac platform now that Apple owns the music platform and the leading pro music apps.
Adobe is in the process of leaving the Mac platform.
Soon there will be nothing left except the few software titles that Apple sells.
And the marketshare will slowly shrink further. Who wants an expensive machine with no software?
Too bad Stevie “Gulfstream V Platinum Club” Jobs didn’t learn this lesson at NeXT…
2003-07-18 3:10 pm
Anonymous
People here are assuming that Apple is led by a rational and competent management. Very unlikely. Apple will fail, because it is the child of a madman. Woz was cool and brilliant-SJ is just plain crazy.
2003-07-18 3:13 pm
Anonymous
It would be interesting to see where this “7 million” figure comes from as every Mac user I ever talked to via technical support (when I worked at an ISP) ran MacOS X. There was only one case of a person running MacOS 9, however, he had an old G3 Beige PowerMac, however, he too said he was convinced of the MacOS X. Another customer moved just before I left as she was still waiting for print sharing ability via an easy to use interface. They moved over when 10.2 came out.
People are gradually moving over as soon as Apple deliver them what they want in MacOS X. This is the exact situation that happens in the Wintel market. We don’t suddenly see a *HUGE* exodus from one fopy of Windows to another, why? because people either fall into:
1) I’m running Windows [version] and are quite happy with it.
2) I’m running Windows [version], however, I can’t run the new version because my hardware is too old, I’ll buy one with it preloaded when I upgrade.
3) Its lacking [feature/driver/what ever], therefore, I’ll wait a little.
2003-07-18 3:13 pm
Anonymous
if Apple was realy in so much trouble, their company would be performing more like sun than how it is which is more like dell.
2003-07-18 3:15 pm
Anonymous
Apple needs a CEO that will focus on the customer, not some stupid artistic vision that only appeals to rich cyberhippies and trust fund artistos.
Apple needs a CEO who sweats the implementation details, not tiny little aesthetic details.
Apple needs a CEO who likes normal people and isn’t an arrogant prick.
Basically, Apple needs their version of Louis Gerstner to take the helm and really get the company focused on customers and solving real business problems.
Apple’s got great technology but needs real business people to take the company to the next level of success.
2003-07-18 3:23 pm
Anonymous
I think Apple will be fine. They aren’t going to take over the world, but they’ll keep making money and new products for quite a while. I think we’ll see more “switchers” once the G5s show up. Apple would have been in real trouble if IBM hadn’t come along with the G5. Motorolla just was not a reliable supplier of up-to-date chips. As long as IBM decides that the 970 (and future generations of the 970) are worth producing, Apple will be around to sell nice desktops (workstations for some) based on them (if not, they could switch architectures and still survive). They probably won’t grow out of their niche, but their niche will remain healthy.
2003-07-18 3:23 pm
Anonymous
7 million OS X users comes right from Stevie’s presentation at WWDC.
Apple hasn’t even “switched” 20% of their existing base from classic MacOS to OS X, much less any significant number of PC users.
If you can’t get a classic Mac user to switch… something is really wrong that Apple doesn’t want to admit.
Like… OS X is not that great of an OS. It’s warmed up leftovers of NeXTStep with a crappier UI that runs incredibly slowly considering the mighty beef hardware Apple has vs. the 40Mhz 68040 NeXT Turbo had to run on. OS X simply doesn’t have any Mac magic. It’s all eye candy and no real innovation in how people use computers.
Thus 0.5% market share for OS X. Which will probably shrink over time as Apple is slowly losing many of their ISV’s — at least the ones they compete with.
2003-07-18 3:30 pm
Anonymous
Explain the huge turn around when Steve Jobs jumped on board? explain how they went from dire straights to $4.95billion in the bank?
so, what you are essentially saying is that they’re rolling in cash, developing new products and moving forward but for some obscure reason they’re failing? As for the revenue, if you actually TOOK THE TIME to read their financial statements:
Total Revenue:
Mar 29, 2003 Dec 28, 2002 Sep 28, 2002 Jun 29, 2002
$1,475,000,000 $1,472,000,000 $1,443,000,000 $1,429,000,000
Net Income Applicable To Common Shares
$14,000,000 ($8,000,000) ($45,000,000) $32,000,000
However, in Dec 28, 2002 there was a resucturing charge of $23,000,000 (plus 2million in charges for changing the accouting), and in Sep 28, 2002 of $5,000,000. Dec 28, 2002 was most likely due to some restructuring, however, apart from that, they have only dipped into the red Sep 28, 2002, and everything else has been financially rosie.
No, the dooms day senario is over rated. I might as well say that SUN is doomed because they have a difficult patch. Heck, I could say the same for many IT orientated companies.
Considering that they’ve been ontrack for 6 years, I find it hard to believe that suddenly Apple will croke.
Oh, and as for the previous management. Yeah, great move, sell of assets to pay for losses. What happens when you run out of assets to sell? thank goodness Steve arrived in time otherwise Apple would have been the business equiviland of a banana republic.
2003-07-18 3:32 pm
Anonymous
The Mac will start taking off soon: the big problem has been “the software gap”. There is more Windoze software. That is changing. 1) Nowadays, zillions of UNIX apps are being ported to OS X. You couldn’t DO that with OS 9– too much effort for too little market share. 2) The Rapid app development tools for Mac, also, leave Windows in the dust. There is nothing like OPENSTEP on Windows. 3) The BEST software, increasingly, is Mac first or Mac only: iTunes; iMovie; Final Cut Pro. Then there’s liquid audio and Shake…
Browsers: You can’t buy a Windows machine with a decent web browser.IE for Win sucks even more than IE for Mac– ask any web developer (re: standards compliance). Sure, you can DOWNLOAD Mozilla for Win, but most PC peopel I know are afraid to install anything that is not MSFT-approved, because the Windows OS’s are so delicate (half from ineptness; half by design to kill off competitors, I think). On the Mac, you have Safari installed , or can install Camino. Mac users are NOT afraid to download.
I think it’s just a matter of time. Turning an oil tanker (the PC industry) can’t be instantaneous. With the increased software; incresed power (the G5– read SERVER Market– graphics types are already all Mac– at least the good ones), and, most of all, with the Apple Store increased visibility, I think the OS wars are FAR from hopeless.
2003-07-18 3:34 pm
Anonymous
It has been assumed by many that Apple is a dying company. The fact is that it has been dying for at least 20 years according to Wall Street and other pundits. Good gracious, this sure beats the record time of a dying singer in a tragic opera.
So far all I have read is old hat and not very interesting. The Wintel crowd keeps pointing at older Macs and the Mac crowd replies by pointing at older MS Windows OS. There has been one shining thought through all of the biased swill. Apple has definitely not been advertising as much as the other computer companies.
The proper application of marketing can make a real difference. We have excellent examples of that. The person who sold a small rock for $1.00 made a fortune and then repeated it by selling a piece of cardboard (as a house for the pet rock) for $1.00. Then we have the excelent marketing example of the Beta Max losing out to VCR through marketing techniques.
Proper marketing is the one of the keys to help popularize a product in spite of its advantages or disadvantages. The problem that Apple has is trying to figure out how much to spend on marketing and how to deliver a message that sells. The price of the product is not nearly as important. If it were the automobile manufacturers would never sell many SUV models.
2003-07-18 3:39 pm
Anonymous
Apple needs a CEO that will focus on the customer, not some stupid artistic vision that only appeals to rich cyberhippies and trust fund artistos.
Apple needs a CEO who sweats the implementation details, not tiny little aesthetic details.
Apple needs a CEO who likes normal people and isn’t an arrogant prick.
Basically, Apple needs their version of Louis Gerstner to take the helm and really get the company focused on customers and solving real business problems.
Apple’s got great technology but needs real business people to take the company to the next level of success.
You’re being honest, aren’t you? have you looked at Louis Gerstner history as a manager. Look at how Louis Gerstner ran Nabisco into the ground and are *JUST* recovering from his bad management.
The only thing Louis Gerstner did was expand IBM’s services offerings, oh, and buying billions of dollars in shares back to boost the share price. While all this was happening their hardware side was falling to pieces to the tune of $1.5billion lost on PC sales in one quarter alone. Then there is the software side which started to become a really bad joke. Thank goodness Louis Gerstner is gone and there is the new IBM CEO Sam Palmisano which is finally moving IBM back to the good old days of quality IBM hardware, great software and awsome service vs the Louis Gerstner “screw products, services rule” mantra he pushed. Btw, he was the nim rod who signed an agreement with Dell in which Dell sold computers and IBM provided the enterprise services. No wonder the PC unit fell to pieces with such a stupid management decision.
Hopefully their PC division will recover from such as stupid decision. Oh, btw, Dell has started their own consulting wing, and apparently their consultants are like their products; mass produced and are no better that the competition (infact worse), the only thing they can tout is that they’re “cheaper!”. The question is, at what cost?
2003-07-18 3:39 pm
Anonymous
Last November, my wife and I, fed-up with Windows problems (crashes, virus infections, etc…) purchased two 17″ LCD iMacs. These are our main desktop systems (although I also use Linux and FreeBSD). We no longer have any Windows systems in the house.
We did not make this switch lightly. We thought it over, and decided to give Apple a shot. Neither one of us had used a Mac before.
In the eight months we’ve been using the iMacs, we have adjusted very well to them. They support all of our hardware, and we’ve had to purchase very little software for them (I bought a license for BBEdit, two licenses for CodeTek’s VirtualDesktop, and one license for Adobe PhotoShop Elements 2.0).
I do all my development with the tools that come with OS X, and so far, we haven’t needed Microsoft Office (I wouldn’t buy it anyway, I’d use OpenOffice.org for OS X, X-11).
The Mac may not be right for everybody, but my wife and I like ours very much. Yes, they did cost a bit more than a WinTel PC, but I have not had a single problem with either system in the eight months we’ve owned them.
2003-07-18 3:55 pm
Anonymous
On two occasions I’ve tried to talk some of my friends into purchasing a Mac and what stopped them was not the price or software availability – they wanted their home machine to work exactly as the one they used at work.
For several years I’ve had Windows machines at work and my Mac at home. I found that my machine at home was more enjoyable use because it was differant than the machines at work. I did not feel like I was coming home and doing more work when I used the computer 🙂
But I can see their point – they already know Windows and are uncertain about learning a new operating system.
2003-07-18 3:58 pm
Anonymous
>>NOTHING on the Mac compares to Music Match
True that. Nothing on the Mac compares to Gator and Bonzai Buddy either.
2003-07-18 4:08 pm
Anonymous
trollin trollin trollin….keep them dogies trolling….trollin trollin trollin…raw head!!!!
when some one says that nothing is better than music match you know they are 13, been using windows for 2 years, never used a Mac in there life, and are so myopic that they run into corners and trip over steps.
2003-07-18 4:18 pm
Anonymous
If any trolls are going to point to a drop in sales in regards to their iMac/eMac line, that would be perfectly normal considering the rumours of the possibility of a new processor being released and thus consumers holding back until they find out what the full story is.
2003-07-18 4:22 pm
Anonymous
I’m not convinced Apple ~wants~ a larger market share. Their “Switch” campaigne was more designed to strengthen and reinforce their niche, not change it. The ads seemed to be aimed at people that already own Macs.
And there are real reasons why they don’t sell more, aside from the product image. Many of these of these have been mentioned already:
* The economy sucks. All computer sales are slow.
* Availability. Where do you even go to shop for a Mac? The nearest place from here is a two-hour drive.
* Market saturation. Many people have bought computers within the last three-to-four years and simply don’t need a new machine.
* Software availability and compatibility. You can’t just go to in WalMart and buy the stuff. It has to be special ordered and often costs more. Most of my software is hand-me-down and I know exactly one person who uses a Mac.
* High prices. Most people are not buying computers at all, and those that are are choosing very bottom-of-the-line PCs. The fantastic deals being offered by Dell and Gateway are the only reason they have decent sales at all.
* Education. The commercials did absolutely nothing to show *why* Macs are better/faster/etc. than PCs.
Personally, I think the new hardware specs are hot and OSX is a very handsome system. But with the economy, I just don’t see myself as a potential customer.
Best Wishes,
Bob
2003-07-18 4:38 pm
Anonymous
I use Macintoshes because I’m just better than you. See, look at my coffee – it’s French. You, I bet you don’t even know what France is.
My name is Raven and I’m an elitist asshole.
2003-07-18 4:40 pm
Anonymous
Apple has only doubled it’s market capitilization since 1984.
http://minneapolisfed.org/research/data/us/calc/ The dollar has depreciated 44% since 1984. Apple is essentially worth no more than it was in 1984.
2003-07-18 4:40 pm
Anonymous
// but most PC peopel I know are afraid to install anything that is not MSFT-approved, because the Windows OS’s are so delicate .//
Delicate? FUD as usual, from Macinistas.
Non-MSFT-approved browsers I have running on my XP box:
Mozilla
Firebird (about the same, but still)
Opera
Netscape 4.7
Netscape 7
K-Meleon
Act
All run without problems.
Next?
2003-07-18 4:42 pm
Anonymous
“People do nnot buy more than one computer. Who really needs two computer at the same time besides GEEKS ?”
Guilty as charged….
– Pentium III ( Windows XP )
– AMD Athlon ( Windows ME )
– AMD K6 ( Windows ME/ BeOS 5.03 )
– PowerPC G4 ( MacOSX 10.2.3 )
2003-07-18 4:42 pm
Anonymous
* The economy sucks. All computer sales are slow.
Some are worse than others, however, some economies around the world are growing quite nicely. Maybe Apple should think outside the US.
* Availability. Where do you even go to shop for a Mac? The nearest place from here is a two-hour drive.
For me it isn’t so bad, however, I can understand the problem. Apple needs to take the inniative and open more stores OVERSEAS!
* Market saturation. Many people have bought computers within the last three-to-four years and simply don’t need a new machine.
Which is why they need to concertrate OVERSEAS where the market hasn’t been saturated.
* Software availability and compatibility. You can’t just go to in WalMart and buy the stuff. It has to be special ordered and often costs more. Most of my software is hand-me-down and I know exactly one person who uses a Mac.
Or Apple could promote their shop better so that users can buy the software off them rather than needing to scoot down to the shop.
* High prices. Most people are not buying computers at all, and those that are are choosing very bottom-of-the-line PCs. The fantastic deals being offered by Dell and Gateway are the only reason they have decent sales at all.
Who on earth would buy a Gateway? they are dying. Loss after loss after loss. The only thing to save it would be a big juicy contract from the US government. As for Dell, after the last time I tried to inquire about a product I was answered by a person who didn’t understand me – which is strange as my accent, New Zealand, is really easy – and worse still, she sounded like an Indian with a fake yanky accent.
When you can get through to a person to inquirer about a hardware purchase, why on earth should I go to the effort of speaking slowly on the phone so that some person who doesn’t know English can take my order?
* Education. The commercials did absolutely nothing to show *why* Macs are better/faster/etc. than PCs.
That can be traced right back to my post on 61-75.
2003-07-18 4:46 pm
Anonymous
umm…yeah…I guess your troll is based off no one looking at the link?
thanks for the calculator.
2003-07-18 4:50 pm
Anonymous
“As a Capitalist I need something that WORKS,”
Yup, like Windows XP.
“not something that crashes 3 times a day, ”
Yup, never happen with Windows XP.
“and seems to believe it’s my fault for clicking on a link on a website. ”
Yup, never happen with Windows XP.
“I need something that when one app crashes, that’s all it takes with it,”
Yup, like Windows XP.
“I need something I can connect to just about any system on, be it Mac Classic, OS X, BSD, Linux, Unix, Windows, any of them I have to be able to connnect to.”
Yup, like Windows XP.
“I need something that can switch, without crashing, and allow me to write Russian, German, Japanese, all on the fly. (cmd+space bar)”
Yup, like Windows XP.
“I need something that when a bug is found, it WILL be fixed, no ‘oh well there is nothing wrong with that product, everything is fine’ then half a year later, a bug fix. ”
Yup, like Windows XP.
“Macs do use less power (lies in the RISC chip),”
Oh ! You’re talking about Macs and excluding Windows XP ???
Oh I see, you’re a Troll then ?
2003-07-18 4:52 pm
Anonymous
The “market share” debate (what it is or how big it actually is or whatever) has been going on a while, but I think the latest quarterly financial reports pretty much silence it with cold hard numbers. I also think some fellow Mac users need to seriously consider learning chisenbop because they sure aren’t using their $3000 computers to compute.
http://news.com.com/2100-1003_3-1026576.html
33.2 million dekstops, laptops, and intel servers rolled off lines.April to June
http://news.com.com/2100-1047_3-1026425.html
April to June – “Apple said that it shipped 771,000 Macintoshes, of which a record 46 percent were portable machines”
This translates to a 2.3% share for the most current quarter. Not a 5%. Not an 8%. 2. They’ve been dropping .1% year over year for a while now – the OG iMac spike notwithstanding. These are consistent numbers not seasonal blips. Someone above said that to sustain this they must be getting new users – duh. But old users aren’t upgrading as much either. Whether because they don’t like OS X (me – although I like the 10.3 Finder and iTunes) or they don’t have to or whatever.
PCs are not cars where the luxury builders have a market slot. Apple is alienating Microsoft and Adobe – two of the premier Tier 1 developers. I haven’t upgraded my 9.1 box because I didn’t care too much for OS X, but I like some features of 10.3 and am seriously considering it. But if all that’s left in 2 years is Apple’s integrated apps and a bunch of Tier 594 Open Source garbage because Apple has angered every major developer, well hell. Why bother.
As far as the general “what Apple should do” debate.
What Apple needs to do is the same thing as MS does. Do everything short of sending a daily hooker to developers. Get the development process and tools in schools. Free. Not just the cheap PCs for elementary schools. Make the Mac development tools as easy to use and ubiquitous as MS’s tools. The more apps the more uses.
Apple became big because MS provided them with the killer apps, not the inherent usability of the OG macs. Windows became big because MS is a developer who understands what developers need. As the embedded Windows vs Linux article a few days ago said – MS makes software development an industrialized, commodity process. It also needs to stop angering its developers. The only developers MS angers are those it plans to annihilate.
2003-07-18 4:53 pm
Anonymous
And in my opinion, Apple is building great machines loaded with a great OS. Just be patient…
– Mark
2003-07-18 4:57 pm
Anonymous
http://www.icwhen.com/book/the_1980s/1984.shtml
Apple Computer reports to have earned a fiscal net income of $59.2 million, or 97 cents per share, on gross sales of $1.52 billion for 1984. This was the year the Mac was released.
This just happens to be almost twice Apples 2002 revenue and 40 times Apples 2002 net profit results (adjusted for inflation)
Microsoft reaches a gross sales volume of $125 million and employs 608 employees.
I don’t know how Bill sleeps at night knowing Apple will put him out of business at any time.
2003-07-18 4:59 pm
Anonymous
I at one time was thinking about switching to a Mac because I do not like Microsoft, but Apple was to expensive and Apple seemed to be more interested in making fashion statements with Steve Jobs coming on stage and all his fans clapping uncontrollably and once they are shown the new product for their buying pleasure oohing and aahing right on cue, I quickly lost interest.
I do not think even if Apple lowers their price a little it will make much difference to their market share. I believe the only way to become a larger player is to just be a software company like Microsoft.
When I first read about the benchmark issue I thought it seemed more than just a marketing game and more that they were trying to deceive and wanted to see them punished but then again I want to see them succeed so there is more competition
If the Mac experience is really as good as the Mac devotees and Apple says and if you’ve tried a Mac once you will never go back then as Brad has already said they should have a trial period. Maybe something like a one time 3 months lease and the payment can be applied toward the purchase of the computer. With their big margins they should be able to afford it and if it is really as good of an experience as the Mac devotees say people will be keeping the machines and Intel and AMD get more competition and lower their prices and I benefit.
2003-07-18 4:59 pm
Anonymous
umm…you need to learn the diffrence between Market share (which you did not show) and shipments.
markets are counted from the installed base, Forbes says Apple has a 10% installed base of computers.
also, you need to count the consumer market on its own and report those numbers of installed base.
you need to look at the artistc/design markets on its own and report those numbers of the installed base
then you need to look at the cubical/receptionist market and report thise installd base numbers.
then you have the scope of what Apple and their competators are doing.
Aple focuses on the consumer markets and educational markets…..those numbers have a greater meaning to their business than over all markets
they focus on design markets, so those numbers are more importent than the over all market.
they do not focus on the white color market, and this is where the greatest disparity is.
by making your nmbers fine grained they get meaning.
Not many ordinary people really want Macs – plain and simple.
People do nnot buy more than one computer. Who really needs two computer at the same time besides geeks ?
—
http://homepage.mac.com/softkid
Most people have low expectations for computers, and Windows delivers.
Take for example viruses. Most users don’t realize they can run OS X or Linux and not worry about them.
I know many people with Macs, hell I used to HATE them; but with OS X and it’s UNIX/BSD underpinnings, I love it.
As a Capitalist I need something that WORKS, not something that crashes 3 times a day, and seems to believe it’s my fault for clicking on a link on a website.
I need something that when one app crashes, that’s all it takes with it, I need something I can connect to just about any system on, be it Mac Classic, OS X, BSD, Linux, Unix, Windows, any of them I have to be able to connnect to.
Macs do use less power (lies in the RISC chip), so in a way the TCO is less in a server room with a large amount of Macs then it would be with a large amount of Wintel based computers.
I need something that can switch, without crashing, and allow me to write Russian, German, Japanese, all on the fly. (cmd+space bar)
I need something that when a bug is found, it WILL be fixed, no ‘oh well there is nothing wrong with that product, everything is fine’ then half a year later, a bug fix.
The only thing I believe is wrong, Steve won’t get with the program. While the man has great ideas, he needs a Capitalist who KNOWS what s/he’s doing in there.
Mr. Galt.
C’mon mate, you think you can flesh out that assertion a little bit? Sheesh…
Anyway, this thread will probably degrade into a Mac/Win/Nixlot pile-on soon enough. I think the bottom line is the price of Macs. I really believe many more “ordinary” people would take the Mac plunge if the prices came down across the board a bit more.
I’m going to buy the Dual 2Gig because I really do “like” OS X (despite it’s flaws…) and I consider the top of the line tower to be a “bargain” for what your getting. Big however, it’s two little brothers are not bargains.
I’m not suggesting Apple make bargain computers, but if they are serious about increasing market share (and OS X usage), they need to bring their prices down.
Apple’s image is what is wrong. They haven’t marketed Macs as being just a one of our computer choices when you go out and buy a computer. They’ve marketed them as being your ticket to the great computer cult… “buy a Mac instead of a PC you stupid PC using moron”… not “choose a Mac instead of a Dell because it’ll be nicer for you”.
Joe Bloggs just wants a good computer that does stuff without hassle. Joe Bloggs goes out and buys a PC. Apple hasn’t marketed to Joe Bloggs that the Mac is one of their brand / computer options, like a Dell or a Compaq or so on. Oh no, rather, a Mac is an artsy computer cult phoenomin with neon white plastic and high style, and is marketed as such. It doesn’t even come across as a ‘normal’ option.
Apple also needs to understand that we’re not all on Steve Job’s vast salary (which in itself quite inflates the price of Macs) and that many of us just can’t afford spending double as much as a PC costs, even if it is better. I don’t want to pay extra for some weird expensive artsy white plastic case that has cost a small fortune to produce. I don’t want to be stuck on the MacOSX upgrade treatmill where Apple wants obsene amounts of money for the latest bugpatches. I don’t want to try and justify sending literally hundreds of dollars off to fund the salary of that top P.R. actor Steve Jobs.
If Apple wants to sell Apples, have a “choose” campaign and not a “switch” campaign. We’re not all stuck in the PC / Mac schizim mentality that Mac fanactics are, we just want a computer that works.
Quote from article:
“2. Looking at PC saturation into most homes and offices, these homes and offices are not going to go out and buy a second computer, even if it’s a Mac.”
And let’s not forget that the people who already have got a PC and for some reason want to get a 2:nd computer into their homes will go for a PC because they’ve already got a full stash of software – for the first PC.
Sure, the mac is probably a very good computer. But if I’d get a 2:nd computer into my house I’d want something that can run the Mount Everest of software CD:s I’ve got stacked up against the wall.
Who would go out and on purpuse buy a 2:nd computer that will be incompatible with essentially every single piece of software you’ve got? With Linux I can make a dual boot with Win and Linux and “have my cake and eat it too”.
That’s why I don’t see it as Apple having any hope of grabbing market share with people who already have got computers. They need to focus on brand spanking new computer users. People who basically don’t have any software yet. The “tabula rasa user”, so to speak.
I want a powerbook, but it costs toooo much. I saw a Toshiba yesterday that was 15mm thick at front and 19mm at rear, (no rom drive) and 1.1 pounds. Amazing. But I’d rather a PowerBook. Oh well, dreams are free……
Honestly. The biggest worry for would be switchers is that they won’t have access to ripped software.
This is especially true for teens who want educate themselves on software like f.e. 3D modelers.
Well, at least it’s educational. If you don’t appeal to the low end, you don’t get the low end. And a business catering to a very large high end can still do well. After all, many car companies cater to that high end, who buy a new car about as often as a new computer.
That’s because you’ve never use Caracho neither Hotline.
—
http://homepage.mac.com/softkid
RE: jeti (IP: —.ipt.aol.com)
Honestly. The biggest worry for would be switchers is that they won’t have access to ripped software.
Althought the pirating part is true the availability side of the argument is false. Any person with half a brain simply needs to download a P2P client such as Limewire, eDonkey2k or Kazaa, throw in “Microsoft Office X” and see the number of available downloads pop up.
Students are going to buy a back because they are expensive relative to what they can buy from a big brand retailer.
For example, if one were to obtain a G5 PowerMac from Apple Australia, $2,902.90, and that is with the Education discount, no screen, the Superdrive replaced with a regular DVDROM/CDR and GST.
My sister right now is studying for her degree which includes a art module, one of the things she needed to run is Photoshop. When you start adding on the software one requires for the course plus the cost of the hardware, things do get expensive.
As for the Apple iMac and eMac, I have shared my thoughts already, and I’ll repeat, Apple need to release an update NOW, not in 2 months time, not next year, but right NOW. G4 1.42Ghz, USB 2, Firewire, ATI Radeon 9500, AGP 8x, 266FSB minimum.
RE: me (IP: —.ihug.co.nz)
I understand what you mean regarding its “styling”. Personally I find their iMac and eMac range too gaudy. Their G5 is great, straight clean edges, industrial look and simple. Very minimalistic and functional.
If Apple want inspiration, they should look at SGI’s old desktop range. Sure, they were funky, but they were also functional. The O2 for example looks cool, yet, still maintains the conservative “this means business” look ‘n feel about it.
Recently i purchased an iBook 900MHz. I actually wanted it to run Linux (to match my stationary PC), but I just couldn’t stop using the beautiful OS X.
So now the iBook has Fink installed together with Apples X11. It works. I have the beauty of Apple and OS X and the power of open source/free software (emacs is better than any office suite).
The strange thing is, that when I take my iBook around and other people get to try it, there is a lot of *gasps* and *sighs**.
People ask the same questions every time.
– “Wasn’t it expensive?” (not really),
– “What about office software?” (well, I like LaTeX but OpenOffice should run fine)
– “Can you actually do anything with it?” (Yeah!)
– “I would really like to own one of those, but I didn’t know they existed” (Open your eyes man)
My impression is, that people either don’t know Apple or think of Macs as expensive toys that are nice to play with. When they buy a computer, they go for a PC. When they see one of those Mac-thingies in real life they actually like them and want them. My brother is actually getting an iBook after he saw mine in action (and he’s selling his Fujitsu PC) and I have a few other people hooked.
regards
…PiCz…
Please don’t pretend you have used a PC somewhere done the line during the last 5 years — I haven’t wittnessed a single crash since W2K SP1. If you can’t install it propperly have someone else do it for you. I *MUST* demand people stop alleging here continously that W2K/XP would crash. In fact, it crashed less for years than the Mac — OS 9.x was sh*t and the early OSX (1st year) wasn’t exactly a marvel either. That’s why people buy Windows – it has proven to work for years now.
This isn’t suprise at all.
For starters like some above have pointed out there is little reason for most people to buy a mac. Really if you like most of the people in the world you care less about your computer, you just use it as a tool. It’s not your life, it’s not your significant other. WinXP is a damn fine OS and gives people a perfectly fine experiance. Also people mostly just buy the plain jane sub 1000 dollar computer. They don’t need or want much. It doesn’t matter if a mac last longer, (which they don’t) cause the person will just buy another cheap computer in 3 years anyways causes theirs is old and want a new one even if the old one is fine, they would do the same with a mac. This part could go on, but it’s all been said before.
Now on to why the switch commericals failed. Thats simple. They were horrible. They probably overall hurt apple more then anything. I am interested in buying a mac, i will for sure have one within a year. But seeing the switch commericals was a major turn off for me and everyone i know. The commerials basicly called windows users idiots for using windows, they made mac users look like simpletons. So i’m stupid and you want me to join your moron club? Further more the commericals had lots of BS in them. They went with things that were from the past like constant bluescreens, well if you’re going to use win98 instead of XP in your ads for your basis, lets compair to os9, that sure was a stable great OS cough cough. The paper getting eaten and the beeps, Pure BS, someone try and repeat that exact thing. Only in win98 with office 97 can you get Word to crash, and there is no beeps, also learn to save. The camera thing and xmas, sorry, very few things you hook to ones computer in XP have any issues, aside from a product defect that would affect mac and pc. How bout a nice list of products supported by winxp vs. osx. Everyone I know saw through these ads and called them BS. Even non techy normal people I know saw this. That was problem #1 for them.
Next, the commercials just showed people, nothing about computers, or prices or anything, just this thing called an apple, nothing about the products other then claims.
They gave no support to their claims that it’s easier bla bla, how? having a person saying they couldn’t find there files in windows but on a mac it was so easy does nothing to explain why, if one can’t find them in windows, your not going to find them on a mac. Showing how it’s easier would do them a ton of help.
Another problem apple faces is simply if a person is interested in a mac, they have no way to check them out. People need to see one in person before they buy. Sure after you have had one, you can basicly know what others are like and order online, but if you have never played with a mac, your not going to throw a few grand at apple.com and get something you have never tried. People can buy a dell no questions cause they use windows all the time, they know what the computer will be like for the most part. So you say go to a store, well fat chance of that, unless you live in a big city there are no apple stores, go to apples webpage and look at the map, their is few apple stores. There also isn’t many non-apple places around that sell them. I have to drive 180 miles to get to a store that sells macs. Few people are going to do that. Also i hardly live in the middle of no where. So maybe you say go check out a freinds, well guess what, the number of people with macs is very small, going to the whole install base vs users issues, there is probably 1 in 100 people who have a personal mac, and a mac with osx more rare, and a new mac rarer still. On top of this, macs only have a following in urban areas. Get out in smaller cities and the country no one has a mac. I only currently know personaly 2 people with macs, only one of them closer to me then an apple store. Most people probably know no one with a mac. If a person has used a mac it was probably some apple ][ when they were a kid, that counts for nothing. Or some mac running os9 which is about as big as a anti-sales peice as you get.
Until apple solves the problem of getting people in contact with an apple they are going to have large switch issue. without getting person at one there is almost no chance of buying one unless they did something like made a trial period, or made them dirt cheap.
Also, they need to get better commercials, few people have ever seen a apple commercial or ad. Now some of this could be a regional thing. But I have only seen a few apple commercials ever, it’s almost like that don’t exist. When i say commercials i’m not talking switch commercials, i’m talking ones that are about product. And even them touch on the product very little. If your are a mass consumer product, say Nike, you don’t need to say much about the product, you just need a fun commerial. If your apple you are not Nike, you need to get to the goods, not look flashy. Apple commercials have little substance, and rely to much on them being aimed towards current mac users.
If your apple, and you want to get to 5% as they say it’s simple.
-Don’t turn people off
-Get out to people in a hands on way
-Make your product appealling, (get this, many people don’t like the look of, or life style, or images of macs)
-Stop being so elitist in commercials
-Better ads
-Stop BSing everything trying to make your product sound like the greatest thing ever.
-relize there are no compeling reasons to switch (iApps arn’t compelling and are a sub set of buying a computer anyways)
-People are cheap, most people are cheap, quality doesn’t sell that well, quailty never sells when your quality cost more then the next guys quality
-getting the cheap people are the only way to 5%
-people see computers as disposiable tools, not family members
-osx isn’t that easy, it’s no easier then windows
-make what people want, don’t sell people built in monitors they don’t want, or dvd burners they don’t need, give them the 2 button mouse they want (even if you think they don’t need it or can replace it), give them options (though you don’t need to go nuts)
Sure all these things are probably stuff mac people blow off as dumb, but it’s apple that wants to get to 5%. They have share holders, they are in it to make money. Not maintain the image some users want. Apple knows you (the elitist apple zealot snobs) arn’t going to go anywheres. The want to get more users. They have tapped all of the people that will go for macs as is. They have to find new margets. Time to stop thinking Sacks 5th ave. and start thinking Target.
“Students are going to buy a back because they are expensive relative to what they can buy from a big brand retailer.”
should be
Students aren’t going to buy a Mac because they are expensive relative to what they can buy from a big brand retailer.
Only that arrogant coprophagist Jobs would think insulting people is going to be an effective way of earning their business.
Apple’s lack of market share is due to how Apple is branded. Part of telling people “who they are” and “how to buy” is part of the Apple’s cult approach to business.
Alas when it comes to market share, there is nothing inherent in Apple’s branding that appeals to normal mainstream people.
In reality:
— Most people don’t sip caffe latte with the Dalai Lama or daydream about the works of famous creatives.
— Most people don’t live on trust funds and spend all day making DVD’s on their SuperDrives and playlists for their iPods.
— Most people don’t collect art and do not need their computer to look like an esoteric mushroom.
— Most people are not involved in some sort of counter-culture dissent movement.
Apple is a cult. Their lack of market share is not a bug, it is a feature. Apple’s brand does not support massive scaling of the customer base — because the additional cult-compatible customers simply don’t exist.
By Apple’s own count, there are 7 million OS X users. That’s a number, that as percentage of total personal computers in use, is very close to either 0% or 1% of the market. It’s the fringe; it’s the noise.
And Apple, to their credit, is somehow managing to survive out there. Alas, to live on the fringe, Apple must make products that appeal to the fringe. And thus is Apple forever destined to be a minor player on the great stage of personal computer evolution.
Since more people use Windows machines, about 98%, I dont think tons of people are going to make software and games for the Mac. People like to play their games, and like their software they recieve with Windows, NOTHING on the Mac compares to Music Match. I mean, I went to Target to look for software, and I found 2 Mac compatible software titles that were also for the PC, both were “How to learn language programs” those 3, we’re just 3 out of 50 software programs there. And as for Office Max, I found NO software title available for the Mac, out of atleast 200… There was home builidng software, learning software, family games, business software, health software. Now the other reason why people dont switch is because the lack of games. There is over 60 million PC gamers. So there is NO WAY Apple can get those people to switch. Another reason is the lack of hardware. Didnt the PC get ATI Radeon 9800 pro last year, and now, finally, Apple has it? But they arent shipping it yet. I cant upgrade my sound card, hard drive, or a video card to a Mac. That’s pitiful. And other reasons why people arent switching is because the Apple switch campaign is a LIE! “Oh I cant find this cable to plug into my digital camera for my PC” says one person Apple paid to do a commercial for, well guess what I have to say about this… Its the SAME plug you use on a Mac to bucko! Oh, and the lack of peripherals. Dont try adding a USB tv tuner, or your Lexmark X75 printer on your Mac.
RE: picz (IP: —.sifira.dk)
My impression is, that people either don’t know Apple or think of Macs as expensive toys that are nice to play with. When they buy a computer, they go for a PC. When they see one of those Mac-thingies in real life they actually like them and want them. My brother is actually getting an iBook after he saw mine in action (and he’s selling his Fujitsu PC) and I have a few other people hooked.
I’ve gone into my local Mac dealer around 3-4 times to give the eMac a try. Checked out Microsoft Office X and assorted things, yes, it is great and works NOW, however, what I am worried about is 2-3years time. Why spend $1899 on a machine with a ancient graphics card, old expandability options – USB 1.1 vs. USB 2.0 which is common in new pcs today. Worse still, it uses old 133Mhz memory. In 2-3 years time, is it going to be like 72pin memory where it is almost impossible to buy and if you do find a reseller, they charge you an arm and a leg.
RE: Anonymous (IP: —.dip.t-dialin.net)
I agree, anyone who says that Windows XP or 2000 crashes all the time must have a really crap quality computer or is a moron that stuffs around trying to “tweak things”.
Having used both Windows XP and MacOS X, both of them are stable. My purchasing decision is based on what OS it runs are both are equal in features and quality, no, the question I have is the life span of the hardware compared in relation to the technology in it and where we will be in 3 years time.
I don’t like being tied to overpriced hardware. If the MacOS was available for PC hardware, then it wouldn’t be so bad I guess. But still, not much incentive to switch. My PC doesn’t crash unless its from a bad driver/peripheral, and that hasn’t happened in a long time. My PC just doesn’t crash anymore at all. Some programs do, but not the OS, I have it on 24/7 thanks to a minor case fan mod. Mac users like to make up alot of stories to excuse their lack of technical knowledge.
>however, what I am worried about is 2-3years time. Why spend
>$1899 on a machine with a ancient graphics card, old
>expandability options – USB 1.1 vs. USB 2.0 which is common
>in new pcs today. Worse still, it uses old 133Mhz memory. In
>2-3 years time, is it going to be like 72pin memory where it
>is almost impossible to buy and if you do find a reseller,
>they charge you an arm and a leg.
I’m not sure about the USB 2.0 vs 1.1:
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/18/2025210&mode=thread&tid…
I must say, that I don’t really care. If I want to hook up a device that needs speed (like an external harddisk), I will buy it with FireWire.
I wouldn’t worry about 2-3 years time. The PC evolution is going slower and slower. Sure, all the Quake-nerds keep buying the newest hardware, but most users don’t need speed monsters. They need to be able to browse the web, do their banking online, write their documents and eventually hook up their data-gathering-devices (digital cameras, scanners etc.) up.
A lot of people I know have ancient PC’s (clk < 300MHz) and could not dream of replacing them with anything new yet.
regards
…PiCz…
“But still, not much incentive to switch. My PC doesn’t crash unless its from a bad driver/peripheral, and that hasn’t happened in a long time. My PC just doesn’t crash anymore at all. Some programs do, but not the OS, I have it on 24/7 thanks to a minor case fan mod. Mac users like to make up alot of stories to excuse their lack of technical knowledge.”
And thats one of the guts of the problem, there is no incentive. if its not broke don’t fix it, thats how most people look at it.
Just take my freinds, Roommate has a old eMachine, it runs, no reason to upgrade even though he plays games and such and could use alot more computer and could have a few times more computer for 200 bucks.
other freinds still have winME and don’t care, still have all the preloaded crap icons on the desktop after 2-4 years. Don’t care, they know how to get rid of them, doesn’t matter. And they use there computers all day. This is the world, just simple could care less, even if they have problems could care less. If a person doesn’t care to upgrade there os or remove cluter they arn’t going to care to get a mac.
Others still have win98, win95. I know a person who runs win3.1 . It all works for them.
Also, before anyone jumps on the fan thing, you don’t need that for 24/7 running. All my computers do as do most. One of them has been going for 5.5 months uptime, and it’s not great hardware (IE old tossed together stuff with a PII), running winXP, it’s nothing special or to be exicited about. It just runs, as do most computers for most people, it works, why fix it. Trying to shift the inertia of all those computers for all those people that are working just fine is a huge task. You are going to have to do something big to shift it.
Yea, Win2k was good (I did a beta of it, crashed it in less then 10 second, full version took me over an hour).
Windows XP on the other hand, well it stopped seeing my network after a week, reinstalled, this time no network from the get go. Then it would not connect to anything else after a third reinstall and about 3 months of uptime.
OS X on the other hand I’ve had to reinstall twice because I screwed up on the terminal. ops.
Otherwise I’ve never had it crash, except for the one time I killed off a system app. I was asked to reboot, no blue screen, just ‘Please hold down this button to reboot’.
Mr. Galt.
In absolute terms not, but 50% of the people who buy a mac in an Apple retail store are switchers.
Students aren’t going to buy a Mac because they are expensive relative to what they can buy from a big brand retailer.
That’s funny, I’m a student and I bought an iBook. They are not that expensive, and they just have an excellent quality.
Yup, Id love a Mac. But to get a reasonable one here in NZ, we are talking approx $4-5000, v’s $1200 odd for the PC i can build myself.
The PC wont be top of the line, but it wont be a bottom ender either, a good performing, midranger. Thats one huge price difference, I just cant justify it, even though I would love to (and possibly will someday soon).
As for 2k and XP stability, yeah, typically not bad. XP has a weirdo one that I could pretty much reproduce at will (havnt tried lately). Have a LAN connection, and a modem connection, drop the lan connection and then drop the modem connection, it would reboot. Literally, not bluescreen, but reboot. The pc on my desk at work is running XP and I cant remember the last time I rebooted that. However, I REALLY resent it when IE decides the c**p itself and takes the whole desktop and every other window with it too.
“In absolute terms not, but 50% of the people who buy a mac in an Apple retail store are switchers. ”
50% of not many people buying macs is still not many. Also curious how this is measured, some could be second computers to go with there PC, some could be first time computer buyers, etc
“That’s funny, I’m a student and I bought an iBook. They are not that expensive, and they just have an excellent quality”
Yes thats nice, but few people want an ibook, its a very small, not powerfull computer. Not to many people care for an ibook. Sure people buy them, but when you compair college students buying iBooks to students buying others it comes out to an extremely small number. Apple laptops are fairly well priced. But iBooks arn’t very much of a computer unless you want something very very small and white. The laptops that really appeal to most are the 15″ and 17″ power books, they are well priced, but not cheap. also laptops are secondary computers. Most people would refuse to just have a laptop, a 17″ power book is about the only desktop replacement out there.
Students aren’t going to buy a Mac because they are expensive relative to what they can buy from a big brand retailer.
That’s funny, I’m a student and I bought an iBook. Compact, good battery life, sturdy, full featured and Mac OS X is just sweet. Unix with a decent graphical interface. Quite frankly, it’s not that expensive and gives a very good quality.
why did you respond with your message, then change it some and post it yet again?
I’m no great lover of the Mac cult but even I thought the actual article pathetic in its depth, little more then this comment
I’ve been burned and lost my patience so many times by PCs that I have grown to dislike them. Out of 9 PCs I had 6 of them where crap. The Tandy’s where good stuff. There rest…
Once I get my G5, this P4 is going to the closet as a Linux server. I’m through with Wintels.
Once you go Mac, you won’t go back.
“The Tandy’s where good stuff. There rest… ”
damn, i think you’re the only person to ever udder that line
…is they spend their entire life degenerating the world into one dimensional numbers, scratch their head, and saying “I wonder why this number is the way it is?” and then attempt to add dimension to that number by asserting why it is the way it is. It just does not work. If you look at the entire situation as a whole, there are some very promising trends for Apple. Apple’s product line was in a lull and its core customers _KNEW_ that this was the case – they were waiting for the product refresh to purchase their new set of computers. To a lesser extent, programs such as Quark were keeping people back. But the big thing holding the core Apple users back was the absence of truly competitive hardware. IMHO, for Apple’s marketshare to have remained flat is quite telling. Because many die-hard Mac users just were not contributing to the company’s bottom line this past year. For sales to remain flat, outsiders must have picked up the slack. And I think that’s exactly what happened. While anecdotal, I am a switcher – a person that once laughed at Macs and even as close to one year ago was smirking at the platform. It will be interesting to observe this same situation in a year’s time, when the G5 is into its second generation and major refreshes to the Powerbook, iBook and iMac lines have all taken place. I see no reason why Apple cannot realistically double their sales over this year – which may still leave them as a miniscule segment of the market but is progress nonetheless, and impressive progress at that. I have my own small company, and I’m transitioning it over to a Mac OS X on the desktop, Linux on the server house.
You would find more software at CompUSA or some other store that actually sells Apple stuff. That might very well be your point though, the software is harder to find and most people expect to be able to go to any computer store and find their software. As far as hardware goes, video card and sound card may not be able to go in a mac, but the hard drive can. Perphaps not easily in an Emac or Imac, but these only support one internal drive anyway, and not a G5 which uses SATA drives, but it will go in a PowerMac just as it would in a windows based computer.
IMHO, the biggest thing keeping people from seriously considering an Apple is not the lack of software available or the prices, but the lack of freely available pirated software available.
Additionally, I am an engineering graduate student and bought an iBook for my personal use. It runs everything I need but 3D CAD programs, and MATLAB is not the most pleasant experience on OSX – but I get by. Personally I love OSX and switched form Windows and will most likely not be buying a Windows machine as long as Apple is around (and then I would probably go Linux). With that said, I also use Windows 2000 and XP at school and must admit their stability is much improved from the Win98 days and that in fairness people really should compare a current OS with a current OS.
I’m not sure about the USB 2.0 vs 1.1: