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A Look Back at Apple's 2003
Samvit writes "The end of the year is upon us, so it's naturally time for those retrospectives to start coming in. Ars Technica has a fantastic look back at Apple in 2003. 2003 was one of the biggest years for Apple, arguably the biggest in a very long time. Still, Ars is typically fair, so the author lays down not only the good in 2003, but also the bad and the ugly. There's a bit of prognostication going on too--a little something for everyone."
Apple has not been completely succesful this year, but who can deny that it is the most ambitious computer maker? Apple constantly pushes the envelope forward with newer features (FW 800, bluetooth, 17 inch laptop), and the rest of the pack try to clone their offerings in a Windows world. When's the last time Apple had to copy a Dell or Gateway design to stay current?
I actually think next year will be even more interesting, as Apple pursues their music / video strategy. There's rumors of a Pro Tools killer on the way. Go Apple!
We actually paid for a call to mac tech support to get help, and after 20 mins on hold while the tech looked for a fix, nothing. In the end, after 5 hours of attempts, patch downloads etc, we just went to a library, and I had my email answered (in english, lol) within 15 mins (after a 20 min wait for a free machine, but still). There is a way to read the text in OS X, but it involves copy/pasting into a text editor, which wouldn't work for HTML forms, of course. which button was 'clear' and which was 'send'? I found out the hard way 3 times. Now that I read more of your message, I realize you said Hebrew 'might not work'. oops! This seems wierd to me, as a very high percent of israeli homes have computers, and there (used to be) a small but decent mac market here. Strangely, it died a bit after the release of OS X, as I recall. I wonder why...
I also know for a fact that many middle eastern languages have the same problems in OS X, though certainly not all.
That's a major fix Mac will need to make if it ever plans to get popular with businesspeople on an international scale (and on a major level, even on a domestic scale).
My head of IT stating that "Apple will be out of business by Christmas."
That was in 1997.
As long as Apple keeps innovating and forcing everyone else to play catch-up, they'll stay in business for many Christmases to come.
One thing Apple has done well is pushing UNIX to the next-level down user, people that might not ordinarily touch the command line.
Since I started working with OSX, I've gotten much more used to dropping into the Terminal to do stuff. It started with ls -aR and now I'm grepping ifconfig to determine my MAC address. It's fun.
Thank you, Apple, for bringing out the inner Unix sysadmin in me. Now all I have to do is grow my hair long again.
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I have to admit, as a former apple hater, I spent an hour with a friend who has a new G5 and iPod. The G5 is slick, fast, has an OS I felt at home with in minutes, and just looks stunning. Price be damned, I'm buying one.
I also criticized the iPod many times, for its battery life, my distrust of HD based players, and preferance for an iRiver over the iPod, based on cost alone. This one seduced me even quicker than the G5. Hunting through a music library that wasn't even my own was... wow!. I don't know if I can say the build quality is any higher than anything else out there, I didn't spend that much time around it, but if it was revealed that an iPod owner pays a pittance for hardware and hundreds of dollars for a wonderful interface, I would believe it.
And I'd find it worth it. I've already ordered mine.
Curious how there is no mention of the Beatles-Apple lawsuit in the piece. It has been covered on Slashdot previously: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/09/11/ 232230&mode=thread&tid=107&tid=141&tid=187&tid=188 . In a nutshell, the Beatles Apple Corp. and Apple Computer had an agreement where Apple Computer would never get in the music business. It seems Apple has blatantly violated this and wants to give the Beatles free money.
Money's money and if I don't have it then I don't get it. :-)
But seriously, if the price were much lower then I probably would splurge for one.
At a Perl conference last year, I'd say the vast majority of laptops were Macs running OS X. That is saying a lot!
This was a huge year for apple, for us linux geeks.
Jaguar got me hooked on the OS, but the hardware was lacking. The 12" powerbook is what has finally hooked a lot of my friends (almost 5 that i can count now) as the first affordable powerbook.
- tristan
if it was revealed that an iPod owner pays a pittance for hardware and hundreds of dollars for a wonderful interface, I would believe it.
Apple marketing has worked wonder's on you. I havent use'd an ipod but I can firmly say feature's over eyecandy (icandy?) will always win out for me. you pay for pretty playlist's if you like and I'll have a cheaper player with more feature's and more money in my pocket
I would like them to continue but they need to stay on the edge and that is a very risky place to be.
I am just glad that they are currently on the safe side of the edge. Too often in the past, it has looked like they were about to disappear forever.
At the moment, no, there's no reason for Microsoft to be worried. Well, except that Windows virii have gotten so bad that the typical Dell purchaser will get nailed by several before Windows Update has finished running for the first time. But otherwise PCs are less expensive and generally much faster for the price.
.net-based OS, and changing lots of core components at the same time. And the minimum system requirements are going way up. None of the Longhorn features are battle proven yet. It will be a long time before we know how it will hold up.
But lets look a few years down the road. The next update to Windows is a huge one. Microsoft is essentially switching to a
On the flipside, the Mac already based on proven UNIX technology and security. The GUI is fully hardware accelerated. The core CPU line looks to be in a much better position for moving forward in performance (Intel has been very vocal about the power issues they're running into), and PowerPC's run cooler, which is getting to be an important issue.
All told, I can see a lot of people jumping ship to Apple in the next few years, especially if the hardware and OS X improvements continue at the rate they have been.
How are they working to increase market share and compete with the Wintel market?
Perhaps they're not even trying to compete anymore. I mean, they've shown they can co-exist with other computers in the world. I know many people that have both systems at home and work with both systems at work. It's no longer a "one or the other" problem for people. They've been going and going and going for decades. Decades! They may not have huge marketshare, but they're also not trying to take over the entire market like other companies.
Perhaps it's Nash's Equalibrium at work? Just a thought
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
From the article: The largest complaint about the mini AlBook was heat. There was lots of it.
But it was never any problem for me... however Apple recently released a battery update for it to make it run cooler. Well, it does, but now I do have a problem: the fscking noise, when fan is running most of the time, although quite slowly, but still. (It starts every time the temp will rise over 52 degrees C, and won't stop until it has fallen back below 47 - the pre-update numbers were 64 and 59.)
Previously, it ran only during high CPU load, but now it runs during regular web browsing etc. This really sucks, I truly wish I could somehow remove that damned update! But I don't think there is any clever way to do it.
Any similar experiences?
“Wait for Hurd if you want something real” –Linus
Not only is Apple alive, they should have some interesting new stuff coming out the beginning of the New Year. The MacWorld keynote is January 6. Rumors are circulating of new, smaller iPods with 2gb and 4gb capacities and a lower price. There are some mockups and pictures here.
music, video, games, recipes, forums -- earth2willi.com!
I am willing to admit that apple's top offering is generally neck-and-neck with the fastest x86 of the world. This may or may not be technically accurate, but let's concede it. The fact remains that on a flops-per-dollar basis, you're better off buying x86. VaTech aside, you don't build a supercomputer with apples. (Don't expect any sympathy for tech from me -- wahoowa!)
Apple should start buying commodity hardware from the wintel world. Keep building your own cases; write your own driver software to make it bulletproof. Let Panther install on a pentium machine. The only hardware they should make: gadgets (ipod is clearly apple's foot in the door of popular adoption), and, as bad as it is for the consumer, proprietary widgets for their cases. Stuff that lets your ipod do things it couldn't otherwise; or that makes DVD authoring easier. Most of this will be crippleware -- disingenuous measures that enable functionality that everyone *could* have, but that they only give to owners of apple cases.
You can still charge your premium, but it has to be less -- and you can afford to do so, if you start buying from the same guys Dell buys from.
Now is the time to strike. Microsoft has a mature (read: stagnant) OS out that will not be replaced for 12-18 months. The recent rise of malware and spam has extended for a generation the idea that windows is an substantially inferior product, even as their OS offering is actually the most competitive it's ever been. If you can attack it sufficiently to weaken adoption of Longhorn, you will have made a huge gain.
You have a tremendous amount of credibility with your existing fanbase, with *nix geeks since redoing your OS, and with windows users as they discover ipod/iTMS. If you let windows users switch to your OS without buying a new computer, you could actually establish sufficient marketshare to challenge MS for market dominance in the next 5 years.
Granted Apple has had a great year. Many converts (including myself) and cool new products. Having recently jumped on the Apple bandwagon though I find that everyone likes to be a cheerleader for the company. Few users and fans ever point out some glaringly obvious downfalls of using Apple products.
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First and foremost in my mind is an unbelievably shoddy quality control system for new software releases. The much-touted new operating system Panther created about as many problems for its users as it has new features. This is after replacing a buggy 10.2.8 OS that never has been patched up for users that did not upgrade! Before flaming my Karma, take a look yourself, at some of the threads on Apple's own support website and read about long startup times, the dock disappearing, Powerbook backlight dysfunction's, printer's not working, etc, etc... Here's the link:
http://discussions.info.apple.com/WebX?13@112.t
These are obviously not one-time issues affecting one or two users, here and there. They affect everyone, including myself. I have spent I don't know how many hours scouring these discussion boards trying to figure out how to fix one bug or another that Apple's "new and improved" software has caused on my system.
The fact that this happens in the first place is ridiculous. Even more frustrating though is that this unfriendly user experience does not get any limelight. So far in my Apple software is as bug prone and glitchie as windows. The only consolation is that you can look over discussion boards to try and figure out how to fix it. One would hope that Apple would have fixed it before releasing it in the first place though, and that those who buy and upgrade to their products would not need to go through these headaches!
Then comes the hardware. You pay a premium price for Apple products, why then are there so many complaints about this problem or that. Again I will refer interested readers to Apple's own discussion boards where users talk about display problems, poor working latches, loose laptop lid's, dissatisfaction with G5's, and all sorts of other problems on their top of the line, ultra expensive Apple toys. Here's the link (dig down into any thread):
http://discussions.info.apple.com/
These problems abound and hopefully Apple will get their act together to resolve them. Unfortunately at this time I do not find Apple to be any more stable or less of a headache than windows. Rather it is like a shinny new sports car that one loves to show their friends, but that winds up breaking down and sitting in the shop more than they will ever admit.
I've never had one of those problems mentioned, because I did an Archive install for Panther - and before that I always used upgrade and never had issues. Sure if you look on a support board you are going to see a lot of wierd things but that does not men it's the predominant user experience.
I even had that "cursed" 10.2.8 upgrade installed and didn't have problems with that!! I think a poll on MacSlash revealed that not many people had issues with it.
I have to admit the FW800/HD bug was pretty evil though and should never have seen the light of day.
Regardless of the problems however, I still have very few qualms about letting Apple patch my system instead of a Windows update (at work my Powerpoint segfaults when you try to open any presentation after a recent update. Thanks!).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Hobbyists and engineers could much better appreciate and understand the Apple ][ and if one so wished he could engineer his own fancy graphics and sound boards as it had a proper expansion bus and internal slots
Also, each Apple ][ came with complete schematics and diagrams showing the design. Talk about open source! I remember thinking how cool it was that I could simply build my own if I wanted or build cool light boxes driven by my computer or make a robot with my Apple ][ as the brains (the mind of a 12 year old at the time).
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OS X has excellent Asian language support. More specifically, I should say that I use Japanese and Traditional and Simplified Chinese. I run my system entirely in Japanese, and can switch between Japanese and Chinese inputs on the fly in any app with ease. The only apps that have problems are poorly ported ones (*cough* MS Office *cough*).
I've been in the category of "Apple hater" for quite some time. (Yes, I did briefly go the Apple route, back in '96 or '97, when I started feeling like I really needed to give one a chance instead of bashing something I never even owned. After 3 months with that Performa 6400 tower, I was back to Apple bashing, and unloaded the system A.S.A.P.!)
Well, 2003 has been the year that turned me around! Money has been pretty tight for me throughout this year, but I somehow managed to borrow and scrape up enough money to get a dual 2.0Ghz G5 tower, a Powerbook 15" laptop, 40GB iPod *and* iSight camera. So as you can see, I've VERY MUCH bought into the new Apple product line!
Here's the thing. I've been working in computers and I.T. for almost 14 years now. I can't remember the last time a new computer and/or OS offering really excited me since my first Timex/Sinclair 1000, and my Tandy Color Computer 2 and 3 I owned after that.
(Well, ok - I was pretty thrilled when OS/2 Warp and eventually 4.0 came out - but IBM quickly put a damper on that enthusiasm, with their horrible marketing of the OS.)
This year, Apple has brought out what I consider the near perfect OS, the near-perfect laptop to run it on, and an amazing desktop system to run it on. The iPod speaks for itself, and the iSight.... well, frankly, it's just an "impulse buy" because at $149, you may as well own a well-made camera that matches your multi-thousand dollar Mac systems.
If there's one thing I can justify sinking my money in, it's computer technology. I use the stuff all day long and most evenings too. I make all my money from it. Why wouldn't I want to own hardware and software that impresses me and makes me proud, rather than the same old beige boxes everyone else uses?
It appears it's not just me, either. Two of my ex co-workers from a previous I.T. job both made the switch to Macs and OS X this year - and both would have NEVER considered an Apple system before. (I had no say in their decisions either. I was shocked to hear they both had Macs now!)
Dell sells the Macs to the NYC schools because of the contract they hold. The deal is that all computers will be bought through Dell, however, if Dell cannot provide a computer the Schools want to buy(a Mac, for instance) then the contract is off. SO, Dell takes it's lumps, sells a few emacs and powermacs to the schools (+ a small % for profit) and happily sells the other 99% of the computers as Dell black box workstations like anything else...
As Linux gains marketshare, Microsoft will be forced to lower prices on their cash cow products - Office and Windows. As they do this, they get squeezed because all of their other products such as MSN and xBox, and others are real dogs - consistently loosing money. This will quickly put Microsoft up against a wall. Apple, on the other hand, will be able compete against Linux based on quality and a better user experience (i.e. being at the cutting edge). There will always be room for Apple in the PC market if they keep doing what they are doing. But will there be room for MS? How will they compete against Linux? Sue everyone? Continue to release insane and nonsensical position papers?
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I think Apple are close to being on the right track, but otherwise I have to disagree. Apple are not expensive. Others are too cheap. They attract the price-conscious and cut corners on production. Economics 101. Then your Gateway falls apart, and what does that tell you? Worse: I've seen useless Gateway laptops that cost a lot more than almost anything Apple had to offer at the time, laptops that couldn't even work as advertised - and in the showroom. No, I will take quality any day, and if quality costs a bit more, I will pay it, for I profit in the long run.
I am not sure if it's genius on Apple's part to choose Unix, or instead that they knew Steve and Avie had the best system going, the best system ever seen, both for development and for use, and that Steve and Avie already chose Unix - and for reasons which were particular to NeXT, and not Apple.
There's been speculation about whether Apple should have chosen Be, but after peeking inside, I think it's obvious to anyone that Apple made the right move there.
I am probably a typical computer user but not a typical slashdotter in that my knowledge of all things Unix is minimal at best but that's why I'm thinking of getting a Mac. I have tried a bunch of Linux distros that worked OK but were still quite confusing for me. Macs put a friendly face on Unix. It's as simple as that. I have played around with a friend's Mac and the 'nix stuff seemed easier for me to understand. Since I write a little weblog and do some websites on the side I have wanted to get to know Linux/Unix better and I think that the Mac's ease of use on Unix to me is just the ticket. That and the fact that my Windows machine is contantly hanging has given me the impetus to search for something that just works. Macs seem to me to be that computer at this time.
I can't remember the last time a new computer and/or OS offering really excited me...(Well, ok - I was pretty thrilled when OS/2 Warp and eventually 4.0 came out...)
Ha! You just described me! I could have easily been classified as an "Apple hater" as well, and still can't stand anything pre OS X for various reasons. I came across a good deal on a 600 mhz iBook about six months ago, and I figured "hey, I'm getting a good deal on a 12" portable DVD player that just happens to come with a computer." More importantly, it came with a Unix-based OS.
As I started becoming familiar with the thing, I found myself with exactly the same thoughts: I can't remember having this much fun using a computer since OS/2. I haven't totally jumped ship, and would not commit myself to being called an "Apple preferrer." Maybe a closet-mac user. There are things about the usability experience that still gripe me (some of that is fixed with third-party utilities, and I haven't used Panther yet), but the hardware is darn sexy, and I'd by another Apple laptop in a moment!
Count me in.
"I say consider this day seized!" -Hobbes
"Tomorrow we'll seize the day and throttle it!" -Calvin