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Some iPod Fans Dump PCs For Macs
dereklam writes "The popularity of the iPod could be boosting Macs' popularity as well. News.com reports that 6 percent of iPod users have made the switch from PCs to Macs. An additional 7 percent said they are planning to dump their old PC for an Apple machine, according to the survey." I wish the linked story had more details; it's not clear from the results mentioned whether there's a strong causal relationship here.
Personally, I choose my peripherals based on my OS/Hardware, not the other way around.
I gues it was a smart move for the iPOd to work with Windows and Macs?
Works great on my Linux box BTW. Whew. Good thing too, girlfriend would think I was giving her a line of poop trying to explai why she's got to get me a different gift.
Looks like that marketing plan paid off after all. I always suspected Microsoft was wrong when they thought that capturing the media player market was significant to overall market-share.
I'd say I've been proved wrong.
I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
I had always thought that Mac users were a rabid, elitist group until I started using the iPod. It was an upgrade from my older iRiver player. I'm far too entrenched in my PC to switch, but I'll admit that I'm Mac-curious now.
They ran this same story on OS News.
http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=8945 [OSNews.com]
I bought a Sony Vaio because it has a special connection that allows me to plug my walkman into it and play cassettes through the speakers!
Clearly the article lacks meaningful statistics
In a related story, it was found that 7% of all people who have recently purchased a vintage reel-to-reel player would be willing to purchase a used PDP-11 if the price was right.
Unknown host pong.
Wallstreet seems to think there is.
http://www.rootstrikers.org/
The IPod interfaces well with the Mac, I have used both versions, and iTunes on the Mac is much faster and more consistant with MacOSX. I still have an x86 machine for running windows, but my most of my work is done on my Powerbook. Once you have tried the Mac it is hard to go back to the Windows box.. So from personal experience, I believe this could be true.
*narf!*
This article seems to miss the obvious: all iPod users are iTunes users, and although the iPod interface is a joy, it's the iTunes interface that introduces the "look and feel" of OS X to PC iPod users. The fact that Apple broke with UI guidelines on the PC, led many to argue that iTunes for Windows was bloated and slow. But now it seems clear that for Apple it was paramount to keep the iTunes experience as close to OS X as possible.
If these numbers are correct (and pan out) then Apple's "gamble" turned out to be correct.
I knew they were planting subliminal messages in my mp3s... because as soon as I got my ipod I started craving other mac products, like an ibook, or an imac. *puts on tinfoil hat* It's a conspiracy and this "study" proves it's working!!
I kinda think that's the point of the story. People finding the iPod a sufficiently good reason to switch their OS is not a run of the mill event. How many people switch just because there's a neat new scanner out on the market? Or for a new printer? (Not counting high-end RIPs, of course, since they're pretty much stand-alone.)
iBook, expensive?
Build a dell with the same amount of functionnalities (not the first entry-level $300 machine), add the software that's bundled with the iBook (I'll exempt you of finding a GarageBand alternative) and then compare the prices.
ok lets settle this... the iPod is not the only way to listen to music, and the mac is not the only way to use an iPod. I wish most users could understand this. Of course I guess if you are going to drop the $10,000 to legitimatly fill your iPod you might as well also throw in a $4,000 computer to go with it.
While initialy this hardly proved true, it's a very strong sales pitch to have a constant companion with an apple logo on it.
The near ubiquity, and total inunduation of ipods being everywhere also goes a long way towards making apple look like a damn good brand (if they do the ipods so well, the must be good at computers)
I think if apple keeps hammering away at highly tailored and very well-made digital appliances, there computer market share will continue to grow as people put trust in their products.
Though id rather see the specifics of this data to see whether it has any real merit.
Probably a much more intresting question is how apple is going to be able to increase their market share outside the US/japan. While your typical developed high GDP citizen can afford apple's products, getting apple products into the hands of less wealthy countries is a big stumbling block that needs to be addressed if they want to get their hands on the largest emerging computing markets.
we shall see
--Idiots, Every single one of YOU, A flaming mass of conglomerated morons, hey wait a second, isnt that how RAID works?
I'd used Macs for web development in a previous job, and had always liked OS X. I was ecstatic when iTunes was released for the PC, as it was the singularly best program for managing large music collections I'd ever seen.
When I got my new job, one of the first things I did is shell out for an iPod to replace my crappy car CD changer. The Apple design philosophy appealed to me, and the incredible ease-of-use of both iTunes and the iPod were a big factor.
Last month I bought an iBook - the fact that they dropped the price, bumped up the CPU speed, and added AirPort Express for free was enough to get me off the fence. I wanted a laptop that was lighter than my old Compaq which weighs more than Kirstie Allie after camping out at a Royal Fork for a week. The iBook was light, priced competitively, and had all the features I want.
I had been trying to get my WinXP Home laptop to connect to the shared files on my XP Pro desktop for days, and finally just gave up. The iBook not only saw the network, but just asked for the password to connect. That was it. No hastle, no fiddling with network setup, no hunting through poorly documented and frequently useless configuration pages. AirPort has no trouble connecting to any wireless network I can throw at it.
My next machine may well be a Mac. It runs the software I need to be productive, the UNIX underpinnings mean that I have not only all the UNIX tools I'm used to from vim to Apache, but I also have a beautiful and usable GUI to go with it.
I hated Macs before. The "classic" Mac OS never appealed to me in the slightest. But Mac OS X is a dream to use, from running Photoshop to using it as a test server with the built-in copy of Apache.
OS X just "gets it". It is by far the best OS I've used, and iTunes gives Windows users a preview of how well Mac software works. The iPod and iTunes are the perfect "gateway drug" into full-fledged Mac addiction. Macs have always been a niche product, and Apple has always been a niche retailer. But if the iPod helps drive even a small number of PC users towards the Apple platform, it's a net gain to Apple on top of the incredibly strong sales of the iPod line.
For me, it was the other way around.
I'd been stuck on Windows for the longest time because I had to interoperate with clients who insisted on exchanging Micro$oft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and so forth. On top of that, I was doing Java development for those clients. (Star Office didn't cut it, at the time.) Yes, it was a living hell, especially for someone who was nursed on SVR3.
Finally I played with a PowerBook: it had genuine Micro$oft Office from the Redmond behemoth itself. It had a killer Java virtual machine. But best of all, I could pop up a bash shell and run vi on my files. And all with glistening eye-candy.
I was in heaven.
So, I've got two of the systems. Yes, they're overpriced, but they're also damn stable and they stay out of my way, like Windows, but I can get in the way, unlike Windows.
(Oh, and it was after that that I got the iPod. But I'll never go back to Windows. And zealots out there, relax, I've got two Linux systems (and even a FreeBSD system) in my server closet.)
I don't know if this article is believable, but one thing that I've experienced that adds to its credibility at least to me is that I've noticed how many people out there will not download or try itunes. It's a free program. It runs on PCs. It has killer cataloging capabilities, localized network streaming capabilities (I run an iTunes streamer for all my mp3s at home to my stereo). The music store has TONS of 'indie' level bands, so phat chance of not finding something. And the burning and sound effects as well. Sheesh.
... especially if it's frigging free. How about just try it, Scott?
... it's that move that makes the person switch, not the actual performance of availability of software or other crazy usual analyses. They don't care if it's better or worse. People stick to computing platforms as if they are political ones oddly (ok THAT doesn't make sense either, bad example), regardless of whtether or not the platform actually suits them 100%. I know musicians using PCs who won't use macs. I know business majors who use Macs who won't use PCs.
...
Yet I know people who are so simple minded they will not even try the thing. One guy I know, who won't d/l it told me to run out and buy this album by killswitch engage. I told him I'd catch it on iTunes. He of course dismissed this idea, saying they'd never have that kind of album. Well we did an indie band run down of his entire collection, chose 10 bands, and 8 out of ten was on iTunes.
I guess my point is, that, from a computer scientist's viewpoint like my own, I don't care what you run, as I XP, Linux, and Macs, and love them all equally, but if you're going to badmouth a product, at least have the nuts to TRY the thing
But back to my original point
Am I odd for trying to see the good in every platform? Sheesh, you should see my political beliefs
-- (Score:i , Imaginary)
You pay for the engineering.
I bought a Mac (G51.6) a yeah ago, the current OS runs a Mach kernel with a BSD layer for Unix compatibility.
It means you get the benfits of a microkernel in a Unix-like environment. (device drivers don't require a re-compile / linking, etc).
An accessible Unix like environment, with a large level of compatibility for open source programs.
A GUI that was designed to be used, not just look pretty. (It does though). A base set of applications that are strong enough for daily use, and easy enough for the casual user.
A programming environment that makes putting together a small application, with nice looking windows easy.
The next version of the OS (Tiger) adds in some system-wide features which will make the playform even sweeter.
Most of what I've grown to like about the Mac is that is appeals to the technical side of me in it;s clean design without limiting it's functionality.
(now if they can just fix openGL to not suck as bad as it does right now... )
The iPod is killer kit. It's well built and easy to use. Who wouldn't look at a Mac after running Windows and then getting an iPod and realizing, "it doesn't have to suck! Wow I never knew that!"
I switched from PC to Mac after I got my iPod. The iPod wasn't the main reason I switched, but it was the final argument. I was tired of all of the viruses, exploits, etc.. on Windows, as well as all of the other crap Windows users put up with every day. My switch to Mac had been slowly brewing from the day Mac OS X first came out.
And yes, I did try Linux, but I always wound up at the same point after installing it: "Ok, now what?" and never having an answer to that question.
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
so let me get this straight. Don't buy a mac since you can't "play" with your little "nintendo" shoot'm up games and you can't infringe (steal!) copyrighted material.
how's that spyware working out for you?
Ever think people that don't play ataris anymore or who do not steal music don't see a problem with that?
(No, they didn't. I read this article before it was posted.)
You can. Plug the iPod in. When iTunes opens, select the iPod from the "Source" List, and then double click a track. The track will play fine.
Copying from the iPod is a different story. You'll have to download a freeware (sometimes GPL) app to do that, beacause Apple couldn't make it that easy to steal music and still pull off the iTunes Music Store.
Common sense is not so common.
another result mentioned in this article is that 199 out of the 200 people surveyed were happy with their iPod.
:)
That's a pretty incredible result for any consumer electronics gadget.
Also, I believe no one surveyed was unhappy with the lack of Ogg Vorbis support. In fact, when asked about whether Ogg was important to them, the most common answer was "I only like Ogg at Christmas with a little nutmeg on top."
- "When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires to give it to you" -Paulo Coelho
because Macs aren't as successful.
They use the same paradigm:
1) High standards
2) Design and user interface are the priority
3) Quality components
4) Style and marketing
5) Priced higher than most competitors as a result
Since both a Mac and an iPod basically seem to use the same business model, why is it that iPods are so successful now? Is it because most people simply find it easier to save up a few hundred bucks for a nice music player versus a couple thousand for a much nicer computing experience? Is it due to the "network effect" of "all my friends have pc's, so I won't get a mac" (hehe "all my friends have spyware and viruses, I guess it's normal for me to also have them")? Perhaps the iPod was able to break out of this network effect and create one of its own? What do you folks think?
iBooks are the single best device out there for college students and many others. Excellent form factor, easy to use, even easier to maintain, good bang for the buck. The main drawback is the Microsoft effect, which has convinced users that all computers are slow to start up, slow to wake up, hard to configure, hard to use, virus prone, etc. and all alike and therefore won't look at anything new.
If one gets over that, for whatever reason, then rational though has a chance to. The push can come from an iPod or elsewhere. e.g. I loaned one out for 2 hours to an "MS is good enough for me and I'm not changing" small business owner. At the end of the two hours, he stated that his next hardware purchase will be a Mac. But for most, iPod will be the wake up.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
One of my favorite things about today's Macs running OSX is that they have appeal for both the novice computer user, who wants everything easy, and the geek, who wants to do more advanced thing.
The GUI is there and simple for novice users, and the UNIX shell and environment are there for the more advanced people. It's truly an OS that works for everyone.
I never even looked at Macs when it was OS9 and before, because it didn't provide anything for my geeky self to dig into. But today's macs and OSX are just sweeeet.
I just wish Apple would get more competive, price-wise, with the Intel world. I know lots of people who would buy a Mac in an instant if they weren't so overpriced.
-Z
And the regular price for that model is $1599.
You can't use a model that's on sale for a comparison like that!
When a Nokia phone comes out with 20GB storage, will you be able to load your iTunes onto that?
YES. Yes, you will. The only songs that have Apple's DRM on them are songs purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store; that is, downloaded.
The songs that you rip from your own CDs you can rip to either MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, AIFF, or even
So, to repeat--yes. The music stays your own, and you will be able to put it on anything that can understand your choice of format, be it MP3 or AAC, including a 20GB Nokia phone or a 1TB TiVo. Just don't download anything that you have to pay for.
--
$tar -xvf
Since when has elegance and 'sleekness' been bad?
Why do you even assume it's about image and self esteem or feeling better about yourself?
An iPod is undeniably sleek and elegant when compared to everything that came before it, and many that came after it.
The same with Apple computers.
There are TECHNICAL reasons why elegance is a worthwhile attribute for any device, not just mp3 players or computers. Sleekness requires definition, but elegance has it's own context:
Gracefulness.
You can also define things by the inverse, in this case elegance:
Clumsiness.
So if a computer is graceful and not clumsy, I think anyone would agree that it is better than a computer that is clumsy and not graceful.
GPL Deconstructed
I was completely agreeing with you until I got to the last paragraph. Macs, at least the white ones, are not overpriced. In fact, I comparison shopped for a thin-and-light and ended up buying a 12" iBook because it was the best value, even without factoring in OS X. And considering the fact that to truly equate a PC with an iMac you'd have to price out the CPU plus the 17" or 20" widescreen LCD, iMac G5s are probably a better value too.
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
I got an ipod in July last year. Had been enjoying it, using iTunes on a Toshiba laptop happily, but in the back of my mind entertained the thought of investigating Macs. OS9 and less weren't even an option, but the BSD basis and command line got my attention. I still had ignored the first couple of releases of OSX as they had coverage of being slow as a wet week.
In the end the decision was forced upon me. My laptop HD failed about 3 days before I was heading overseas for 3 weeks. Did some quick research and ended up getting a PowerBook and it has been great.
I hate going back to XP now, I only do it for certain work applications now. Happily connecting to linux servers regularly. Things do just work so much more smoothly and are more reliable. I look after 4 PC laptops in our small business, and windows wireless is so flaky under XPSP2. I have no troubles.
Microsoft Office 2004 on Mac is much better than 2003 on PCs, and interoperates with no problems. And its great being able to open a shell and rsync to backup the important stuff on the servers. I'm starting to find a good range of open source software to use as well. iSync is great as I can sync iCal and Addressbook to my Palm, K700i phone and ipod all at once. Only real downsides I have is that there is no Visio or Project available (otherwise I'd be able to move the rest of our work laptops to Macs as well, Virtual PC is OK but not suitable for my other users) or there is no decent New Zealand mapping software that runs natively. Hopefully these will be remedied over time though one means or other.
Three of my friends at college have made the switch to OSX over this past summer. One of them told me that the iPod was his "gateway drug" to becoming a Mac user. The other two quickly agreed that they became converts in a similar way. One saw an OSX demo in the Apple section of a Comp USA while buying an iPod and the other was introduced to Macs when asking a friend about his Mac and iPod before buying one.
Seeing as none of them are particuarly computer literate, I've helped a few of them with various applications. As a result I have become a proponent of Macs for technically-challeneged people. They are in a technological bliss I have never seen with the average casual user.
Instead of continuing the Linux crusade, I suggest techies push OSX on people. It will be an easier switch and will eventually help everyones anti-Microsoft cause. In the end it will even help Linux because software will be built with Windows/Unix cross platformity in mind.
http://brandonbloom.name