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Why Microsoft Should Fear Apple
jcatcw writes "Computerworld's Scot Finnie says that Microsoft should be afraid because Apple has gotten smarter about how it competes. He says that it's the Parallels Desktop software that has been truly transformational for the Mac. Finnie did a simple three-month trial of the Mac last in the fall and realized four months later that he wasn't going back. Since then he's received hundreds of messages from readers who've also made the switch. 'In the end, this is about perception. It isn't about Apple's market share or even its quarterly sales numbers. (Apple's notebook computer sales for the fourth quarter were 4.1% of all portable computer sales, according to DisplaySearch.) What this is about is that Apple is reaching the right people with its product, winning new converts, Windows user by Windows user -- and creating buzz. How do you measure buzz? You don't. It's something that experienced people in this industry can just feel. And that's the condition Microsoft should fear. Because buzz can turn into something much harder to combat than sheer numbers.'"
'Buzz' means squat. Sales and market penetration are everything.
Sure there's buzz, and buzz can lead to sales, but when it's contained in a niche market...
Apple is dominant in a particular market segment, the 'too cool for you' market segment. Just about no one else cares at all, and rather, a lot of people see Apple and die hard Apple users as elitist techno snobs.
Apple doesn't sell hardware, they sell an image, and most people couldn't be bothered.
Don't get me wrong, they've got some slick shit, but again, that just doesn't matter. Besides, my shit is slick, extendable, reconfigurable, and cost me one piss of a lot less than anything comparably from Apple. And I'm talking home computer, laptop, mp3, and cell phone. (Not that the iPhone is out yet, but for the stated reasons, I'll never buy one)
Image is nothing, unless you care about that sort of thing, then by all the means, step right up and spend your money.
No Comment.
I wish I still had mod points, this is a rather good point. EVERY time I've come across articles praising how well Apple is doing in the market, the author inevitably says something stupid like "you can just FEEL the energy Apple is putting in the market."
I'm with you, I call bullshit. Give me evidence that Apple is 'pwning' Microsoft in any measurable way. Just because people hate using Windows doesn't mean OSX wins by default. My father is STILL pissed how he blew 3000 bucks on an Apple ][ and 6 months later Jobs announces they have this thing called a Macintosh and how they were going to screw supporting anyone who had an Apple. He will NEVER own another Apple product. Look, I have hokey anecdotes too!
One of my professors told me once, long ago: "In God we trust, all others bring data."
Apple certainly does have a great public image. They are in a great place right now - they get huge amounts of publicity for free. This just didn't happen by accident though, they've done a good job creating their image
Apple's image isn't deserved as they use very underhanded methods to "create" and "preserve" it. Example: When the 10.4.9 update was released, thousands of people had problems with non-booting Macs. The discussion was long and distinguished on Apple's forums and I posted the fix to get your Mac to boot again after the update.
Apple didn't want it widely known that they had problems on some computers with their update so they removed the entire thread (two threads, in fact) from their forums. That's pretty lame. I will never buy or use another Apple product - either software or hardware. Those forums are supposed to be there to help people, not for Apple to use censoring so the general public can live with the illusion that Apple is perfect.
I don't care how good Macs or OS X is - I won't do business with a company that operates that way.
+5 funny. Unless you were being serious, in which case -1 sad.
steampunk web design
Remember Ballmer's little prancing mantra? "Developers. Developers! DEVELOPERS!!!"? Guess what? There's a ton of Java developers out there. Their code does not run on MS OSes in general in production.
I guess I must be imagining that Azureus is running on my Windows box as we speak. Hmm.
or wait for them them to boot forever when they've failed to recover from a sleep/hibernate situation.
I've never had Windows fail to come out of hibernation or sleep (with the exception of once when the battery died halfway through the hibernation process). Besides, in the event you do need to boot, doesn't Windows boot faster than Mac/Linux?
They start using user friendly non-MS applications that do what they want.
As opposed to user friendly MS applications that do what they want? Ever hear of Visual Studio, you know, that program that anyone who develops for Windows uses? The IDE that everyone else emulates?
They don't suffer embarassing BSODs on waking from sleep, or during their presentations.
Maybe should invest in a laptop that isn't a piece of crap. This argument has been outdated since Win2000 came out; I thought you guys had finally given up trying to get people to keep believing it.
all of a sudden, there's more developers for Apple than MS.
Developers who want to starve, sure. A 3% market share can only support so many developers. Pretty soon Apple developers will be the new musicians: out of work and unemployed in every sense of the word, waiting for their big gig, which they're sure is just right around the corner.
Another draw is multi-media editing software. The software on OSX just works better and easier than anything I've seen on an MS system.
And another argument from 1998.
As for making your own system with your own hardware, Apple sells their software already and if you're willing to hack it, you can run it on other hardware.
I love how Apple fanboys always seem to cover up that Apple participates in more vendor lock-in that Microsoft, and instead explain that you can just "hack it". Oh, and breaking the licensing agreement and giving Apple the option of revoking your software license is always a great idea too.
I'd love to see a 16 or 32 core Mac Pro in the near future - imagine the processing ability of such a system.
Let's see, Intel processor, Intel chipset... Probably about the same as a 16 or 32 core PC!
"What do you despise? By this are you truly known." --Princess Irulan, Manual of Muad'Dib
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Don't argue as in you should take it up with the people who are actually expressing these opinions. Convincing me or them that everything we perceive to be an advantage is really not, is, from your point of view a colossal waste of your time. Sorry.
"First, unless you're some sort of a Mac-ophobe, there isn't a real reason why you can't buy a Mac if you want to run OSX."
Sure there is. For desktops, Apple offers three macs: one that is too big, one that is too small, and one that has an integrated monitor. There are a thousand reasons why one might not want to purchase a desktop from Apple---all the form factors that Apple chooses not to offer. The argument for notebooks is similar with the addition that Apple chooses not to offer displays with >115 dpi. Anyone who wants a high resolution notebook has to look elsewhere as well. I would like a small desktop mac with a 3.5" drive, single processor and dual DVI. Where am I gonna get that?
If I write software for musicians, Apple's approx 40%-50% marketshare in this niche makes them viable.
:-(
If you write software for musicians to run on the Mac platform, you'll have Apple as a direct competitor.