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Apple Devices To Reach Parity With Windows PCs In 2014
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Horace Dediu writes at Aymco that in 2013 there were 18.8 times more Windows PCs sold than Macs, a reduction in the Windows advantage from about 19.8x in 2012. But the bigger story is how Apple's mobile platform including iOS devices has nearly reached the sales volume of Windows. In 2013 there were only 1.18 more Windows PCs than Apple devices sold. Odds are that in 2014 Apple and Windows will be at parity. Dediu says that the Windows advantage itself came from the way computing was purchased in the period of its ascent in the 1980s and 1990s 'when computing platform decisions were made first by companies then by developers and later by individuals who took their cues from what standards were already established. As these decisions created network effects, the cycle repeated and the majority platform strengthened.' There was concentration in decision making in the 80s so a platform could win by convincing 500 individuals who had the authority (as CIOs) to impose through fiat a standard on the centers of gravity of purchasing power. Today, with mobile products there are billions of decision makers. and the decision making process for buying computers, which began with large companies IT departments making decisions with multi-year horizons, has changed to billions of individuals making decisions with no horizons. Companies have become the laggards and individuals the early adopters of technology. 'Ultimately, it was the removal of the intermediary between buyer and beneficiary which dissolved Microsoft's power over the purchase decision,' concludes Dediu. 'The computer has become personal not just in the sense of how it's used but in the sense of how it's owned.' Finally, all the above is almost moot, given the rise of Android, something that is beating both Cupertino and Redmond alike."
There are tons of PC's in any corporation and home.
The difference is they run XP still and are 8 years old and are therefore not counted. I do not believe there is an IPAD for every corporate employee.
http://saveie6.com/
Let Apple and Microsoft fight over who is a distant number 2. When sales are 3x, the installed base converts pretty quickly.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
ABCco writes that the number of apples and oranges sold in 2014 will also reach parity!
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They're comparing Iphones to PCs? How is this parity?
Investment analysts have noticed for quite some time that Apple's iphone has a "halo effect." Specifically, people who buy iphones are more likely to buy Macs (and ipads) in the future. And apple is quite good at this sort of turnover.
So the news here is not that so many iphones are sold. The news is that this may indicate the status of Mac vs. PC in the future.
I have no idea how a developer can do their job with only a smart phone or pad/tablet.
I need a screen, keyboard and mouse. Anyone worming in stats beyond what I need to do my job is simply spreading FUD.
_ _ _ Go for the eyes Boo! GO FOR THE EYES!
well apple does get a boost with the new mac pro after of years of been stuck in the past. 2012 was just an small bump but they used the same 2010 video card at 2010 prices!.
also the windows 8 flop hurt MS and I don't think that windows 7 system fully count.
And in other news, shoes outsold cars five thousand to one the previous year. Footage at eleven.
a ridiculous amount of that is caused by people who don't understand function over form. Every business = windows, every art student = mac, but there really is no explaining college students. You need an excel-like program (and there are great free ones) for math, unless you are an engineer. You need a decent email system, and if your school doesn't default to one, you went to the wrong place. You need a word processor, to fix your many spelling and grammatical errors. That's it. Buy the cheapest one that isn't raspberry pi, since you aren't in CS/CE and don't already have one.
Wait a minute ...
Apple apparently sold around 260M devices in 2013.
I can't find a full year for Samsung, but they sold 117M phones in Q3 alone.
Q1: 64M
Q2: 70M
Q3: 117M
That's 251M in just 3 quarters. Phones only, no tablets, no laptops.
Apple sales include Mac, iPods, iPhones and iPads.
PCs have a longer lifespan, they are way overpowered for what most people use them for. I have a five year old 3GHz 64-bit AMD box. It is still quite usable, I upgraded the video card recently, about $150, and it is still quite usable for gaming. I have no compelling reason to replace this five year old PC.
In contrast every two years I can get an iPhone upgrade for free with a two year contract, sure its not the latest generation hardware but its a free hardware upgrade. Or I can splurge and spend $200 every two years and get the latest generation hardware.
You can't directly compare PC vs phone sales if PCs are on a 6+ year purchase cycle and phones are on a 2 year purchase cycle. Keep in mind that these are not competing devices, they are complementary devices. Most people are going to own and use both PCs and phones.
Tablets muddy the waters a little but they are still mostly complementary devices. Not many PC users can switch completely to tablets.
Hot Wheels moved more product than Ford last month. Hot Wheels stocks are spiking, as projections indicate they are on track to be the #1 producer of automobiles by the end of the year.
Apple "devices"? So they're including iPods and phones in this? lol
Apple marketing at its best.
well apple does get a boost with the new mac pro after of years of been stuck in the past.
Because everyone will want to have a computer on their desk that looks like a trash can
I love how that site has exactly four companies listed as using DRM.
since were comparing the entire apple product line to one of microsofts, I think its only fair to toss in the second most popular MS product line out there and see how those numbers add up
Just sayin'.
Loads of reviews have been written about Windows 8. Some loved it. Some hated it. But they all say the same thing: Windows 8 will require a major retraining for Windows users and there doesn't seem to be some great big advantage for all the relearning, particularly for business users. If Windows 9 retains the Metro interface then Microsoft really is doomed.
Yeah, I remember when it was common to spend $3000 on a desktop PC. I think a Compaq Deskpro 386 cost about that.
DOS ran Doom, Mac and Amiga didn't.
DOS ran Warcraft, and Rise of the Triad, and Jazz Jackrabbit, and Hexen, and Wing Commander.
DOS ran Quake, and Elder Scrolls Dagger Fall
All these things were of the caliber that made you want a DOS Machine
Windows 95:
Gave us Starcraft, and Soul Trap, and Mechwarrior 2,
Gave us easy Access to the Internet. (compared to DOS at the time where it was possible)
Windows 8:
Gives us Lock down and stores, our games don't run, and our computers run slow. We are constantly bombarded by Security holes, spam, and incompatible sites. We are hamstrung by Corporate sponsored computer Viruses called DRM that make it so our machines don't function the way they should. Because Companies want to abuse us, rob us blind.
iPads:
Are Non-PCs that exist on completely on a jailed walled garden environment, easy to use, but seen as an "Internet Toy" by the Masses.
Android Pads: Only marginally more open than iPad. (and that varies by provider.)
The point is this:Windows sold well because we had to have it to play the games that Consoles couldn't.
Windows sold well later because the Internet and Corporate Communication practically required it.
Now, Windows doesn't run the games we want. Linux and Wine can in some cases run games that (Modern) Windows can't. Windows isn't required for communication and connectivity.
The install base of "Android" is artificially large, because it's on all sorts of devices that you can't get iOS or Windows on. Those "mini PC android stick" devices, for instance. I would be keen to see the worldwide install base for, say, smartphones that retailed for $700+. I think it would be pretty even.
I have a phone.
My wife has a phone.
Our son has a phone.
My family then has one computer with three accounts on it.
Sure there are families with multiple computers and one phone, but I doubt that one phone is passed around each day to a different family member. A mobile phone isn't consumed like it was a mobile version of a land line (one line per household).
So instead of selling one device per household with a computer, you sell one device per member of household. A much larger addressable market.
Companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Nestle are also missing from this comparison. Will Apple be in parity with Smarties and/or Imodium soon?
Really, who cares that one company's devices match the number of devices with another company's OS? Why not start comparing Apple devices with Windows licenses? Or maybe Windows phones with OS X instances?
I got a Macbook pro retina, enjoying OS X in a nice hardware package. I also enjoy my xperia phone, but with all the crap that google has been pulling recently and the fact sony doesn't have the balls to make their own OS(I really like the xperia hardware), I contemplated moving to the iPhone. But that irongrip Appstore and platform coupled design decisions I can't stand really scare me away from the device. Apple, allow me to use 3rd party app stores, give me a decent built in file manager, give me something like AirDroid(and not iTunes), allow script languages, and let me customize the "desktop"(widgets, no Win95 like icon grid), and I will become a full fledged Apple fanboy and shower you with money.
Really? We're equating phones, ipods and tablets to PCs now? Walk into an office with an iPad and tell your boss you don't need a computer any more. See how far that gets you. By the same token, there are more bikes than cars, I guess Detroit better hang it up and call the liquidators, bikes won.
"devices" aren't even in the same area code as PCs and laptops, capability and *usability* wise. Trying to equate one to the other is ludicrous. One observation that stuck with me about tablets vs computers is that someone remarked "Tablets are information and media consumption devices, while computers are information and media creation devices". And it's true. I have a tablet. I love my tablet. It's great for looking shit up or watching a video in bed or or reading email on the train on the way to work. But if I have to type a paragraph on the thing I want to hurl it down the hallway by the time I finish. And if someone told me I HAD to do my job on it, I'd put it on the desk, walk out and become a farmer, garbageman, mechanic, or anything else that wouldn't force me to use a tablet to do tech work.
Opinions are like arseholes... Everyone's got one...
Upgrade to the LATEST Windows OS because it is "secure"...
What non-PC Windows devices are worth a mention?
Also, how much does Google and Samsung make per Android device, versus Apple per Apple device?
And what about developers? How much work : $$$ does an iOS dev make versus Android devs?
Does Apple even try to compete with the low-end $0 profit devices that make up the vast bulk of Android numbers?
Desktop days are numbered... It's all about making money from mobile, and Google sells ads, all you privacy (you are the product), and their soul.
"There was concentration in decision making in the 80s so a platform could win by convincing 500 individuals who had the authority (as CIOs) to impose through fiat a standard on the centers of gravity of purchasing power."
Apple products were *far* more expensive in the 80's and 90's. And the OS wasn't that good.
OSX was a major change for Apple. It was a stable, modern platform with a future. The pricepoints of PCs dropping was the other major change. Now PCs are so cheap that even if a Mac is double the price, it's still affordable.
Then in the late 90's and 2000s, Microsoft scared away, aquired or killed companies which were developing apps for their platform. And finally, they put an idiot in charge and stopped innovating for more than a decade.
Way to go, you've published another bullshit article about the end of something. By that rationale, I should be able to say something like "the number of wrist watches in the world are far more than apple devices". Or, for that matter, "the number of actual apples (fruit) in the world are far more than apple devices". Please keep this bullshit off of slashdot!
Move sig!
or if it is, it's pretty irrelevant. Don't Android devices outsell iOS like 4 to 1? If those numbers for PC sales are correct, we should be hearing news about how Android outsold PCs long ago. Who cares about Apple?
--
Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!
That's the total to date over years....
Or about the same as something like a month or two of iOS sales.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
One problem may be with the heavily subsidized phones that we have in the U.S. Getting a new phone every two years costs nothing to about what a video card upgrade for the old PC costs. Now if the phone companies somehow give people a discount for keeping the same phone once they are eligible for a full subsidy that might change things.
This is nothing but a freshman exercise in tearing the word "parity" a new asshole. What did that kind word ever do to you to deserve this?
Wake me up when the next generation's Rowling adds a million words to the literary canon composed with one hand in her pocket and the other one fingering Swype.
So they have to count Apple *Devices* to compare to Windows *PCs*? I would like to see OS X vs. Windows, not OS X + iOS vs. Windows...
I get it, and your ENTIRE post was centered on that point: Apple users have more disposable money than Android users. It matters much less than elitists think it means. In the end, Android makes the impact, even if it doesn't appeal to the top 10% earners.
I know full well that in USA and the UK, and some other (but not that many) parts of the world, richer == better person. That is not necessarily true (lying and cheating are the most important success factor according to recent research - make of it what you will) and having other goals in life than hoarding money doesn't make that life less interesting. But I realize this is incredibly difficult if not impossible for the average USian to comprehend. Hence these discussions will always be framed in terms "but iOS users purchase way more than Android users ---> iOS better!!".
Apple devices to Windows PC's. Why not Android phones to MacBooks?
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
er,it would at first several reads appear that author is counting any device with an apple logo on as a pc,but only ms pc's as pc's. i was thinking that i would have to point out that both are getting their bums kicked by andriod but he mentions it atvvery bottom,therefore showing how daft an article it was,the could eventualy be at full parity,neither of them ship anything ever again. and although loads of "experts"and others say it probably not going to happen,there is plenty of room and scope for several or just one new big popular good os or os's,most of them "experts"poo pooed android just 6 years ago,so they dont have a very good track record.
... but what's really cool is that Linux is smoking them all.
And "UNIX" is what you're running, for real, even though most people don't care or notice it :)
They deserve this. Microsoft has finally jumped the shark with that awful metro rubbish.
If you look at Betamax it was regarded as being a bit better than VHS but was less widely licensed. Betamax started off with almost all of the market but gradually lost it because Betamax machines tended to be expensive.
I'd say the analogy is pretty good. High end but proprietary system gradually loses market share to more open, cheaper competitor.
You can buy a very good, cheap Android handset from one of the zillions of Android OEMS. That enables Android to gain market share amongst people who can't afford a more expensive iPhone.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Upgrade to the LATEST Windows OS because it is "secure"...
Because the last Windows OS we shipped you wasn't... and, oh yeah, be sure to keep "security updates" enabled on our LATEST Windows OS, because even though it's "secure", it might not really be. ... Nah, the real reason they want you to upgrade is because they need to make money - if they really cared about what the *users* want, then Win8 shipping with Metro never would have happened.
Actually that's also how the PC won over the Apple computer: First, by demand of IBM, there were two manufacturers of the processor, enabling competition on the processor side (that's ultimately why now the x86-based architecture is dominant). Second, the PC design was open (although that was only because in the beginning, IBM didn't really believe in the PC), so there was competition also in the PCs themselves.
Indeed, I just looked, and was quite surprised to not even find Adobe, despite the fact that Adome DRM is the DRM typically found in non-Amazon ebook readers (at least here in Germany; don't know about other parts of the world).
Take a look at T-Mobile. Pay full price for the phone, get the service at 1/4th off.
Best Slashdot Co
Unlike ATT and Verizon, with T-Mobile, I'm paying for the web service, but not the new phone I might or might not want or need,.
Apple device include ipods and iphone and you are comparing that to "windows PC" a category of its own ? That's pretty stupid.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
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visit randi.org
Comparing apples and oranges. Ba da bum. Sorry, all
... about all these usage/purchase/traffic statistics, please?
Sure let see how that looks: IPod vs all the other MP3 player, Linux vs Windows. You can go further: Linux is going strong despite "losing", Apple was profitable despite a negligible market share, ...
That's not even considering that we are talking about Apple vs Android, which should be Sony vs VHS. Sony eventually embraced VHS. Apple did not abandon OSX. Worked for both of them.
High Level comparison like that are only good for fortune cookie type wisdom.
Even if they are powerful enough and durable enough to last 5 years, a significant number of people will buy a new phone for the same reason they buy a new jacket or new purse.
not everyone is stupid enough to buy a stupid phone er smart phone
leaving this site this kinda garbage is just stupid fpor posting its apples to oranges.....
HEY guess what include android phones and guess what and previous to smart phones regular phones...lets really compare how many idiots are buying theSMART BULLSHIT
i dont play real games on a phone, i dont do 3d animation and design work on a phone
and while you might text fuck the pricing on a phone
THEY are like WAY TO EXPENSIVE and all i fucking want is a phone
and privacy
a pc while its able ot do a lot more isnt it and lovely aint it i dont need magnifying glass to see crap....
this assault on the pc is hilarious all you fucknuts are the same nsa spies that also dont want us to have any control over my life..oh ya i get to do what the fuck i want with my pc....and fuck you and any law says otherwise
Apple "devices" compared to a computer....
Next we'll see non-apple devices outnumber apple-devices 50-to-1 or something equally stupid...
Getting close to half that with my iphone 4S. I doubt I'll need to change over the next year and a half at least so that only short by 1 year on that.
From what I have read from web stats. Internet access from tablets only make up about 5% of web traffic. So I highly doubt tablets no matter iPads or Androids were significantly advancing. In fact the bigger gain in mobile on smartphones far exceeds tablet gains. I suspect it might not be tablets that replace PC's as much as smartphones that hold the key to the new web access tool.
1. Android devices still outnumber Apple in the phone/tablet world
2. Windows still outnumbers Apple in the desktop/laptop world.
3. Apple doesn't even really do business computing anymore.
4. Apple is still an over-priced piece of proprietary hardware/software that is anti-competitive (i.e. iOS only licensed to run on Apple hardware when any PC could run it and hundreds of hardware manufacturers could be making different types of phones) that has no distinct advantage over anything else except some people think it's cool. There is absolutely nothing about it that makes it 'special' other than it looks pretty.
5. Both my wife and daughter have left the Apple cult and never want to go back. I know several other people who feel the same way. People are wising up to Apple's deceit.
Apple products are decent products. They work and do what they are supposed to do. Someone that elevates them to anything more than just another device is simply trying to justify why they spent too much money on something.
I rarely read replies, it's my opinion and if you thought about your opinion a little more, I'm OK with that.
The reason why people keep using Windows PCs is simple: the huge installed base of existing software. While there are plenty of applications for iOS and Android, the really important ones still aren't there. Until there are full versions of MS Office, Photoshop, and AutoCAD (just to name a few) for iOS/Android, these systems will not be serious competitors in the prosumer/business market. (Yes, MS and Adobe have applications that bear the Office and Photoshop names on the portable devices, but these are just toys, not anything even close to the full desktop versions.)
It's a free upgrade only for the financially stupid. I bet you think that an Income Tax refund is free money.
I looked into that. The issue with T-Mobile for me was the fact their coverage is awful where I live. The fact we have Verizon receivers at work helped my decision as well. I am still not a huge Verizon fan, even if I have full bars everywhere.
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. -Carl Sagan
"who choose not to afford a more expensive iPhone."
FTFY
Lots of people CAN buy iPhones, but many of us find that it's not worth the expense (for various reasons)
This sig has been enciphered with a one-time pad. It could say almost anything.
Second, the PC design was open (although that was only because in the beginning, IBM didn't really believe in the PC), so there was competition also in the PCs themselves.
False. The original IBM PC design was NOT open. Other companies reverse engineered the BIOS and created 'clones' - hence the term 'PC clone'. Some early clones had hardware compatibility issues with the original IBM PC design.
Comparing Apple devices to Windows PCs is not an equal comparison. Shitty article and shitty source. Next.
Exactly right. They are still selling android smartphones and tablets with version 2.3 from 2010 which is essentially useless, and many devices have android installed that aren't mobile devices like a washing machine which really shouldn't count towards android devices sold anymore than a toaster running windows 8 should count.
my karma will be here long after I'm gone
The word was "rare", which shows to above poster is looking at a very small sample size and then telling us about it as if that's how it is everywhere.
Thus playing "let's pretend" with no clue.
talking about mac uses who where waiting and really don't want to go pc or go the hackintosh way.
Yes. Because an iPod is SO comparable to a PC!
Yep!
Uh huh!
This just in! People buy more milk than fighter jets! Fighter jets in trouble!
Wake me when this idiocy is over.
Chas - The one, the only.
THANK GOD!!!
I replace my devices every 24 months but I sell my old ones on ebay or to friends...so someone will take my two yr old iPhone/iPad and view it as new and use it for another 2 yrs before possibly passing it on to someone else. Sure, some break and some get stuck in drawers and forgotten about, but not all.
My God can beat up your God. Just kidding...don't take offense. I know there's no God.
I work for AT&T and we have plans that give you 15$ off once your phone is out of contract.
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
PCs were a thousand dollars cheaper than Macs. They started dominating, which made them the first choice for game development (in the late 80s very few games were Mac-only, and most of Mac games were later ports of the big PC hits.)
That's pretty much it.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
If VHS has sold mostly cassettes that could not play anything nor record and still succeeded, then you would have a point.
As it stands there are a LOT of Android devices sold that count not a whit to advancing Android as a smartphone. They are just feature phones on which running apps in madness; how does that truly advance the platform?
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I will let you folks argue Windows Vs Apple Vs Android. I just want to know who tagged the article as whore ally, why, and how does one become a whore ally?
I care what he thinks. Apple's existence is actually ruining other platforms and their diversity. Look at how much Unity sucks. That's Apple's fault. Windows 8? Apple!
Apple's existence is doing nothing of the kind.
The fact that other companies have no idea how to design things people want on their own, so all they can do is copy what Apple does, is what is harmful to the diversity of style in the market.
Just because you don't like Apple doesn't mean you get to blame them when everyone else rips off their designs.
Dan Aris
Fun. Free. Online. RPG. BattleMaster.
Web & Internet distribution makes these "old media" comparisons rather trite. We are far beyond the stage where "there can be only one" due to platform ecosystem effects.
Especially this lame VHS/Beta analogy. It's not like society is still warehousing giant videotapes or porn is hard to find.
"'The computer has become personal not just in the sense of how it's used but in the sense of how it's owned."
What did the author intend to mean by this? That if IOs devices outnumber Windows, computer hardware is even less "owned" by the consumer?
Ideology: A tool used primarily to avoid the bother of thinking.
I work for AT&T and we have plans that give you 15$ off once your phone is out of contract.
I would have to give up my legacy unlimited data plan. Plus as a developer I need newer devices for testing anyway.
False. The original IBM PC design was NOT open. Other companies reverse engineered the BIOS and created 'clones' - hence the term 'PC clone'. Some early clones had hardware compatibility issues with the original IBM PC design.
Depends on how you define "open". IBM published a BIOS manual that included the entire source code of the BIOS. It was $60 as I recall. No reverse engineering needed...
Yeah OK, taking everything altogether Apple might sell as much as M$, but WTF is the actual point?
While I own android smartphones & tablets they certainly do not, nor ever likely will replace my notebooks & desktops. Inputting anything lengthy or somewhat complicated with only a touch screen is painful, and even IF you attach a kb/mouse they're still just not up to many of the tasks that I perform. Bottomline is that they're handy for a quick look at something for example, while traveling, or doing something else where I wouldn't wish to consult a notebook or desktop(if available).
Oh, and let's not forget OSX != iOS, close, but not equal although Apple is busily gimping their notebooks & desktops trying(only reason that makes any sense for such anemic hardware entire non-upgradability) I would guess to bring them down to the level of their iPad/iPhone/iPods.
All of that said I don't see anything really useful in this summary or linked article other than blah blah blah Apple blah blah blah M$ blah blah blah marketing blah blah blah blah. Oh and the funny thing is that the primary article doesn't even bother to mention Android which makes this even MOAR USELESS(TM).
...and there are 6 Android devices for every 1 mobile Apple device as of late 2013. So what? They're not computers and there's crossover.
The BIOS was "open" in that anyone could read it. The Technical Reference Manual included a source listing. It was copyrighted, however, and so could not be used in clones.
In the bad old days of Betamax, if your local video store did not have what you wanted, you didn't get it. And shelf space was at a premium, so if a movie was carried at all, it was more likely to be VHS.
Today Apple's digital distribution of content solves that problem. They've proven that they can make a massive profit off a small segment of the market, and that their customer base is loyal enough to keep on trucking (much like loyal Betamax users only switched due to lack of content).
So yes, while it's an accurate connection between iOS and Betamax on the surface, it's a completely different world today. Apple will command a smaller-and-smaller share of the mobile market, but it will reach a certain percentage and stay there.
Man is the animal that laughs.
And occasionally whores for Karma.
Because hardly anyone is using Android for anything other than making calls. Web share, apps share, e-commerce share, iOS beats the crap out of Android in all categories that actually count the usage, and not sales.
Models from 2011 have dual core gigahertz processors, a gigabyte of RAM, 4+ inch screens with good resolution and Android 4. That's more than enough to be a match to mid-range devices of 2013. I have an HTC from 2011 and I'm planning to use it until it breaks or becomes truly obsolete in maybe 1 or 2 years (whichever comes first).
Steve Ballmer's successor must be a genius if he can push the sale of Windows Phones to the same level as the iPhone.
Dumb article is dumb. It doesn't count the computers still in circulation. Stop trying to make this sound like more than it is.
These intermediaries the article spoke of, these are Slashdot posters. They've lost power, many are in denial and the rest are pissed.
I'm not saying that old computers don't see a lot of use in some places. I've been around long enough to know better. But good God, are you saying this new reality doesn't exist?
Clones used a 'clean room engineering' technique. So there were too groups of engineers. One read the source code and the manual and wrote a specification. The other took the specification and wrote a Bios.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Technologies#Cloning_the_IBM_PC_BIOS
With the success of the IBM PC in 1983, Phoenix decided to provide an IBM PC compatible ROM BIOS to the PC market. A licensable ROM BIOS would allow clone PC manufacturers to run the same applications, and the MS-DOS that was being used by IBM. However, to do this Phoenix needed a strategy for defense against IBM copyright infringement lawsuits. Phoenix used a clean room technique that isolated the engineers who had been contaminated by reading the IBM source listings in the IBM Technical Reference Manuals. The contaminated engineers wrote specifications for the BIOS APIs and provided the specifications to a single "clean" engineerâ"one with experience programming the Texas Instruments TMS9900, and without experience with the Intel 8088 or 8086[13]â"who had not been exposed to IBM BIOS source code. The "clean" engineer developed code to mimic the BIOS APIs. This technique provided Phoenix with a defensibly non-infringing IBM PC-compatible ROM BIOS. Because the programmers who wrote the Phoenix code had never read IBM's reference manuals, nothing they wrote could have been copied from IBM's code, no matter how closely the two matched.[14] This reverse engineering technique is commonly referred to as a "Chinese wall." The first Phoenix PC ROM BIOS was introduced in May, 1984, and helped fuel the growth in the PC industry.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
If you want to discuss Android, which is an operating system designed specifically for phones, there's a great success story there about how it dominated the phone market, *replacing* other phone operating systems and Java and becoming the king of of the hill in the generic phone market. But that is off-topic, because here we are talking about the PC market.
Here, we are talking about iOS devices, which are not phone operating systems like Android and do not replace other phone operating systems like Android did. iOS devices *replace* 3 other devices: a phone (even an Android-based phone,) an iPod, and a PC (a Windows-based PC or even a Mac-based PC.) iOS devices can replace a phone because they have phone features built-in, but these are essentially provided for free. iOS devices can replace an iPod because they have iPod features built-in, but these are also essentially provided for free. What the iOS device buyer is paying for are the PC replacement features, which are unique to iOS/Mac devices and Windows devices alone: PC class operating system, PC class native C/C++ app platform with a full range of apps in every category and full-size views, PC class support including centralized software updates.
Speaking from my own experience, I used to have 2 MacBooks (and an iPod) that I used for work all day, but now I have only 1 MacBook. The apps that I used to run on the second MacBook have moved over to an iPad and an iPhone. The exact same native C/C++ apps, with full-size PC views. Not phone apps, not Java apps. Further, the money that I previously spent on that second Mac is now the money that I spend on the iPad and iPhone. About half the time, I'm not using a Mac at all. In fact, I do all my writing solely on iOS devices, and that includes music writing and recording. So in every way, my iOS devices have replaced other PC class devices — it has nothing to do with phones or even Android-based phones.
Also, IBM PCs had a very large initial boost: they were earlier than the Mac and they had the magic initials on them which made them safe things for businesses to buy. At one time, I estimated that, compared to available clones, each single letter in the initials was worth about $500. (This wasn't from serious research, more like looking for systems I wanted.)
Apple made some serious screw-ups with the Mac early on, but they were never going to shake IBM/Microsoft market dominance on personal computers.
"When you have eliminated the unacceptable, whatever is left, however improbable, must be the truthiness" - Holmes
Apple is to Betamax as Android is to VHS. [Unlikely ]
Agree, in twenty years, only old people know what we are talking about if we speak about iPhones and Android phones.
I look at Apple sales as a ratio of Intelligent People:Mindless Media Consumers.
As Apple sales increase, the collective average of computational intelligence goes down.
There are 2 groups of people you can make fun of on the Internet without fear of attack. The illiterate, and the Amish.
"who choose not to afford a more expensive iPhone."
FTFY
Lots of people CAN buy iPhones, but many of us find that it's not worth the expense (for various reasons)
Lot's of people CAN buy Android smartphones, but many of us find that they don't want to, for various reasons.
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
In all actuality, the beta vs VHS analogy has already been rendered false. Blue Ray was actually the more expensive, gimmicky format when it won against hd-DVD. Hd-DVD was identical to blue ray, save it had lower storage space (and it's really only now that blue ray's storage capacity is being largely used), but was three times cheaper to own in comparison to blueray at the time. In the end, the only real reason anything wins over anything else is public perception, and an appropriately aggressive marketing/propaganda campaign that hits on the points that the public believes are important at the time will win it.
" Desktops are already quite rare in most companies outside call centres."
I work in the oil industry for a company with about 70,000 employees and the opposite is true. When I visit others in the my industry I see the same thing. Everyone still uses desktops and laptops are quite rare, and have to checked out from the IT department when needed for traveling.
I'd wager that Blu-Ray won purely because of the PS3 and Sony's media empire. Heaps of people bought PS3s, and Sony owns a number of media publishing companies who could be told to release on (guess what) Blu-Ray and not HD-DVD. the actual technical specification as far as success/failure went in that particular race was entirely irrelevant.
I run: Windows, OS X, Linux, FreeBSD. Just because you have a hammer, doesn't mean everything is a nail.