3%? Seriously? Where did you get that information? The year 2000? Apple has nearly 7% marketshare now, out of all computer manufacturers. And, as recent profit trends have been leading up to, Apple posted $7 billion in sales with a $1 billion profit in Q4 2006. Microsoft posted $12.5 billion in overall revenue (Windows, Zune, XBox franchise, etc) for the same quarter.
Now, that's interesting as Microsoft is still taking the lead... for now. But if you think of it, in 2006, 25% of overall Apple purchases were "switchers." Switchers... you know, people who are sick and tired of Windows being sick and tired? And as of the last profit postings, Microsoft has shown a growth of 60% from 2002 to 2006. Apple has shown a 250% growth throughout the same time period. And if growth trends stay the same, Apple will take the lead in 2010.
If you're a Mac hater, why? If it's a political matter, than I understand. Some of us hate certain corporations for what they do to employees, environment or economy. But if you hate Apple because they're not Microsoft, then you should reanalyze your claim. Windows has always been a beautiful platform. It looks great, always had a great UI, and is compatible with almost anything you can put your mind to (with some necessary modifications - of course). But there are those who live and learn. The switchers, as I mentioned earlier, are tired of cleaning out their spyware. They're tired of toolbars taking over IE. They're tired of virus warnings, and virus cleanings. For the most part, Apple users are generally happy with their investment for years after their purchase. Because it works, and has worked for years without any system maintenance.
Alongside of Apple, is Mozilla's Firefox. They're another example of people growing tired of Microsoft's product. Firefox's growth rate has been huge as well in 2006, far exceeding Microsoft's IE software growth rate.
Vista is a huge release for Microsoft, that not many cared about. There were no people waiting in a line, at any store I saw, on the launch date. Because most already knew that Vista was released mid-beta with many problems still unresolved. It was released early, because it was a huge embarrassment to Microsoft to take 5 years to create a working version of their flagship software. But Microsoft went for Apple's throat this time with Vista's design, copying nearly everything Apple has already been successfully doing with OS X, including Apple's iLife suite. Microsoft saw & recognized Apple's success formula. And in good ol' 1984 style, stole it (Apple's not guilt free of theft either, I know).
Windows users say that Mac OS users are being too sensitive about that. But if you think about it, OS X users come in contact more with Windows, from having to use it at work or having an old Windows machine laying around the house. Mac users can easily draw the comparisons. Some almost daily. Rather than Windows users not touching or even seeing a Mac OS machine for months at a time.
Apple and IBM will never make a deal with "3rd party machines." IBM already put their G5 processor in Apple's boxes. But I think that's the extent of their dealings for now. Speculate all you want, but Apple hasn't given OS X to anyone before. And due to their recent success, they probably won't start anytime soon.
Now all we have to do is wait for OS X 10.5 Leopard to see what direction Apple is running in. Vista is out, and is a near clone of OS X 10.4 Tiger. Leopard will be the reinvention.
iTunes doesn't allow you to redownload your music. Even if you've lost it. So why would I want to spend money on an album that I don't have a hard backup of? CD's is still the way to go. Especially because I can encode it any way I want, at any bitrate I want. It just makes better sense to me. iTMS is a great concept. It's just not perfected yet. Especially with their movie pricing... $9.99 a flick? I was just at Target spending on average of $6 a flick on DVD. Not blockbusters for movies, but movies I can have a hard copy of and encode when I want it on my iPod. iTMS just isn't ready yet. Greed has polluted that service.
For starters, no one will care that much. It's Microsoft. Microsoft is about as fresh and exciting as a slice of white bread with peanut butter spread on it. Mmmm... peanut butter.
That's besides the point. By this time Zune has it's launch for the 2006 holiday season, Apple will most likely debut their new 16:9 6G iPod with larger storage capacities than 30GB, a touchless scroll wheel, etc. WiFi? Don't know, and honestly don't care enough...yet.
Reading Microsoft's press release was the most stale thing I could do. It was almost like Ben Stein wrote the damn thing. Though I give kudos to Microsoft for giving it a good try. Maybe I'll be wrong and iPod will lose that much momentum, and Microsoft will lead the pack. But I doubt it. If Microsoft gains anything by the launch of Zune, it's to witness the fall of Creative, Toshiba, Samsung, iRiver and the like in the portable music player market. But in order for them to have "the edge" on those other companies... they need to give the consumer something else they haven't seen yet. I say, put a toaster, a portable toothbrush, a Swiss Army knife, or even a small compartment for those poo-poo bags people have to carry around to clean up after their dog on a city walk. That, my friends, would give Microsoft the edge over the rest.
The only reason I wouldn't want it, is the fact that in a year's time, my Zune will have to have 3 different Antivirus programs, and 4 spyware programs installed for using it via WiFi, filling up a quarter of it's total capacity. Just can't bring myself to do it.
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3%? Seriously? Where did you get that information? The year 2000? Apple has nearly 7% marketshare now, out of all computer manufacturers. And, as recent profit trends have been leading up to, Apple posted $7 billion in sales with a $1 billion profit in Q4 2006. Microsoft posted $12.5 billion in overall revenue (Windows, Zune, XBox franchise, etc) for the same quarter.
Now, that's interesting as Microsoft is still taking the lead... for now. But if you think of it, in 2006, 25% of overall Apple purchases were "switchers." Switchers... you know, people who are sick and tired of Windows being sick and tired? And as of the last profit postings, Microsoft has shown a growth of 60% from 2002 to 2006. Apple has shown a 250% growth throughout the same time period. And if growth trends stay the same, Apple will take the lead in 2010.
If you're a Mac hater, why? If it's a political matter, than I understand. Some of us hate certain corporations for what they do to employees, environment or economy. But if you hate Apple because they're not Microsoft, then you should reanalyze your claim. Windows has always been a beautiful platform. It looks great, always had a great UI, and is compatible with almost anything you can put your mind to (with some necessary modifications - of course). But there are those who live and learn. The switchers, as I mentioned earlier, are tired of cleaning out their spyware. They're tired of toolbars taking over IE. They're tired of virus warnings, and virus cleanings. For the most part, Apple users are generally happy with their investment for years after their purchase. Because it works, and has worked for years without any system maintenance.
Alongside of Apple, is Mozilla's Firefox. They're another example of people growing tired of Microsoft's product. Firefox's growth rate has been huge as well in 2006, far exceeding Microsoft's IE software growth rate.
Vista is a huge release for Microsoft, that not many cared about. There were no people waiting in a line, at any store I saw, on the launch date. Because most already knew that Vista was released mid-beta with many problems still unresolved. It was released early, because it was a huge embarrassment to Microsoft to take 5 years to create a working version of their flagship software. But Microsoft went for Apple's throat this time with Vista's design, copying nearly everything Apple has already been successfully doing with OS X, including Apple's iLife suite. Microsoft saw & recognized Apple's success formula. And in good ol' 1984 style, stole it (Apple's not guilt free of theft either, I know).
Windows users say that Mac OS users are being too sensitive about that. But if you think about it, OS X users come in contact more with Windows, from having to use it at work or having an old Windows machine laying around the house. Mac users can easily draw the comparisons. Some almost daily. Rather than Windows users not touching or even seeing a Mac OS machine for months at a time.
Apple and IBM will never make a deal with "3rd party machines." IBM already put their G5 processor in Apple's boxes. But I think that's the extent of their dealings for now. Speculate all you want, but Apple hasn't given OS X to anyone before. And due to their recent success, they probably won't start anytime soon.
Now all we have to do is wait for OS X 10.5 Leopard to see what direction Apple is running in. Vista is out, and is a near clone of OS X 10.4 Tiger. Leopard will be the reinvention.
iTunes doesn't allow you to redownload your music. Even if you've lost it. So why would I want to spend money on an album that I don't have a hard backup of? CD's is still the way to go. Especially because I can encode it any way I want, at any bitrate I want. It just makes better sense to me. iTMS is a great concept. It's just not perfected yet. Especially with their movie pricing... $9.99 a flick? I was just at Target spending on average of $6 a flick on DVD. Not blockbusters for movies, but movies I can have a hard copy of and encode when I want it on my iPod. iTMS just isn't ready yet. Greed has polluted that service.
For starters, no one will care that much. It's Microsoft. Microsoft is about as fresh and exciting as a slice of white bread with peanut butter spread on it. Mmmm... peanut butter.
...yet.
That's besides the point. By this time Zune has it's launch for the 2006 holiday season, Apple will most likely debut their new 16:9 6G iPod with larger storage capacities than 30GB, a touchless scroll wheel, etc. WiFi? Don't know, and honestly don't care enough
Reading Microsoft's press release was the most stale thing I could do. It was almost like Ben Stein wrote the damn thing. Though I give kudos to Microsoft for giving it a good try. Maybe I'll be wrong and iPod will lose that much momentum, and Microsoft will lead the pack. But I doubt it. If Microsoft gains anything by the launch of Zune, it's to witness the fall of Creative, Toshiba, Samsung, iRiver and the like in the portable music player market. But in order for them to have "the edge" on those other companies... they need to give the consumer something else they haven't seen yet. I say, put a toaster, a portable toothbrush, a Swiss Army knife, or even a small compartment for those poo-poo bags people have to carry around to clean up after their dog on a city walk. That, my friends, would give Microsoft the edge over the rest.
The only reason I wouldn't want it, is the fact that in a year's time, my Zune will have to have 3 different Antivirus programs, and 4 spyware programs installed for using it via WiFi, filling up a quarter of it's total capacity. Just can't bring myself to do it.
The beginning of the "end" for Microsoft. They'll follow the same path that the former TV giant, RCA, did... Become exclusive Radio Shack goods.