Apple Marketing

[Space05us]

Macs are ugly too, little boxes... I like having my large difficult to move tower and monitor.

[Grrr]

Anyway, most OEMs offer some pretty good looking computers these days.

[Kyle]

Originally posted by Grrr
Anyway, most OEMs offer some pretty good looking computers these days.

Indeed. Hell, even Gateway has a nice looking one now.

[Ari Rahikkala]

All Mac users should turn to a PC with Linux. Just give their root access to some company elsewhere, and there's no way in **ll they could screw their computer up... Well, through software means...

[Gatekeeper]

I've owned Macintosh computers since 1995. Not once in that time have I had a system crash due to a sh*tty OS. Not once have I had a piece of g*d*mn hardware within or without the computer go on the fritz, making it necessary for a trip to the shop. (Or to spend hours on the phone w/an inept technician or surf the Web looking for solutions.)

Now I have had some software programs freeze the system from time to time, or give me the infamous "bomb" (five times or so since 1995), but it wasn't Apple software causing the problem. Once it was MS Office. The other times it's been browsers or the Gold version of Civ II for the Mac.

Meanwhile, my parents struggle with the Gateway they bought in 1998. Hardware has gone out (namely, the internal modem) and tech support from Gateway has been sloppy, to say the least. Perhaps Gateway isn't the best representative of the PC industry, but it's the computer that I got to watch my folks struggle with from time to time.

Just as you Mac-haters had your world view of Apple colored by events and impressions, the same has happened with me, except my worldview has definitely been colored against PCs.

What it comes down to is this: People will buy what they're comfortable with. You PC-types have nothing to worry about — it's going to take a long time for Apple to "eat away" at the 85 percent market hold or so that Windows has on the world. In fact, I kind of hope that Apple *never* gets more than 10 to 15 percent of the computer market. That'll force them to cherish their customers.

Gatekeeper

[Asher]

Originally posted by Gatekeeper
I've owned Macintosh computers since 1995. Not once in that time have I had a system crash due to a sh*tty OS. Not once have I had a piece of g*d*mn hardware within or without the computer go on the fritz, making it necessary for a trip to the shop. (Or to spend hours on the phone w/an inept technician or surf the Web looking for solutions.)

You're either a very lucky man or you're lying.
I'm not a regular Macintosh user (duh ) but I have a friend who is a Macintosh nut (he's in compsci with me). He has an iBook (brand new as of October 2001). It came loaded with MacOS 9.something (forget what, exactly). Quake II would crash it any time we tried to play full screen. It was a hard crash, the whole OS went down in flames. Then during EV, it has (on two occasions where I've witnessed) locked up and had the sound squeal loudly until you reboot with the button (the OS wouldn't respond).

He also has a PowerMac G4 at home. The USB on the computer is totally screwed up. Any time a USB device is plugged into the computer, the computer simply will not boot. It refuses to. He needs to unplug all devices, boot up, then plug it in again.

Meanwhile, my parents struggle with the Gateway they bought in 1998. Hardware has gone out (namely, the internal modem) and tech support from Gateway has been sloppy, to say the least.

Actually the same companies make the modems that are put inside Apples and PCs, so that's just a luck factor there. Gateway is notorious for bad tech support, though. You get what you pay for.

What it comes down to is this: People will buy what they're comfortable with. You PC-types have nothing to worry about — it's going to take a long time for Apple to "eat away" at the 85 percent market hold or so that Windows has on the world. In fact, I kind of hope that Apple *never* gets more than 10 to 15 percent of the computer market. That'll force them to cherish their customers.

Apple's marketshare has declined worldwide to 3.8% or thereabouts, according to Time Magazine.

[Gatekeeper]

Asher:

I'm a lucky man then. I've never had problems with 8.5.1, although I have heard horror stories from other Mac owners about various OS in the 9.x arena. When I do get a new system, I hope it will be w/10.2 or, at the very least, 10.1.5.

Regarding Gateway, I told my folks to get a Dell Dimension the next time around if I can't convince them to go Macintosh.

As for market share, I'm not too sure what to think about that. There must be a crap load of computers in the world's households, that's all I can say. I admit that Macintosh has a niche market and some $6 billion in savings socked away ... so, regardless of market share, Apple isn't as bad now as it was in the mid-1990s.

Gatekeeper

[JohnIII]

Asher, I really don't see what your problem is. It's a bad advertising campaign, but so are those Intel ones with the spacemen and aliens. It's not like Macs are suddenly better for most users or anything.

[Asher]

Originally posted by JohnIII
Asher, I really don't see what your problem is. It's a bad advertising campaign, but so are those Intel ones with the spacemen and aliens. It's not like Macs are suddenly better for most users or anything.

I just don't like mudslinging/false advertising.

I can't stand the Pepsi commercials which insult Coke, I can't stand the Apple commercials that blatantly lie about speed and their competitor's products, and I can't stand the Apple commercials that trash PCs for the lack of any features that make Apples worth their money.

[Deathwalker]

Apples arn't worth the money. They look nice. But they are not worth there hug cost

[FemmeAdonis]

apple rocks.

[Garth Vader]

I just don't like mudslinging/false advertising.

I just love when I see MS go one about how reliable windows is while I am reinstalling it because it became terminally unstable.

[Caligastia]

Those ads are pathetic. I saw one last night with some woman whining that she kept losing her files on the PC.

Maybe she shouldnt be using a computer then...

[Pythagoras]

Originally posted by Garth Vader
I just don't like mudslinging/false advertising.

I just love when I see MS go one about how reliable windows is while I am reinstalling it because it became terminally unstable.

Well thats irrelevant. I consider linux boxs in the realm of 'PCs' And win2k runs like a rock.

[Wiglaf]

Those ads are pathetic. I saw one last night with some woman whining that she kept losing her files on the PC.

Maybe she shouldnt be using a computer then...

I lost my desktop settings a while back for my PC. I guess I shouldn't be using a computer either, right? Btw I am not a female as Mrs. Whistler MOST LIKELY IS.

And AshBash, most of the world uses computers for work, not play. And for practical things, like having OH I DON'T KNOW NOT HAVING TO MINIMIZE AOL BECAUSE OF AN ANNOYING LITTLE GREY SHEET AND BEING ABLE TO NOT WORRY ABOUT PAINFUL AND EMOTIONALLY CHALLENGING CRASHES WHILE WRITING A 15000 PAGE BOOK, it's a NO-BRAINER TO BUY A MAC.

You see, for simple things, you go mac for the easy-ness, the user-friendliness, etc etc. For games, go PC. It's really just that simple.

Apple's strength is that it does the little things very, very well. Sheesh-o. I suppose you used Post-Its instead of cereal?