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156 Comments
- kirkio, on 10/12/2007, -6/+42The stats are from Apple's quarterly earnings... Not exactly made up.
- borninda818, on 10/12/2007, -13/+49outta the ass?
i believe the stat. Half the people with laptops in my college have macbooks. I'd buy one too if i had the money - zoombusa, on 10/12/2007, -9/+38OK lets just look at why there is a possible market share increase:
The new commercials? I think they really put a bug in peoples ears the differences (true or not) between Macs and PCs.
People are fed up with WGA and activation. Minor changes to your hardware or BIOs will bring up the nasty Activation screen. Ever try changing HT setting in the BIOs?
Do Macs have advantage because they develop the software for a specific set of hardware? Think about it the Macs have only a certain set of hardware options. Windows you have greater variety and flexibility but more driver and compatibility problems.
Spam/Spyware in programs developed for Windows platforms.
Junk software bundled into Windows install to include the forced use of MS products.
I can go on and on. I don't own a Mac but just some reasons why I am thinking about getting one. I use Windows and Linux but would not mind trying out a Mac. Just wish I could find a VMware Image to test drive it.
Windows is a marketing giant like Cisco. No they are not bad companies they both offer some good products. MS started by giving away software in schools. Cisco started by creating a uniform platform for their routers and offering great training.
We are only human and want to use the devices we are familiar even if they are inferior to other products. People don't like change and hate learning new stuff.
If there is going to be a change then companies are going to have to beat them at their game. Linux has a shot at MS but the numerous choices of Linux flavors and lack of hardware developed for Linux is currently it's downfall. With Cisco, other networking equip makers will stand a chance once Cisco migrates from IOS if ever. But MS and Cisco have the cash to secure their stronghold if they play monopoly right. - justdbc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+29Zoombusa,
You would not regret getting a Mac. I switched my wife to a mac mini, because I got tired of the continuous clean-up and admin hassles on her Windows box. My own workstation and the family file server are Linux (Slackware, I'm old school...) and I keep a Windows box for stuff that just isn't available on Linux. And my kid's box is Windows because educational software is mainly only made for windows, but that machine is rarely on the net.
Anyway, the Mac is a great machine to administer because it is Unix underneath. It was easy to get everything tweaked just the way I like it, no hassles. Including automatic shutdown on UPS events, and automated back-up to the file server. Never had any malware on it.
Frankly, I wish I could justify a Mac for myself. Slap the Xwindows subsystem on it so all your favorite Unix aps work, and off you go.
Switching from Windows to OS X is a no-brainer. Switching from a Linux workstation to OS X has a lot to be said for it, and that was a surprise to me. - neomis, on 10/12/2007, -9/+34yeah it's just way to hard to believe that a laptop that has some of the newest intel processors, has the ability to run OS X, Windows, or Linux, and although gets pricey fast still sells models that are just over $1000. Not to mention they are stylish and when you know nothing about computers flashy sells...
- funbags, on 10/12/2007, -4/+27Im getting one... Why? I love osx and my dell laptop is @ its end of life. My old man just ordered one, and my brother who is off to college just got his last week.. .
- walterd93, on 10/12/2007, -3/+24I'm not sure what "***** all software" is, but Macs can run all software: Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.
- oOLiquidNightOo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+23i just recently switched from pc to mac and i'm thrilled. as i continue typing this, it occurs to me that you probably really don't give a *****.
- bradbeattie, on 10/12/2007, -1/+20Ugh, c'mon. Get your head out of the sand. Yes, Windows has more of a market share and thus more software is written for it, but it's not like OSX is in the same category as BeOS or QNX.
http://guide.apple.com/
http://osx.iusethis.com/
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
http://macupdate.com/ - Cannon13, on 10/12/2007, -6/+24You know, the ONLY thing windows has going for it now is professional gaming. Anyone who says Mac's are a niche market is full of *****. If you haven't worked on both platforms, then you're biased and shouln't be commenting in this thread. The only reason Apple's market share isn't 90% is because of pure ignorance.
- Olle, on 10/12/2007, -1/+19If the numbers are correct they just doubled their market share. If they do that 3 more times they'll have 96% market share.
(Now, before you reply and say that the above is a stupid comment you should know that it was stupid on purpose. But it illustrates a point. Doubling a market share for a company is _enormous_.) - nullview, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20Yup, its a lot; and more than that it is a perceivable momentum shift... Even though you may feel this is insignificant, it has the boys at the boardroom tables of Dell, Gateway, and Microsoft taking notice.
- contradictator, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21Considering the average ratio of Mac desktop owners to PCs is usually somewhere between 2% to 5%, then yes, 12% is a pretty impressive shift.
- IHatePants, on 10/12/2007, -2/+20If Porsche, Lamborghini, or Ferrari made 5% of the auto market it would be news. (And this is a loose paraphase of Jobs himself.) 12% is a huge number when you've previously been just a niche market.
- kckman, on 10/12/2007, -4/+21Linux? Firefox maybe?
- noeljohnhoward, on 10/12/2007, -14/+31My dad sent me internet 4 days ago, i still havnt gotten it!
- sp00nz, on 10/12/2007, -5/+20zoombusa
I really doubt the people that are swayed by mac book commercials are the type that even understand WGA or the activation schemes by ms. - nTensify, on 10/12/2007, -0/+15"If Apple released a MacBook at a Dell price point..."
Then they'd be just as ***** as Dell. Face it, Dell got to where it was by slashing prices everywhere it could, that meant using as standard of components as possible, putting them in the plainest of cases possible, and selling for an incredibly tiny profit.
Eventually things got so bad for Dell they had to start selling out their own tech support, and look where that's put Dell.
Apple is now not only a bigger company than Dell, but one of the quickest growing companies in the nation. And at less than half the capacity of Dell, nonetheless. - titlesaysitall, on 10/12/2007, -6/+20Its not suprising when they design good looking hardware compared to some other laptops.Kinda offtopic My friend has a Gateway laptop that is about 1.75 inches thicl with the lid closed and its about 3 years old, how ever the PowerBook/MacBook Pro design is probably 3-4 years old (probably older) and have always been 1 inch thin, go figure.
- mrneutron, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16Americans' total charitable contributions for 2005 were $260.28 billion. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gives $2.8 billion per year. I'm very happy to applaud Bill Gates for achieving 1% of market share. No, I'm not being sarcastic.
- Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13"***** all software?" If by "*****" you mean "run", then yes, Macs ***** all software. (Well, almost. They just don't run MacOS Classic apps anymore, since Classic support was dropped in Intel Macs. Oh the irony.)
Universal Binary apps will run faster than regular MacOS apps that need to be run through Rosetta. The more the core apps run quickly for Intel Apps, the fewer users will postpone their purchase of Macs. That's the case they're trying to make. - Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16That is one of the most absurd bits of "logic" that I've ever heard. You won't buy a Mac because of all the supposed fanatics that you'll never meet. Right.
Good luck with that. - dcmiltown, on 10/12/2007, -4/+16It's funny because rarely is there a mac owner that is not a fanatic. Sure, they have their problems, but when people who own macs see what other users go through, it's hard not to be proud of the purchase.
I was a PC user and swore off the mac in the same way most do for my entire life. However, my only experiences with it were in libraries and other random places where I came into contact with it. It's different enough to put the average PC user off until they really get their hands dirty with it. Once I was given an old G4 tower by my uncle, it took me about 2 weeks to love it, and about 6 months to save for my Dual 2.0 G5. I hate touching PC's now... especially networked PC's. Logging in takes forever and I'm sitting for 3-5 minutes before I can even start browsing. - Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+15STFU with the overtired overpriced mantra. it just isn't cutting it anymore. Macs are on-par or slightly more expensive than comparable PC systems. IF you can find a comparable PC system.
- superkendall, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14As opposed to snuggling up with the legion of anti-mac people that would not buy a Mac even if it came with free bags of gold.
I always found it healthier to hang around people who are INTO something, as opposed to AGAINST something. - Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -4/+15Speaking of paying so much for so little, maybe sometime next year, when Vista finally ships, you might be able to upgrade your laptop enough to run an OS that has the developments that Macusers have been using since Panther. (I doubt you'll be able to upgrade your laptop enough to run Vista decently though; for MacOS-like performance on equivalent hardware as your currentl laptop, you'll probably need a Vista Premium ready laptop.) But by then, Macs will be running Leopard.
Enjoy the treasure hunt for bugs in that relatively untested body of fresh code!
(It's not just about a better laptop: it's about a better OS.) - nullview, on 10/12/2007, -1/+12I always coveted one from afar; but because of work felt that it would be a silly extravagance to buy and OSX based machine. I don't know if it was marketing forsight/genius or lucky chance for apple; but many people in my position are now thinking that their next pc will be an apple and that we will be getting 2 pc's for the price of one.
- SpacedCowboy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13Ah yes, "potentially". Some other truly potential statements:
"Every man is a potential rapist"
"Every woman is a potential whore"
"Every adult is a potential baby-murderer"
Put the word 'potentially' into a sentence, and you can get away with saying pretty much anything - it's the last bastion of the craven author.
In reality it's highly unlikely the stats are biased, because if they're caught lying to the SEC, there are severe penalties, not to mention a drop in investor confidence. The requirements of the reporting are pretty tightly defined as well, so there's not much wriggle-room, you have to tell it as it is... But don't let that get in the way of your potential conspiracy... [see what I did there ?]
Simon - SpacedCowboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+10Riiiight. Upgrades of .x to .{x+1} are just service-packs. It's all so clear now. Of course they are. [/sarcasm]
Let me think - the biggest thing in Tiger for me was probably Spotlight. Has there been a service-pack from MS that gives a metadata-indexing system-service like Spotlight ? I think not. In fact, aren't you waiting for the next *major* release for that ... "Vista" isn't it ?
Or how about Dashboard ? Is there a windows service-pack that does that ? Nope. Oh well. That's one of those "Vista" things too isn't it ?
So, in fact parts of the OSX "dot" releases correspond to parts of the MS "vista" release. Sounds like parity to me.
Service packs are like the software-updates, both OS's get them free. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9yea i dont get these idiots who thing there's no software for macs... man since i've switched i've found it EASIER to find good software. A perfect example is handbrake, best dvd ripping app ever, and the only version with a gui is on osx... the linux version is a huge bitch and with windows you end up with a bunch of sued-out-of-business apps taht you have to find burried on the tubes and crack and all that... no thanks.
pages totally owns word.
keynote totally owns powerpoint.
adium totally owns all the windows chat clients.
textmate is arguably one of the best text editors ever.
the list goes on and on, when it comes to software, the year 2006 macs is where it's at!
oh oh Berkana, do a quick google, there is a word around for running classic apps, just fyi :) - Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11@zybch:
"Price, hardware support and not having to pay for SP service packs are also things that the windows world also has going for it!"
You forget something even more basic than that: not having to deal with SP service packs to deal with crappy software and severe security holes busting out of every pore to begin with is something the Macs have going for it.
(BTW, Apple's software system updates are free and automatically downloaded if you have your system updater scheduled, so your argument is moot to begin with.) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9awesome... and ... gayteway... in the same sentence... mind... being... blown... by stupidity!.... ARRGG!!!
- grayapple, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12I love apple topics, because there is always that random dude who tells me that MACS have no software and are slow - I'm still running on a G4 and that seems fast enough to me for simple IMing, Photoshopping, iPhotoing and web broswering.
- SpacedCowboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9At last! A cogent argument, wittily observed in the company of *real* men. How could one possibly argue with such an incisive viewpoint ? What possibly logical progression could I follow to counter your brilliant thought process ? Oh woe is me, I am undone.
Perhaps I could just say "bollocks" and be done with you. Yes, that'll work. - Kypt, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11They are referring to laptops not really desktops. I, for example, wasn't a mac user last year, and probably am not considered one now, but I bought a macbook pro (while I still use my desktop PC).
Also, lately at school I'm seeing a lot more powerbooks/macbook pros than in any other previous years. Most people that buy laptops are for personal use, while desktops are replaced anually by big companies (buying 100s of them every year) etc. - nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8People are scared of new things and people are sheep. They have a few Mac labs at my uni, even more Windows ones, and one Linux one in the CS dept. Even if the Windows labs are full people will wait rather than use the Macs, even if they're just checking their mail. (There are some Windows-only apps like MATLAB)
People are too scared to try something new, they stick to what they know and are familiar with. I ask people why they don't try a Mac, and they say "I like Windows better." When I ask if they've ever used one they say "No, but...."
Sad truth, but thems the breaks. - fantastcandy10, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9isn't that just as bad as buying one because its "in?"
- Markie1006, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11Me too - I love my 17" MacbookPro.
I think it's just sour grapes from all the people running Fisher-Price O/S :P - kirkio, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10fyi, i'm not a mac user
- Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7@Ub3rg33k: That is what market share is, the percentage of a given product type at any given time. It has nothing to do with installed base. Different.
- deanlowe, on 10/12/2007, -8/+15It was bound to happen. More people buy them because they can run Windows on them now.
- SpacedCowboy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7@zybch
This I agree with - Apple gained a lot from a fresh start. OS {pre X} was a horrible nightmare of an OS. At the time I was a hardened linux veteran (when I started, it came on 2 floppies and a bunch of patch-downloads :-) I'd never have touched the Mac. Now, it's my computer of choice - it still has the wonderful unix goodness, but I can run business apps on it as well. Best of both worlds, for me. - walterd93, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10LOL, "widely accepted". If you have a Mac, you're accepted all the way, with a dell, meh.
- Boondoggle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8The market share of competing laptops is 88%.
- rhesuspieces00, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7i don't think you know what you're talking about. there aren't lots of games for macs, and there are a few niche markets that can't use macs because of a particular application thats missing, but its been a long time since I needed a piece of software and couldn't find something that worked well for me, and more often than not the software is free. Open source *nix apps usually make the transition to OS X much more easily than to Windows.
- Berkana, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10Uh, it doesn't work that way. Windows has priviedge escalation problems that they can't fix without breaking many of the existing programs that use the flawed parts of the API.
MacOS also doesn't have a deeply and severely flawed browser woven into the OS the way Windows has due to Microsoft's attempt to use the Windows monopoty to force the dominance of IE. That made IE's security flaws Windows security flaws.
I love the irony of how you point off into the unforseeable future and say "victims of their own success" when no such threat has even materialized. This isn't to say that there won't be viruses and spyware, but for you to mention that the way you do is FUD. Stop looking at non existant threats, and realize how innundated Windows is in that exact problem. - Hawaiianteg, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9So everyone believes when they claim Microsoft statistics, but when it comes to apple its impossible. What hypocrites.
- mattp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Well, there's a huge creative industry market out there. Of all the creative people who would likely get a MacBook or MacBook Pro, I think the majority haven't made the jump because of the Adobe apps not being Universal.
- Dinosaurus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7You are right, but your post did make me laugh so that's worth something!
- timta2, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7zybch-How much did you pay to go from 98/ME/2000 to XP? That ain't cheap!
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