Poll: Which side of Apple are you most interested in? [Archive]

Savage Henry

Mar 2, 2004, 09:42 AM

'Computers' for me.

The music thing is all well and good, but when Sony come out with a really sexy looking cross-format player, Apple will get a good run for the money.

Sony were laughed away by Nintendo and Sega in the games console market, but now every person on every planet owns a PS2. I would not like Apple to get too complacent and go the way of the Dreamcast, dragging the credibility of the rest of it's product lines.

Fortunately I don't think that will ever happen.

mkjellman

Mar 2, 2004, 10:07 AM

I said both. I think the iPod is Apple's ticket to success! They really needed a way to get PC people interested in Apple again. I love my iPod as much as my PowerBook. They go hand and hand!

Knox

Mar 2, 2004, 10:13 AM

Interesting to see that no one has currently chosen the iPod/Music specific option yet.

I think that's probably to be expected given the audience of this site, who will be mostly computer users who happen to have iPods. Now if you put the poll on a site which the general public is likely to use i suspect you might get a different picture - people could well have an iPod but never used a Mac in their lives and/or not be interested in them.

dricci

Mar 2, 2004, 10:21 AM

But I feel like computing is getting lost in the shuffle, and I would like to see a return to our roots.

I couldn't agree more. Turn on the TV, see iTunes commercials. Read an article, it's about iTunes or the iPod. It's good that Apple is getting attention, but none of it is going to the Mac anymore! If Apple put as much effort into marketing and selling their computers as they have been with the iPod the last year or two, I'm almost positive their market share will increase. It's almost as if they've given up in a way. Sure, the Mac and software are still their money makers, but things aren't exactly looking any better.

coumerelli

Mar 2, 2004, 10:31 AM

The results thus far are not surprising considering who is looking/voting...a bunch of computer zealots! :)

Billicus

Mar 2, 2004, 10:35 AM

Interesting poll. I voted both because I enjoy both aspects of Apple. However, I do agree with the other posters that Apple needs not stray from their roots. What Apple does best is to design computers. If they forget that, then they've lost their way. If they lose their way, their doomed as a computer company. That is all...;)

wrldwzrd89

Mar 2, 2004, 10:51 AM

Computers for me. I've never owned an iPod (but I plan to in the future) and I have no interest in using the iTunes Music Store (but I love iTunes as a media player). I've always been interested in what Apple does with their Macintosh lines.

wdlove

Mar 2, 2004, 10:56 AM

My biggest interest is in computers. Have no real interest in an iPod in its current state. Only currently use iTunes to play my CD's.

dukemeiser

Mar 2, 2004, 11:08 AM

I'm also interested in both. Although it has been really boring lately in the computer department...

SiliconAddict

Mar 2, 2004, 11:17 AM

I'd give it a 60%/40% split in favor of computers. IMHO, Mac computers are the more interesting aspect of Apple's product line. The iPod is cool and all but in the end it’s a simple digital music player. The Mac is a computing platform that stands on its own. I find it somewhat interesting how important the iPod is becoming in terms of Apple's yearly earnings. In the long term is very well could be the device that keeps Apple going. That being said I really hope they dive into new markets beyond simple digital music. The entire home entertainment market is wide open for innovation. Apple has the skills and the knowledge to know how to create products the consumer wants. Applying this to other markets could lead apple to even greater profits. Again, IMHO.

Snowy_River

Mar 2, 2004, 12:52 PM

I said both. I think the iPod is Apple's ticket to success! They really needed a way to get PC people interested in Apple again. I love my iPod as much as my PowerBook. They go hand and hand!

That's a very good point. The iPod is giving Apple a new name. Where most PC users think of Macs as computers that "don't come with the internet", iPods and iTunes are really showing the true cross-platform compatibility of Apple. "If they can make such nice iPods, maybe I should take a look at their computers..."

I answered 'Computers' on the poll, because that's what I'm most interested in. I have an iPod, and I'd like to get another, but that's not what I care the most about...

montecristo

Mar 2, 2004, 12:54 PM

I answered Both, too, but really only to the extent that iPod/music is an extension of what one can do with a computer. So if they had "movies" "photos" ".mac" listed as options, I would be interested in those aspects of Apple too. For me, I really like the "Digital Lifestyle Hub" idea that Apple has been working on the past few years.

pgwalsh

Mar 2, 2004, 01:18 PM

I'm interested in the OS. I'm interested in the best alternative to windows for the consumer. I could really care less if they sell their own hardware or ipods. It's all about the OS.

MoparShaha

Mar 2, 2004, 01:39 PM

I couldn't care less about the iPod and music. I think it's great Apple has branched out into these fields, and is doing sucessfully. I look at the whole Apple/music thing as a "necessary evil" if you will, that helps Apple out with computers and software. Apple's making quite a bit off iPods, and that can only be good for us Mac-heads.

Doctor Q

Mar 2, 2004, 03:23 PM

One of the "Interests" in my member profile:all things Macintosh

parrothead

Mar 2, 2004, 04:57 PM

I am interested in the side with the bite out of it. :D

Although I own an ipod and love it, I have to say I am more interested in Apples computers.

AngryLawnGnome

Mar 2, 2004, 06:48 PM

I love apple. The computers are awesome. I mean, the iPod's cool, but the computers are what make the company so great.

littlejim

Mar 2, 2004, 06:55 PM

You can write a long list of products that Apple has developed and/or marketed over the last 25 or so years - each with different levels of success.

PDA, Digital Camera, Monitor, Printer, Games Console, or Audio Player ... I'll buy them from (almost) anyone.

But a computer must be from Apple.

themadchemist

Mar 2, 2004, 08:17 PM

I think that's probably to be expected given the audience of this site, who will be mostly computer users who happen to have iPods. Now if you put the poll on a site which the general public is likely to use i suspect you might get a different picture - people could well have an iPod but never used a Mac in their lives and/or not be interested in them.

Ah, there's the rub! If people are buying iPods but that's not getting them interested in Macs, then it's only a short-term fix. The iPod is just one item and it can't sustain Apple. However, it's a good short-term source of revenue and a great tool for marketing Apple to the wider community. If that marketing fails, though, and more people don't buy Macs because they love their iPods, then the iPod hasn't served what I would deem its primary purpose--that of a "hook."

Mr. Anderson

Mar 2, 2004, 08:20 PM

Good poll. I at first was thinking it was going to be software hardware - but the results of this seem logical. Even though Apple is doing well with iTunes, they need to stay focused on the hardware....I'm still waiting for the new G5 - which I think was sacrificed for the iTunes rollout :(

D

JamesDPS

Mar 2, 2004, 08:27 PM

That's a very good point. The iPod is giving Apple a new name. Where most PC users think of Macs as computers that "don't come with the internet", iPods and iTunes are really showing the true cross-platform compatibility of Apple. "If they can make such nice iPods, maybe I should take a look at their computers..."

I answered 'Computers' on the poll, because that's what I'm most interested in. I have an iPod, and I'd like to get another, but that's not what I care the most about...

I agree 100%. SOOO many of my PC friends have started looking more seriously at Apple in general because they can't refute the iPod's place as the best portable music player around. On the flip side, of course, every time I go to the apple home page I curse when I see Mini iPods instead of new PM G5s!

Analog Kid

Mar 2, 2004, 08:50 PM

Wow. Totally did not expect that big a difference...

Counterfit

Mar 2, 2004, 09:40 PM

but now every person on every planet owns a PS2. The day I buy a PS2 is the day the PS4 comes out :p
Or if Nintendo stops making Metroid, Mario, F-Zero, and Zelda games for their own systems :)

themadchemist

Mar 2, 2004, 11:54 PM

Wow. Totally did not expect that big a difference...

how long have you been using a Mac? :)

SeaFox

Mar 3, 2004, 12:59 AM

I own an iPod. I support Apple's success in the music industry. But I feel like computing is getting lost in the shuffle, and I would like to see a return to our roots.

Agreed. I would also like to see more work done on the iPod's basic functionality, namely battery life, and cross-platform plug and play for hard disk mode as far as anything else for it. But I think computers needs to be put back on the front burner right now.

lind0834

Mar 3, 2004, 01:34 AM

Like most people, I'm most interested in the computers for myself, but know that Apple loves the music, and I'd love to see them succeed.

Sabenth

Mar 3, 2004, 07:20 AM

I am on both sides i use Macs for Music so i like all asspects of apple. I use old hardware though would love some new stuff though wooo oh would i ever oh>>>:))

Lapses into a dream sequance*

iChan

Mar 3, 2004, 09:18 AM

computers... just goes to show... the ipod is not really targeted at us... but at the other 95%. i think we just have to sit this one out and hope for SJ not to forget us.

iChan

Mar 3, 2004, 09:19 AM

I own an iPod. I support Apple's success in the music industry. But I feel like computing is getting lost in the shuffle, and I would like to see a return to our roots.

.

hear hear, but a focus on the mass market is good too.

iChan

Mar 3, 2004, 09:21 AM

The day I buy a PS2 is the day the PS4 comes out :p
Or if Nintendo stops making Metroid, Mario, F-Zero, and Zelda games for their own systems :)

man, get an xbox. get a modchip, replace HD with a 120GB one. rip all the games you want it... FTP over movies from your mac. FTP over games, emulators, applications... allow your Mac to become a streaming server for music, movies and music.

The Xbox is hands down the best Microsoft PC on the planet! (the only MS PC - and what a great first attempt!)

jenniff

Mar 3, 2004, 11:08 AM

I voted for both equally, as I'm hugely into music, and adore Apple. If Apple hadn't gone off the beaten path and start appealing to the mass public, I would be forced to get some lame excuse of an MP3 player. Worse yet, I'd have to go on Napster or something equally terrible to download music. This way, I can combine my to loves!

I own an iPod. I support Apple's success in the music industry. But I feel like computing is getting lost in the shuffle, and I would like to see a return to our roots.
.

I had never considered this before, that people who aren't so much into music are facing delays in production of new computers and whatnot because of the musical digital revolution focus. For me, though, I praise Apple for this music tangent!

Photorun

Mar 3, 2004, 04:01 PM

I wish Jobs/Apple would read the poll and get a CLUE! :rolleyes:

Cervotragik

Mar 3, 2004, 06:29 PM

I would deffinitely like to see Mac having a real MASSIVE breakthrough in the proffesional audio world, no turning back, just powerfull undeniable audio processing power to the fullest!

~Shard~

Mar 3, 2004, 08:24 PM

I applaud Apple's foray into the music scene, and support them in that, however I still gotta vote with the computers. Bring on G5 PM updates, G5 iMacs and G5 PowerBooks!

winmacguy

Mar 4, 2004, 01:23 AM

I couldn't agree more. Turn on the TV, see iTunes commercials. Read an article, it's about iTunes or the iPod. It's good that Apple is getting attention, but none of it is going to the Mac anymore! If Apple put as much effort into marketing and selling their computers as they have been with the iPod the last year or two, I'm almost positive their market share will increase. It's almost as if they've given up in a way. Sure, the Mac and software are still their money makers, but things aren't exactly looking any better.
I clicked on both. I agree that computers are what makes Apple, but the iPod and iTunes is making PC users sit up and take notice of Apple even if it is only for the iPod and or the music store. This is a market that Apple needs to tap into to expand from its current user base of about 20 million + users world wide. Compare that with a PC users on Win 2000/NT and Win XP (the iPod target market) If Apple can attract more of these users through the iPod then it has to be good for them. The iPod has also been generating significant revenue streams for Apple.

AssassinOfGates

Mar 4, 2004, 04:40 AM

PowerMac + OS X = key. iTunes for playlists is a bonus, but I prefer buying the actual CDs over iTMS. As for iPod, maybe if it was $200 for a 10 gig with dock. I just can't afford this stuff, but I do hope that Apple continues to thrive from this comeback and also continues to fuel the new revolutions in hardware and OS!!!

ThomasJefferson

Mar 4, 2004, 06:57 AM

Consumer level computers and consumer level prices. While I own an iPod and use iTunes, its only an afterthought for me, never the focus of my interest.

Its the hardware Steve.

slowtreme

Mar 4, 2004, 07:54 AM

Brand new poll every weekday... :D

macnews

Mar 4, 2004, 09:13 AM

Computers are becoming more and more a part of every day life for a super majority of the population. That is why I voted computers. I like the iPod, own one, know all the great things it can do besides play music, but I just love the way a mac works. On the business side it easily connects to a home or office network no mess allowing me to work at both spots much more easily. With the internet and more web based databases, I am less tied to a platform specific program. Plus, I can use MS office and open/save/send files to anyone.

At home, the mac has become more than just a machine to check email and surf the internet. iLife has made tracking life much more fun. Some may cringe, but I call iLife the "mans" way for scrapbooking. I have talked with more husbands and dads who use iphoto and imovie to file away their memories. Before iLife, all those photos ended up in a box in the garage (resisiting a bad garage band reference here). This is why computers are more important for me from Apple. I have a PC friend who tried to do the same on his Dell. It is doable but he spent at least $300 on additional cards and software. Then trying to use the software - ugghh! He learned how to use it, used it regularly for 2 months and now doesn't want to touch it. Editing movies tends to crash his Dell on a regular basis. That is why it is different with a mac. That is why I hope Steve doesn't forget about those of us who still love his computers.

wdlove

Mar 4, 2004, 11:53 AM

Brand new poll every weekday... :D

I have been wondering the very same thing myself. The reason probably is that arn is very busy with upgrading issues on the this site.

surfkai

Mar 4, 2004, 07:43 PM

I support the music sector of Apple for one main reason. The general public is more into music than it is into other computer sectors (like graphic design).

By marketing to people who like music, more people will become interested in Apple, probably the iPod. Then they will want to make music, and thats where Garageband comes in. As people like the Mac platform more and more, they will swtich.

Thus Apple becomes a larger company, and they are able to invest more into R & D. Better for them, better for us. :cool:

surfkai

Mar 4, 2004, 07:46 PM

They could choose either as long as they stay in business :cool:

SilentPanda

Mar 5, 2004, 02:45 PM

-At least one mile in every five of a major USA freeway is straight for emergency airplane landing.

Hmmm....

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.asp

Sorry... just waiting for a new poll.

wdlove

Mar 5, 2004, 05:18 PM

Hmmm....

http://www.snopes.com/autos/law/airstrip.asp

Sorry... just waiting for a new poll.

You have a real quit Avatar SilentPanda. Yes, it has been March 2nd since we had a new Poll. Like I said it just may be that arn is occupied with the updating of our great new Forum. We will just have to continue to be patient and see what happens next week. ;)

mrsebastian

Mar 11, 2004, 11:02 AM

i miss the daily polls! they seem pretty darn random sometimes, but they sure are fun :D

wdlove

Mar 11, 2004, 11:12 AM

i miss the daily polls! they seem pretty darn random sometimes, but they sure are fun :D

Yes, I agree the Polls are a lot of fun. When I saw the bold letters again at the Mac Polls Discussion Thread, I got all excited. Now I feel disappointed.

Doctor Q

Mar 11, 2004, 02:39 PM

Suggested first poll after they return:

Did you miss having regular new polls?
* Yes, a lot
* Yes, a little
* No, but I noticed they were gone
* No, I didn't notice they were gone

Awimoway

Mar 11, 2004, 02:44 PM

* Yes, a lot

~Shard~

Mar 11, 2004, 06:13 PM

Suggested first poll after they return:

Did you miss having regular new polls?
* Yes, a lot
* Yes, a little
* No, but I noticed they were gone
* No, I didn't notice they were gone

And the last option should be "What's a poll?"

Moz

Mar 12, 2004, 03:14 PM

I voted for Computers, because I use my Macs as tools, and that is why I am an Apple customer. The whole iPod cult is fine and fabulous, but I just don't want Apple to rest on their laurels of the iPod, and lessen the updates to their computer lines.

It seems like there's just hype and hype about the iPod, and the iMac and iBook and PowerBook and G5 updates are getting FEW and FAR BETWEEN.

Whereas toys are good, and we all like to play, designers and other professionals use Apple Computers as TOOLS to make a living.

I hope that Apple keeps their computers at the forefront of their company, and not the iPods.

Photorun

Mar 13, 2004, 02:07 PM

Wow, this is like the longest poll.... ever?!?

kingtj

Mar 13, 2004, 10:14 PM

I bought an iPod, but only after I already invested in a PowerMac. Until I really got a firm handle on the "Mac way" of doing things, I was just another PC "power user" who didn't consider an iPod as much more than "yet another competing portable MP3 player" on the market.

I know they're selling lots of iPods to folks who don't own Macs, and the iTunes music store did a lot for digital music sales in general. But none of this would interest anybody if it wasn't for the mass popularity computers now enjoy. (EG. No PC or Mac = no way to collect up/organize/synch your music to your portable MP3 device!)

Apple products, IMHO, are very much products to be personally experienced before they're completely "understood". You can talk till you're blue in the face about how great a Mac is - but it doesn't sink in until someone really gets their hands on one of them. It starts with the "opening the box" part of the experience. The well done packaging and thoughtful inclusion of the little extras (down to Apple stickers to put on your stuff!) makes a good first impression. But then, feeling the quality of construction, and actually using it for a while sells you on the whole thing. I don't think the store demos even do much justice to the Mac ownership experience. Demos are sterile and too limited. But once you get your first Mac, you want everything else they make.

That's why I say, concentrate on those computer sales. Once people really *use* that new iMac, iBook, Powerbook, or PowerMac - they'll buy all the "accessories" like the iPod without much question!

I'd give it a 60%/40% split in favor of computers. IMHO, Mac computers are the more interesting aspect of Apple's product line. The iPod is cool and all but in the end it’s a simple digital music player. The Mac is a computing platform that stands on its own. I find it somewhat interesting how important the iPod is becoming in terms of Apple's yearly earnings. In the long term is very well could be the device that keeps Apple going. That being said I really hope they dive into new markets beyond simple digital music. The entire home entertainment market is wide open for innovation. Apple has the skills and the knowledge to know how to create products the consumer wants. Applying this to other markets could lead apple to even greater profits. Again, IMHO.

Urdam

Apr 11, 2004, 03:26 PM

It's all about the computers

otter-boy

Apr 20, 2004, 11:53 AM

I'm interested in both, but I do think that computers should remain the main focus. However, I think Apple has a lot to offer with DLDs. I wouldn't mind having an apple TV or digital recorder. I think with the right computers and peripherals, I could get by with an Apple living room as well as an Apple work room.

rueyeet

Apr 20, 2004, 01:53 PM

Was the poll closed before I saw it? It gave me the results without giving me the option to vote.

I'm thinking, as I write this, that I'd have had to have voted Computers. I'm very attached to my iPod, and intrigued by GarageBand, and of course a lot of the music I've loaded into iTunes was made on Macs. So music, and the iPod-iTunes combo, is an important side of the Mac platform to me.

But the thing is, it's the Mac that makes all that so great. I love my iPod and all, but the Mac is what finally nudged me into getting that digital camera, buying and playing with Photoshop, and using my computer for more than email and web access.

I really think it's time for an ad campaign along the lines of, "If you think the iPod is cool, just check out our computers!" How about this:

Here's a kid--photogenic in that quirky way that's selling right now--jamming on his guitar. Follow the cord from guitar to an iBook, and show the screenshot of GarageBand recording. Audio adds GarageBand loops to the raw guitar track as we watch.

His girlfriend--similarly quirkily photogenic--snaps a photo of him laying down the groove with her digital camera. Screenshot of the photo at full size in iPhoto.

Shot of CD, which is taken by the kid and inserted into his iBook. Screenshot of iTunes burning his song to the CD.

Kid hands CDs to his friends with the picture his girlfriend took on the inserts. Shot of photogenic friend walking down the street jamming to the kid's song on an iPod.

All this in MTV-video type, to-the-beat imagery, against the white background until the bit where he hands out his CDs, then real-life background.

Cut to Apple logo. Flash words on screen under or around logo, in sequence: Music-Photos-Movies-CDs-DVDs-Internet-Mac. Keep "Mac" there for a few more beats, then fade in Apple's URL.

Yeah, yeah, I know, stick to my day job..... :rolleyes: :D

Nny

Apr 20, 2004, 02:53 PM

Was the poll closed before I saw it? It gave me the results without giving me the option to vote.

Same here.

But I think there should have been a third option... Software.

I see Apple's future success as more of a software company than a hardware company. Whether that means turning over production of their computers to IBM or Motorola or even Intel/AMD, or it could be that they start licensing their OS... doesn't matter to me. I don't see Apple controlling both the hardware and software forever. They have taken on so many additional software titles and are branching out into so many things that it seems only natural for them to become a software-centric company, and eventually evolve into a software-only company. Of course, a major step like this would probably not happen for 5 to 10 years.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

appleguy

Apr 21, 2004, 10:08 PM

ok here is a funny story
I work for a Apple Reseller right.
I sold an ipod to a WinTel user.
a week later he came back and ordered an iBook for his ipod.
Funnier still he came back in store and said, hes surprised that his ibook hadn't crashed in 2 months (or since he has had it)... He is now a hard core mac user. great switch story, he even left his job as they wouldn't get a mac for him to use in his office.... :eek:

Counterfit

Apr 22, 2004, 12:10 AM