Do you consider for one moment that a $155bn company might know what they are doing?
Have you ever heard of companies going out of business? Have you ever heard of stock markets falling because of bad business decisions? Have you ever heard of companies not meeting predicted profits? Have you ever heard of stupid inventions by major companies? Have you heard of Newton by chance by a company called Apple? Does that answer your question?
CWallace said:
They're seeing double-digit growth on a quarterly basis. Most PC companies are struggling to see 1 or 2%.
Do you think perhaps that just MIGHT have something to do with the general HATRED a lot of Windows users have with the disaster known as Vista and not necessarily because people LIKE the iMac type design? There are some similar designs in the PC World and they are NOT popular at all. People like mini-towers. Desks are designed around mini-towers. More importantly, it's completely self-contradicting to design a computer that's meant to save space on your desk instead of making a mess and then have to clutter it all up with firewire and USB external peripherals just because there's nowhere to put them in an iMac. So you end up with MORE mess instead of less. And before you suggest you don't need such additions, consider Leopard's own Time Machine which begs for a high speed backup drive and is incredibly slow across a wireless network like the Time Machine gizmo Apple is pushing. Generally speaking, Mac users live in their own bizarre Universe when it comes to ideas of what constitutes a USEFUL computer box. I don't need 'pretty'. I need functional. The irony is the operating system is just the opposite of the Apple hardware. It's usually more functional than Windows and more efficient at doing most things. It's the reason I want a Mac. I couldn't care less about computers inside monitors and never will.
A Mac Mini, an iMac and a Mac Pro have effectively no overlap with each other. An Apple Mini Tower would have overlap with all three, which would confuse the customer and make it more difficult to determine which model they needed. I used to sell Macs during the Performa, Centris and Quadra days and it was a pain in the arse then, and it will be a pain in the arse now with four models with subtle nuances between them.
You're trying to tell me that people in the 21st century (not the '80s or '90s when computers were for geeks, but today when everyone and their brother has one) would be confused by the CHOICE of a traditional mini-tower instead of a computer that's inside a monitor case? Heck, I grew up with computers in the '80s (my first computer was a Commodore Vic 20) and even I'm confused why someone would WANT to put a computer inside a monitor case unless it wasn't going to be used for anything more than a dumb terminal when it has no backup facilities or capabilities without adding external clutter at which point you're playing with fire NOT having those desk cluttering additions. Furthermore, I seriously and honestly believe that you aren't giving today's generations any credit what-so-ever for knowing the first thing about computers. They aren't just for geeks anymore, you know. There's a HUGE difference between selling a computer in 2008 and in 1988. Maybe the aging baby boomer generation would be confused by the differences, but I don't think many other people would be today and I don't think it would take a "Mac Genius" very long to explain that an iMac has the computer inside the monitor and a mini-tower is like the Windows machine they came from and keeps them separate with room for additional storage, etc. I mean just what are you telling me? That people who buy Macs are total morons or what?
Honestly, I'm so sick of hearing excuses for why Apple doesn't offer a decent mid-range tower. Any logical person would conclude that they're missing the biggest selling desktop model (i.e. the mini-tower) in the Windows and Linux markets, which still covers over 90% of all home and business desktop computers sold. But instead of concluding that, many Mac users conclude that those people are dumb and would love and prefer an iMac style case if only they would just try one. Maybe they'd love OS X if they tried it, but having no ability for so much as a second internal hard drive to use for backups? Why would they love that? I've got 2 hard drives inside my PowerMac and three inside my PC. I don't have any hard drives sitting on top of my three desks in my den. If I need a better video card, I can get one (even for the PowerMac which can use something like the 7600GS with a little finagling or a purchase off eBay for a pre-flashed one). Maybe I don't want the monitor size an iMac comes with. Maybe I want a 27" or a 32" display. So I have to buy a SECOND monitor? It's like WHY?
You're afraid of overlap in the Apple lineup? What do you conclude about overlap in the Dell lineup? They sell any number of cases and hardware configurations, MOST of which overlap to greater and lesser extents with other models they sell. It's called CUSTOMIZATION. Do you think people buying from Dell are confused? If so, why do they sell so many computers? Seriously, all I see are excuses why I can't order the computer I WANT from Apple. I have to buy the computer THEY want to sell me. Maybe OS X makes up for my unhappy compromises; maybe it doesn't. But you cannot seriously tell me I'm better off or would be less happy with Apple if they DID offer me greater choices. I cannot seriously recommend a Mac to many of my PC using friends BECAUSE there is no low-end and mid-range models that can do what they want them to do, even with Boot Camp because Apple purposely cripples its lower priced computers so they can't run squat in terms of 3D applications including games. They try and FORCE you to buy hardware that costs over $2200 and is still inferior to a Wintel system you could get for $800-1000 if your goal is to be able to play something like Crysis. Some people also act like if you want to play Crysis, you DON'T want to do other things with your computer so go buy an XBox 360 OR go buy a PC just to play games. Well, most people I know including myself do a LOT of things with computers and let's face it, Vista DOES suck and systems no longer ship with XP so there you go.
I say there's a BIG switcher market right now for unhappy Vista users and Apple IS getting more sales because of it, but they could be getting a LOT MORE sales if they offered more competitive hardware to those users. The customer shouldn't have to compromise because Steve Jobs doesn't like 'box shapes' or whatever. Apple seems to forget the #1 rule for corporate/customer relations and that is the customer is always right. Instead they operate from the perspective that Steve Jobs is always right. Well, contrary to what some Steve worshipers on here might think, Mr. Jobs is not God and can make poor decisions and even mistakes. NeXT was not exactly a successful company, for example. Apple can't even bring it self to tell customers WHAT BUGS their updates are fixing, for goodness sake. "Fixes bugs and optimizations" isn't very informative. Heck, even MacWorld is having a field day lately ragging on Apple's lack of communication regarding bugs and security fixes. Steve treats the consumer like basic information is on a need-to-know basis and the customer doesn't need to know ANYTHING about the product he buys; just buy it already and don't complain or they will delete or lock your thread on Apple's own message boards. It happens every day there. Apparently, everything is supposed to be perfect and happy in Apple World and if it's not, they cover it up as best they can just like in countries like China where there's no freedom of the press. They should be addressing and answering consumer complaints, not trying to shut them up. Yes, I hate Microsoft for several reasons, but I don't exactly love Apple either. I simply think they've got the better overall operating system. But when it comes to listening to its customers, they are the pits.
