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More Evidence of Apple's Massive Marketshare Growth in Higher Education
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It's jealous, frustrated, unmitigated rage.
Ballmer knows most of the talent in tech dreams of going to Apple or Google, and he can't bloody stand it.
Bill Gates reacts similarly to Mac commercials and the mere mention of Apple, but without the prop comedy. It's just red-faced "I'm so sick of getting sand kicked in my face" nerd-rage.
I was considering a mac until i checked out the prices and realised only a fool would pay that much for a PC with a nice OS.
I wonder how many of those people in those photos were on IT courses? I'd bet none. I get the impression that University of Virginia is for more affluent students, in which case this is weak evidence of a general trend.
I know only two people who own Macs at my college, and one of them is me. I rarely see any other laptops at all in fact I still wouldn't recommend a Mac to anyone else but the most image obsessed graphic artist. The PCs at my college work, they don't crash, they had one virus which was subsequently caught and quarantined without interruption of service. They do everything the college needs them to do,
Macs don't make web surfing any easier (worse in fact if you stick with default Safari), don't make checking email any easier, don't make Office work any easier. In the library there are two Mac workstations and even when the library was close to full my friend and I were able to sit at them because no-one felt the need to use them.
OS familiarity determines ease of use to a much larger degree than interface design. Macs are perhaps a little more streamlined than Windows, but most people can get to know the Start menu and thats all they ever need.
A quick question on Apple making inroads into education, do Apple offer courses in training on their software? On Pages and Keynote? Programming in Cocoa? I have never seen any so they may exist, but it still shows that they have a long way to go before the general public think of Apple when they think of a computer. I will also add that as a student I can get free versions of Vista, Windows server 2008, XP, Expression Studio, Visual Studio and a whole lot more. Do Apple offer this sort of deal? Please tell me if they do, because I would love to take part.
A full 3 machine license version of Office costs me 34 pounds too, and Microsoft have a roadshow giving out free beta copies of Windows 7 beta in my town. Apple sent me an invitation to one of their shows... in San Francisco.
So even though I enjoy my iBook G4 that I am posting from, I recognise that Macs are niche, and if they weren't in that niche, half their appeal would be lost. So extra marketshare doesn't really help Apple.
I know only two people who own Macs at my college, and one of them is me. I rarely see any other laptops at all in fact I still wouldn't recommend a Mac to anyone else but the most image obsessed graphic artist. The PCs at my college work, they don't crash, they had one virus which was subsequently caught and quarantined without interruption of service. They do everything the college needs them to do,
Macs don't make web surfing any easier (worse in fact if you stick with default Safari), don't make checking email any easier, don't make Office work any easier. In the library there are two Mac workstations and even when the library was close to full my friend and I were able to sit at them because no-one felt the need to use them.
OS familiarity determines ease of use to a much larger degree than interface design. Macs are perhaps a little more streamlined than Windows, but most people can get to know the Start menu and thats all they ever need.
A quick question on Apple making inroads into education, do Apple offer courses in training on their software? On Pages and Keynote? Programming in Cocoa? I have never seen any so they may exist, but it still shows that they have a long way to go before the general public think of Apple when they think of a computer. I will also add that as a student I can get free versions of Vista, Windows server 2008, XP, Expression Studio, Visual Studio and a whole lot more. Do Apple offer this sort of deal? Please tell me if they do, because I would love to take part.
A full 3 machine license version of Office costs me 34 pounds too, and Microsoft have a roadshow giving out free beta copies of Windows 7 beta in my town. Apple sent me an invitation to one of their shows... in San Francisco.
So even though I enjoy my iBook G4 that I am posting from, I recognise that Macs are niche, and if they weren't in that niche, half their appeal would be lost. So extra marketshare doesn't really help Apple.
Just about all of the people I know here at NYU have Macs... that's probably because I'm studying film, however... I'd bet there is a much higher percentage of Windows users in the business school...
If Macs made up 90% of the market (Windows is probably closer to 95% in the workplace), do you honestly think there wouldn't be a necessity for just as many IT people? I recently started having to use a Mac at work occasionally, to make sure our software works on it. I don't find OS X to be intuitive AT ALL. I'm constantly having ask other people who've been using Macs for a long time how to do simple things.
I used that one-button mouse for about 10 seconds before I threw it in the garbage and connected a Microsoft Intellimouse. I clicked the "X" to close Safari (or any other app), and it doesn't even really close -- no, you have to explicitly go to the menu and select "Quit Safari." And clicking the "maximize" button still doesn't make an app take up the whole screen. Simple design stuff that just makes you say "Huh?" Limited system resource control. Java is a NIGHTMARE on Macs. Anything you want to do that does not conform to Apple-world logic is a huge hassle.
Do you really think that people are paid to post here? Who would even care?
Tinfoil indeed
.If behavior speaks louder than words, I would say that our collective perceptions, which happen to be in agreement, may not be that far off.
I understand his position but one man defining the company and its userbase?
I'll fall for that one.
OS X is not the best. vista is way more stable. There is no limit on what you can do on vista. You cant use some software on mac and cant game at all.
"Give it up for ME!" and other Ballmer Episodes that appear every once in a while, complete with Genuine Microsoft Red-Faced Ballmer, makes me believe he's either mentally unwell (or crazy) got severe bi-polar disorder, and whatever the case is used to throwing his considerable weight around to get his way. And high blood pressure.
Certainly extremely driven to succeed. One true story which offers some insight into SB goes thus: guy in his 30s, peak condition & regular jogger, is out running when he finds himself joined by an older jogger he's never seen before. The older guy looks unfit, obviously overweight, but to the huge surprise of the younger guy manages to keep up with him for miles. By the end, the older guy is absolutely wrecked, but he never gave up, didn't allow himself to be bested, no matter what. Introduces himself as Steve Ballmer & they part. Only later on the younger guy realizes that this is the same Steve Ballmer of MS.
I love Macs... blah, blah.. but I think Apple have a bigger fight on their hands than ever they did when Bill Gates was in charge of MS.
However, his self destructive tendencies seem to mitigate any potential threat.Certainly extremely driven to succeed. One true story which offers some insight into SB goes thus: guy in his 30s, peak condition & regular jogger, is out running when he finds himself joined by an older jogger he's never seen before. The older guy looks unfit, obviously overweight, but to the huge surprise of the younger guy manages to keep up with him for miles. By the end, the older guy is absolutely wrecked, but he never gave up, didn't allow himself to be bested, no matter what. Introduces himself as Steve Ballmer & they part. Only later on the younger guy realizes that this is the same Steve Ballmer of MS.
I love Macs... blah, blah.. but I think Apple have a bigger fight on their hands than ever they did when Bill Gates was in charge of MS.
That may be the perception on the pro-Apple side, but I have doubts that it applies generally.
Obviously Ballmer is driven to succeed. I should certainly hope anyone in his position is.
His problem is what Microsoft's problem at large has been for years: image.
Half of MS' mixed reputation (especially in light of Apple) is its uninspiring and mediocre products, and the other half is its management - primarily a leader who is neither confidently aloof nor charismatic. Ballmer certainly attracts attention, though. Most of it negative. He seems to think that having any personality is having "personality." Not the case. Ballmer's his own worst enemy.
Ballmer is notorious for running his mouth and creating completely avoidable snafus. This is made most apparent whenever he says something about Apple, or tries to address all the positive press Apple's been getting. Check out the foot-in-mouth scene when asked about the iPhone. Check him out going nuts over Vista before its introduction, stating how it would blow OS X and Linux out of the water. Yet, it was complete flop at launch, probably only second to Windows ME. And that taste lingered with disenfranchised Vista users. And of course, the "I think the tide has really turned back the other direction" against Apple comment, when Apple's posting record quarters and enjoying among the fewest losses in computer sales despite the recession. And that's continuing into the summer. And of course, we have the "monkey boy" scenes . . .
And hey, just look at most of Microsoft's keynotes: awkward and embarrassing.
Ballmer, like MS in general, simply has no taste.
His problem is what Microsoft's problem at large has been for years: image.
Half of MS' mixed reputation (especially in light of Apple) is its uninspiring and mediocre products, and the other half is its management - primarily a leader who is neither confidently aloof nor charismatic. Ballmer certainly attracts attention, though. Most of it negative. He seems to think that having any personality is having "personality." Not the case. Ballmer's his own worst enemy.
Ballmer is notorious for running his mouth and creating completely avoidable snafus. This is made most apparent whenever he says something about Apple, or tries to address all the positive press Apple's been getting. Check out the foot-in-mouth scene when asked about the iPhone. Check him out going nuts over Vista before its introduction, stating how it would blow OS X and Linux out of the water. Yet, it was complete flop at launch, probably only second to Windows ME. And that taste lingered with disenfranchised Vista users. And of course, the "I think the tide has really turned back the other direction" against Apple comment, when Apple's posting record quarters and enjoying among the fewest losses in computer sales despite the recession. And that's continuing into the summer. And of course, we have the "monkey boy" scenes . . .
And hey, just look at most of Microsoft's keynotes: awkward and embarrassing.
Ballmer, like MS in general, simply has no taste.
Vista more stable? In your dreams. Vista is not nearly as stable as OS X.
While there are plenty of limits with Vista. You can't try new programs unless you install security software. You aren't free to surf every corner of the web without worrying about malware. You can't enjoy a worry free experience. So really, Vista is full of limitations.
There is no limit on what you can do with OS X. You can run any program, may it be OS X or Windows.
I guess the Jobs reference flew over some heads.We didn't say "userbase." The company itself, sure.
Wait and see. I really want to be an optimist, although I am usually not. But I think Microsoft has outgrown it's ability to make good products. And let's just say I'm right, ten years from now Apple could outgrow their ability to make good products and we could be arguing this the other way.
I switched to Apple just over 2 years ago when Vista was completely unstable and unusable. Prior to then, I was a die hard PC fanboy. I finally decided I was tired of gambling every time I changed something on my machine. Would it have a kernel panic, would I get to reinstall the entire OS? I never knew when it was coming, I only knew it was coming. 2 years on my Mac, NEVER had to do ANYTHING. I make changes as much, if not more and the stupid thing just won't crash. Sorry, but Window's cannot compete with that; at least not yet. And until they do, they are a dying breed.
Do I really need to answer to this newbie? Vista more stable than OS X? Not even XP is able to keep up with the wonderful multitasking stability of Apple's OS...and I am amazed to see how many times Office 2007 chokes whenever I am working on more than 3 docs plus Outlook plus a couple of open windows on Internet Exploder...the taskbar buttons simply freeze until I click on another app a couple of times and then try again.
Windows XP sucks, Vista sucks, Windows 7 will suck. There is no comparison to the user experience that OS X provides...and for this I can cite 10 of my switcher friends at work that will NOT go backwards to an inferior platform; no matter how hard the PC trolls that infest this forum may try.