Uhh...by contrast Apple has had ZERO impact on Windows sales as well. Windows 7 is the fastest selling OS in the history of the world.
So in your world, all MS buyers are tied down to the OS, but Apple is the land of freedom and choice and happy users? Do you even look around these boards? Do you understand the concept of "PR spin" when it comes to Apple's marketing? They got beat in every way last quarter, absolutely trounced in fact. The only reason they can keep setting records is because their sales are so low to begin with. Please try and absorb that fact.
Remember, I am currently 100% OSX. But Apple has many MANY problems, and IMO are on the downhill slide, falling prey to the temptation of easy money through consumer toys. They are no longer a "pro" oriented company whatsoever. In fact, they seem to practically treat those users with disdain.
You simply cannot treat customers like you hate them forever. Slipping quality control, less developer freedom, needlessly increasing costs...it may spell success in the short run but Apple is getting extremely cocky and greedy. It will catch up to them some day.
P.S. Is OSX not Apple's "core" business anymore? Are you admitting that? You do know SL is basically crap right? A complete joke of a release.
When 90% of the computer-using population use a PC, there'd be something very wrong if a version of Windows *wasn't* the fastest selling OS in the world. Especially since it's a fixed Vista. Finally.
Wal Mart usually cleans up in plastic lawn-chair sales during the summer as well.
Do I look around these boards? These boards do not in any way, shape or form reflect reality. The MR bubble is completely outside the actual market. The world is indeed tied to Windows, mostly through Ignorance, Inertia, or Not Caring enough about it in the first place.
Apple's record quarters reflect . . . record quarters. It's not a competition unless you're competing with your previous results (obviously), or with The Street's expectations. I'm not sure how record growth means "getting trounced."
"You simply cannot treat customers like you hate them forever. Slipping quality control, less developer freedom, needlessly increasing costs...it may spell success in the short run but Apple is getting extremely cocky and greedy. It will catch up to them some day."
Let us know when "some day" is going to happen, because Apple's continued performance in a recession, top customer satisfaction numbers several years running, and top customer service for several years running kinda means the exact opposite of your prediction. In fact, given the absolute frenzy over the iPad, Apple's love-affair with consumers is set to continue well into the future.
From the attention to detail Apple puts into its products, the standard Apple Sets for the User Experience, the competition furiously trying to copy Apple at every turn, its pretty obvious that Apple is really the only company in tech that actually gives a damn about the user. Hence, their incredible results quarter after quarter.
Consumers handing Apple record quarter after record quarter tells us a completely different tale than your opinion. Apple's "walled garden" has proven immensely successful. Consumers with cash are buying in, and the the iPad will demonstrate this in spades. Easily.
Your crystal ball is defective. Must be an Acer product.
OS X *is* Apple's core business, whether in the form of Snow Leopard, the iPhone OS, or now the iPad OS. Better put, nearly everything Apple produces is given as much attention as their other products. It's a question of Apple's attitude and vision when it comes to what they believe should happen from the time the user picks up or turns on the device to the time the desired action is executed. No one, but NO ONE, pays anywhere near enough attention to this as Apple does. Hence, the delight over Apple products, and the current runaway-buzz about the iPad. Not about other "tablets" or MSI slates or whatnot, but about the iPad. Because the iPad is made by Apple, and Apple's reputation is clear as day when it comes to tech.
If you don't like Snow Leopard, that's certainly your right. Unfortunately, that crystal ball of yours isn't self-correcting (meaning it isn't running Unix), because then you'd realize that in a recession, every quarter that Snow Leopard has been available on Macs,
more consumers with $1000+ to spend have been choosing Macs (and thus OS X) each quarter - in record numbers. That is, *actively* choosing a Mac over a PC. Microsoft has lost control of the Premium market, and the Premium market is not only the most profitable end, but also the end that features products that are the Gold Standard of their respective classes.
So, to put it in the simplest layman's terms . . . Apple has better and more expensive computers, and more people keep buying them each time (more than the last time), despite cheaper stuff that can save them money. Ergo, there's really no way Snow Leopard can be anything but the best in its class.
Cheers.
