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Of Gates and Jobs

I agree with eyelikeart. Apple are getting it slowly, they are hitting the core by making kids use macs. One of the problems kids have is they have been brought up the windows way so as soon as they get to use a mac they dont understand it and say "whoooow Gnarrrly Duuude, This really sucks duuude". This is because techie teenagers get very jealous of one another and of anything which doesnt agree or is better than them techie wise, and so they blame the software.

But the fault which you have to blame jobs for is that macs are too expensive. 800$ for a mac??? its too much. Me and my friends find it hard to finance a PC never mind an imac. And this is really the biggest fault of apple.
 
Cost.

Try to compete with over 100 generic manufacturors of Wintel parts. If Apple had liscenced clones in the early 80's when the introduced the Mac, they might have the generic parts to draw from, but as it is...........
It'd be like re-tooling Rolls-Royces to take GM parts. Better that Apple run with their most consistant approach. As Apple standardizes parts the line will get cheaper. Macs are more part swappable than ever, this has brought value for money into much better ranges but there is no competing with generic parts. I can use 133 168 pin DIMMs in every desktop from the blue and whites, cubes, G4 towers and "fanless" iMacs. Even the new iMac uses iBook RAM. Be patient, 2 years is not very long to standardize what was the most chaotic design department in the industry.
 
Originally posted by Unregistered
The reason Macs are in more movies is because they do a lot of 'Product Placement' which is movie-speak for giving them away to the production companies et als so they show up in a shot in the movie. Oh yeah, and they're cooler...
Click to expand...

This is not unlike movies that feature new vehicles:
(1) Austin Powers II; Spy Who Shagged Me - VW Bettle Convertible
(2) The Saint - Volvo C70
(3) James Bond; World is Not Enough - BMW Z8

There are tons more. ER also had Gateway's LCD monitors sitting on the desks of the nurses station for two seasons, but whatever the marketing reasons, only the coolest products get that sort of placement. Movies, primetime TV, and other media sources wouldn't accept just anyone's products for use in their productions. So it is a major coup that the <5% market share company is getting much more than 5% placement in productions.

I predict we will see the new iMac all over our TV's in 2002.
 
Originally posted by amichalo

Movies, primetime TV, and other media sources wouldn't accept just anyone's products for use in their productions. So it is a major coup that the <5% market share company is getting much more than 5% placement in productions.

I predict we will see the new iMac all over our TV's in 2002.
Click to expand...

There are paid apple placements, but there are also unpaid ones as well. Watch the reruns of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Fox (or FX if you have cable). You'll see lots of macs with their logos covered up. No money, no logo. But they're there.

The Mac appearances in comic strips are all unpaid.

My prediction is that we'll see the first iMac2 on TV sometime during Feb sweeps. It'll be in the comic pages in March.

-dh
 
A lot of the people doing the set dressing and the production are creatives and as such are often Mac users themselves. That explains a lot of the mac placing. Also a friend in TV production once told me that "Macs just seem less threatening as computers so they're more suitable for the backgrounds"
 
It is not a matter of conversion, but addition

I think the jury is still out on who won what in the pc world. It is not, in my opinion, a matter of conversion, but addition. I see the possibility of a different computing landscape than the one we know today - 95% PC/5% Mac. I think Steve Jobs is going down an enviable path even he doesn't understand. I say this because in the recent Time Magazine article he talks about grabbing another 5% market share by convincing 5 out of 95 pc users to switch to Mac. I think there is another possibility. In my own life I have come to recognize, only recently after using imovie, ipod and now iphoto, that we all need two different kinds of computers in our life. One is the windows pc that works with the business world and lots of inexpensive legacy applications. The other is the Mac, which works with the digital media world. I'm sure most people would say two types of computers in one's life is overkill... but look at it this way.... Each home in America initially owned an oven/stove. Then along came the microwave, which did some things not even possible with a traditional oven/stove. Now, the purchase of a microwave didn't demand that the stove be thrown out. Nope... people bought ovens/stoves AND microwaves. They coexist beautifully. I view the windows pc and the Mac a perfect analogy to the oven/microwave relationship. I think we all need to think differently about what Apple really is offering. If Apple were to tell the world that they are missing a necessary piece of equipment in their home and office, one who's primary job is to manage digital content, they could sell an Apple to all 95 non-Mac owners.


I recommend computers to lots of people in my life. In the recent past I would go through a pro/cons list to help them decide if they should buy a pc or a Mac. Now, I have changed my dialogue. I tell everybody they must have a Mac for their digital content and then an optional pc if they need to interact with the business world or their kid needs to play a Lego cd-rom game that is only available for the pc. In the end, the Mac could end up being the necessity (not an alternative) and the windows pc an option.
 
I agree. In the next few years macs will be the necessity.
I think this because with more digital devices working with PCs, people will want a computer that works and not one just for the speed. And that is the biggest asset macs have over PCs, they work better, they are more reliable, and they are more user friendly.
also people will need less speed, in comparison to a year ago there are less cpu intensive appz out there (for the consumer), cpus arent getting stretched as hard as they used to and so people are satisfied with the speed of their PC. So i think people will look for useability in a computer more.
 
digital hub for the future

I'm hoping that we'll eventually see the iMac as Steve wants it to be....the digital hub for the future. I don't even own a digital camera or a camcorder, but I'm already thinking of the possibilities that could lie ahead. I just think it's hard to break people of the Windoze habit....but with OS X, hopefully they will feel more familiar since Windows XP is similar in look and feel....of course having taken styling cues from X....he he he... :p
 
Re: It is not a matter of conversion, but addition

Originally posted by Unregistered

I recommend computers to lots of people in my life. In the recent past I would go through a pro/cons list to help them decide if they should buy a pc or a Mac. Now, I have changed my dialogue. I tell everybody they must have a Mac for their digital content and then an optional pc if they need to interact with the business world or their kid needs to play a Lego cd-rom game that is only available for the pc. In the end, the Mac could end up being the necessity (not an alternative) and the windows pc an option.
Click to expand...

First off, I'd like to reference this person, but it's kind of awkward to refer to 'Unregistered'. I mean, which one am I talking about? Please get registered, so we know who we're talking to.

Anyway, I think it's a good point that we need two kinds of computers. But, if you turn out to be correct and everyone needs a Mac. Then both kinds of computers should be Macs. Maybe the same Mac. After all, you can run Virtual PC on your Mac, so why bother having a different kind of computer to interact with the business world.

Then again, why bother running in a PC environment for the business world at all? The Mac can interface with the business world just great. I do it every day. I work in a Windows NT environment and I bring my TiBook every day. I access the network server and use the exact same documents that I use on my PC at work. I create Powerpoint presentation on the PC or on my laptop, whichever is more convenient to use at the time.

In fact, I had a PC to use at my own desk (I usually do production/analysis work in another room), but I gave it to another user because I'd rather use my own Mac. Every now and then I get a special request to do something simple that just doesn't seem to work right on a Windows machine.

Anyway, my point is that at one time, the PC was the necessity. For some specific applications, it still is. People used to ask me, why buy a Mac? Now, it seems to me that the legitimate question should be asked by all computer users... why buy a PC?
 
I suppose the PC would be bought to play old and crappy PC games.

But also to learn about computers in general. Since i got my PC i have learnt a hell of alot more hardware wise and software wise by tinkering with it, didnt cost much either.

Also some people will want it for nostalgia.
 
get this...

I've recently decided to go back to college to complete my undergrad after a 4 year dive into graphic design.....and one of the courses I must take is "Intro to Computers"....I'll be learning what RAM is and how a hard drive works....I can't wait! :p
 
classes like that piss me off. i took one and then everyone wanted help outside of class. im a music major, i dont have time for that. you cant exactly make some people understand that. plus the teacher usually knows...the textbook. anyways peace out my minirant is over.
 
I don't remember all the specifics...but the money given by Microsoft to Apple was a paultry 150 million dollars.A small sum given to a company with 4 billion dollars in reserve.And it would seem to be a ruse to enhance Microsofts credibility with Apple Users.And it wasn't just "given" to Apple.It was a purchase of stock.Seems even they know a good company when they see it.
 
Mac Prices

A few posts back someone mentioned that Mac were to expensive and that getting money to buy a PC was hard enough. Last week to prove to a co-worker that there wasn't the huge price diffrence myself and another person sat down and configured a computer at dell.com to match as close as possible to the new $1299 Imac same graphics card same amount of ram same size hard drive 15" LCD and a comperable pentium processor (making the specs as close as possible) and the dell wieghed in at $1630. We then tried the same test at the high end matching the specs between the two machines with AO3 pioneer drives and all the price there fell at 1899 for the imac and the dell fell in at a price tag of $2080. After all that we realized that the dell doesn't come with hardware to accept a wireless card so you would actuall need to add an aditional $70 for the PCI Expansion card that would hold the wireless card. All in all the dells come in $300-$400 more expensive whne matched feature for feature. (Knew that those $800 pc were missing peices)
 
Well thats not ****ing surprising sherlock. No-one should buy from Dell, Time, Tiny etc.

I can configure a 1.4Ghz athlon with 256Mb DDR 20+ Gb HD 17inch monitor epox Motherboard DVD player for under £1000.

AS for a consumer machine, i can get a decent athlon for under £500.

so a good, equivalent PC system is cheaper.


You just dont understand, and im not surprised really its quite understandable, you have money so you wouldnt get it. I dont have any, so i will explain the situation to you.
Its not a matter of comparing an equivalent PC to mac, what matters is that apples products are too expensive. Apple need to offer a cheaper mac that is not as good for under £700. When you dont have much money then you dont care about an equivalent mac or PC, you look for the best solution for under £700 (or in my case £450) and apple dont have a solution that is that cheap.
they are missing out on a big market.
 
You were comparing a new imac to an equivalent PC. It doesnt work like that.

You should be comparing a cheap PC to a cheap imac. there is no cheap imac.
 
wohhhh slow down

first off i'll admit that if buying a pc you should build it and not go to dell. Yet the fact remains that the aveage consumer is going to go to CompUSA , BestBuy, DELL, Gateway, ect. to get their computer because they don't want to or don't know how to build them. So that is a fair comparison.
 
second i wasn't trying to make fun of you say that your point wasn't a point to be taken but that it reminded me of the situatuion that took place and the results that we found and thought it was relivant to the topic that people were posting on
 
Yes, the consumer will go and buy a PC agreed.
But that consumer is one with money, and one who doesnt need a pro machine.

A consumer not much money cant go to a company like Dell and buy a PC, they cant go to apple and get a mac.
But they will get a PC, cheraply, built by themselves or a friend for under £450. There is no mac for this price.

And the way macs are priced means its impossible for people like me to have one at all.
 
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