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XP 1984, X.1 the future.

Personally, I'm ecstatic about the switch to X. I had a few iMovie files that were virtually unwatchable in 9.1 - nasty skip-frames and scroll lines in playback on screen (but not, strangely, when I dumped them back onto tape). Now, iMovie X is back to giving me smooth, flicker-free pics. All I need now is FCP X, and I'll be Mr. Happy.

Even so, I still used to get a kick out of showing off my Cube with an LCD display sitting in the corner - churning out a video effortlessly, or watching a DVD, or TV, ejecting a disc (sad, huh?), or even running Win 98 in a window.

And now I have more reason to brag; my Cube now takes centre stage once again - with a top-notch stable operating system that doesn't look a bit like it came from "The Teletubbies".

[Edited by kiwi_the_iwik on 11-06-2001 at 08:34 AM]
 
Converting Pc Pageans...

Converting Pc Pageans isn't so hard. When they say Macs suck you say why? Most of them usually stop dead in their tracks there or they continue... "They just suck"! Then you give them a techie explanation which they will never forget. "Macs don't crash, have a modern operating system, to calculate the G4's real speed in Pentium comparison you must multiply by 4 (Pentium is 32bit, G4 can do "some" operations at 128bits), also tell them that they have style, and if they own a dell say that we don't have to have our computers recalled every 2 months. On top of it discuss the detail of pricerange. Say one 867mhz powermac = a 2.2ghz pentium 4, with DVD burner, cool style, nVidia GeForce 2mx, allows you to upgrade to 3 hard drives, up to 1.5 gigs of ram...

I think the rest of you get the idea...

Dante
 
when i first joined macrumors almost a year and a half ago, there were still a lot of NEW users entering the mac world via iMac

but then something happened and as i looked at pcdata.com, the interest in new users and the iMac lost a lot of mementum and compaq, of all companies, had a good run and so did dell (especially in the education sector)

the funny thing is, at the time of compaq's sale to hp, compaq had just eclipsed dell in desktop computer sales nationwide, so go figure

do any poeple out there know what it will take for apple to once again reach the amazing 10% of users mark?

do you think OS 10.1 will do it now that it is faster or will it take something more obvious like an LCD iMac?

2001 brought great strides in hardware and software for apple, but why the less than expected sales and why isn't the stock at least to fifty dollars a share? it puzzles me because apple is so cool these days and in some ways just as revolutionary as when they kicked the butt of the computing world with the top-selling iMac (in my opinion, the computer of that decade)
 
Originally posted by jefhatfield
do any poeple out there know what it will take for apple to once again reach the amazing 10% of users mark?
Click to expand...

I think that Apple needs to start advertising more. Every 30 minutes or so I see a commercial for Dell, or Microsoft.

In order to get past the "apple computers are for idiots" thinking of the majority of computer users out there, apple needs to step up its advertising campaign.
Just the other day, my grandmother asked me a computer question (i've tried to steer her towards macintosh, but she tends to believe the salespeople in CompUSA store, "No ma'am, you don't want an apple, you won't be able to get on the internet with that computer") I told her that she should get a mac, and her response was, "Is that a windows program".
*sigh*
Until apple get's the word out that it is usually easier for non-computer savvy people to get things done on a mac, their market share will probably remain stagnant.

just my $0.02

 
agreed.
And it should come with the G5, then there will be some REAL specs to kick PCs ass.We dont get much advertising at all over here in the uk, i do remember an advert about burning CDs with sh*tty muse playing their prog rock. But yeah, marketing isnt apples strong side.
also should see price drops.

advertising can do alot but alot of the frustration i have is seeing average pc consumers try to get to grips with a mac. Because they are not intelligent computer-wise, and because the only way to use a computer that they know of is the windows way, they automatically assume the mac is inferior. So some heavy advertising is needed.
 
Apple also have to make better ads, like those they made for the first G3 powermacs.

im gonna post the urls later for those who haven't seen these ads
 
Say, maybe the myth about Macs being computers for dummies will finally work in Apple's favor, since XP seems especially designed to make its users feel like idiots.
 
I bought my first Mac (a 512KE) in '85, and before that I had an Apple 2e. I bought my next Mac (an LCII) in '92.

It must've had SOME impact - my father bought his first Mac (a Performa 5400) in '94. He's now getting an iMac, to get more "oomph" to produce his movies.

Odd thing, though - only a couple of years before, we never even gave him the remote control for the TV...
 
My best friend at school hates Macs. 'Crappy Macs' he calls them, he always winding me up with this. To tell the truth, I've given up converting him from the 'dark side' long ago. There is no way you can convince a PC user who hasn't touched a Mac before how good it actually is. The only way is to lock them in a room with a Mac for two hours, then they will love it. My friend doesn't even know the OS X exists, I think the majority of people don't. That's a problem for Apple, but that's exactly what the Apple stores are for. Me? I don't really care. I'd rather Macs stay as a niche. Maybe a larger niche, but it would be a nightmare for everyone to convert to a Mac. I can't imagine, if everyone in my school turn up tomorrow with an iBook...
 
For us it is obviously ignorance on the PC side, but when I look throught the flood of catalogs that come here, I see 1ghz IBM PC systems for $499. Now I know and you know that when you add software, a monitor, keyboard, etc, that it costs more than an iMac and is a lesser machine, but the average Joe doesn't know this.
The Apple stores will help, but things like the iPod will do more. These digital devices will remind people that Apple is there, and then when a new iMac comes out, people will consider it again. The new iMac better be damn good and better come out soon. Who really wants an iMac now? "They're old."
 
Here is an interesting thing I noticed this summer, I was in the company of about ten professional snowboarders and eight of them had G4 laptops, one had an iBook, and one was going to get one soon. These guys all travel and some have their own websites or their own little businesses on the side and every single one of them decided more or less independently that Apple is the only way to go for what they do.
The stuff works, and it's way cooler. The G4 laptop has become the must have in the last year for the mobile set, and the iMac was that for the home set a couple years ago. A new iMac, if good enough, will be that again, and then more people will see the light.
 
It seems Apple is building up to a few things to 'save' it. We all know that an LCD iMac is coming (Jobs even said it was). We also all know that the G5 is coming. Perhaps Apple is waiting to release both of these and possibly an iPod upgrade (just my own idea there) at the same time. Now that would really make people stand up and take notice.
 
I don't think that newer and cooler products are going to win over the PC users. THey may take in a very few, but mostly they will be able to shore up any loss from Mac to PC.

With the downturn in economics coming people are going to be looking even closer at the bottom line. PCs are cheaper. I realize in the long run they are much more expensive but when Ma or Pa go to buy a computer they are not going to see that.

Most computer users already know that Apple makes the cooler products, but that has not swayed them yet. I can't see it happening in the future.

G5 will be matched on the PC side in terms of increases.

iPod will be matched

LCD iMacs will be matched

etc.

all these matchings will be inferior. The Wallmart shoppers will not care.


my 2 cents
 
macs wont be matched in the future.
Because people are content with the speed of their machines right now they will not be looking for faster components in a PC, they will start looking for a better package. PCs offer great components, none of which want to work with each other. Macs offer a package of components designed for each other.

Soon speed will not be the issue, design, ease of use, stability and style will be.
 
Originally posted by spikey
Soon speed will not be the issue, design, ease of use, stability and style will be.
Click to expand...

In which case the Mac will win, hands down.

Unless, of course, you are a c|net reporter..😀
 
matching macs

pc components do not work as well as mac components do with each other...that is obvious because apple could oversee everything the way that a pc vendor doesn't have the ability to (except for toshiba laptops which are the only pcs i know of built from "scratch")

but since windows 98, and even the later versions of windows 95, pc manufacturers got their "drivers" together and a few really good pc hardware component comapnies rose to the top and dominated the market...it was at that point pcs started getting better than the days of pc past

in reality, many pcs are good enough for the average consumer even though they do not give that flawless feel a mac seems to give its users

i mean, i have an ibook and i never have to worry about that thing since i bought in in 1999 but with my two pcs, i have to always defrag, scandisk, toss temp files, and be worrying about viruses from my lonely retired friends who seem to pick them up like a bad habit
 
I think that's the selling point (for me anyway) as far as macs go. I bought my B&W G3, in the winter of 99, and have never once defragged the hard drive, nor have I had the need to. However with the PC's I have to do it about once a month, at least.
I've since added ram, a two button optical mouse, usb-cd recorder, and a new hard drive, without ever having a problem. I didn't even have to restart my mac when I added the cd-recorder or the new mouse, and the OS recognized them both (no more control-click after that 🙂)
I'm not necessarily a "window's hater" but I've never had things that easy on the windows side of the fence.
 
Originally posted by jefhatfield

do any poeple out there know what it will take for apple to once again reach the amazing 10% of users mark?


To me, jef, there are a few issues that need to be addressed as far as Apple's recovery is concerned -

1. The price of their product.

I truly believe what killed the Cube was its inaccessability to the general public, because of poor foresight. Apple were convinced by the powers-that-be, that such a trendy machine could go with an equally trendy price tag. There was no way that machine was worth the price they put on it when you only got 64Mb of ram, and no software package to accompany it. On top of that, you needed to buy a monitor to complete the set(In saying that, I couldn't sleep at night until I bought one, but waited 'til the price cuts - by then, it was too late to save the poor Cube.). Long may they learn from their mistakes.

2. The education market.

Attractive deals should be made to the education sector - possibly dealing directly with Government Departments in their respective countries. Once you teach the young ones how much a Mac is superior, half the battle will be won.

3. After-sales service.

Time and again, I've read in various Mac publications as to how arrogant Apple can be when dealing with customers' problems. Start to "bend over backwards" for your clients - don't subscribe to the "treat 'em mean and keep 'em keen" mythology. We love the products but don't want the palm-off when we need help. If Apple became more friendly to its patrons, news will filter through very quickly to the "great unwashed" pc world.

4. The sales pitch.

How many of you have gone to a Computer Store, only to find the lack of Mac hardware is only matched by the ignorance of the sales staff? Here's an idea - Apple salesmen trained by Apple. And I'm not talking about the Apple chain of stores now opening up across the US, which (although a very nice idea) doesn't reach every prospective Apple user around the world. What I mean is properly trained staff, each supplied by Apple, and leased out to the various computer stores. Apple could supply equipment and staff, only asking in return (perhaps) for an area in the store for them to display their stock - and the PC stores would benefit from having customers return time and again for supplies and software...

I dunno - it's just my view...

[Edited by kiwi_the_iwik on 11-07-2001 at 06:12 PM]
Click to expand...
 
That's great - it'll be even better if it could happen over here in the UK.

You just can't get anything out of a PC World salesman other than:

"...you don't want a MAC. Don't you know? They're history. Now what YOU want is a nice Packard Bell with a Pentium 4..."

AAARRRGGGHH!!!!

I hope Apple can wake up in time to see the damage these PLEBS are causing to their sales figures.
 
Since we seem to have a lot of UK Mac users posting here, maybe one of you knows about what portion of Apples sales come from the UK? Maybe it's not a huge percentage, so for right now they are concentrating on the US and they'll be putting employees in the UK later.
 
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