John Dvorak chums the water today with some serious Mac bait and I just can’t help but comment.
He initiates his silly rant stating that the Mac is stagnant, having maintained the market share rather than growing. I can’t argue that point actually, but I don’t even think it matters since there are plenty of people buying new macs as both new customers and as repeat customers. Dvorak starts to make a point that Apple has secured its niche but makes no actually point other than loud obnoxious forum users ruin it for everyone with their noise… right. I guess those jerks do ruin the fun, but I can’t really see how they make a damned bit of difference in mainstream views or in any outward marketing by Apple or anyone else.
Dvorak also points to Job’s division of attention through Pixar and the iPod and iTunes making a distraction and again not impacting Mac market share. I can’t say I disagree more… The iPod, while dual platform has led to quite a few switchers and has put the Apple brand in more people’s minds than ever before. Imagine what’s next that will capture our attention again and shake up the industry again and again? Where’s the PC side innovation? Oh that’s right, it’s cheaper faster, yet no simpler and still ridden with issues like viruses, worms and spam sent from your systems thanks to unattended security holes in the OS.
Comparing the PC to the Mac is a poor comparison. They are both computers, but I’ll gladly pay for style, ease of use and reliability. I don’t usually consider Mercedes and BMW in the same class of car as say a Ford or Chevy. Sure, many people won’t care about some of those details… that’s why Ford and Chevy outsell Mercedes and BMW. It’s not a volume game. It’s about the quality of the experience. It’s yours to choose.
I have also used the car analogy when discussing Mac vs. PC with people, except that instead of saying Ford and Chevy, I use Toyota and Honda.
How many Ford or Chevy CEO’s (or hell, even Toyota or Honda) have had to bail out a Mercedes or BMW? I thought Apple was in the computer business to sell computers, did I miss something there?
Not sure of your point. All the car makers sell cars, but some choose to go for mass share and volume like some of the computer makers. Apple sells computers and sells them quite well, though like BMW and Mercedes are doing very well with a smaller market share compared to others.
Market share is not the only measure of success.