Macintosh Related Links

Apple's Slice of the Pie

xcept for the iPod (in the MP3 player market), Apple products have not been adopted by the majority of computer users. This unfortunate, but can be contributed to several historic factors:

Initial price tags were high:

In 1984, computers were not nearly as powerful or cheap, and the Apple technologies were not mainstream commodities (so they cost more)

People missed the fact that the standard Mac came with things you had to buy as upgrades or attachments with the "PC" [so actual purchase price was closer]

You got less quality and innovation with PCs, so you paid less

Today you can buy a Mac for the same price you paid in 1984 [but with memory larger than the hard drives used to be!]

MacOS not public domain:

Only Apple makes Macs, except for a brief trial of 3rd party Macs, so essentially the competition is only from non-Macs with one provider the prices were higher and some innovations restricted

The IBM, so-called personal computer, "mainframe on your desk," was open market, so you could get a PC from other companies besides IBM; that approach made Microsoft rich, but almost put IBM in the poorhouse

Compaq, HP, Dell, and a host of others made their money, but a number of them died, too. The casualties were a number of other more superior operating systems that died too, like Digital Equipment Company's VMS!

Mac stereotyped as an "educational" computer:

The ancestors to the Mac were marketed for schools and particular primary education, so the Mac inherited that market

However, UNIX was "free" which fits in most college budgets -- so "professionals" did not usually learn on Macs

Also, educational implied "kids" and "kids" implied "toys" so people assumed the systems were not powerful enough

The reality is that, since the beginning, the Mac could do the same capability (or more) as similar PCs, but you might have less options to choose from

The software is powerful, and typically can run the same software as Windows platforms, although frequently it has to be "dumb-ed down" (remove capability) to be compatible for Windows

For many years Mac has run software "MS Windows" emulators or extension cards [so you could get a blue screen of death in one window, rather than crashing your entire machine]

The Cost of Quality:

Common sense is not all that common

Technology superiority (unfortunately) has nothing to do with market viability [e.g., Beta tapes]

Innovation requires research and investment [or cash to buy ideas from other innovators]

Most consumers are short-term buyers and do not look at the total cost, until some market event forces them to [e.g., gas shortage changed the buying habits and Asian car market]

Low expectations:

The market is currently accepting licenses that read "as is" "no guarantee intended or implied" and "not returnable once seal has been broken"

The market is currently accepting significant security risks and major bugs, and have volunteered to be "paying beta testers." Although, that seems to be changing some:

More businesses are questioning this thought process and considering Macintosh or Linux as corporate systems

The market (and government) is challenging Microsoft to correct security problems and correct bad development practices (Microsoft has made some investments in that direction, see TSP-Security)

Job Security for some careers:

The PC has survived the same way Job Control Language (JCL) is alive today on the mainframe!

The "blue screen of death" keeps the undertaker in business!

"Professionals" chose PCs (or UNIX) because it secured them a job

If you make the work cryptic enough (have your own language and "secret code") and make the product unstable, then the customer has to hire "professional help"

A whole market of jobs and certifications have been created to maintain, debug, load patches, to operating systems, and networks; which all become outdated, guaranteeing a perpetual revenue stream

If it appears easy, customers will do it themselves!

If the user can take a machine out of the box, plug in the power, network cable, speakers, microphone, turn on the machine, and it not only works error free the first time, but requires little maintenance or support, then who needs a "professional"

Having less market share is not necessarily a bad thing, it is a fact of life...

Mac Attack

Mac Makes History

Hyst[erical Hist]orical Mac Quotes

Apple's Slice of the Pie

Pictorial History of My Macintoshes