“They are calling it the ‘iPod effect,’ where people who had never been exposed to Apple products prior to buying an iPod music player are so impressed with the device that they buy an Apple computer for their next PC,” James Derk writes for Scripps Howard News Service. “Is it happening? According to a comprehensive study by S.G. Cowan, of more than 1,400 households studied who owned iPods and planned to buy a new PC, more than 7.5 percent were going Mac. That’s not a lot until you consider Apple’s market share is only 3.3 percent.

“For those doing the math at home, that’s a doubling of the current Apple market share,” Derk writes. “Well, count me among the pile.”

MacDailyNews Note: “Apple Computer increased its share of the US PC market during the second quarter, rising to 4.5% from 3.7% a year ago, as global unit shipments rose more than 37%,” – IDC, July 18, 2005. Also, note that the 7.5-percent number Derk quotes does not mean that Mac market share will double. It means only that within that study, 7.5-percent of people who owned iPods and planned to buy a new PC, planned to buy a Mac.

Derk continues, “I am writing this on a (so far) gleaming white iBook G4, which I have to say is pretty cool. So, yes, after 15 years of Windows computing and repairing I am taking a left turn into wow and a right turn away from rebooting. As a lifelong Windows user, I have a bit of a learning curve here, starting from the lack of a right mouse button, which so far is the only thing that is driving me totally nuts… But what has impressed me so far was that the Apple OSX fired to life out of the box and simply worked. Of course, a Windows laptop out of the box works too, but after 50 patches from Microsoft and 10 reboots.”

Derk writes, “Anyway, I promise not to turn into one of those ‘i’ people; I think both worlds can co-exist peacefully; like Coke and Pepsi, the Cubs and the Cards, the ying and the yang. As for the daily use of it, I am still getting used to how to find anything; I know I have certain applications installed and as yet I can’t find them but it’s only been a day or two. At the bottom, I have the handy bar that is very helpful in finding key applications. Anyway, I will share with you my journey as a ‘i switcher’ as well as a continuing Windows user. I will have feet deeply in both camps and I hope that will serve the reader well.”

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: In the very beginning, before they double-click the hard drive icon and find their applications in the handy and really-quite-obviously-named “Applications” folder, they cling still to their abusive Windows master. Not yet understanding that they are finally free, they stand dazed, blinking in the light of a new world. Read Derk’s full article. It is like witnessing a birth. Derk has caught a very brief, fleeting period: he still clings to Windows, yet now he bathes in the light of Mac OS X. The initial spark of disdain for Microsoft’s mediocrity is but a day or so away. This moment won’t last long, but Derk has captured it well for posterity.

Remember that fifteen years of Windows torture and patching patches to fix patches that the patch before the last patch was supposed to patch, but didn’t patch while you wait for the next batch of patches is easily more than enough to make anyone take a day or two before finding the Applications folder in the top level of their Mac’s hard drive. That’s quite a long time to have been wandering in the wilderness.

Also, if you have a bit of time, please help Jim in his transition and show him what the Mac Community is all about: We have already emailed Jim and offered to answer any questions that we can as he acclimates to Mac OS X.

Welcome Home, Jim!

[UPDATE: 10:40am - Added IDC's latest market share numbers as MacDailyNews Note.]
[UPDATE: 11:25am - Clarified Derk's strange market share math in MacDailyNews Note.]