“Pundits often refer to them as ‘zealots’ or ‘fanboys.’ The more polite references include ‘Mac loyalists.’ I am, of course, talking about Apple’s more vocal customers, those who will defend the company and its products in any debate going on around them. What is it that drives their passion for most things Apple? Is it a deluded mind, warped by the Reality Distortion Field that Steve Jobs so successfully wraps every new product in? In short, the answer is no,” Aric Winton writes for Blackfriars’ Marketing.
Winton writes, “The truth behind the scenes is not that Apple has a large group of customers that are too dedicated and passionate about their products, or the company as a whole. The reality is far more simple and obvious: Apple simply has a large group of very satisfied customers — and that’s the secret ingredient left out of nearly every analysis or op-ed piece that mentions these ‘zealots.'”
“The obvious side to Apple’s customer satisfaction lies in their attention to detail in every facet of product development. All their products are designed, at every stage, with the customer clearly in mind and each product is tailored to make it as easy to use as possible for the customer, regardless of how technically savvy or not they may be,” Winton writes.
Winton writes, “The less obvious side involves two keywords: freedom and choice.”
Full article – highly recommended – in which Winton explains that “too much choice” in both hardware and software “leads to less satisfaction” and that Apple understands that idea very well, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “MacUser” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Apple again leads Consumer Reports’ survey for notebook, desktop computer tech support, value, more – October 16, 2006
Apple Mac desktops, notebooks top PC Magazine’s Annual Reader Satisfaction survey – again – August 22, 2006
Apple far outscores all other PC makers in Consumer Reports Computer Tech Support Survey – May 05, 2006
Apple Mac desktops, portables top PC Magazine’s 2005 Reader Satisfaction survey – August 24, 2005
Apple Computer products top PC Magazine’s annual ‘Best of the Year’ survey – December 16, 2004
Apple Macs top PC Magazine’s ’17th Annual Reader Satisfaction Survey’ – August 10, 2004
Apple leads PC Magazine’s 16th annual Service and Reliability Survey – July 10, 2003
Sydney Stephen:
My first Mac was a 6100/66 with a 350 MB HD bought in 1994. Up to that point I had had an Amstrad 8512 then a 9512. Apple didn’t mean that much to me, but after investigating the choices it seemed a wise buy.
Five Macs later and being forced to compare them with the HP rubbish at work, I know exactly the reasons why I will remain an Apple customer as long as they retain their current outlook on manufacturing and design.
My then wife used my 6100 as her first computer and took it for granted. She then got a job in Glasgow City Council and was forced to use Wintel machines. She would come home raging many nights, as she was now exposed to the unexplained crashes, the loss of work, the many hour wait whilst the IT support staff got round to her problem.
No computer platform is perfect, but the effort Apple seem to put in to making the user experience pleasant and the brilliance of their continuing product line makes it easy for me to choose them over all others.
I’ve worked with Macs since 1991 when I was using a Classic with 256Kb RAM running System 6.05 and continued through the ranks of LC and so on.
I moved on to laptops with a model I can’t even remember until the Black PowerBook G3 came out and then on to the Titanium G4 and so until my current 17″ MacBook Pro.
Macs aren’t perfect and they sometimes crash. I’m having loads of problems with my Dual 2.0GHz G5 at the moment, but compared to Windoze… Give me a break.
I had the horrible experience of setting up a new HP with Windows Vista Home for a client yesterday. The Wow does start now. Like Wow this is crap, or wow can they seriously think this is well designed software. Talking about convoluted and slow to navigate around. I support every flavour of Windows and Windows Server as well as Macs and believe me I’ll always choose a Mac for myself.
Macs Just Work!!! and that is one big reason we love them so much. We plug cameras or printers in and they just work.
If I had Windows box with XP and upgraded (lol) it to Vista, it’d be slowed down enormously, whereas when I upgrade my Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro to Leopard soon, it’ll get a huge speed bump.
Mac zealots are simply people who are prepared to see the obvious truth in the face of a massive delusional force field from Redmond that Windows is best.
I had a really good read on this, very detail, and very useful information.
Thanks.
http://www.avi-converter.net
kevinoliver99,
Keep your fscking SPAM off of this site! Please, nobody click on the a$$hole’s link.
Sorry, but, i’m in that kind of disposition tonite.
WiseGuy you’re a TOOL.
And so my thoughts repeat … ad nauseam.
MDN magic word “think” … and i did, but not much.
Wow, Sony, the manufacturer of Blu-ray devices, says Blu-ray is far outpacing HD-DVD in sales? Incredible!
Microsoft said Zune already has 10% market share or something like that, and they make the Zune.
I find it odd that corporations never state that the product they make or sell is selling poorly. I wonder why that is.
Way to stay on top of it, WiseGuy. Keep posting!
Apple is the only company for which I have been a salesman without salary or commission. Every person I have ‘sold’ to has become the same. My motivation has nothing to do with building a customer base ensuring that a company I have invested in stays around longer, well not directly. I have used and still use Windows in situations where I have to. When I became a switcher in 1997, I still remember OS 8.0 booting up for the first time on my G3, it took me all of three weeks to see why the people who ‘switched’ me were so passionate about Apple. I felt as if I had been empowered. Nearly everything was drag-n-drop, the more I got used to the interface, the more I ‘got it.’ With the exception of the ‘Chooser’ (remember that) everything was easier, more enjoyable and ran longer without problems than my PC. Installing new hardware and software didn’t require hours of troubleshooting as my PC sometimes did, especially hardware. The last time I tried to use my PC, I installed software to connect to the internet and lost the ability to use my keyboard. Then I got a job were I was forced to use Windows (2000 pro). I made a two year campaign to get a Mac. It worked when I told them they paid me almost $1300 in that period rebooting my machine. Not counting the number of times IT had to come and troubleshoot. So they’d buy me a new one because that one clearly had issues (yeah it’s called Windows). So I got a new Dell, it did get better. But rather than restarting my machine 3 times a day (yes I kept a log to come up with the downtime they were paying me for) I had to restart it about 8 times a week. Then we got a new IT director, he was a little more open minded. I told him about my situation and he said if you get a Mac we won’t support it. How perfect was that, can you believe he set himself up like that? So when I told him I wouldn’t need IT’s support, he shrugged his shoulders and left the room to put the order in. Since then, there have been that followed and became a ‘sales person.’ And the only time we need them is when they change settings for email.
Apple’s customers love their machines and wants to reward Apple with more customers. At least I do.
There are a few other companies that realize that too much choice can be bad. They aren’t in the tech industry though. Have you ever thought about the choices at McDonalds? I wonder what percentage of orders are value meal vs. those that build their own meal. Yet somehow I never hear anyone complain about the combo meals at McDonalds, Wendy’s Burger King, etc… Why do other companies never get told they have the wrong idea but Apple does? The bias against Apple is incredible but what is more amazing is that so few can see it.
Of all articles, this articulates Mac Zealotry perfectly. This is a defining article. I forwarded it to all my Mac Fans (friends who have macs) and to one who wants one.
Highly recommended. Thanks, MDN!
My first experience with Apple products was at university using Apple II’s for assembler programming. Very cool considering the punch card alternative. I was hooked than and when the Lisa and finally the Mac came out I was a lifer.
I’ve used Apple products ever since, always at home, but rarely did i have the luxury of using them at work. I had to endure the steaming pile of Windoze boxes and software everyday, until I ran home to experience my Mac and the warm beautiful feelings it produced deep inside of me.
I’ve used about every Mac model ever manufactured, some great, some not so great, but none worse than the best PC. To me the Mac and OSX is a religious experience that I can’t stop myself from sharing with others who have not been as fortunate as I have been in coming into the light early in life and basking in its radiant glory, soothing my soul, and inspiring me to greater and greater heights.
I’ve lived through all of the ups and downs of Apple Computer and now Apple Inc. Even the toughest times did not make me waver because I had faith that superior hardware and software design will always triumph in the end. Today is a good day for Apple and for all those who seek a better life on the road less traveled.
What turns Mac users into these ‘fanboys’ is the opposition they face from PC weenies who know nothing about the platform..
It only follows that if someone criticizes you for your platform choice, you have no recourse but to defend it especially when the person throwing stones has never even tried it.
If PC weenies weren’t so anti-Mac, there would be no reason to be overzealous in the defense of the Mac.
” “too much choice” in both hardware and software “leads to less satisfaction” and that Apple understands that idea very well”
The choice is a myth. Bottom line is PC box makers have NOTHING unique to differentiate themselves on. Nothing.
Place 10 PCs from 10 different manufacturers behind a wall hooked to 10 generic monitors and likely you cannot distinguish one from the other.
No matter what PC you use, you are handcuffed to Windows.
Where’s the choice?
Too much choice in any situation leaves people confused and stressed. That’s the whole point of that book “The Paradox of Choice.”
Darth wrote:
“Many a company can learn from Apple, Inc.’s outstanding marketing.”
The point isn’t their marketing, although they do have great marketing. The point of the article is that people are fanatical about Apple’s products because they are good not because the marketing convinces them so.
Apple pays attention to details unlike most companies, and people who use their products see that manifested in benefits they get from those products.
Want to talk about vocal? Check this out!
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=174777460
Good post. Good debate. And good learning too (thanks Gurry for the URL to TED).
At its root, Apple has a purpose that connects with the human spirit and need for progress, innovation and excellence.
Based on this purpose is the offering: the complete widget – OS and hardware, seamlessly welded together with style and finesse.
More to the point, an advanced modern operating system (MacOSX) designed with a basic toolset (Finder, Safari, Mail, iCal, iTunes, iPhoto) that can be extended and enhanced in two differing (but NOT mutually exclusive) directions by iLife and iWork to appeal to the left or/and right brain…
All rendered through a limited number of very well designed and cross-integrated platforms: iPod, MacMini, AppleTV, iMac, Mac Pro, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Xserve and the soon to arrive iPhone. Most available in a range of sizes (like the MacBook at 13.3″ and the MacBook Pro in 15″ and 17″) and each further configurable in detail from RAM size to hard drive size.
Just like BMW and their nine basic product platforms, each is configurable to fit taste, lifestyle and budget. Just take a look at the simple clean product range offered by BMW at:
http://www.bmw.com/com/en/index_highend.html
Notice how the M series stands aside as an option applicable to all the other products. And how they don’t make trucks, taxis and buses like most of the others. They focus on their core business of performance cars. As does Apple. Only difference is that wile BMW is idolised by one and all, Apple is constantly at the receiving end of industry generated FUD that is amplified by ‘analysts’ and other commentators who have questionable credentials and motives. I think it falls somewhere between envy and ‘tall poppy syndrome’.
The future looks better than before and Apple is going from strength to strength. Given the Goldman Sachs report featured elsewhere on MDN today, I suggest Apple beef up iWork (at least add a decent spreadsheet and get rid of that ageing AppleWorks) and address all matters that would ease the platform’s integration back into the work environment.
There’s a tipping point coming soon… and it will be Apple’s inflection point ready for the taking. The question is, will Apple be ready to do so?
@Plug
Is that a plug for BMW?
Handsome fanboy seeks gorgeous fangirl ….
Apple’s secret ingredient? A large group of very satisfied customers
Well, true
Microsoft’s secret ingredient? A more than a large group of faithful (for whatever reasons) customers that won’t change their mind (for whatever reasons)
Sydney Stephen;
I gave been a Mac user since 1987 when I got my first Mac – a Macintosh SE with a (gasp) 20 MB hard drive! I spent $400 to upgrade to (WOW) 4 MB of RAM, and man, did she scream! Nobody else in town had that much RAM.
I am a desktop support professional, and that first Mac led me directly to this profession. I have supported Macs and Windows PCs both since, and the fact that I have NEVER owned a Windows box may give you a clue.
With a Mac, it’s relatively easy to learn how to troubleshoot issues and it always has been. With Windows boxes, when the issue gets beyond something simple, our fix is simple – re-image the box! Faster than hand reloading, but in the end, it’s the same thing.
When one office I worked for switched from Macs to PCs (for software purposes), we had 150 people to start with, and one part-time tech supporter (me). After the switch, we had to expand that to three full time techs, a team leader and a secretary for admin support for the team.
Need I say more?
MW: miss, as in I miss supporting Macs.
So after 20+ years there are still those that want to believe that a monirity of users are basing their continued product loyalty on blind faith? That product quality and positioning had absolutely nothing to do with real end user satisfaction?
I appreciate the truth of the article, what amazes me is that the article has to be written at all, by this time. Just goes to show how close to the dark ages we were getting.
But the rubber has yet to meet the road – Armed with a good reality check, are non Apple users going to choose to broaden their horizons? Hmmm?
@SydneyStephen
Nope! Just ‘Plug’. A name I picked from the ‘Bash Street Kids’ in the Beano – a comic from the UK.
But since I’m back posting again, here’s another take based on Seth Godin’s Purple Cow. In essence, you have a purple cow when
> the product itself has high utility (substance)
> the way it is presented is excellent (form) and
> the way it is delivered is great (form again).
Here’s my tuppence worth over and above Mr Godin Purple Cow: Apple as a company has evolved itself into a purple company as reflected in its stock price, comments from Goldman Sachs and quite simply, its run of hits over the last five years. Think about it:
purple product, purple delivery and a purple company
There’s no way any other OS producer or box shifter can compete with such a combination. The really astute bit is that in this way Apple has shifted the basis of competition well beyond its competitors to the point where it can even dare venture into an area it has never been in before and deliver a seismic shock to an entire industry based on a mere presentation back on 9 Jan 2007. The way Apple is going, there will soon come a day when all it has to do is sneeze and some industry or sector is gonna catch cold!
Now that’s a Plug for Apple!
PS MDN magic word is ‘present’. I’d love a BMW M5 as a present!
“Common sense is not that common after all”
1. Build simple-to-use products with excellent quality, focused on consumer satisfaction.
2. Provide customers with straightforward and clearly-differentiated product offerings/choices.
3. Make the experience using these products as fun, easy and exhilirating (almost religious) as possible.
4. Make your customers the best marketeers for your products.
5. Differentiate your products by solving the problems and frustrations experienced by consumers (using other products).
And finally, DO NOT follow Microsoft’s business practices.
Simple enough to understand. If anyone could build a more beautiful, elegant machine than an iMac then I’d probably buy it. But no one can.
Happy consumer=loyal fan. Mystery solved.
Microsoft backers are more interested in perpetuating the Microsoft Economy than actually owning a nice machine. Cheap and generic, that’s what butters their bread, and that’s all well and good for the office bean-counters.
The problem has always been that the office bean-counting IT staff convinced us all that the machines at home should be the same as the ones at work. Why did we believe this? It’s like being told to drive a Caterpillar D9 to the beach on Sunday. Work machines need to fulfill a completely different set of criteria than those we use at home. People are finally starting to realize this, that you don’t need a noisy ugly beige tower howling away in your front room all day.
We bought into this economy because it was cheap, familiar, and ‘good enough’. But people want more from their systems now, and they don’t want to hire and IT staff to be able to manage it. The tide is indeed turning, and right now the hinge is bolted to personal media. Guess who’s going to win.
-c
MW: ‘kept’ (the faith)