“The well-documented but hard-to-prove ‘Halo Effect’ of iPods in the consumer space over the past five years has arguably caused a rise in Macintosh purchases. Certainly areas like education have seen significant rises in Macintosh purchases among iPod toting students. But the enterprise is a different situation entirely,” Seth Weintraub blogs for Computerworld. “Or is it?”
Weintraub explains, “The halo effect refers to a ‘cognitive bias whereby the perception of a particular trait is influenced by the perception of the former traits in a sequence of interpretations.'”
“In the case of iPods, the owners liked them so much that their perceptions of other Apple products were (rightfully?) inflated. The chances of an iPod owner buying a Macintosh increased. By extension, the Macintosh marketshare grew and continues to grow overall,” Weintraub writes.
Weintraub asks, “So will the iPhone cause an enterprise halo effect?”
Full article here.
We think the growing network of Apple Retails Stores has also had a major effect on Mac sales; maybe more so than the iPod itself (although it must be noted that Apple uses the iPod as bait to get people into the Apple Stores). iPod + Retail Stores = Consumer Mac Sales.
short answer: halo yes!
“We think the growing network of Apple Retails Stores has also had a major effect on Mac sales; maybe more so than the iPod itself”
maybe?
the store is much more effective than the iPod, and the iPod is doing a good job.
the key, as the rest of the take suggests, is the combination. if you go into the store for iPods and accessories, you look at the Macs…
so if you go in for an iPhone, will that increase companies purchases? i doubt it.
but if you go in for an iPhone, which you can use to get company mail because the CEO has an iPhone and he/she made sure the techs got their asses in gear and got mail working on their new toys……. well, that might help a bit.
and if the bosses kids buy macbooks for school, and the whole family uses them, and then back in the office you wnder why you should have to sit through virus scans and bluescreens….
it will. but it be in a lot of steps. and over a log period of time. and Apple has to stay on top of their game for the entire thing.
….but i think they can.
Well, if I create an app for the iPhone, don’t I pretty much have an app for the Mac too? A few changes in the UI should be the only difference.
“but it WILL be in a lot of steps. and over a loNg period of time”
out out typos of stupidity!
Why is my MDM Magic Word = “never”?
Why is my MDMA Magic Word “ecstasy”?
“So will the iPhone cause an enterprise halo effect?”
Yes. Next question, please.
@Roberto,
Too damn funny!!!
I think we have to factor in the success of OS X as well as the failures of windows to some degree over the past 7-10 years as well.
“right…” says the MW
I don’t know about this… Some – not all – enterprise IT staff are rather entrenched in what they know and resistant to change. I will say though that IT, computer science, and software engineering were big majors at my college and most of my friends in those fields own Macs at home. Maybe it won’t as much be an iPhone effect as a changing of the guard as these younger guys move up the chain.
“…well-documented but hard-to-prove ‘Halo Effect’ of iPods…”
?
I think Microsoft is the main drive for the Mac Halo effect. Vista has really had in influence.
Apple has been very wise in loading iPhone w/ OS X. This allowed them to leverage well-developed technology from the desktop world into the mobile world, where it is now becoming a very appealing platform in and of itself.
When Apple builds MS Exchange/Active Sync capability into the iPhone to enhance its enterprise appeal, what it is really doing is building that technology into OS X, which will eventually translate to Apple’s computers. That will make Apple computers–especially laptops–more appealing to enterprise as well.
It’s just another camel’s nose under the enterprise tent.
Let me just say, I am the IT guy for one of the largest car dealerships in the world. I love Macs, iPhone, and iPods. I own alot of all three. However, Apple has huge holes in its product line. The low end laptops don’t have Express card slots or screens bigger than 13″. Most business users don’t need a $2K laptop or the horsepower that comes with it (Macbook Pro). There is no low end desktop. The iMac and Mac Mini are a nightmare to work on and get parts for. The Mac Pro is not for average users spec or price wise. Neither of them offer internal expansion other than memory and disk space. How about PCI and PCI Express cards.
Is Apple ready for the enterprise? Absolutly not.
the halo effect is real – I had only used a mac for 5 minutes in my whole life when I bought one – but my iPod Mini made me want a Mac. I’d never visited an apple store at that time either
@ChrissyOne
I am sure you are correct technically, but the purpose of the application might be the driving force behind it’s portability. In essence what might work very good for the iPhone would probably not apply very well for the Mac, although I am sure in certain instances, it might be very viable indeed.
Like the samples Apple showed. The medical thing would probably scale very well for the Macintosh, but the monkey game would not be that great a fit, since tilting the phone would probably make the game a lot better on the iPhone. Unless we get a new mouse, with an accelerometer built in.
I believe the halo effect is a little more complicated:
(iPod + Apple Stores) — (Zune + Vista) x Windows malware = Consumer Mac Sales
Would it be safe and politically correct to say that all Apple products have a halo effect.
An iPhone app is a Mac app and vise versa. The UI should be different to either be touchable or clickable. Now for other 3rd party ports where you still see the little watch, that is another story.
One can only hope – and pray (if you’re the praying type). This will be as much up to Apple as it will be to the enterprise market place.
Well, get ready. Rush just spent over five minutes explaining how Apple came and fixed the problems he spoke of earlier.
He also had a comment about someone who said something in a post on a Mac site about him having a Blu-Ray drive on his Mac.
iPhone enterprise-related SDK sledge-hammers the last nail in the mass-grave coffin of ALL OTHERS INVOLVED IN ANY WAY WITH enterprise electronics.
In the blur of related says, Jobs says cells outsell pods a zillion to one? THE most sold electro item?
iPhones will, enterprise-wise, NECESSITATE Mac Pro/Air/Book/Pro, iMac/mini, Cinema Display, Xserve/san, Apple Remote Desktop and AirPort Express buys.
iPhone price will tail-spin downwards.
Enterprises will not survive lest Apple IT they have.
@BAC Build yourself a cheap PC box and fluster and muster through your choice of Window’s OS and destraught plug and play if expandability is your top priority.
I think as a general rule, the iPhone and the iPod does attract new Mac desktop users. I’m not sure that will hold true for Enterprise users. Here’s my rationale:
Unless an Exchange user installs Windows on the Mac so they could use Outlook (by far the best desktop application to use with an Exchange Server), the user will have to use Entourage. While Entourage is adequate, it has shortcomings. For example, tasks cannot be synchronized. In many enterprise settings, tasks are as important as calendar appointments. Similarly, notes cannot be synchronized. Of course, Macs did not natively synchronize Macs until Leopard. And even now, such notes cannot sync with the iPhone.
What Apple has done is licensed ActiveSync in much the same way as Palm licensed ActiveSync. I’m not sure it will work with the same precision as a Windows Mobile device. Bear in mind, I came from years of using Windows Mobile devices to using the iPhone.
On another note, I think Apple’s desire to win over enterprise users has led to ignoring one key user base – the consumer who desires over the air (OTA) synchronization with .MAC. So what Apple has essentially said to me is that if I want OTA synchronization, I have to use an Exchange Server instead of .MAC. My only alternative is to go out and buy the Standard Microsoft Office and use Entourage if I don’t want to install Windows.
So, in the final analysis, I don’t know that the hardcore enterprise user will go out and buy a Mac just yet. Though it offers an unequivocally superior platform and an astoundingly better user experience, until the desktop version of the OS offers good synchronization with the Exchange Server, I don’t the iPhone will provide a good enough basis for enterprise users to switch to Macs.
Cool!!! iPhone will force AT&T;to force Microsoft to release Halo 3 for the Mac!!!! Yahoo!
That has the same chances of happening as…the iPhone providing a Halo effect in big business….Middleware!!! Middleware!!! Middleware!!! Once Apple makes Mail, Address Book and iCal Servers we can talk halo.
Just my $0.02