“Why has the iPod been so successful? Partly it’s because Apple has been able to parlay its device into a must-have fashion accessory. Unlike its Macintosh computers, which are excellent but expensive, the iPod is an affordable luxury, one that young professionals and even students–or at least their parents–can afford. As Steve Jobs said during a recent special event marking the release of new iPod models, ‘iPod has become a cultural phenomenon.’ And he’s right: Sometimes products transcend their market categories and reach into the public consciousness at a much deeper than would normally be considered possible,” Paul Thurrott writes for WinInfo.
“Clearly, the iPod is such a product. This situation makes it difficult for competitors like Dell, Rio, or even Creative, which arguably created this market, to make inroads with other products. Consumers aren’t asking for portable audio players under the Christmas tree this holiday season, they’re asking for iPods. And a Dell DJ or Creative Zen Whatever isn’t going to cut it. Any parent or other gift-giver who believes otherwise simply doesn’t get understand the emotional connection Apple has been able to create between the tiny white devices and their owners,” Thurrott writes.
“One area where the success of the iPod has not translated into other successes is Apple’s long languishing Macintosh computer line. Though Apple had hoped that a swell of iPod customers would result in higher sales of the pricey but elegant Mac, that has not been the case. According to Gartner, Mac worldwide market share fell to 1.8 percent in the most recent quarter, down from 2.1 percent in the same quarter a year ago (annual market share figures for Apple placed Mac market share at 1.7 percent for calendar year 2003). In the US, Apple’s Mac market share dropped from 3.6 percent to 3.2 percent in the same time period,” Thurrott writes.
“Why has the Mac failed where the iPod succeeded? Curiously, it seems that the pundits–and I’ll count myself among this group–were wrong about one crucial aspect of Apple’s strategy with the iPod. We’ve been saying that Apple has been making the same mistakes with the iPod that it did with the Mac by keeping the system proprietary and not working with others. But it’s now clear that the market for the Mac and that for the iPod cannot be so simply compared. Today, the Mac is an excellent computer, but it doesn’t offer much value over Wintel-based systems, and is correspondingly too expensive, both in out of pocket costs and in the cost of migrating to a new computer platform. Computers like the Mac typically cost $1000 to $3000, which is beyond the reach of many consumers, and not a purchase that can be made lightly by anyone but the truly affluent,” Thurrott writes.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: A $999 iBook or $799 eMac or $1299 iMac G5 is “too expensive” and only for “the truly affluent?” Paul’s nuts. Crazy, we say. Off his rocker. And it’s too early to say that iPod hasn’t translated into Mac sales. Only 6 million iPods are out there (2 million in the last quarter alone) and people take 3 or so years to upgrade their PCs. Patience. Paul’s worst nightmare is about to begin.
Value? What’s the value of a rock-solid operating system that doesn’t fall to its knees after 20 minutes on the Internet and become littered with viruses, worms, adware, spyware, malware, etc.? What’s the value of a computer that just works correctly and does what you want it to do? Windows iPod owners will see the value of the Mac – just give them a chance.