“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.
the ipod has been successful for a number of reasons, one of them being its a fashion item, another being all the windows based offerings suck ass
For another hoot, check out his “Internet Nexus” site, which features these gems:
“I can’t honestly claim to have been at the forefront of many technological changes, but the Media Center is one of the few times where I can say that I knew immediately that it was going to be huge.”
Media Center has been through at least 3 iterations and I dare you to even find 3 PC users who even know what it is. People don’t want to watch TV using Windows. They want a simple and RELIABLE device, like Tivo, not something that can be connected to the internet and get infected, and take constant feeding to keep working.
“Jobs continues to both downplay portable video and belittle those who want it, which is odd. He says Portable Media Centers–as the representative device in this category–are too big, too heavy, and suffer from a lack of content. That last bit is laughable. Unlike the Mac, which doesn’t exactly have a lot of video content available for it, PC users can record TV shows and subscribe to online services like CinemaNow and MovieLink to get video content.”
Um, yeah, they ARE too big, they ARE too heavy and they ARE too expensive. And “lots of video content???” What’s available now are second-rate movies. And until my mom can record TVs easily and transfer them from her computer to an iPod, it ain’t gonna happen. Thurott has regular consumers confused with early-adopting “geeks” who will put up with a lot. He’s just wrong on the video too.
thelonius mac.. WOW.. it was one disaster after the next.. alot of money spent on.. a.. more.. affordable.. system.. based.. on ……. Windows..
*pounds head against the desk..
phew.. good thing it’s got a happy ending =)
thelonius mac: Great stuff. I feel the same way. I gave up on Windows but support Macs worldwide….and I feel just like the Maytag repair salesman.
Suedejacket: Yeah I noticed that about the article. Some not so nasty things about the mac.
“And ironically, Apple’s success with the iPod is coming at the expense of Microsoft and its partners, which have watched as competitor after competitor have failed to make a dent in the iPod’s armor.”
Like wow, even he can see that.
“Today, the iPod enjoys market share of 65 percent when compared to all digital portable audio players, or a whopping 92 percent when compared to just hard drive-based players”
Another wow, like some truth from the guy.
” 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 agreeing with Steve Jobs? What’s up here?
The guy is getting scary. Bill do something about this..we need our FUD…LOL
Thurridiot sounds like he is wrong even on the rare occasions he is right.
Great Story TheloniusMac! Please give us the final chapter when you get it.
Turd is once again right…
Idiot!
the dick loves the word, “arguably” doesn’t he?
“arguably superior Dell DJ”
“XP arguably better than OSX”
the man’s a moron…
And how many visits of the $75 an hour technician to fix your PC add up before a Mac is competitive? Two three? So Macs are a bargain if you keep your computers more htan six months or so, eh?
Somewhere, thee’s atown sadly missing their Village Idiot – please send Thurott back to them…
“And how many visits of the $75 an hour technician to fix your PC add up before a Mac is competitive? Two three? So Macs are a bargain if you keep your computers more htan six months or so, eh?”
Too true. I had a friend in town recently who regularly (and ignorantly) belittles my use of Macs, and he was telling me about how he was going to buy a new computer because he had recently had to pay a PC tech $100 to remove viruses from his machine and he figured next time he may as well put that $100 toward a new computer. He said that he has to do that about once a year! But yet when I told him to put the next $100 toward a Mac so he’d never have have to have viruses removed again he scoffed, so instead he’s going to have to keep visiting the PC Tech. There’s no getting through to some people.
Just think, every time you read a thrurott article, he gets 10� from M$. Now, do you still wanna read & visit his site?
bootoo: “the dick loves the word, “arguably” doesn’t he?”
“arguably superior Dell DJ”
“XP arguably better than OSX”
Perhaps he means that one has to argue (illogically) about it as it seems a ridiculous assertion!!!
I’m disappointed with the angle you took. I thought it was a breakthrough that he admitted he was wr-wr-wrong about the iPod, and he had mainly positive things to say about Apple’s products. You managed to accentuate the negative.
Mr Thurrott is lacking in the facilites necessary for discourse. His inference that he is a pundit is totally laughable.
Mr Thurrott reminds me of that below the waste orifice we all have. The only difference is his sits on his shoulders and excretes to the internet instead of a toilet.
Thurrott may have figured out what generates hits, but so has MDN. LOL
ndelc: there is this *special* breed of Windows users that act just like lemmings. If you ask they truly don’t know why they are using Windows, it invariably boils down to “everyone else is doing Windows”.
Then there are a little Windows users % that honestly try to understand the difference and – for the most – they are all switching. But it is admittedly a small percentage of the whole lot.
The lemming kind will simply fall when enough around them will be either doing Mac or had switched already: they simply cannot stand peer pressure and go with the wind. Admittedly, they are the bulk of Windows users base.
Until Apple create the ‘ientertainment store’ portable video is dead!
The only thing that is gonna get me to buy a portable video device is if I can download the latest movies to watch BEFORE they are released on DVD/video.
It would have to be a subsciption service too to work and of course everyone would need at least 10mbit broadband!!
LOL!
Solar, current 2Mb/s connection would do just fine.
Thelonius Mac is a Life saver!
Bush:
There is weapons in the Iraq and I dont like Saddam.
Bush:
There is no weapons in the Iraq and I dont like Saddam.
Bush:
Me like oil and I dont like Saddam
Bush:
I do as the Israel says and I dont like Saddam
Bush:
Oh the weapons of the mass distraction werent in the Iraq they were in Afganistan .. NO sorryy they were in the Iran .. NO sorryyy they were in the Israel .. NO shit.. We cant print that! The weapons were in USA .. God damn it! We cant print that!
Bush produces 80% of the worlds cocaine in the Afganistan with a little help from Halliburton.
Wizards rule #2:
stupid people suck
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It’s all relative. I get four spam emails a month and I think about changing login; someone sends me a Word doc with a W97 macro virus and I think about ending the relationship. I guess is you live near an open sewer, you get somewhat used to the smell. ‘Course, when you make a living handling shit, like Thurrot does, the smell sticks — you just can’t get away from it.
cpr’s approach is right.
This man is yearning to be loved and accepted.
Abusing him is the wrong approach.
He needs to be understood.
Let’s try being nice to him.
He can’t help being a cunning stunt!
Voting for Bush is like agreeing with this guy.
OSX on Intel is what Thurrott is leading to here. Pretty simple to figure out.