“For everyone who knows me now this may come as a shock, but I was a bit of a nerd when I was in high school,” Ryan Vass writes for The Chicago Maroon (University of Chicago). “For some reason, in the winter of ninth grade, I decided that I wanted my boring PC to look like a Mac and I just became obsessed with fooling myself into thinking had a Mac. This was long before the Steve Jobs renaissance, the iPod, or even OS X. In fact, I suspect that this was some sort of rebellious urge to control and create my personal space.”
“I downloaded some program that changed the appearance of all of my desktop windows, and I configured them so that they would look and act like a Mac’s. I somehow changed my startup and signoff screen to look like the Apple ones, and I even configured the sounds so that I could hear that odd little ‘dripping’ sound that used to be on the old Macs. To a large extent, I succeeded, until the brilliant gray facade of the fake Macintosh began to crack, choking my sluggish Windows 98 machine with the sheer amount of crap I had loaded to hide the truth. The computer ended up completely shriveling to a slow death, until I had to format and reload everything. As I said, I was a bit of a nerd in high school,” Vass writes.
“That inexplicable urge I felt in high school to have an Apple seems to have spread virulently to pop culture in an entirely quantifiable way, to which Apple’s explosive fourth quarter profit reports attest,” Vass writes. “According to BusinessWeek, Macintosh computers currently trail the PC–based Gateway computers by 38,000 units. Gateway itself is the third-leading seller of PCs, trailing only HP and Dell… Macs experienced a 12 percent growth in sales during the third quarter (after its Intel release), a number which shot up to 56 percent growth in the fourth. Something must have happened before the fourth quarter.”
Vass writes, “In fact, shortly before the fourth quarter, which began July 1 and ended September 30, Apple released a piece of software that allows users to dual-boot Windows on their machines and run Windows programs. Thus, while the new Intel Macs had been released in February, the real gains weren’t seen until summer—after software was released allowing Mac users to run Windows programs. The significance of this piece of software cannot be underestimated. Previously, Apple computer sales were frustrated by Macs’ lack of compatibility with the rest of the world. Now, it seems, the final barrier to Apple world domination has been broken. Continued growth in computer sales, which comprise 45 percent of the company’s total revenue, will mean a steady stream of ridiculous quarterly reports like this one.”
Vass writes, “Apple’s brilliant campaign to convert PC–users by simply removing reasons not to buy their irresistibly well designed Macs will likely drive Apple to become the third-largest computer maker in the U.S. Couple that with another new video iPod release, and Jobs will only continue to shit in Bill Gates’s proverbial soup.”
Vass writes, “All of this goes to show that I wasn’t that far off during my excessively nerdy fall into Apple-lust in high school. Few companies operate by the same raw creativity and intelligence that Apple does—compare Apple’s recent history with Microsoft’s or Dell’s, and the contrast between wild growth and total stagnation is telling.”
More in the full article here.
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It’s definitely catching.
Once again we can say..”he gets it..”
And him.. and him…
“shit in his soup” ?
The article was going well until I read that, then it just seems as a very little article…
My favorite part: “Jobs will only continue to shit in Bill Gates’s proverbial soup.”
In my countrys, we have delicacy, “goat shit soup”.
Is very good.
This is stupid writing. Period. End of story. It’s more crap from another idiot that doesn’t understand anything.
Like YOU idiots who don’t get the Gartner thing. You think it’s soooo stupid. Well it’s not.
Like YOU idiots who think there will be an Apple phone. Well there won’t be.
The Gartner thing makes sense purely because the Macintosh is not the hardware, it’s OS X. That’s OH ESS TEN for you people from Rio Linda!
When we purchase Macs, we are purchasing OS X, not the shiny box. If I could purchase a Sony Vaio that ran OS X, for $1000 cheaper than this beautiful 17″ MacBook Pro I’m using, well guess what. I’d be on a Sony Vaio using OS X.
Apple will never build a phone because they can’t make a better phone. They might create an attractive phone with a great user interface but guess what… people will still be walking around with it going “can you hear me now?” That’s not the Apple way. Unless they can control the user experience, as they do with OS X, they aren’t going to get into a market.
Idiots.
magic word = give as in give me a break on all this CRAP.
There is NO QUESTION that Apple is now just killing Dell and HP in terms of growth. I still think they need to move more aggressively into the enterprise space and still think a well produced and funny infomercial showing SIMPLE operations of key software tools would change the face of computing in America by contrasting and comparing similar windows based apps… iMovie, iDVD, iPhoto, Garage Band and THEN come back and show them…hey! it can run windows apps too…”if you really need to…and as fast or faster than your present computer.” All backed up by the best customer service experience as reported by a major consumer magazine.
That’s the killer…get more for the same amount of money, that’s easier to use and works with what you already have.
To tell you the truth, I finally decided to buy Mac computer after Apple released Boot Camp. I guess for me, i needed an asurance that if something is not right, i could always install Windows in it. However, after i use Mac OS, i just fall in love with it and I decide not to install Windows. It feels like putting a bad soul into my beautiful and elegant iMac computer. So far, i enjoy every moment of my iMac ON or OFF. I don’t think I will ever go back. Now I always recommend everybody to get a Mac. They listen to me because i am the one who fix their computer if their PC has problem
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Thelonius…
So this report is completely crap?
http://www.appleinsider.com/article.php?id=2146
theloniousMac
I challenge you to a duels.
total garbage – some college freshman´s ramblings and MDN takes it as equal to the NY Times or some legit reporting.
slow newsday right, Mdn?
theloniousMac: when I bought the iMac it was for the gestalt offered by Apple. I hardly considered OSX. If apple offered an iMac with Windows *and* all the bundled apps in iLife, FrontRow as well as sold a Windows version of Final Cut, Logic Pro etc…all tested and approved on their hardware…I would still have made the purchase.
OSX for me is somewhat of a bonus because it looks right..
Here´s the titles of the author´s other ramblings at U of C:
——————-
Congress: The good, the bad, and the ugly
Listen to the French? On immigration?
Protesters aren’t martyrs, they’re misguided
——————-
Obviously an expert on the computer industry…..LOL
theloniousMac:
Phew…. someone’s had a bad morning. Get yerself another cup of coffee and calm down…
Understatement of the year:
“OSX is somewhat of a bonus.”
I don’t know why, but I doubt this bit of convential wisdom. I don’t really think BootCamp is really the driving factor for Apple’s increasing market share. Sure, there are some uber geeks who might buy a MacBook (Pro) for the ability to dual boot, but for most of Apple’s target audiance, this is simply too complex.
I think the reason Apple’s is gaining market share is because they build solid computers, have elegant and functional designs, have an awesome OS, and the poplularity of the iPod has given Apple a lot of credibility. I think people’s perception of Apple is changing; add that to the sad state of the Windows economy, you have Apple’s ingrediants for success. I think people are simply more willing to consider an Apple purchase today then they were.
And as that perception increases so will Apple’s market share. I don’t think running Windows on your Mac has anything to do with it. It seems like it does because telling someone they can run Windows or Windows software on their Mac may allievate their concerns, but people who are concerned about this are not tecnically saavy or capable of running BootCamp, if they were, they wouldn’t be concerned about it becaue they would understand the underlying problem and their decision would be guided by a desire to run OS X than by concerns of compatibility; and technically informed people are a minority.
Mr Zondroat,
NY Times is a legitimate reporting institution? What have you been smoking? I consider that very funny.
I guess OSX is ok, but I have 6 macs because of the “bite out of the apple” ornament thing on there. I assume iphone will have an apple ornament, so I WILL BE GETTING ONE OF THOSE AS WELL.
Shouldn’t that be drop a Zune in Bill Gates’ proverbial soup?
To theleniuous: It’s a sad thing to be surrounded by idiots.
theloniousMac
Speaking of CRAP, it sounds like maybe you haven’t had your daily Zune yet today. I just did, and it squirted right out of me. All nice and brown.
Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…
Now… where were we?
“Jobs will only continue to zune in Bill Gates’s proverbial soup.”
The Gartner thing makes sense
Outsourcing Mac construction to Dell makes sense?
(blink blink)
… Adding “theloniusMac” to my “Idiots” list. Done!
There is a very real and vibrant Mac modding community out there among PC users. They are people who want a Mac but can’t afford one now and are stuck with their crappy PC that they bought a few years ago. I actually know one of these people and he can’t wait to buy a Mac when he gets the cash. He started getting interested in the Macintosh platform when Tiger was released. For most of them it is the OS and not the Intel chips that entice them.
Thelonious Mac, You are quite wrong when you assume(ass out of U and me)that it is only oh ess ten. I looked at the vaio and thought that it was a piece of copied monkee turds. Think what you will and say what you will. The fact remains Apple is on the cutting edge when it comes to design and innovation. No matter how many big words you use and Gartner is just wrong. Why would you sell away your identity and become just another face in the crowd? What sets you apart is what makes you desireable
I should have seen this coming with the title of this article.
Jobs will only continue to exudes raw (fill in this space)in Bill Gates’s proverbial soup.”