“It has been a bumper year for the California-based [Apple]. More than three billion songs had been bought through the iTunes music store since 2001, and that 110 million iPods have been sold worldwide,” The Telegraph reports.
“Apple sustained the momentum by increasing the capacity of its iPod range, giving it a facelift, adding a new selection of pastel-coloured iPod shuffles, and introducing video-playback to a thinner, squatter iPod nano. Oh, and it launched a mobile phone,” The Telegraph reports.
MacDailyNews Take: Not-so-minor omission: Apple also released the iPod touch.
The telegraph continues, “In all the brouhaha surrounding the iPhone launch, it would be easy to miss one of Apple’s biggest successes this year – the upsurge in sales of its computers. Apple shipped more than two million Macs between July and September this year alone, a 34 per cent increase on those months last year… If Apple’s rise continues, it may soon be able to think about posing a more serious threat to Microsoft’s dominance.”
“Bill Gates’s company seems to have been caught napping, failing to get to grips with a consumer demand for flair, innovation and beautiful design,” The Telegraph reports. “But more worrying for Microsoft will be the backlash against its latest operating system, Vista, released in January. Its snazzy new graphical interface wasn’t enough to win over many consumers. Vista makes heavy demands of computers, and lots of people found it sluggish and bloated. Such was the lack of interest that Dell began to offer computers preloaded with the older operating system, Windows XP, as an alternative.”
The Telegraph’s Best of 2007: Apple iPhone – While there is definitely room for improvement, its intuitive interface and stunning good looks have set the standard that all future mobile phones will be judged by.
The Telegraph’s Worst of 2007: Windows Vista – While it’s lovely to look at, this operating system can feel sluggish. It has perhaps shaken consumer confidence in the Microsoft brand, and goes some way towards explaining why Apple’s star is in the ascendancy.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Linux Guy And Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
Slowly they awaken.
I agree Vista is indeed a museum piece, set right alongside Charles Babbage’s Analytical Machine which though half finished seems to have been rather more complete and polished than its slightly newer competitor. It certainly gains a better press, but then it was ahead of its time when it was built.
The flower on my lapelle does not wilt.
It squirts!
Greg L, Microsoft understands, class elegance, design principals, and how to capture an audience. To think you would compare the two makes me ill. J Allard is the new Ive.
Shepherd jobs took the sheep for a ride with the touch screen. No one wants it, it’s a bland copy of Win Mobile.
Just wait until the next revolution, Vienna, comes out. Then you will see greatness.
Good for you Macromancer. Once you break the spell of Apple. you will truly see the light.
PROUD TO BE BRITISH!! (for a change). I have noticed a big move at the Telegraph to becoming Apple friendly. Claudine Beaumont has been writing great stuff that has been free of MS influences and honestly talking about Macs, iPods and iPhone.
I was Christmas shopping today in the Telegraph readers favourite store: John Lewis, where their Apple Store within a Store is really excellent. They have always been loyal resellers of Apple products and no doubt Apple have treated them well.
Apple in the UK will be great again in 2008!
Although the thought of Microsloth wilting sounds like a good thing, that just impossible. Sad to say that as long as the Monopoly is approved to exist, they will never run out of funds to continue their business.
I’m not up on my Chinese astrology, but I think that 2008 is the Year of the Apple.
I totally agree that Apple’s recent and continuing gains in market share for Mac OS X is as much due to the failure of WIndows Vista as it is to the excellence of the Mac using experience.
With no replacement for Vista expected for at least five years, every PC maker except Apple will be forced to offer it. Soon, even Windows XP will not be an option. That means good times will continue for Apple.
This is no surprise. Melissa Gates found out on her wedding night where Bill got the name for his company.
“The end of MS dominance is inexorable.”
Yes, at current growth rates Apple will have overtaken Microsoft within a hundred years or so.
I only come here to see the names.
“I totally agree that Apple’s recent and continuing gains in market share for Mac OS X is as much due to the failure of WIndows Vista as it is to the excellence of the Mac using experience.”
Except that there are already more Vista users in the world than all Mac users combined, so your comment doesnt really make sense since Vista is already much more popular than Mac OS X.
There might be more Vista users out there (by default) but I highly doubt that it’s more popular. It sure isn’t to the poor saps I know who have it.
The iTMS lauched on April 28, 2003. Not in 2001.
Hello Thorin !
“There might be more Vista users out there (by default) but I highly doubt that it’s more popular.”
Well that’s just not true. Corporations are not deploying Vista widely yet, so almost every Vista machine is the result of the conscious choice of a consumer to buy one. If it were really that bad, people would be flocking to Macs instead of buying Vista machines in ever increasing quantities.
If a technical company doesn’t have strong leadership that “knows” class and demands it of everyone who helps develop their technology, then their products quickly suffer from “too many chefs in the kitchen”-syndrome.
Which begs the question: What happens when Steve Jobs leaves?
Apple’s board is waaay smart enough to NOT put a complete clown like Ballmer in charge. But is there anyone, anywhere, comparable to Jobs? And not just a mini-me either; someone with their own ideas, and the ability to spot & perfect a winner?
MS may be all fsked up, but that doesn’t mean Apple should get complacent or sloppy on top.
If it were really that bad, people would be flocking to Macs instead of buying Vista machines in ever increasing quantities.
You are correct. Never underestimate the uninformed masses.
That’s a load of crap. The majority of people don’t even know what the heck an operating system IS. They just know it’s a computer. They go to Wal-Mart or order a Dell and follow the expert advise of “Dell Recommends Windows Vista Ultimate” or some other bullshit propaganda. It’s when they get the the thing home that they realize they’ve been screwed. I helped a guy I work with set up his new Dell with Vista and it was a friggin’ nightmare. I warned him to get XP but he wouldn’t listen. After all this he says he will go Mac next time. Another guy has it and after 5 months it will barely function. I have two PCs (one I built) with XP and use it at work so I don’t have a problem, other than the fact that it’s such a dysfunctional pile of code. But I sure wouldn’t buy Vista. More people don’t buy Macs because they are sadly influenced by clowns like you. They don’t know what ‘bad’ is because they haven’t used ‘good’ in order to see the difference. But it’s coming. And that is what your kind fear.
“follow the expert advise of “Dell Recommends Windows Vista Ultimate” or some other bullshit propaganda. It’s when they get the the thing home that they realize they’ve been screwed.”
Ha Ha Yes, you’re right. the probably thought they were buying a Mac but brought a Dell by mistake. It’s an easy mistake for a novice to make since PCs and Macs are both now exactly the same hardware built in exactly the same factories and Apple’s biggest recent selling point is how well Macs run Windows.
“And that is what your kind fear.”
Sure, believe that if you want. What your kind fear is the truth that Vista has already overwhelmed Leopard, and Leopard will be just as ineffective at displacing Microsoft as Tiger was.
As long as they can operate as a monopoly Apple will never catch up. No one will ever catch up. Why do you think they keep trying to tie in all they junk with Windows or technologies they produced based on Windows. Video and Audio is just a matter of time. They can be patient because they can continue to lose millions withot worry. Its nice to have unlimited funding to continue money losing business in order to eventually saturate the market with their junk.
Who’s Melissa Gates?
“and Apple’s biggest recent selling point is how well Macs run Windows.” Yeah dimwit, but maybe you haven’t noticed that Macs come with OS X installed, not Windows. That is why they are superior. And that is why Apple will prevail. Now why don’t you kids go back to playing your video games or squeezing your zits and leave the adults in peace.
Hey, folks, ZT was right:
“Vista is a work of art and it belongs in a museum.”
But not on a computer!
Hey C1! Here ya go:
http://www.daoiststudies.org/scholars.php?cmd=list&userid=822
Hello LorD1776, I look at this site every day, I don’t post as much because some of the postings have gotten so damn silly. The registration thing did help though. Your post was pretty right on, so I quoted it.
“That’s a load of crap. The majority of people don’t even know what the heck an operating system IS. They just know it’s a computer. They go to Wal-Mart or order a Dell and follow the expert advise of “Dell Recommends Windows Vista Ultimate” or some other bullshit propaganda. It’s when they get the the thing home that they realize they’ve been screwed. I helped a guy I work with set up his new Dell with Vista and it was a friggin’ nightmare. I warned him to get XP but he wouldn’t listen. After all this he says he will go Mac next time. Another guy has it and after 5 months it will barely function. I have two PCs (one I built) with XP and use it at work so I don’t have a problem, other than the fact that it’s such a dysfunctional pile of code. But I sure wouldn’t buy Vista. More people don’t buy Macs because they are sadly influenced by clowns like you. They don’t know what ‘bad’ is because they haven’t used ‘good’ in order to see the difference. But it’s coming. And that is what your kind fear.”