Why has Apple historically had such a difficult time selling the superior Mac to the masses?

94 Comments

1. Dell Whatever:
   360Gb HD
   5 USB Ports
   $699

   Apple Compared:
   250Gb HD
   2 USB Port
   $1199

   Couple that with the perceived lack of software.
   What the heck do we expect Joe and Jane Walmart to conclude?

   • Before anyone picks apart the numbers there, it’s just for illustration to make a point. In a side by side comparison (in the consumer space) the Apple product almost always loses.

   Forget the stuff inside, the masses look at what’s on the checklist. Are we supposed to wonder every computer store explaining to people that Apple computers have more built in goodies? Apple won’t do that themselves, expecting folks to just find out by osmosis.

   Apple:
   You MUST MUST MUST get a clue about this.
   The expensive MBP does not even have a SD/CF card reader built in – even as an option, but one of its primary audiences is photographers! The cheapo Dull cruddy 8 lb laptop takes SD, CF, MemoryStick, MSD…

   The MacBook Air: Fantastic engineering, ONE freaking USB port and a 80Gb HD?!?! Are they nuts?
   In BusinessWeek, the side by side numbers comparing it to the new Lenovo was embarrassing to read.

   I know I’ll get some flack for this. But guys, my son just yesterday had a buddy ask why he should buy a Mac when on paper it looks like half the machine with a third of the warranty for twice the price.
   (Yes, I know, genius bar, iLife, BMW vs Ford… I know all that stuff)

   Eager to hear your thought on all this.

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2. Macs are great but the biggest reason is price. A person who simply wants a computer to get online and email (and that is a majority of people) will look at an imac at 1199 and a Dell at 399 and get the Dell. Most people don’t care about Apple or Microsoft, they care about money and what they know. That is simply why people buy Windows machines and not Macs

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3. OBill-Wan Kenobi is right. I see the same sort of thing every day in mixed environments (Mac and PC).

   My motto: I don’t do Windows.

   Life has enough headaches as it is.

   Cubert is right too: NJ is a whole ‘nuther country!

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4. My favorite experience with a pure Mac Hater went something like this…

   “Mac’s aren’t ‘real computers’ “

   I asked him to clairify that… he said that they don’t do ‘real work.’ Again, I asked him to define what he means by real work…

   he then stammered and said, “Um… uh…. they don’t play games.”

   SO — “REAL WORK = PLAYING GAMES”

   nuff said. this article is full of bullshittery. they should have had a Mac expert in there as well.

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5. Why has Apple historically had such a difficult time selling the superior Mac to the masses?
   Partly because in 20 years, they’ve never changed their marketing strategy for the Mac OS. They rarely – if ever market the abilities of the OS. They prefer to sell the mystique instead of the reality.
   They should kick Chiat/Day to the curb and get a advertising firm that focuses on tangible assets instead of shallow, cosmetic appearance.

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6. …clueless drivers…

   Er, that would be all of America, not just NJ.

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7. Apple only has difficulty selling its computers if you compare it to Microsoft. However, that’s a bad comparison. Apple is really a hardware company that integrates its own OS into its products. If you compare it to Dell, Gateway, HP, and so forth, Apple isn’t having any trouble at all. It’s doing great.

   Apple is more concerned with making profits for its shareholders than it is with world domination. Steve Jobs said as much.

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8. Apple isn’t interested in selling commodity computers. Businesses are very interested in buying commodity computers. Libraries are very interested in buying commodity computers. School writing labs are very interested in buying commodity computers. Etc. Etc. Etc. Windows-based PCs are ubiquitous and very few people can escape learning at least the basics of using one (and for Windows machines the basics unfortunately ends up being quite a bit…). 99% percent of Macheads that know as much about using a Windows PC as 99% of Windows-only users.

   There is a limited population that see the value in learning a second operating system, just like there is a limited population that sees the value in learning a second language when there is a dominant language that 99% of the people speak. I really like Janacek operas and I would be able to have a new level of appreciation if I learned Czech, but you know what–on the balance I’ll stick to reading the English translations.

   That’s why Microsoft focuses not on making Windows perfect for any task, but rather just “good enough” that switching seems too much of a pain to be worth the effort and conversion costs.

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9. It would seem that the average consumer would rather pay $1200 in nickels and dimes rather than pay it all up front. Except that they fail to take into account the time and aggravation of upgrading a cheapo machine.

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10. He “forgot” to mention that Windows Vista costs $400 if you’re upgrading.

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11. You’re right. But this game isn’t about lowering prices to become the market share leader. It’s NEVER been about that. Apple is ridiculously profitable and successful with a different strategy.

    Joe and Jane can stay at Walmart. They can drink Bud lite and wonder why anyone would pay 3x as much for craft beer. They can eat at McDonald’s and wonder why anyone would pay top dollar for a real, properly aged, grass-fed steak. They can go to Vegas and wonder why anyone would go to Spain or Italy. They’re a different market segment. One you don’t necessarily have to appeal to.

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12. Screw Joe and Jane Walmart – they only want the computer to keep the kids quiet while they are doing crack.

    In other news, I hear that Microsoft are about to announce that the Zune is to be discontinued.
    The Zune division will be closed in the summer, the Zune marketplace will stay open for a while until all subscriptions are timed out and thats all she wrote.

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13. Jason–

    If all they want is email and the web, buy an iPhone! It’s less than $699.

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14. Jason, it’s like OBill-Wan Kenobi said about the $400 and $1000 computers.

    Now look at this way…is a $400 TV as good as a $1000 TV?

    Which one would rather have provided you had the good sense to know the difference?

    I have seen people spend a couple of grand on a TV for their living room and then ask me about their crummy $300 Dell they have in their office.

    I tell them I don’t know anything about Windows and they should get a Mac.

    It’s like some one posted earlier, they say they don’t want spend the money on a Mac and (or) don’t want to learn another OS.

    Truth is they buy another throw away box every couple or three years, upgrade Windows, virus protection and such, spend money on tech support.

    They don’t realize that they spend the money anyway and they they have less to show for it!

    As for me I just turn on my Macs in the office or the field and they just work.

    Every time. No virus, no spyware, no problems.

    I can be smug about it because it’s true.

    Now that’s what I call Real Intelligent Design.®

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15. Or iPod Touch for $300

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16. Good point Radius. That’s what I try to convey to my clients. I have one particular client who is a divorce attorney. He has a small practice (the hottest staff I’ve ever seen – I don’t know how he gets any work done) and makes a good living. I’m at his place every couple of months or so to prop up his aging pc’s and every visit I ask him if he’s ready to make the move to Macs. He says he doesn’t want to spend the money. I tell him, “you already have and then some, every time I walk through the door…”

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17. The Zune is dead? Can this be true?

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18. Wanna know why PC users have a hard time switching to Macs?

    Look in the mirror! You’re the one who labelled a positively intentioned intro article as ‘The full amateurish, ignorant article’…

    Your remark, Mr Smarty Pants, fit your description to a T. This report of yours is FULLY AMATEURISH AND IGNORANT.

    Get a life.

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19. Whatever platform has been adopted in the workplace will continue to have a substantial impact on consumer buying choices. Considering the possibility of using different platforms at home and work, the perceived complexity of computers suggests that learning a different system will be a chore. And some uncertainty persists about whether documents created on one machine will appear as intended on the other.

    The iLife and iWork suites help diminish the influence of the platform selected in the workplace. They are marketed not just a products unto themselves, but demonstrate that the Mac will be personally useful, delivering what is not done as easily or as well elsewhere.

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20. My grandma-ma always told me that there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers.

    The masses don’t buy what is best.
    The masses buy the best that they can afford.

    END OF BLOODY STORY.

    I don;t want something that everyone else has.
    Give me something special.
    Everyone doesn’t have an Aston Martin right?

    stop bitchin boys n girls.

    my 2 cents /2 p

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21. If Apple is serious, at some point they are going to need to pull the consumer crossover trigger. Their lowest price MacBook, a wonderful machine, has remained at $1099 for almost two years now, though yes, it’s been bumped up a bit.

    Apple needs to decide when to strike the public’s mind and reduce this machine to $899 or less. Every college kid should own one. Apple may have lost that halo window from the ipod/iphone press, I fear.

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22. No understanding of a topic is required to write about that topic. It’s why the print media are on their way down the toilet. And it isn’t just tech.

    The same goes for any topic on which reporters are called to discuss. I have worked in the nuclear power industry for 30 years. There is no such thing as a “radiation leak.” The term is utterly meaningless. It is an invention of Hollywood science fiction writers and has no scientific foundation whatsoever. Yet, if a nuclear power plant is reported to have had a fist fight in the parking lot, somewhere in the article will be a reassurance that there wasn’t a “radiation leak.”

    I have no sympathy for the writer. If you’re going to write about a subject without understanding it, you’re going to get your a$$ kicked.

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23. The switch is ONLY FROM Windows to Mac.

    THAT is what people need to focus on – and ask why…

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24. Well look at yourselves. You are blame. People are sick of this bullshit smugness and flat out lies you people spread. You don’t even bother, nor Apple, show what makes Macs superior. Look at their commercials. More smug BS.

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25. Simple answer, because each version of Windows has always been “good enough” for Windows users.

    Vista just isn’t “good enough”.

    Reply

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