“Apple has made some marketing mistakes that mirror those made by Republicans in the presidential race, says columnist Rob Enderle. The blunders will come back to bite both of them, but it will take a little longer for the impact to be felt in Cupertino than in Washington,” Rob Enderle writes for TechNewsWorld.
“Microsoft just announced Windows 7, and as a pre-beta product, it is very impressive, largely because Apple’s negative campaign against Windows Vista focused Microsoft more than I’ve ever seen a complex company focused. There is a rule here in the Silicon Valley, and that is that focusing Microsoft on you generally ends badly — and Microsoft actually hasn’t been focused on Apple since the early 90s,” Enderle writes.
“In the U.S. election, the negative campaigning probably has done more to motivate the Democratic base and get moderate Republicans to switch sides than anything the Democrats could have done alone. Apple’s campaign has truly pissed off Microsoft, and Windows 7 is that company’s way of saying, ‘Steve Jobs can kiss my a**,’ or more simply, ‘enough,'” Enderle writes.
“Apple believes that only Apple should have the freedom to choose; customers have to accept Apple’s choice, it’s partially the result of Apple’s “lock in” policy, an historic problem for Microsoft as well. Windows 7 effectively reverses a bad policy and will pass more control over to the users, OEMs, and IT managers than has ever before been granted. This will allow the proliferation of unique user experiences like the HP TouchSmart and products that improve on the Apple integrated experience but run Windows Applications,” Enderle writes.
MacDailyNews Take: Let’s watch BBC News as Rob Enderle demonstrates “multi-touch”* in Windows 7 on an HP “TouchSmart” PC:
See the full video via BBC News here.
*Multi-touch™ is a trademark of Apple Inc.
MacDailyNews Note: The BBC’s so-called “Independent Pundit” Rob Enderle has worked for and with companies such as Microsoft and HP and also currently sits on HP’s advisory council.
Enderle continues, “One sustaining advantage that the Mac platform has is the ease in which Mac users can move from an old Mac to a new one. While migrating from Windows to a Mac is about as ugly as you can get, once on the Mac the process is comparatively painless. This is generally why Apple enjoys a higher customer churn rate than any other PC vendor, and it contributes to their higher margins and customer loyalty.”
MacDailyNews Note: Apple’s “customer churn rate” for the Mac is extremely low. Not high. In other words, once you go Mac, you never go back. There’s a reason for that: Apple Macs offer a superior personal computing experience versus Microsoft Windows running on random box assemblers’ cobbled together PCs.
Enderle continues, “The Democratic Party and Microsoft have always been larger but less focused than their counterparts. For the Republicans or Apple to actually fix their competitors’ focus problems will likely be seen, in hindsight, as a really stupid thing to do. Apple would have been better off to fix its crappy laptop keyboards (seriously — compare a ThinkPad and MacBook keyboard) and figure out how to do touchscreens on PCs (multi-touch track pads are just lame compared to things like the iPhone and TouchSmart). And had the Republicans done their homework and cleaned house, they might have won.”
Full article – Think before You Click™ – here.
Enderle’s shroomtastic alternate universe is as upside-down and backwards as Windows’ user interface.
If he really believes that “generally” Mac users continue to buy Macs due to ease of migration, that universally-lauded MacBook keyboards are “crappy,” that “Windows 7” is anything more than a renamed Vista service pack, and that “Gorilla Arm“-causing vertical touchscreens on desktop PCs are something that Apple would want to emulate, then his ability to correctly analyze anything must be doubted.
Apple Macs are growing at a rate much faster than Windows PC sales. Those “Get a Mac” commercials are some “marketing mistake.”
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Simply Aghast” for the heads up.]
Rob the buffoon!
Somewhere a village is looking for this idiot!
If Enderle’s a Democrat, I must have been wrong.
Call me an “instant switcher.”
I always believed in less government, lower taxes, and strong defense anyway.
McCain-Palin 2008!
Does this guy not get tired of talking shit all the time?
Wasn’t Microsoft pretty focused on the HD-DVD format?
And what about Vista itself? If Microsoft wasn’t “focused” before now, that is fairly damning in itself.
Marketing mistakes?
Oh yeah, that’s why they have billions in the bank.
I think that guy must be a fake. He says some of the most foolish things a man can say……..I’ll bet hes never even touched a Mac. maybe he is Ballmers lovah……?
What he doesn’t understand is that I CHOOSE to let Apple make some of the decisions where appropriate. For me they’re things that I don’t want to be hassled with, or preferences which I agree with and would choose anyway. I’m not locked into Apple, if I decided I no longer liked them or OS X, I could move to something else without any problem at all.
Does he also think for a second that Apple couldn’t make a multi-touch screen the same size as a laptop screen – or even bigger? Of course they could, what they realise is that just because they can, doesn’t mean they should.
Interface aside, existing machines have varying states of touchscreen ability and they’re universally shit. What needs to change is the software and how people interact, the hardware may also need to move beyond just being a screen you sit in front of and reach out to. These changes need to accomodate existing methods and thus can’t happen with a click of the fingers. They could do it with the iPhone because there was no existing environment. Apple are gradually adding multi-touch in ways that fit in completely with existing usage and don’t require people to radically change their habits. Why they’ve not given any sort of similar facility to desktop users is a different question, but they quite clearly have thought about how they’ll move in this direction.
Windows 7 might give me the CHOICE of multi-touch, but if it’s half baked implementation then it’s a choice I’m not bothered about having. If hardware manufacturers have such difficulty writing drivers for OS’s then what makes anyone think they’re going to have any luck creating entirely new and workable hardware and software interfaces for multi-touch?
It’s good to see Enderle is showing his true colours (“Steve Jobs can kiss my A**) than offering up a pseudo unbiased view in formal cordial format. I guess, Apple must’ve done something right to irk him this much. Or the office rent is due and M$ offered a slice.
I’m just glad I get to come to MDN and read the a**hats of the world make a fool of themselves, without having to gift them an undeserved hit. That would have made me the greater fool. Thank you MDN. Great community service here.
what a douche
Enderle is a moron. MS can’t put its focus on Apple otherwise Google will kick their ass.
Besides, it has been proven time again that MS can’t get anything 100% right. Their corporate culture doesn’t allow for truly innovative thinking.
Furthermore, the moment MS were to put Apple out of business, the source of all their new ideas would be gone.
“Apple’s campaign has truly pissed off Microsoft, and Windows 7 is that company’s way of saying, ‘Steve Jobs can kiss my a**,’ or more simply, ‘enough,'”
After making himself look like a tit whilst trying to resize an onscreen ‘multitouch’ window in the Windows 7 beta version on the BBC recently, he really should know better.
Rob Enderle’s “group” is a bunch of guys that sit around a campfire, beat drums, talk about their ‘feelings’ and jack off afterwards.
Jay Leno gave me the tapes.
@mark: Microsoft is focused on everything, go figure.
If there is one thing we know, it’s Rob is very good at stroking the ego’s of his customers, and then writing about it as if he has some sort of objective mind.
Granted, he is right about one thing – generally speaking – when companies have taken Redmond straight on, they typically get crushed.
However, Apple has chosen to pick it’s battles, and beat Redmond back in new market spaces. In other words, Apple watched M$ blunder the portable music market and took them to task with a vertical solution.
The iPhone is another example where vertical wins, and the Mac and OS X, are another vertical solution.
Consumers want, and truth be told, need this type of verticality to simply their lives, yet deliver sophisticated power.
Rob clearly implies that M$ will suddenly crush Apple with Win7 (AKA reheated Vista), because they are really, really, mad… Oh, that makes sense…
Rob also points out how Redmond will be fragmenting the OS and allowing more flexibility for their vendors… By now, everyone – including Rob – should inherently know what this will bring about: more instability, more confusion amongst users, reducing the Windows brand, while hardware OEM’s look to build their own OS experience, delivering less consistency for Windows from box, to box, to box.
This is not what the consumer wants – at all. I can see this model working for major corporations, but that’s about it. Outside of giants, with giant IT teams that can build their own corporate experience, are consumers going to enjoy the increase confusion and learning curve? Not likely.
Lastly, Rob talks to the HP touchsmart… It’s yet another beastly looking system, but I must admit, the touch is a great novelty. The real question for HP’s touchsmart is: What’s the point? I have used it, and see no inherent value using it over the keyboard and mouse. It is fun for a few moments, but I quickly found myself reverting back to the keyboard and mouse instead of moving my hands all over the place, smudging the glossy screen… The novelty quickly ended, but hey, Enderle got his HP plug into the “article” effectively.
The white noise for M$ will only grow louder.
Underwere talking through his ass again, not surprising. I call him Mr. FUD. Everything he says about Apple is TOTALLY WRONG!!!!
IBD/TIPP, 11/2:
– Obama 46.7%.
– McCain 44.6%
– Not sure 8.7%
http://www.ibdeditorials.com/series13.aspx?src=POLLTOPN
This election is a referendum on Obama, not McCain.
This very large amount of undecideds still in play with just one day to go means they can’t pull the trigger on Obama and will break heavily for McCain.
Some people are going to be mighty shocked when Obama loses tomorrow.
And Detroit will likely burn as the blacks are stoked by the media for misplaced revenge over what they do not understand.
It’s not a racial thing. It’s about experience, socialism, elitism, a mainstream media that’s clearly in the bag, and more.
That’s why 8.7% are still undecided and why they will vote for McCain in overwhelming numbers.
Total retard.
@M.X.N.T.4.1
“Does he also think for a second that Apple couldn’t make a multi-touch screen the same size as a laptop screen – or even bigger? Of course they could, what they realise is that just because they can, doesn’t mean they should.”
I think EnderSmell is just trying to goad Apple into making a touch screen Mac. As we all know, when Apple gets into the game, that idea or product really takes off in the marketplace. When Apple refuses to play, that idea or product usually does not do well (UMPC anyone?). EnderSmell just wants Apple to do it before Windows 7 is released so that “feature” will have some traction, otherwise Windows 7 will have even one less thing to tout in 2 years when it finally comes out.
@ Victor Meldrew
I’m more of the opinion that a village lost their idiot and I doubt they’re actually looking to bring him back.
What a maroon!!!!
Well, even if this guy is right, his analogy only goes so far. The political marketing campaign is over tomorrow (as I write this) and then it is too late for the political parties to apply any lessons they learned from their mistakes. On the other hand, the competition between Microsoft and Apple does not end on Tuesday. Apple has plenty of time to rectify these “mistakes” if they are mistakes, and to adjust or change its marketing campaign altogether.
The biggest mistake is on the Microsoft side. Instead of belittling Apple as a boutique manufacturer of computers for rich people and artistic types, they have unwittingly elevated Apple to the status of a peer. It’s Microsoft who is selling Apple as a viable alternative to itself!
Enderle’s a Democrat? That’s explains everything.
He dreams within his own Reality Distortion Field.
It is true that MS could, possibly, come up with a version of Windows that doesn’t royally suck. I don’t see that as a LIKELY possibility, but it IS “possible”. So far, they have gotten by with a huge amount of legacy code, mostly left in place so as to not “break” software tat was broken by design in the first place. Apps designed “wrong” in order to get around some limitation their OS placed on the hardware. Add in the lack of focus in the user interface and you have a pretty rough history.
Apple cleaned the slate with OSX. No legacy code, except what ran in Classic. With 10.6 they will have no Classic, nor even code that will run on a PPC (boo! hiss!) … talk about cleaning the slate! While the Unix core is older than most, they’ve kept it clean and fast. Good luck to MS in staying “focused”.
When you’re being paid by a single client, Rob, the least you could do is hide their logo on the checks. Jeez….
Yawn. Enderle is bloated gas bag. Eventually the crap he spouts will poison his mind and drive him mad.