Regarding whether using the iPod to drive Mac sales, Steve Jobs sort of already alluded to this in a Rolling Stones interview I remember reading a while ago. Are people surprised by what he said here?

1) Many salesmen-educated people think that anything from Apple automatically won't work with anything they own. Once they buy an iPod and realize that Apple is just another company, they might at least consider a mac for their next computer rather then automatically assuming that windows is required for anything they buy. While this won't encourage anyone to buy a Mac, it will at least open up the option in people's minds.

2) The eternal "Apple is going out of business" argument gets weaker if you have an Apple that can survive without the Mac. Just like Sony was able to keep making Beta for a decade after it was "dead", it is not possible for Apple to suddenly vanish and leave mac users stuck. (Come to think of it, people are still writing Amiga software!)

If you want to show people that Apple makes good products, it can't help but give them the idea that maybe that includes their computers. Steve is being disingenuous, but I can understand why. As mentioned at billpalmer.net, the pot dealer doesn't tell you there's a good chance someone will be selling you cocaine later.

The iPod has reinvigorated Apple's image. They returned from the dark times and now are held in the highest regards for producing this amazing product. Now that people have this newfound appreciation for Apple, it seems logical that many would take an interest in Apple's other products. And yet Apple continues to not market their other products. They don't market their eMac's/iBook's to the masses. They don't market their G5's to anyone outside of graphics pros. They don't market OS X at all. They don't seem to market their XServe's to the IT people. What is their problem? People are receptive! Go for it!

Last year Steve Jobs said the iPod *would* help Mac sales. Now he claims when the iPod was launched that was not his intention. Both of these statements can't be true. The RDF is wearing a little thin.

Actually the iPod is hurting Mac sales, here's what iPod consumers learn:

1. Apple products are overpriced, much more than Dell DJ.
2. Apple has poor quality, iPod rechargeable batteries wear out fast, the iPod mini has a design defect that with normal use turns music into screeching static, and iPods come with cheesy standard earbuds.
3. Apple is dishonest, in the original iPod manual Apple claimed the rechargeable battery was "designed to last the life of the product", only after bad publicity on the web and lawsuits did Apple offer a grossly overpriced battery replacement program - $99 to change a battery, yikes!
4. Apple pushes a closed proprietary solution, if you want on-line music that has any sort of decent selection you're stuck with the pricey iTunes store, partial albums that cost more $9.99, what a deal.

So after the iPod experience who wants a grossly overpriced, poor quality computer with dishonest claims, like world's fastest, and be locked into a proprietary system that has much less software, and doesn't work on all web sites.

The iPod is a real learning experience for PC users.

Like we ever bought into iPods actually creating switchers in the first place. If you like your Sony Discman, does that mean you're going to go buy a Vaio?

I don't believe the Macs are going away either. Marketing has always been abysmal for the lonely machines. But new updates on the PMs, upcoming iMac G5s (keep your fingers crossed), upcoming headless iMac (keep your eyes crossed) would suggest that they're not leaving. Speculation? Okay, then let's talk about their covert ops into the Enterprise market, and perhaps one of their coolest products you've never heard...Xsan.

No, they're not going away soon. At least, not if they had their druthers. The market will dictate whether that changes or not. This is why I'm always begging and pleading for a cheap, headless iMac.

Hey, Freak!

1. The iPod is less expensive than anything remotely comparable (and 'remotely' is as close as comparables get)
2. iPod's battery life expectancy is the same as it is for any other device using the lithium polymer battery type
3. You have a choice for battery replacement sources and services, including self-install; this was true before any publicity at all about the batteries
4. iTMS pricing is more than competitive with any other legitimate download service and is, by far, the most consistent and straightforward in its pricing policies

Apple can legitimately claim that it offers the world's fastest personal computer based on Virginia Tech's System X supercomputer. That bias-free performance environment clearly established both the absolute performance of the G5 as well as its superior price/performance ratio.

It seems that investors are beginning to understand the value of Apple:

http://tinyurl.com/2v39q

EVERYTHING you said was wrong, Freak. It's clear that your wiring is hopelessly FUBAR'd. Go away.

Here is the RollingStone interview I spoke of.
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story?id=5939600

Quote

Bringing iTunes to Windows was obviously a bold move. Did you do much hand-wringing over it?

I don't know what hand-wringing is. We did a lot of thinking about it. The biggest risk, obviously, was that we saw people buying Macs just to get their hands on iPods. So taking iPods to Windows was really the choice. That was the big decision. We knew once we did that that we were going to go all the way. I'm sure we're losing some Mac sales, but half our sales of iPods are to the Windows world already.

I realize that writers must write. But sometimes you just find that there is a dearth of exciting news to write about. When that happens create a straw-man. The iPod vs Macintosh is that straw-man. The iPod is hot right now and in heavy demand and Apple simply must capitalize on this why they can. Perception is reality here. Dell isn't getting any pub on the Dell DJ and their computers are ho hum. I'm sure they'd love attention the iPod is getting.

Now the Powermacs were just revved to 2.5Ghz dual on the top end with liquid cooling. Doesn't sound to me like the Powermac is in its twighlight yet. Did anyone notice Apples impending "large" presence at siggraph? http://www.siggraph.org/cgi-bin/cgi/idEDetail.html&CompanyID=833

No look at the technologies Apple is preparing to showcase and tell me with a straight face that Apple cares more about the iPod.

It's about time Apple start acting like a business. Consumers are like pieces of string. You cannot push them..you must pull and lead them to where you want. The iPod is no longer pushing but now leading people to discover Apple products. That's very encouraging. Far more than the banality that some writers are actually getting paid to write.

Compute hardware is set to make large changes by years end. AGP/PCI is being replaced by PCI Express. SATA is moving to version II, memory is moving to the next generation. The time for marketing the hardware is coming but today it's all about the iPod and music.

I think the whole concept of having to buy a specific piece of technology in order for it to work with another piece of technology is no longer valid. Consumers are sick of technology companies trying to paint them into a corner or lock them into a specific technology. The whole Switcher campaign was a lost cause from the get go. Your average consumer wants to pick and choose like the individual they are. I think tech companies need to get on board with that and I think Apple made a good step forward when they saw the Windoze market for the iPod and just went for it. Let's hope they keep on top of those other opportunities that will surely come along.

As to Apple dropping the Mac, Steve Jobs will probably be lying on his death bed at age 90 something still designing the next big thing in his head. Hardware design is the lifeblood of Apple, the Mac will never go away.

i.e. egomania...The very fact that he is granting interviews and basking in the success of the iPod, gloating a little, heck, why not the iPod has created a new revolution! I would be proud too, and the Apple community is justly very proud of Steve and Apple. On the other hand the Mac is not something SJobs is talking about. It is not gaining market share as they planned. Read the Guardian interview with SJobs and note how many times he mentions market share "refering to the iPod.

In a couple of weeks we will get the Apple Qtr reports, another Qtr of dismal Mac sales and shrinking market share. Sjobs will only quote market share figures for the iPod, the Mac, he ain't talking. It is bad folks really bad! Oh yea IBM sold 200,000 970 processors to Apple this quarter no wonder they call it Fishkill. For IBM the 970 must be a financial black hole especially with such poor yields

You can learn a lot by watching a madman. And for SJobs silence say it all...1% come Fall, and just a splinter by winter, come Spring the bells will ring, and by next summer what a bummer, but what the heck we'll all have our iPods. The most amazing thing is most of you guys are so complacent about this! Absolutely Amazing! Why?

I take it all back, looks like MS is coming to the rescue! Now this is absolutely amazing!

Read this at ARSTechnica about Xbox;

http://arstechnica.com/

XBox, NextBox! Uncle Bill came to the rescue!

iPod does not do much converting lately, but Windoze viruses have been the main factor lately. I work at a Apple reseller in Western Canada and I have seen a great increase in the amount of Windoze users switching to Mac as of late. In 6 years of selling, I was helping 2-3 users switch a week, now with viruses on the rise, I see 7 Windoze users a week wanting to switch to Mac.

Are you sure that the rise in popularity of iPods and the increase in the number of viruses did not occur together?

Neither the iPod nor the Switch campaign have given appreciable results. Plus, even those non-Mac users that like the brand are not able to do the switch because of the incredibly wide hole between the eMac and G5 ranges (unless they are looking for a laptop).

I'd say Apple needs a Mac LC for the new millennium to tempt the admirers from afar: headless, upgradable video card, plus some analog audio I/O.

Also, not to be an alarmist, but I don't think the Mac is the everything for Jobs. One just has to remember his words before coming back to Apple about milking the Mac and going for the next best thing. Well, it is already beginning to happen. As I see it, from a "having fun" point of view, the Mac is a means to a Digital Hub/Pro end and not the other way round for Jobs.

The Mac is the primary contributor to Apple's revenue and earnings. The Mac is not going away nor losing its significance to Apple.

The company can support mulitple product lines and has the depth of resources to develop and bring to market a variety of different consumer and pro-level products.

The iPod/iTMS solution is a product based on a platform independent paradigm.

For Apple to realize and maintain significant growth in revenue and earnings the iPod doesn't need to help create Mac sales anymore that the Mac needs to help create iPod sales.

Quote

Anonymous wrote:
iPod does not do much converting lately, but Windoze viruses have been the main factor lately. I work at a Apple reseller in Western Canada and I have seen a great increase in the amount of Windoze users switching to Mac as of late. In 6 years of selling, I was helping 2-3 users switch a week, now with viruses on the rise, I see 7 Windoze users a week wanting to switch to Mac.

Interesting points, indeed. More than Apple's legendary ease-of-use I can see the virus issue as a primary motivator in people switching from Windows to Mac.

The need for constant anti-virus updates, scans and related issues (spyware, etc.) must drive many Windows users nuts.

The Mac does provide peace of mind compared to the perpetual virus nightmare that plagues most Windws users.

Just take a look at the Dell message boards to see that you get what you pay for:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board?board.id=dce_djmusic

Among the problems with the DJ are:

1) Multiple returns (4!) to get a working unit
2) Hard drive failures
3) Multiple interface freezes per day
4) Broken power button
5) Skipping during playback

This really isn't a learning experience for PC users, since they're used to this sort of stuff.

In terms of PC laptops, the impression I have been getting the past year is that the value of Dell's offerings has really gone down and that their customer service is awful. However, IBM thinkpads, which are traditionally considered only for the corporate market are actually getting some attention from regular consumers. I myself would have bought a ThinkPad had I not gone with Apple.