One hears that often; people are buying the cool of Appleʼs products. The rest is RDF and hype, in other words, right? Isnʼt that what it really says? I daresay that Appleʼs success is caused by more than coolness. It helps, of course. But no matter how cool, people would not have stuck with it, were it not for several other reasons, one of which is quality and the other is ease of use. And of course, coming from Windows grey upon pale yellow, it is a pleasure to use a GUI with so much attention to detail as OS X.

But I am convinced that a lot would go for Linux if it hadnʼt been for one simple fact, totally overlooked in that article: where do you buy PCs with Linux installed? Where do you get support?

Thatʼs the problem. Nothing else.

Oh, I know that one shop here and one there might offer a couple of laptops with Linux preinstalled, but around the world you wonʼt find much of that and the average person is not going to install it him- or herself, on their PCs with Windows Whatever previously installed.

So, Linux has made one great step forward; it has become user-friendly. Next step is for it to become visible for ordinary people. Third step might be to get some cool buzz around it, but that is not the most important thing.

Get the Linux-machines out of the cupboard:)

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wilf53 wrote:
where do you buy PCs with Linux installed? Where do you get support?

Exactly. I believe you nailed it.

Linux is still, for the most part, an OS for tinkerers. Most people don't want an OS they have to hunt down, install, and configure and more than they want someone to hand them an ax and a chicken and say 'there's dinner'. The vast majority of people want a computer to just plug in and go. They don't care about the OS, or type of Office, or whatever. They want to turn it on, check their e-mail, write a report, send the report to someone who will be able to read it, play a game, and turn it off. What goes on behind the scenes is irrelivant to what most users want out of a computer.

Until we start seeing many more systems with Linux that are plug and go ready right out of the box, I don't think you'll see many more systems with Linux.That, of course is good for Apple and the Mac.

I tribute an incredible amount of success of Apple to the Apple stores. The iPod is a cool item and was/still is the item to have. But I think physically showing people that Apple has a wide variety of products for sale along with a bunch of other non-Apple products that work with them was a genius move by Apple. People started to realize that it was okay to buy Apple stuff again.

Before the stores. The retail presence was pretty bleak in most cities. Plus Microsoft and the PC vendors were also hitting on all cylinders ? Nobody beat Microsoft in the 90s.

Of course during that time mail order catalogs had everything you could want. But unless you were a "Mac Geek" odds were you didn't know about the MacMall, MacWarehouse, and ClubMac catalogs that would fill up the biggest of mailboxes weekly.

It's a combination of all the things previously mentioned here, but to sum it up, you only need three words to explain Apple's success.

It just works.

That's why I use a Mac. I can open my MacBook Pro, authenticate, and get to work. Or to surfing. Or email. etc. Anything I want to do, I just do. No messing around with settings, troubleshooting through a chain of eleven obscure dialog boxes I need a Windows manual to understand, etc.

I get on my computer and just start doing what I want to do. No hassles involved.

It seems to me that some people use Linux, not because it isn't cool, but because it is geekier than Windows or OSX.

Most people don't want to mees with their computers. Macs do, for the most part, JUST WORK. Applications quit, weirdnesses happen. Macs are still computers, after all.

Geoduck hit it on the head, I LOVE that!
Linux: chicken + axe = dinner! ROFLMFAO!!!!

I've noticed that a lot of typical Windows users are kind of scared of their machines. Don't do this or that because it might break or crash. I've seen with experienced Windows users!

Can Linux be any better?

I used to try telling people, all the time, about how great Macs were. I finally stopped and just let people see what I could do, all with little hassle. Carrying a PowerBook around helped. Eventually, people started asking me about Macs. These same folks started switching to Macs.

People have asked me about Macs, about Windows, NO ONE has EVER asked me about Linux. EVER. And certainly not about Ubuntu...

Keep Linux for running servers. Windows for Solitaire.
Macs for getting things done!

Apple was once known for coolness and quality. That is no longer true today. Coolness may remain, but at the expense of quality. Don't be fooled by all the hype and spin.

"It just works" has now become "it is supposed to work, but..." From Leopard to MacBook Pros, MobileMess to weak upgrades to iLife, FinalCut, and other software, Apple has proven that it is more concerned with profit over product. Far too much attention is paid to the iPhone and iPod Touch at the expense of the computer division. Of course, the name change from Apple Computer, Inc. to Apple Inc. says it all.

And that is the problem. Apple is expanding into other areas faster than it can keep up. And we're all paying the price.

As a creative professional, I'm sadly disappointed in Apple. The move to consumer product has left it prone to mediocrity. Apple is becoming the new Microsoft, and that isn't good news.

I long for the days when things worked. Cool is cool, but not when it comes at the expense of quality. Too bad no one at Apple is listening.

Any platform whose only means of tech support is user forums is NOT cool, by a long shot. It's not even practical, never mind the hoops you have to jump through to get the thing shoehorned onto your computer.

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If the Linux cool factor and marketing don't change...

What marketing? The only "advertisements" I've ever gotten about Linux are from the geeks who pretty much salivate over technical details, which is an extremely limited market anyway. Or an occasional disgruntled M$ user who is fed up w/ his OS, but still going for cheap. No, Linux will never go mainstream.

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mjkphoto wrote:
Don't be fooled by all the hype and spin.

From Leopard to MacBook Pros, MobileMess to weak upgrades to iLife, FinalCut, and other software, Apple has proven that it is more concerned with profit over product.

As a creative professional, I'm sadly disappointed in Apple. The move to consumer product has left it prone to mediocrity. Apple is becoming the new Microsoft, and that isn't good news.

You're blowing a bit of your own smoke, bub. I'll concede that MobileMe was prematurely released, and there are a lot of rightfully angry customers over that. Apple has had a few blunders in recent months, but nothing that should register "sad disappointment", or whatever. What's wrong with Leopard? After 10.5.2 they pretty much fixed all the glitches.. shouldn't be anything to complain about now. What's wrong w/ Macbook Pro's? I have a brand new one, and it's running like a dream. And a "creative professional" complaining about iLife... what's wrong with that picture?

I agree with xmattingly. Apple does an amazing job of hiding Unix under OS X and that's important for mainstream users. Getting any flavor of Linux to work without resorting to the terminal is near impossible. Most users have difficulty working with Control Panels let alone knowing the cryptic commands of Unix.

Cus it's SO uncool to know a bit about your computer isn't it? So uncool to have open source applictions. So uncool to be able to guarantee that your system isn't spying on you. So uncool to be in control.
Perhaps this is more indicative of how successful the Apple advertising machine is? That, or, indicative of how utterly lazy and happy to be dumb people really are?

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salparadise wrote:
So uncool to be in control.
Perhaps this is more indicative of how successful the Apple advertising machine is? That, or, indicative of how utterly lazy and happy to be dumb people really are?

Does buying a cheap, high maintenance car give you a higher IQ? I'm hearing quite a bit of tech-head snobbery from your comments.. different priorities for different folks, my friend.

Does knowing the inner workings of your PC really make you smarter? More cool? More popular? Better with the ladies?

It could just as easily be argued that while you may win an award for Gearhead Of The Year (or whatever), you're going to miss out on the ceremony while you're stuck in the garage trying to get your beater running.

Using Linux forces you to learn at least a little. It's difficult to get away with just switching it on and never having to learn more than how to surf and email.

The tone of your reply is unpleasant. I didn't knock anyone or anything. I merely pointed out that it seems that less and less people prize control and freedom.
Remarks about being stuck in garages are just hopeless. Do you speak to all strangers this way, or only the ones who disagree with you?

Actually, by your own words you imply that Mac users are "utterly lazy and happy to be dumb".

How is that NOT knocking someone?

Linux has an image, and that is of being the ultimate in street cred. Linux users know their stuff and wear it like a badge of honor.

Linux is intimidating.

Linux will never achieve the cool among the masses cool factor.

Let's have a what can you do that's cool contest:
Windows: Ok, let me get the right software, oops, I've got this error...ok now, damn, I think I've got a virus, now ok here it is.

Judges: Your project is totally lame. It looks like clip-art from the 80s.

Mac: Ok, watch me do some magic in iLife...boom, there it is.

Judges: Cool! Let's put that on display!

Linux: I would tell you how I'm doing this, but you wouldn't understand a word of what I'm saying.

Judges: Ok, so it's like some sort of box that spits out cool stuff automatically...like on a server?

The bottom line is that all of your major apps that you've spent so much time learning and mastering are not available on Linux. This is critical if the main reason you chose Mac is because of Final Cut, or if you really need to use MS Office, or any number of branded apps that aren't available on Linux. Sure there are equivalents, but that doesn't always cut it.