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Are Mac OS X & The New iMac Making New Mac Converts?
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I keep seeing messages in message boards all over the Internet, articles from journalists of every ilk, and all sorts of other anecdotal evidence to suggest that more people are coming to the Mac. Most of them are switching from Windows, too, if that anecdotal evidence is to be trusted. Is it my imagination, or are the twin powers of Mac OS X and the new iMac bringing more people to the Mac platform? Maybe a third leg of the team would be the loathing that most people seem to have for using Windows?
What do you think?
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Editor - The Mac Observer
Favorite (but less relevant than it used to be) Quote: Microsoft’s tyranny lies not in its success, but in the way it achieved and maintains that success.
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Sigmascape
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I believe Apple is turning more people on to the Mac. The hype surrounding the new iMac is really giving people reason to think, and look at what is out there in terms of a non-PC. I hope Apple can come up with some new iMac commercials for TV.
At this point, although I don’t totally like the way Apple is marketing the new iMac, I still give them ‘two thumbs up’ on what has been happening.
Mitch
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Hmmm… software.
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In Japan, I think the new iMac is appealing to a lot of people. A cool computer in a space-saving design. Not to mention the outstanding language support that X offers. From what I’ve seen in the Japanese Apple outlets (we don’t have “Apple Stores” here), the iMacs are selling like hot cakes. Lots of boxes stacked up, with claim tags stuck to them.
I’ve yet to see an ad on TV for the iMac, but I don’t watch much television here.
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Still evil, after all these years.!
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The rave reviews keep pouring in on the user reviews
http://computers.cnet.com/hardware/0-1018-404-8400555.html?tag=dir-pdov
Most of the user reviews that are positive are coming from first time converts too. This kind of press speaks volumes.
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Eindvijand
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If anything, the new iMac and MacOSX gave Apple a lot of press attention in the mainstream press and the (normally Wintel-oriented) computer press. This in itself will have resulted in a lot of people sitting up and paying attention.
I don’t know how the sales situation is in Europe (not a trace of Apple Stores here, either), though…
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Eindvijand
Resident “Crazy Belgian of TMO”™
“It takes twenty years or more of peace to make a man; it only takes twenty seconds of war to destroy him.”
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I was a PC user for 6 years, until last November when I purchased a PowerBook G4. Reason? OS X 10.1. I was entirely sick of microsoft hassles and problems I would encounter at work and at home, and it was time to give OS X a shot. Result? I plan on every computer I purchase from here on out to me made by Apple.
OS X hasn’t crashed once. Sure there was a few stumbling blocks along the way (coming from a windows world, I kept looking for a defrag tool and didn’t know where the ‘uninstall application’ was kept, etc). But I learned. Prior to November my room mate was very skeptical, but after just a month or two of usage, he is planning on purchasing a new iMac himself. That’s the power of OS X.
I think Apple, although primarily a hardware company, needs to promote OS X to the Windows world, and emphasize the seamlessness and it’s abilities. I’ve had no problems using the Internet (although I’m still waiting for a Real Player for OS X
, no problems making CD’s, playing DVD’s, using and connecting digital cameras, or, maybe most importantly, sharing files with the Windows world. Documents created in a windows environment can be read or displayed without problem in OS X, and vise-versa. It’s just that everything is so much easier with OS X. Thats my 2 cents.
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nickmcghie
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for the past many years, i had been ferverishly trying to convince my friends that macs are better than pc’s….however, instead of them switching to macs, many of my mac-using friends ditched the mac for windows!...therefore, i’d kinda given up on my missionary work for the past couple of years…
recently, however, a number of my pc-using friends have been coming up to me with questions about the mac…of course, i gladly answered their questions, but i seriously doubted any of them would actually buy a mac…
a few months ago, two of my friends told me that they were seriously considering macs for college…i answered all their questions, but i was still doubtful…imagine my surprise when my of those friends just purchased a new ibook last weekend!...the other friend is still deciding between an ibook or tibook, but it looks like he’ll be getting a mac as well…both of these friends are now trying to convince other people to get macs for college and i’ve once again begun my promotion of the mac!
i dunno what caused this sudden interest in the mac at my school, cuz it started before the new imac was even announced (maybe its because we’re all seniors in high school now and much more mature)....but all i can say is that OS X and the new iMac are definitely grabbing the attention of even more people! =)
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Around my dorm, I’m on the only person without printer problems. I have a mile wide grin while everyone else around me is screaming at 2 in the morning because of some odd driver problem or another. I’m rather vociferous as to how awesome the Mac experience is, and it’s been turning a few heads. Two of the guys around here want to make the switch. The only thing that is keeping them back ist he lack of games that are available for the platform. Hopefully this will change soon. And i agree with Sigmascape—more commercials!!!
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hey, reckless minds…
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TMO Observer
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I have always owned Macs, never will buy a Wintel box, but I have learned the sorry truth about Apple’s business model. They don’t want to do what it takes to gain market share, for better or for worse. Apple prices its computers higher than its competition. Apple makes better machines and better software, but guess what? That’s not enough to grow its share above 5-10%, history has proven that. If you are going to own a Mac, you’ll always be in the minority, because to most people, it’s not worth an extra $200-$500 up front for a better machine, when a Windows box will do what they want and all their friend have Windows.
I have always recommended Apple to my ffriends, but I understand when they choose Windows. If I was buying a computer and knew nothing about them, I guess I might not want to go with the esoteric Apple brand, but just stick to “basics.”
Apple needs an entry-level computer for people who aren’t even sure they want one. That’s the only way they can increase their market share, but it would tarnish their image as cutting-edge in their own mind, so they don’t do it. So they cannot win. Sorry! -
TMO Observer
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Most of my friends are Unix junkies using PCs for games or to run Linux or FreeBSD on. In the last 6 months, almost all of Unix junkie friends have chosen to buy Macs (mostly TiBooks, a few iMacs and PowerMac G4s). It’s really quite amazing how overnight they’ve become Mac users. In this case it’s because of OS X’s Unix roots.
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TMO Observer
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As a Wintel user since the IBM PC-XT 8088, I have watched the decline of
usability and utility in Microsoft based systems. I received my new iMac last week and have been totally amazed at how easy it is to use, and how peripheral devices just seem to work without any pain. I switched for two reasons:(1) I got tired of hardware driver incompatibilities. My CD-RW drive has never been tested with my sound or video cards. I install the driver for my video card, the sound card stops working. Install driver for the sound card, and the CD-RW stops playing music. On and on I went in a downward spiral. By purchasing an Apple computer I know this will never be an
issue. I know my MP3’s will rip cleanly because someone has tested it.(2) Spyware. The latest trend is to use the trojan horse trick to embed every installation with system bogging daemon/service processes. This
results in a round-and-round game of cleaning them out regularly. But.. even if you clean the files, the registry is still full of gunk. I recently had to reinstall Windows 2000 because a program wouldn’t install because it thought it was already installed—all because of a lingering registry entry I couldn’t track down. With Apple I know if I drag a folder to the trash, it’s gone for good. Very simple. No need to reinstall an operating system every six months to initialize a registry.Two perfect examples come to mind:
1. I inserted my Phantom Menace DVD into my cd-rom drive. I expected to then explore the disk and run some PC software goodies Lucas had put on the disk. Instead.. I was greeted with a dialog: “Software installed successfully! Please enter your registration name and phone number..”. What!? they installed software without asking me?!? The DVD-RAM required special, proprietary software to work. Of course I registered (to close the dialog) and then it didn’t work—because the software had never been tested with *my* DVD drive.. A Mac version would have worked because my drive and sound card would have been the same as the software company was using (or very close).2. Bought the Audigy sound card. Installed the card, then put the CD-ROM disc in the drive. The “autorun” daemon started spinning the drive. Because the author of the CD-ROM software had never tested with my CD-ROM drive, the system locked up (repeatedly).
As a result I have come to the conclusion that my time is worth too much to spend time in Wintel Hell re-installing operating systems, playing musical chairs with hardware and not getting things done.
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TMO Observer
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There’s an interesting point that shouldn’t be lost in this discussion.
It seems “soft sell” on the part of Mac users is often more effective than applying “hard sell” to potential converts.
I used to be an informal evangelist, and you know, I don’t think I ever converted a soul from Windows.
But since I gave up the “crusade” and just started quietly enjoying my easier computer life, I’ve been caught quite off-guard by all the genuine inquiries, and, yes, have seen some people purchase their “next” computer from our own stable of fine offerings.
I think many of us have been frustrated over the years in our inability to convert Wintel users, but I think perhaps the secret is to simply enjoy the benefits of our own platform, share them inobtrusively (and NON-JUDGEMENTALLY), and let the Wintel users convert themselves.
Thankfully, with OSX and the excellent hardware offerings currently out there, this is more realistic than ever before.
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This has been said before - but my iPod is a great “salesperson” for Macintosh… once people realise what it is, they start asking all sorts of questions, particularly about the flat-panel iMac. There is definitely a large fertile ground for converts…
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: jnzed on 2002-04-23 18:56 ]</font>
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TMO Observer
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This discussion always boils down to marketshare. I agree there has been a lot of anicdotal evidence people are looking at the mac. I’m sure apple will sell millions of them. Will this translate into significant marketshare. No. The original imac converted a lot of new users, but apple’s slice of the pie didn’t even budge. I agree with the previous poster - Apple will not/doesn’t have what it takes to increase marketshare. Apple has reached a comfortable plateau.
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TMO Observer
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I moved from Windows to a Mac Powerbook G4, and I’ll never go back to Windows again. I love the fact that when I buy things Apple, they work!!! I mean that is a relief. Plus, my Powerbook has yet to crash. I figure that I’ll keep this Powerbook a lot longer than I would a regular PC, and therefore the costs will average out.
Lawrence Ross
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To the guy who gave up the ‘hard sell’’ of Macs:
This is no surprise now that you gave up the hard evangelism that people respond better to your Mac-speak. It is no secret that people dont like to be preached to from a position of ‘you are an idiot for not choosing this’ type of mentality. I wish more hard line Mac users would take a lesson from this. I think there are a core group of PC users who would never consider a Mac. Not because they dont like Macs, (they generally dont know anything about them anyway) but more because they dont like mac users. They dont understand how we can LOVE our machines so much, and this along with out over-zealous preaching turns them off - not the technology itself. Take a softer approach. Show, don’t tell. Let the merits of the product speak loudest. They will listen. And they are, more and more everyday.
