B usinessWeek has been publishing Byte of the Apple by Charles Haddad for the last two years or so. Because of Mr. Haddadis columns, many of BusinessWeekis readers have been exposed to positive coverage of Apple, as well as honest criticisms of the company. Coming at a time when BusinessWeek was not known for its Mac-friendliness, Byte of the Apple was a breath of fresh air. Today, the magazine has published a harder news article by one of its reporters, Alex Salkever, that offers another very positive look at Apple.
The piece, titled "Apple Reclaims the Innovation Lead," literally says that Apple has reclaimed the lead in the PC market. Though Microsoft is not specifically named as the former innovation leader, the implication is very strong.
Singeris experience [with the iPod] illustrates a perception that PC and electronics industry experts are starting to express more frequently. Simply put, Apple and its CEO, Steve Jobs, are regaining the PC industryis lead in innovation that they lost five years ago. In a bid to improve the Macis lowly 5% market share, Appleis product developers are the ones pushing the envelope -- and the competition, too.
The case for this is made not just about features, but about its approach to computing:
Take the case of Mark Rolston, a vice-president at frog design, the firm that helped design the Apple IIc back in the 1980s. He appreciates the nifty packaging of the latest iMac, with its small footprint and 17-inch flat-panel monitor that seemingly floats in mid-air. But more important, OS X has changed the way Rolston thinks of his computer.
"I had never bought a digital camera even though I had been in this industry since 1987," he says. "I think the reason was that it looked like a dead end. You put the picture in the computer, but you had no way to get it back."
REDEFINING THE PC. Appleis unveiling in January, 2002 of iPhoto, with its easy cropping and printing of photos, persuaded Rolston to buy his first digital camera. Whatis more, his mother decided to buy a Mac so she could send, receive, and manipulate photos of her grandchildren. "She didnit go through a litany of checklists. She looked at the one feature that means everything in the world to her. It redefines your idea of the PC," says Rolston.
There is a lot more to the full article, including some criticisms of the state of browers on the Mac, and many more positive issues as well.