More and more people are switching to Mac. Is it their witty commercials badmouthing Vista? Or is it their sleek and slim designs put into each and every product they create? What happened to the traditional white color of all apple products? Now everything is silver….
We think that Apple is simply taking over the world, and here are 7 reasons (because we couldn’t think of 10 reasons) why we think that:
- They are hip and know how to market their products. All those TV ads are being recreated and made fun of all over the web and on late night talk shows. This is a good thing, more exposure for them, one more reminder that Apple is “better” than Vista.
- They are consistently improving their OS. Although Vista was a little different, anyone who has seen a Mac knows that many things on Vista where derived from Mac’s OS Leopard. Vista is just not doing anything amazing.
- They have the iPod. Not too many teens and adults alike who enjoy technology don’t have an iPod. It is almost the standard, and the Zune is not going to be able to catch up….ever.
- Most of what they make is SMALL. These days it seems everyone likes smaller stuff. Cell phones, cars…people are even buying more and more miniature dogs rather than the Great Dane.
- They are breaking into every market possible. Apple TV? Yes it flopped big time on its first try however the second time around looks much more promising.
- Their products look good. Period. Macs are some of best looking Machines out there, and there is no question they have the best looking MP3 players. People like good looking things! No one wants that bulky Dell that is made up of cheap plastic. Titanium baby.
- More and more companies are switching to Mac. Although many huge software companies like Oracle or Ibm will probably never switch to Mac, it seems it is the cool thing to do for new start-ups and Web 2.0 companies alike. It is all about the image!
May 2nd, 2008 at 9:11 pm
7.5 Steve Jobs
8. They IMPROVE their products each iteration, making MINOR interface changes rather than wholesale changing the entire interface simply to be different than the previous version. Each version from 1.0 to 9.x was an improvement and while changes occurred, they were logical and understandable as technology improved. Major changes from 9.x to OSX, but OSX is the same way, from 1o.0.0 to the current 10.5.x, continuous improvements without wholesale changes that make it difficult/costly to learn.
8.5 Jon Ive and Steve Jobs
9. Apple is not afraid to change the underlay of their technology and has done so several times. They went from the Apple // series into Macintosh GUI systems, went from 68K processors to PowerPC processors, from Classic Mac OS to Mac OSX and from PowerPC processors into Intel. The first was simply a transition to higher power, but the rest were improvements to the underpinnings of their systems, and they worked. Sometimes you have to abandon old technologies because they will not carry you forward, or not carry you forward as much as new technologies will.
9.5 Steve Jobs
10. Apple integrates its products, making things work well together. With Steven Jobs return with the NeXt technical underpinnings, Cocoa and Objective-C are powering the operating system, Apple applications, the Macintosh development tools and the iPhone/Touch SDK. Integrating the development tools together will allow software written for the hot selling iPhone to be written for the Mac, growing the available software pool and growing demand for Macs and iPhones and whatever else can tie into it.
10.5 Steve Jobs
11. Intelligent use of FOSS (Free Open Source Software) being integrated into Apple products instead of trying to create all the technology they use. Being able to use other people’s products at minimal cost increases your own productivity and appeal and competitiveness.
11.5 Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs
12. From Apple’s earliest products, simplification and ease of use were highly important. Wozniaks use of graphics signal interleaving to have a several different graphics modes at minimal cost were brilliant. The disk drive controller was simplicity that was later shrunk to a single chip to handle disk I/O on the Mac. To quote Steve Jobs, Apple is proud of the things they have released as well as proud of the things they have not. (or something like that).
12.5 Steve Jobs
13. Microsoft arrogance and megalomania and the turn-off this creates in a small but vocal population combined with Microsoft shooting themselves in the feet with poor technical decisions (Plays for Sure being shot down in favour of imitating the iPod with the Zune and frosting off their PFS partners) and designs (such as a poor security history, even if it is supposedly improving)
13.5 Steve Jobs
14. QUALITY rather than quantity. PROFITABILITY rather than quantity. NICHE Dominance/Ownership rather than quantity. LEVERAGING Quality, Profitability and Niche Dominance into other areas and repeating the formula.
There you go. You are doubled from 7 to 14, or more so if you count the people mentioned. I could add a few others with some more thought, although anyone could.
Good luck?
Good timing?
Focus on the customers needs rather than trying to be everything to everyone/customer wants?
Not being a ME TOO type of copying company that simply duplicates what others are doing, but looking at how others are doing it and trying to make it better (such as an iPhone)?
Did I mention Steve Jobs?
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:39 pm
Are you so sure about IBM? Do a google search on IBM’s pilot program on using Macs.
May 3rd, 2008 at 2:40 am
Point 7. = actually IBM has recently started a trial of using Macs due to increasing demand from their engineers and a desire to be cross platform. So you never know!