Mac vs. PC: The stereotypes may be true

[rasmasyean]

Hardly. Seriously, Apple have found a new market for themselves, and Microsoft haven't got there yet. That is all. Microsoft is still king of the OS, Office and Gaming Market. Apple aren't. Does that mean Apple are in decline as well?

Don't kid yourself that Microsoft are dead. They are far from it. I think they are under harder ground than Apple.

I think M$ is on a steady rise in the "cloud" arena...where all the buz is right now. Not only has Windows Server (and related products prolly) encroached on much of the traditional backend as IDC shows, but they also have their very own "Cloud Computer/OS" called Windows Azure. I also saw some charts in another thread somewhere were Windows is also growing in internet servers while *nix is declining. But "internet computers" are a pretty small sector really and a lot of this stuff will be virtualized anyway (i.e. many OS installs on one giant computer or cluster). And as you mentioned games...ever heard of Onlive? They went live last year streaming games using something to the tune of a bunch of Windows Vista running loads of modern XBox/PC games. That type of gaming market is slated to be a big player in the near future as many ppl can play without consoles or high end PCs. You're not likely going to see much OSX or Unix used to run games, especially if they want to open up an easy avenue for like old game devs to make money again off their 95% of games running Windows.

The've tried thier hand in the "mobile" arena as well, but although they dominate the industrial handhelds, they can't seem to appeal to consumers with the "Windows Mobile bloat". But now with Windows Phone 7, they seem to finaly get that sometimes "less = better".

 

[sim667]

where the heck do computer-savvy Mac users come from?

They'll be the ones that use imaging and audio programs that create the advertising you consume, the tv programs you watch and the games that you play

Lets not forget apple originally made its reputation in the creative industries becase PC's weren't reliable when using imaging software/film editing/rendering/DTP.

The whole iLife came about when OSX was developed for home users, and the early adopters of OSX and iLife were the people using them at work for design etc.

The forum really needs a facepalm smiley.

 

[KnightWRX]

They'll be the ones that use imaging and audio programs that create the advertising you consume, the tv programs you watch and the games that you play

Those aren't the "computer" savvy ones. Those are the video/audio savvy ones.

The computer savvy Mac users are the ones that use Mac OS X because it is Unix.

 

[rasmasyean]

Those aren't the "computer" savvy ones. Those are the video/audio savvy ones.

The computer savvy Mac users are the ones that use Mac OS X because it is Unix.

Yeah, the whole reason why Macs survived in the niche of media professionals is because Macs were easy to use. Most "artists" and so called "emotional brained" ppl suffer in logic...which is why the early computer users were labeled "nerds and geeks".

Using a piece of user friendly software on a user friendly computer preconfigured for you to draw pictures...vs...mashing up different parts and and different clusters of computers moving billions of dollars across continents? And other than the early "unix power days", all of the "3D graphics" stuff that go into your REAL games and make cars and arplanes and Macbooks too...are in Windows. Because 3D graphics dig deep into the realm of mathematics and real computer science...things that artists suffer in.

It's always kind of funny when a MacTard tries to make a point of how "reliable" Macs are because they are used in "film and advertising". Oh yeah...much more important to be "reliable" there than banking and 24/7 mass production lines. The PowerPC died already so the "early days" killed that Mac era. Time to move on and get over it. Macs sucked in the early days...they are now a little better, but professionally still in the niche.

 

[*LTD*]

I think M$ is on a steady rise in the "cloud" arena...where all the buz is right now. Not only has Windows Server (and related products prolly) encroached on much of the traditional backend as IDC shows, but they also have their very own "Cloud Computer/OS" called Windows Azure. I also saw some charts in another thread somewhere were Windows is also growing in internet servers while *nix is declining. But "internet computers" are a pretty small sector really and a lot of this stuff will be virtualized anyway (i.e. many OS installs on one giant computer or cluster). And as you mentioned games...ever heard of Onlive? They went live last year streaming games using something to the tune of a bunch of Windows Vista running loads of modern XBox/PC games. That type of gaming market is slated to be a big player in the near future as many ppl can play without consoles or high end PCs. You're not likely going to see much OSX or Unix used to run games, especially if they want to open up an easy avenue for like old game devs to make money again off their 95% of games running Windows.

The've tried thier hand in the "mobile" arena as well, but although they dominate the industrial handhelds, they can't seem to appeal to consumers with the "Windows Mobile bloat". But now with Windows Phone 7, they seem to finaly get that sometimes "less = better".

You're buying into the same delusions that MS is. Although MS upper management probably knows the reality and sees the writing on the wall. The company's failures are mounting year after year. The rise of Apple was bad enough, making the company look slow and stupid by comparison, but the rise of Google - another low-cost commodity vendor competing in the same space - is even worse news.

MS is an old, tired, mismanaged (once great) company that is slowly withering away, milking profits from the same two things they did a decade ago: Windows and Office. It's almost painful to watch, like an old man easing into a bathtub. Ballmer remaining right where he is is the biggest problem. CEOs are supposed to *increase* shareholder value. Under Ballmer, it has *decreased* by around 57%. Not good.

MS *still* = Windows and Office. Great news 10 years ago. Really bad news in the post-PC era. MS just isn't up to the task. And apparently, all their money isn't doing them any good, either. In fact, the profits they reap from Windows/Office serves also to obfuscate and distort the reality that they have little to no presence in progressive, forward-looking consumer markets, and they simply lack the initiative to do anything about it. And now Google is making a play for the enterprise.

The game is no longer between MS and Apple. Apple already won that. Every time the press asks Ballmer an Apple-related question and he huffs and puffs and regurgitates some half-hearted, nonsensical answer, you know Apple's won. MS is now in Apple's rear-view. Why? Apple focuses on the end-user experience, on things that will delight consumers. Meanwhile MS focuses on milking their licensing racket and following Apple on the side, but by providing a distinctly non-Apple experience. Oops.

The game is now between MS and Google for the title of Best Of The Worst (as in, best-of-show-commodity-vendor.)

 

[samcraig]

I have to laugh at who started this thread and the subject matter. Why?

Simple. LTD likes to claim that Apple creates their tech for those that don't want to know how things work - and for the "general population"

Then he posts the opposite in his "dissection" of the article (IE - tech savvy people buy Apple).

So which is it? Let's watch the backpedaling now...

p.s. We're not in a post pc-era. Maybe in years to come.. but we're not there NOW. No matter what Steve or Apple says via sound bites.

 

[JoeG4]

I think tech saavy means you know how to use BMW I-Drive and can setup your own router.

Anything more than that is considered being a nerd.

Every platform has their stereotypes, Apple's platform just has more good ones:

Windows platform: Guys in suits, people that have a Costco membership and claim it's the second coming of Christ. everyone else.
Linux: Skinny white guys that love dungeons & dragons
Mac: Hollywood blondes, guys in skinny jeans and shirts with popped collars, and for some reason if you get a room full of Mac Users together, there's always that guy that looks like Michael Moore. He had a Performa and if you talk to him he'll tell you about the Classic Mac days and how much Apple has changed. The hollywood bimbo and the skinny jeans metrosexual look at this guy and cringe in horror when he pulls out an iPhone.

 

[KingCrimson]

It's a bit of a myth that Apple devices are just easy as hell to set up compared to non-Apple. F.e., setting up the Airport Express was NOT easy for me at all, despite the fact I consider myself a power user. It took some extensive reading to find out I needed to first configure it by plugging it into the Mac via CAT5 first. Maybe 5 years ago Macs were easier to set up, but it isn't the case anymore. Complex devices require intelligence, no matter what.

 

[rasmasyean]

p.s. We're not in a post pc-era. Maybe in years to come.. but we're not there NOW. No matter what Steve or Apple says via sound bites.

Yeah, those images of ppl on phones and tablets doing all their work in the streets and even "back to the dumb terminal" notions always make me laugh. As for now, those are complements, not replacements. "PC sales" are still strong and Fortune 500's are upgrading to Windows 7 / Office 2010, or whatever still as we speak. It's just that now like EVERYONE has their eyes on some form of gadget besides the "skinny white dungeons and dragons players".

For the most part, industry doesn't care all that much about "flashy user experiences" because they use their applications so much that it's like second nature. It just has to do the job so they can go home to their friends and family...period. The PC has so much history that it's going to take a while before you can replace all that already existing software and hardware that are co-dependent on eachother.

On that note, using "video/audio applications" doesn't make you "tech-savvy" either. Practically anyone can learn how to use these applications as they are fairly simple to use once you get used to it and the pros like just know the ins and outs of those specific menus and functions and stuff. The trick is to make your video/audio APPEALING vs. look like a 12 y/o's home youtube video. That has more to do with creativeity vs. "tech".