but you see... switchers don't just wake up one day and say "I feel like switching today", iOS is a stepping stone and it's Apple's gateway to reach to those potential switchers. iOS introduces consumers to Apple's system and logic without overwhelming them with a steep learning curve (not that there's a huge one to start with), and most important of all, it brings the people into the Apple Store.
I have worked closely with Apple before and I can tell you, pretty much 90% of the switchers don't make up their mind the first time they walk into the Apple Store; it's more like teaching a baby how to walk and taking them out of their comfort zone (aka. POS Windows)..
I understand where you are coming from, but unfortunately raising specs to lure switchers is a poor strategy. Apple is successful in building premium products with high profit margins by providing top of the line specs does not go in line with their corporate strategy at the moment. While it's true that there's a niche market for $3000+ MBAs, I can assure you that those are not switchers; they are long time Mac users with $$ to spend. You might lose those people right now to products such as the Sony Vaio Z; but they will come back when there's a good MBA revision.. a majority of MBA users have a lot more disposable income than the average user/switcher as most of them are business owners/executives (at least from my experience) with only a few that are true mac fanatics (like us who are ranting on this board about the delay of the MBA)
I am a first-year college student, with a major of computer science, and new to these forums. My father was a programmer so naturally at a young age I was exposed to computers, mainly the Windows series (starting at Windows 95, 98, 2000, ME, XP, skipped Vista, 7) and naturally I favored Windows strongly over the Mac OSX. Why? Because I was familiar with Windows, and because of vague arguments such as Windows are better than Macs. I actually think that I favored Windows in contrast to Macs because of ignorance of what Macs are or why Windows is 'so and so' and Macs are 'so and so'.
I agree with the quote above, that just because I get a BSOD or some problem with Windows I think, "Oh, stupid Windows, time to switch to Mac." My first physical exposure to a Mac machine was in an elective for graphic art design in high school. I was surprised and mildly annoyed that I would be using a "bad" machine, but I managed to use it for the second semester. There was nothing special about it, I thought the mouse was pitiful (the little ball scroll) compared to other mouses, but nothing painful with using the iMac. Did I make a switch? No, I actually built a desktop the following summer and I love it. Did I gain some knowledge about the Mac and the OSX? Not really, just a little.
But now I'm in college. I'm typing on my HP Envy 14, a great Mac look-alike with a beautiful 1600x900 screen. Unfortunately, I was an ass, wearing a sports bag with my laptop in a thin case and running. I damaged my screen so now 1/4th of the screen cannot be seen with vertical lines running through and cracks. Even worse, HP is no longer selling Envy 14 models with the same resolution display, therefore when I called to try to get the part, they had none.
I'm planning on buying a new laptop. However, from my month in college I did play around with Macs and the OSX more often. About one out of ten students uses a Mac, and half the labs are Mac based systems. I'd say the ratio is the same for the professors (half). The trackpad is the greatest thing I can ever use in my honest opinion. Design is also elegant and phenomenal, aluminum unibody as a heatsink so I don't hear any pesky fan noises. Though it is annoying that I can't do what I want to do with Windows (program's list, explorer, alt-tab, command replacing some control functions, etc.), I am very interested in learning more about the OSX.
I was gonna pull the trigger on the Macbook Pro 13" (I don't play games anymore, so C2D would fit my needs such as programming, websurfing, etc.) but I wanted something a little more unique and I thought of the Macbook Air. Of course, 1400$ for something with less specs than the Macbook was quite a blow but I wanted something razor thin and light. But the deal breaker was that I heard a new Macbook Air is coming out. Smaller size, thinner than before, cheaper, and possibly the new Intel chips (not the Sandy Bridge ones haha). So, I'm just waiting now and seeing what happens. My birthday will be on Oct. 15 so maybe the MBA will be announced then.
But the major reason for my switch to Apple is because:
Laptop design - Everything about the Macbook - the aluminum unibody, elegance, screen, trackpad, slot-load drive - is perfect. I only hate the mouse.
OSX - It takes time to get used to it. In my opinion, familiarity is the main disadvantage although I'd love to explore a new OS.
My understanding that it's not what make the machine but what makes the outcome worth it. Whether I spend 1k on a laptop with better specs or 1k on a Mac with inferior specs doesn't make a difference to me. In my opinion, I think that we all really just are consumers who upgrade at max 2 years. Unless I'm utterly devoted into the budget route, I'd see no reason why not to consider a Mac. However, I notice that marketing really does work and now that I look back on myself and at my friends' (not computer savvies by the way) discussion of laptops for college, the words 'new', 'powerful', 'fastest', always dominate the field. My friend got an i7 processor because he thinks he's getting the best out of a laptop, at a cheap price, atleast cheaper than a Mac. All for only music playing, web surfing, essay-creating, etc.
So that's my reason for coming out of the closet. But, I'm not an all-Apple nor am I all-Microsoft. I would, 100% of the time, build a DIY brand new desktop - an elegant, unique, small form factor desktop with the best cable management I can do to try to fit good stuff into it than a Mac Pro. But the laptops are a different case. I give kudos to Apple for that. So, welcome me into your ranks. I'm waiting for the Macbook Air.
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