John Dvorac and the Temple of Doom
In his latest musings from PC Magazine, John Dvorac prophesizes that the Mac is a doomed platform. The argument, and one that keeps popping up eternally from various computer pundits, is based on market share. Dvorac calls the Mac market share “shrinking” despite the popularity of the iPod which he seems to feel is distracting Apple from its ills, or at least, is hiding them. Indeed, this year has seen several Mac software developers and hardware vendors drop support for the platform; and there is at least some truth in his observation from that aspect. Yet, the “shrinking market share” a.k.a. “sky is falling” approach does not match my own observations nor the expectations of some financial analysts who feel Apple is “on a roll”. Time will tell who is correct.
It is a typical American flaw to focus on quantity instead of quality. (I could get into a very verbose discussion of the associated neuroses manifesting in our everyday lives of that, but I won’t do it here.) Dvorac makes the argument—and a good one—that Macs need to be cheaper. Apple may be answering that call this year with a “headless” Mac in the $500-$600 range rumored to be released at Macworld Expo in a few weeks. Even if it doesn’t, if Apple needs to charge slightly higher costs than their competitors to keep charging forward in innovation and design, I think they’re warranted in doing so. Don’t get me wrong. I often do hesitate to buy Apple because of the premiums they charge; but I also have felt that the premium was generally worth it, which is why I’m still a Mac customer despite Apple’s continuing guffaws with quality control.
It’s been interesting to watch the effects of exposing people in my own family to Macs. So far, everybody who has become accustomed to them has liked them. In some cases, family members familiar with what they can do on a Windows machine have been impressed and surprised with what they could do with a Mac. Where that will lead, who knows? But you can bet the next time they need to buy a computer, they will at least look at Macs a lot more seriously.
The Mac may look like Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom, but it is really the Emperor Windows who’s in trouble.
It is a typical American flaw to focus on quantity instead of quality. (I could get into a very verbose discussion of the associated neuroses manifesting in our everyday lives of that, but I won’t do it here.) Dvorac makes the argument—and a good one—that Macs need to be cheaper. Apple may be answering that call this year with a “headless” Mac in the $500-$600 range rumored to be released at Macworld Expo in a few weeks. Even if it doesn’t, if Apple needs to charge slightly higher costs than their competitors to keep charging forward in innovation and design, I think they’re warranted in doing so. Don’t get me wrong. I often do hesitate to buy Apple because of the premiums they charge; but I also have felt that the premium was generally worth it, which is why I’m still a Mac customer despite Apple’s continuing guffaws with quality control.
It’s been interesting to watch the effects of exposing people in my own family to Macs. So far, everybody who has become accustomed to them has liked them. In some cases, family members familiar with what they can do on a Windows machine have been impressed and surprised with what they could do with a Mac. Where that will lead, who knows? But you can bet the next time they need to buy a computer, they will at least look at Macs a lot more seriously.
The Mac may look like Indiana Jones in the Temple of Doom, but it is really the Emperor Windows who’s in trouble.
posted by Andy Foster at
3:04 PM
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