LaptopMagazine: Can Apple stay on top

So, what do you think about this article

as i sit here reading this on a PC at work, i think apple will survive. that was a well written article. it covered both sides of the argument well.

Obviously, Apple is doomed. Just look at this enlightening article from Forbes Magazine:
http://www.forbes.com/2000/10/09/1005malone.html
(Note the date.)

technologist said:

Obviously, Apple is doomed. Just look at this enlightening article from Forbes Magazine:
http://www.forbes.com/2000/10/09/1005malone.html
(Note the date.)

Click to expand...

I laughed when I read that article. Although I don't follow Apple's stock prices, I think that alone does not a company, define. Apple has a business model for the near-term which could potentially propel them into the long term. "Do a few things and do them very well". Apple creates products that appeal to average consumers AND enthusiasts, and that's not an easy task.

Take the iPod, for example. This device is so successful because it's "vertically engineered". No, I'm not referring to the profile of the unit, but rather the encompassing culture that is iPod. They made the device beautiful, simple, intuitive, and robust. Apple also made the software to go with it. They don't have to rely on a third-party do do anything. I don't care that my iPod won't run WMA files, Ogg (natively), or Flac. In fact, I don't give a **** what files it plays as long as it plays them.

apple is a company like no other. the ipod. starting with only one option, the 5gb big, but simply a beautiful physic and interface. now, a few years later you see all other companies are trying to "beat" the ipod. none can do this. everything else is being compared to it. now, the mac mini. small, powerful, beautiful physic. the interface, tiger, best os on the market. after its release more and more companies are trying to put out a small form factor computer. dual processor computers? not even alienware has these. other companies keep trying to do the same thing, by new technologies into their current products, its about new simplicity. apple will be around for awhile, users going up and up.

technologist said:

Obviously, Apple is doomed. Just look at this enlightening article from Forbes Magazine:
http://www.forbes.com/2000/10/09/1005malone.html
(Note the date.)

Click to expand...

Yeah, note the date, and realize it was prior to the iPod. The iPod is, of course, a cash cow right now, and is apparently inducing some people to switch from PCs to Macs because they like the things so much.

There is certainly a real posibility that the iPod pulled a few chestnuts out of the fire. Certainly revenue from iPod sales have done more to make the company healthy in the last four years than anything else.

But, to return to the OP and the original article, I think #10 on the negatives side was right on.

10. Nobody likes a snob.
No matter how fantastic Apple's products may be, overzealous users continue to be the company's worst asset. For every rational Mac fan, happily extolling the virtues of an often overlooked computing platform, there are a dozen more, ready to rationalize every misstep the company makes and downplay the successes of other platforms. The Mac Cultists are scary-and uncool.

Click to expand...

Thats an interesting article. I sometimes wonder the same thing when I look at my ipod. I think there are two sides to this solution, but both end bad or good if you think about it.

Side 1)- If Apple becomes as big as, lets say Dell computers, do you think the quality and performance of their computers will slip? Will the qualities of the materials Apple use on their computers slip and become "Cheaper." Will there eventually be virus hackers that can destroy your mac? But if you look on the other hand. Your neighbor's neighbor's neighbor would have one. You wont be the only guy/gal on the block with a mac. Another bright side is that Apple will bring in more money for their company, which could mean more products available at the same time.

Side 2)- If Apple remains small as a company, with bueatiful computers and outstanding hardware/software, are you as a mac user commented to being "different in the neighborhood?" Though the oustanding quality of Macs will remain on par, will Apple produce more computers at the same time if they continue to remain "smaller of the pc crowd?"

My conlusion is that either way, Apple will exceed and fail at some things.
By the way......if you wanna know which one I agree with, its side 2!!! I think Apple shouldnt rush into things. As of right now, I think Apple is doing a great job with its business strategy. Has anyone noticed all the new Apple Stores popping around? :headphone

dan828 said:

But, to return to the OP and the original article, I think #10 on the negatives side was right on.

10. Nobody likes a snob.
No matter how fantastic Apple's products may be, overzealous users continue to be the company's worst asset. For every rational Mac fan, happily extolling the virtues of an often overlooked computing platform, there are a dozen more, ready to rationalize every misstep the company makes and downplay the successes of other platforms. The Mac Cultists are scary-and uncool.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

From a business perspective, overzealous users are called "loyal customers." That's not a bad asset to have.

From a purchasing prerspective, do you buy a product based on the product's merits, or based on the group membership that owning the product confers?

Oh my god, according to that article Im scary and uncool......

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I love it.....I KNEW I was uncool, but scary too?

technologist said:

From a business perspective, overzealous users are called "loyal customers." That's not a bad asset to have.

From a purchasing prerspective, do you buy a product based on the product's merits, or based on the group membership that owning the product confers?

Click to expand...

Not a bad asset to have, and I'll give you that Apple wouldn't have survived in it's current form without the "cult of mac." But currently, I see Apple going more mainstream than they have been for about a decade. With first the iPod and then the Mac Mini there has been an influx of non-zealots into the fold (I bought a Mac Mini, and it's the first Apple product I've owned in about 12 years). But when people start exploring their new products, running into a bunch of zelots that while absolutly brook no criticism of Apple and seem to take personal offence at the least perceived slight is off-putting to say the least.

As a kid I remember arguing endlessly with my friends about why my Apple ][+ was twenty times better than their Commodore 64 or Atari 800. As an adult I think such things are foolish, and frankly find people that have "drunk the kool-aid" and have gone beyond product loyalty into downright zelotry to be, as the article said, "scary and un-cool."

Interesting read.