Firstly there have been numerous articles posted here stating customer satisfaction is much higher with Mac users then PC users. If you can get better and cheaper PC's (which is a way is true) then Macs then why are the PC users not as satisfied?
Secondly there is customer service. For at least and a lot of people I know Apple's customer service is second to none. Which means a lot because a computer is a big investment to some people. And in a few years time they need to know the if anything goes wrong that the people they bought it from are still around and able and willing to deal with their concerns. And have the knowledge to do so.
Take the computers themselves out of the equation, a lot of people actually care for the above things. These MS stores can be as fancy as they want to be but without the above basics I don't know how well they will go.
Firstly there have been numerous articles posted here stating customer satisfaction is much higher with Mac users then PC users. If you can get better and cheaper PC's (which is a way is true) then Macs then why are the PC users not as satisfied?
Ratio of PC users to Apple users. Ratio of high end PC users to your average Joe PC users. Two things you have to consider.
A PC user with an i7 machine with a 512mb+ GPU and 6GB of RAM is going to have no problems running Vista 64 vs the person with the P4 and 512mb of RAM with an integrated chip that's that's trying to run Vista.
The high end PC user that spent as much on his PC as a Mac user is most likely going to be one satisfied individual.
Quote:
Originally Posted by the8thark
Secondly there is customer service. For at least and a lot of people I know Apple's customer service is second to none. Which means a lot because a computer is a big investment to some people. And in a few years time they need to know the if anything goes wrong that the people they bought it from are still around and able and willing to deal with their concerns. And have the knowledge to do so.
Which you really pay for in the long run. Two years free with some of Dell's machines where they'll send a tech to your house if need be and where they'll talk to you on the phone the entire duration of the warranty vs. one year free with only 3 months of time where anyone will speak to you on the phone unless you purchase the extended warranty and after that, you have to take it to an Apple store which can be over an hour drive for some people.
And of course there are varying degrees in between. Built your own system? You may have to call several different people and there's no guarantee they won't blame it on any of the other components.
Quote:
Originally Posted by the8thark
Take the computers themselves out of the equation, a lot of people actually care for the above things. These MS stores can be as fancy as they want to be but without the above basics I don't know how well they will go.
I'm curious as to what PC's they're going to sell. Windows comes packages on a bajillion different machines, are they going to have HP, Dell, and Toshiba or are they going to be machines produced and labeled strictly for MS store sales? With the current economic situation, I don't see it benefitting MS too much.
There doesn't seem to be anything new and innovative about that packaging. Looks like they slapped on the windows logo and overlaid a distress pattern.
I say good luck to them. They are seriously going to need it.
I'm sure there will be 7 versions of that too. In my standpoint, I think it's pretty ridiculous how MS needs to make several versions of the same thing. It's very expensive, and to be even up to par with JUST features to OS X is if you shell out another $400 and get Vista Ultimate. So if you buy a $500 or $600 machine, and the OS it comes with (home basic, for example) and you don't like it, guess what? You're back at the store to buy a $400 OS. So really, if you think about it, it's pretty close to buying a Mac.
And Macs come with iLife pre loaded. Software that Windows machines do not have on there. And if you want that kind of software, that's more money for the Windows user. When I first got my MacBook, I was making songs in GarageBand after 5 minutes from turning it on to setting it up. Do that with a Windows desktop machine or laptop. The ability to be able to use every single feature of the operating system along with it's pre-loaded software turned me on, and I bet turns many other people on.
Also, the reliability is amazing with Macs. It's like buying a computer with the luxury and power of a Mercedes, but having the reliability of a Honda, one that will last you 300,000+ miles. I have had my MacBook for a little over a year now, and absolutely NOTHING has gone wrong with it. OS and hardware wise. It runs just about the same as when I first turned her on. When I had my Toshiba Satellite, guess what went out in 6 months? the CD/DVD drive. WOW. Then a couple months later, the internal Wi-Fi card went out. It was also extremely sluggish, and I could drive to Cincinnati and back in the time it took to boot up. So the 2 most used features of my laptop wen out in less than a year, and it took a year to do something. That laptop caused me nothing but trouble.
We all hate viruses. Well, if you switched to Mac you USED to hate them.
It'll be funny to see how many people shuffle out of the M$ store confused and irritated just to walk into an Apple store and feel free.
I wish I could visit one of those Apple Stores that you feel free in.
I've only been in two Apple stores so far, but it's been some of the most irrating experiences in my life. It's crowded, people are rude, the Apple personnel is snobbish
If a visit to the Apple store was what I would have needed to switch to Apple, I never in a million years would have even thought about switching. I would have walked out of there furious and never thought about Apple products again.
I'm sure there will be 7 versions of that too. In my standpoint, I think it's pretty ridiculous how MS needs to make several versions of the same thing. It's very expensive, and to be even up to par with JUST features to OS X is if you shell out another $400 and get Vista Ultimate. So if you buy a $500 or $600 machine, and the OS it comes with (home basic, for example) and you don't like it, guess what? You're back at the store to buy a $400 OS. So really, if you think about it, it's pretty close to buying a Mac.
And Macs come with iLife pre loaded. Software that Windows machines do not have on there. And if you want that kind of software, that's more money for the Windows user. When I first got my MacBook, I was making songs in GarageBand after 5 minutes from turning it on to setting it up. Do that with a Windows desktop machine or laptop. The ability to be able to use every single feature of the operating system along with it's pre-loaded software turned me on, and I bet turns many other people on.
Also, the reliability is amazing with Macs. It's like buying a computer with the luxury and power of a Mercedes, but having the reliability of a Honda, one that will last you 300,000+ miles. I have had my MacBook for a little over a year now, and absolutely NOTHING has gone wrong with it. OS and hardware wise. It runs just about the same as when I first turned her on. When I had my Toshiba Satellite, guess what went out in 6 months? the CD/DVD drive. WOW. Then a couple months later, the internal Wi-Fi card went out. It was also extremely sluggish, and I could drive to Cincinnati and back in the time it took to boot up. So the 2 most used features of my laptop wen out in less than a year, and it took a year to do something. That laptop caused me nothing but trouble.
We all hate viruses. Well, if you switched to Mac you USED to hate them.
My 2 cents.
Does OS X come with drive encryption software? Ultimate does. If you actually need it, you'll pay for it. If not, then don't. And if you do need drive encryption, you're probably not using a $500 machine in the first place.
And the reliability thing is funny. My first apple MBP had a jeacked up case, returned it for another and the keys on it were crooked. The MBP I bought this year had a screen that needed to be replaced because the backlight was uneven. It also overheats and shut down when I do anything that taxes the video card.
Not to mention, I've had to reinstall OS X on the new one because one day I turned it on and and I got the big no entry sign.
My 2-3 year old 17" dell just has a bad power cord and that's from my roommates bending it up every which way.
Every company has their share of problems. If Apple's reliability was that great, you wouldn't have forums full of people posting problems they're having about their machines.
Oh, and if you think their QC is top notch, look up the thermal paste problem. Probably the reason that my MBP can't stay cool to save it's life.
I still use Windows Vista Ultimate, home premium, WHS, OS X, and Ubuntu. I compute smart so I don't have to worry about viruses.
Edit: I know there are others on here that use many different OSes and computers. Does anyone get annoyed with people just straight out bashing things like Windows. It's the same on other computing forums where people start talking trash about OS X.
...Edit: I know there are others on here that use many different OSes and computers. Does anyone get annoyed with people just straight out bashing things like Windows. It's the same on other computing forums where people start talking trash about OS X.
Kind of depends if their points are valid and if they actually have experience and know what they are talking about.
IE. If they never have tried it themselves and just jump on the bandwagon then yes that annoys me.
I compute smart so I don't have to worry about viruses.
Yes maybe you are "compute smart". But a lot of others out there are not. And with OS X even those with little computer knowledge are protected from the viruses out there.
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Originally Posted by Village Idiot
Does OS X come with drive encryption software? Ultimate does.
Very true. But a quick google search can get you some nice free drive encryption options for OS X. And for those people who worry about this worry of thing should be smart enough to use google. Well one would hope.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Village Idiot
Does anyone get annoyed with people just straight out bashing things like Windows.
Yes. Just as I hate the straight out OS X bashers. There are a lot of people who post their computer problems on forums. But there are a lot more who are happy with their computers (be it PC or Apple) and do not post "oohhh no problems here I love my computer".
And complaining is a good thing. If no one complained how would the likes of Apple, MS etc know what the public want and don't want, like and don't want etc?
