Actually, there are. Not much in the modern computing hardware, but in the design, materials and construction of the cases. That machined aluminum just rocks above all other laptops, period.
That’s OK, they got stuck in that niche, but much of the computer industry simply shrugs and says, “Er, pretty, but I can do that on my PC.”
I could drive from here to California in my little commuter econo-car just the same as I could in a Mercedes sedan. But I think I'd prefer to take the Mercedes, better user experience.
And like a good company Apple isn't concentrating on marketshare, but making money. Its little niche has turned out to be much more profitable than others in the business.
“Actually, there are. Not much in the modern computing hardware, but in the design, materials and construction of the cases. That machined aluminum just rocks above all other laptops, period.”
I think you intentionally missed my point. Macs, internally, component for component, are so identical to PC’s that we can run Windows natively on them. Those components are there because of Windows, not Apple.
And while I never said Apple’s niche was little it is a niche that was unplanned. Remember the giant Bill Gates head at MacWorld? Jobs said back then that, “We have to embrace a notion that for Apple to win, Apple has to do a really good job.” That’s where I believe Apple, because of Jobs, began to embrace its niche. The box and the OS, however, would have to remain inseparable. A niche born out of necessity and they have embraced it nicely.