Is Apple the real U.S. PC market share leader -- or soon will be?

BetaNews ^ | Published August 20, 2010, 4:34 PM | Joe Wilcox

[Dr. Sivana]

Did your PC in 1987 have a WYSIWYG word processor?

Yup! Write.exe under Windows 2.0! (GRIN)

of course, I was using WordPerfect (DOS), and the WYSIWIG preview only came in with 5.0 (1988). I was also using Aldus PageMaker (100% WYSIWIG), and Ventura Publisher under GEM was very popular.

The funny thing is, that in 1989 or so, Apple WAS the biggest individual computer manufacturer, with about 15% of the market, and the education market sewn up. In those days, there were so many viable companies (Everex, AT&T, AST, Northgate, KayPro, and a flotilla of small-timers filling up 700 page tabloid size issues of Computer Shopper) that being the single biggest vendor was not a huge achievement. Only a few years later, Apple was at 3% and in danger of being eclipsed. Microsoft saved Apple's bacon at that point. If it weren't for the Sherman Anti-Trust Law, Apple probably would have wound up being a subsidiary of IBM or Motorola making niche products, or just being a name put on bargain basement devices sold next to the Admiral, Curtis-Mathes and Packard-Bell appliances at the Montgomery Ward.

The only relevant question is whether Apple has a large enough base to have a thriving, supported product line. The answer is absolutely. Their products are great for many people. We don't want to think about what Jobs would charge if it weren't for Microsoft and Droid and HTC. We also don't want to think about what either OS X, Windows or the various Linux front ends would function like without the cross-pollination that has occurred over the last 20 years. I remember the days of having eight different word processors, all with radically different interfaces (F3 for "help" in WordPerfect.) It is a lot easier now, though at the expense of career opportunities for desktop support.

Apple was and is a very important part of it, but they are only part of the show... the flashy wide receiver, not the work horse offensive line. You need both.

[Dr. Sivana]

When I called Apple, they would point to the publisher’s init as the problem.

Init and Font conflicts have been a problem since the original Macintosh 128K.

The thing that maddens me about Windows is that Microsoft picks EVRY SINGLE WRONG DEFAULT on install. You could be installing Windows XP SP3 on a 256MB machine running on a 600Mhz processor, and Windows will by default pick all of the visual bells and whistles that slow the computer down.

[SJSAMPLE]

My sister’s husband has all of his flight manuals, maps and NOTAMs on his. Pretty cool device for flight training.

For kids, amazing.
One sister has two nominally autistic kids, and they were able to use it without problem.

Agreed, though.
I can’t imagine that I’d ever replace my PC.

Was gonna buy one, but bought a treadmill instead ;)
Maybe in the next incarnation.

[SJSAMPLE]

Exactly.
I buy and install handheld RF terminals that run Windows components, but none of them would ever be called a PC.

However, I’ve run PC tablets and they were definitely PCs. Wish they were more capable, though.

[Dr. Sivana]

I sit by the pool with my iPad, VPN into my server at work and then use VNC to connect to my desktop. I then can do anything by the pool that I can do at my desk, only I am dressed differently. I can sit at the beach and do the same utilizing the 3G network. Find me an 8-bit CPM box from 1981 that can do that.

In 1981, you could have done the same thing with a Lear-Siegler dumb-terminal, a 300 baud acoustic modem, and two very long cables (power and phone line). There might have been some guys with packet radio devioces that could make it wireless. Your legs would be aching from the weight of the dumb terminal.

I didn't say that the iPad wasn't great, I would love to have one! But I have done the same thing with my iPod Touch (using logmein.com). That ability doesn't make it a personal computer. A personal computer is about having everything essential in the device. Connectivity (wireless and graphical) is completely outside of the realm of a PERSONAL computer, which was meant to be self-sufficient.

This wasn't a question of whether IPads, iPods or Macs are great. They are fine. The question is what is a personal computer?

[coon2000]

I would hate to try to work on a spreadsheet or Quickbooks using a smart phone.

What is essential that is not in an iPad?

[Dr. Sivana]

What is essential that is not in an iPad?

The computer with iTunes that you have to use to set it up.

[antiRepublicrat]

We've got ATMs that run Windows

Nobody uses ATMs as computers. People use iPads as computers, there's even an office suite available. But as I said, as long as they remain slave devices to computers they can't be called computers in their own right.

[antiRepublicrat]

When an application didn’t work after I installed it, the publisher would point to Apple’s OS as being the problem. When I called Apple, they would point to the publisher’s init as the problem.

Some of the problems with Windows are because Microsoft would be nice to you and suck it up. Even though it was the application's fault (IMHO it usually is), Microsoft would write a hack into Windows to make that one application work. Windows is (at least was) full of such hacks.

[antiRepublicrat]

Did your PC in 1987 have a WYSIWYG word processor?

WordWriter on the Atari ST.

The Xerox Alto and Star had WYSIWYG in the 70s.

[TheBattman]

Do PC makers count netbooks as “PCs”? If so, then I see no problem counting the iPad as a PC - as it basically reflects Apple’s idea of a netbook.

[TheBattman]

Most of us consider “fanbois” or any derivative of that to be an attempt to start a flame war.

What about your post contributes to the conversation?

Your vain attempts to disrupt around here is duly noted.

[dennisw]

The words “Apple fanbois” is a term of endearment. Like that gay movie “The Boys in the Band” ——>>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boys_in_the_Band

[Nervous Tick]

Thin skins make good lampshades.

[Nervous Tick]

Hey, you forgot to whine to the mod about my post #8. Remove that one and I’m gone without a trace. No more opposing viewpoint! It’s another sunny day in Cupertino.

I know how important that is to you guys, so go for it.

[Swordmaker]

We've got ATMs that run Windows, but I doubt anyone's going to count them as PC's.

Uh, actually, they DO count those among total PCs sold and shipped.

[itsahoot]

Let’s count calculators too. Or how about microwaves and remotes controls?

Well actually I think they already do, they call them cash registers.

[BenKenobi]

:lol:

What’s next, classifying the ipod as a personal computer? What about an iphone?

When you can’t beat em, change the rules.

[tacticalogic]

Uh, actually, they DO count those among total PCs sold and shipped.

Can you tell me who "they" are, that are doing this?