Posted on 01/13/2005 12:28:42 PM PST by ambrose
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By Stephen Evans
BBC North America business correspondent
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It's tempting to think that Steve Jobs is some sort of religious leader rather than the chief executive of a rather successful computer company.
And you could be forgiven for thinking that his Apple products are objects of religious devotion rather than mere pieces of plastic enclosing silicon chips.
The Cult of Mac does have some rational basis.
There seems little doubt that the products are very good. Its strong attractions are usability and good looks (though not usually price until this week's announcement of a less expensive home computer).
Inspired behaviour
There is clearly, though, something more to it than mere mundane functionality.
Lots of companies make good products but they don't attract the kind of religious zeal that Mac inspires.
Take the case of John Charlton, for example, who, according to Wired magazine, travels the world with his Newton, the PDA which Apple discontinued in 1998, and has now created a gallery of pictures of the said gizmo in front of various global landmarks from Florida to Munich to Lisbon.
Or the people who cut their hair to show an Apple symbol or who get Mac tattoos or who dress up like Steve Jobs or who trek around the world to the opening of a new Apple Store.
Rebellious streak
It is a tribal thing - the Mac Tribe - and a sociological phenomenon, to do perhaps with a minority who believe they have seen a truth, much like the drivers of VW Beetles would wave to each other in the 60s, knowing utterly that their car was superior, but it was a secret unperceived by the rest.
There may also be a type of person who delights in going against the herd.
Whatever is fashionable for the masses becomes unfashionable for the minority. Manchester City and the New York Mets both have their loyal followers who would rather die than head for Old Trafford or Yankee Stadium. And so it is with Microsoft and Apple.
While the big company dominates the market with its uncool product, Macs offer an alternative to those with a streak of bolshiness and perversity (both nouns are compliments).
Cool dudes?
None of which is to say that Apple and Mac offer style but no substance.
Clearly, the company is getting a lot right. Its devotees (disciples?) swear by their products as being effective and easy to use.
It's just that there's something more to it than that: the packaging and sales-pitch have succeeded brilliantly in conveying a whole life-style and image.
That style emanates from the top.
Steve Jobs is the counter-image of a stuffy businessman. He wears trainers, jeans and black sweaters.
Apple's attitude to the media is actually tight and highly controlled yet the image portrayed is of a cool and easy-going counter-culture.
Pure marketing
Let me declare an interest: I own a Microsoft driven personal computer. It serves me very well. I have no strong feelings about it. Mac may or may not be better; it's just that it's not the route I happened to take.
I get stalked, though, by colleagues who insist on telling me how much better their iPod is than my Dell Jukebox, even as the reviews say the battery life of an iPod isn't the best around. Or how I should throw my PC away and get a Mac.
They may be right.
It's just that some of the message is in the marketing.
We asked you, our readers, if you are Mac followers or loathe Macs, or indeed whether you are simply puzzled by this phenomenon? The feedback printed below reflects the wide range of views held.
I have not got a clue about this issue and i am a loser when it comes to technology.
Hassan Shah, Watford
Not to knock Jobs, but that iPod shuffle round his neck looks terribly unfashionable. Sort of like when you were back in school and you had that teacher with the big glasses and pen hanging round her neck. I for one won't get one until it is covered in zebra stripes and purrs everytime I do something right, like my girlfriend ;-)
John, London
Macs have always lead the way. They are simpler, more intuitive to use and now cost less! They are also better quality.
Jeff Lil, Hull UK
I must admit to being puzzled by the whole Apple cult. I too have had my ear bent by Mac nerds, but I've ignored them because I can't see the point of paying over the odds for an inferior product just because someone considers it to be stylish. Why buy a Mac when you can get a PC that will outperform it in every respect for half the price?
Anthony Jones, Leeds UK
Once again, disappointingly, a report on Apple rehashes the old myth, that Macs are more expensive than their equivalent PCs. Utter Tosh. TCO (total cost of ownership) studies show, time and again, with equivalent hardware and software, that Macs are actually cheaper. Lazy journalistic nonsense.
John, Forfar, Scotland
I like the idea of the Ipod shuffle and also the price but I can't help but feel that they are really taking advantage of new computer users with the mini Mac. They are taking advantage of Mac as a hip brand name to sell a product without a keyboard, mouse and monitor and are marketing it like they are doing the consumer a favour.
People will buy them because Mac is the it thing to have but these will be home users wanting something to look good next to their lava lamps or something. If Mac just lowered the prices for their Macs anyway they would be able to compete with PC no problem in my opinion, I feel we are being slightly ripped off by this mini Mac.
Andrew Maddock, Harrow, London
I am indeed puzzled. The Mac Mini is lacklustre. The specification are so 2003. And yet people are willing to pay money for that. The iPod Shuffle is even worse.
March Suffot, London
I am always amazed with how intuitive Apple products are to use. Proof: they come with no manuals.
Bav, Brussels
I'm a user of Macs and PCs (and by the way, it's not just a matter of Apple versus Microsoft: Microsoft Office is very widely used on Macs, at any rate in corporates).
I don't have a strong preference as regards the working environment: as an IT professional, I've worked on and supported both platforms (and others). I suppose if I didn't need to maintain my skills on both platforms I'd be content enough with a Mac.
I think, objectively, the interface is generally better, not to mention friendlier for non-experts, and I've happily produced reams using one or other of my Macs. But then, I've done the same on PCs.
However, I do get irritated by the aggressive evangelism of many Mac (and Linux) users: perhaps Mac users really are smarter, cuddlier, safer and more creative than PC users (but I'd like to see some reliable, objective statistics!), but in my experience they're often rude and arrogant.
I suspect that this often shows a deep-seated defensiveness and insecurity. Apple do many things just right (and I'm not just talking marketing either), but they aren't perfect.
Furthermore, Mac users don't live in a vacuum: the Mac experience might be more productive and pleasant if the rest of the online world supported the platform better. The fact that they don't isn't the fault of Apple or the customers (well, sometimes it is: insularity is not an attractive trait), but it isn't an argument for putting all your eggs in the Mac basket, either.
David Harley CISSP, Headley Down, UK
I think that for most Mac users there are a range of factors that influence us. A distrust or dissatisfaction of Microsoft is one factor - in this sense Mac users are similar to people who choose Firefox over IE or Linux over Windows.
In many cases there are also very specific, practical reasons. I use a Mac at work because I have something like 10 years of resources created on Macs (some of which use software unique to the Mac).
I use a Mac to read email by preference to reduce my exposure to viruses (most of which can't damage the Mac OS or Mac files).
Finally, Mac products tend to have a longer shelf-life than Windows PC products and tend to be easier to use. This last point is no longer as true as used to be (Apple has adopted generic PC components in its machines and lowered quality slightly over the years), but I have never had a serious or expensive hardware fault with any Mac I've used at home or for work. This contrasts with the experience of many PC using colleagues at work over the years.
Thom Baguley, Loughborough
Your reporter sounds a bit defensive, insistent on portraying Mac users as "other" than normal computer users. Perhaps that makes him more comfortable with his Windows PC. If he focused on which computers are better for most users, his stubborn resistance to trying a Mac may give way. Oh, the horror!
Ted Rebarber, United States
I have used Macs for almost 20 years and a Windows PC on only a couple of occasions. I don't drive a Beetle (or Bug) but chuckled at the article, agreeing with it and identify with many aspects of it.
It's not a religious thing, just about finding what works best for you ... except you then want to evangelise about the 'great truth' you have discovered, which sort of makes it a quasi-religious thing!
PS. I have already placed my order for an iPod shuffle!
Lester Peters, High Wycombe, UK
Apple has an outstanding Marketing department that could sell rain coats in the desert. As for their products, its all down to hype and marketing. Many companies offer better products at far lower prices.
"Macs are really easy to use" they cry. Anyone who has ever sat down in front of a Mac for the first time will realise that a Mac is very easy to use - but only when you know how to use it!
Phil Templeton, Poole, Uk
As is usually the case with these things, those pursuing "anti-fashion" are the biggest fashion victims of them all. It reminds me of my teenage niece who wants to be "different" just like the rest of her friends.
Matt, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (ex. UK)
If this goes on, in few years time it'll be rebellious not to have a Mac product. So far, I'm doing well, I don't have any! ;-)
Konstantinos M, Athens/London
Everybody knows that Macs are better than PCs. But we all have to use PCs for compatibility, because everyone else does.
Adam, London, UK
Who cares?
Chris, Lincoln
It is the coolest computer to open too. Push in the handle and whooshes up, grab the handle and pull the core. Put it back in, push in the handle.
Sort of like those scenes in the movies where they pull the core of a nuclear weapon...
You can get a wireless card built in for an extra charge. You don't need the slot. Macs had wireless internet before PCs had it and it still works better on a Mac.
A month or so ago I was at a business meeting held at a major University, which is making a specialized piece of scientific equipment for my company. There was a Linksys wireless access point in the conference room where we held about an 8 hour meeting.
I pulled out my Mac powerbook (2 years old by now) and in under 30 seconds was connected to the internet.
A subcontractor making a presentation had 3 guys with 4 PCs at this meeting. During the course of the 8 hours each of the subcontractor's guys asked me how I got onto the network because in an entire 8 hours not one of them could get even one of the four PCs to connect.
In a nutshell this is the difference between a Mac and a PC. The fool thing just works. No BS, no fiddling around, it just plain works.
These threads amuse me. Other than people who program for a living, folks who make money with their computers never regret using Macs. People who play games, write programs, and want to build their own computers use Windows.
People who buy Windows because they think it costs less end up with a cheap computer. And most likely get exactly what you would expect from a cheap computer.
Big companies like PCs. Why? Well, they have IT (Information Technology) departments. When a company has PCs they have big IT departments, when they have Macs they have small IT departments. If you have a big IT department the manager gets paid more. This is great if you are the one collecting the salary, but not so good if you are the one paying it. I use Mac at home & PC at work. No matter how fast the processor is, the slowest link in the process is the human being. Because my Mac works in a much more logical way, with fewer mouse clicks and better thought put into the interface I do more work with it than with the PPC.
Are you telling us he is carrying a Mac Mini in that lunch box???
It obviously isn't carrying his apple.
Acutally Macs are excellent for programming. The Cocoa API combined with Unix under the hood gives you lots of power. Currently I'm working on a project that will have Mac and Windows versions. The guy doing the Windows version is going through a long and painful process to get an IE COM object to display HTML. Me? One line of code using Cocoa and WebKit.
Wooly,
I have updated dozens of XPs to SP2... two have had issues with the upgrade. This was a standard IBM ThinkPad... and it is SYSTEM software that the upgrade trashed. That is unacceptable. Unfortunately this is not rare. The primary problem is the fact the owner does not have the original install disks so that this can be repaired easily.
LOL. For the record, there are plenty of small PCs out there, as well, if size is the problem. There's the Shuttle size, roughly a 6" cube, and also a handheld size smaller than the new Mac if size impresses you that much.
All that said, this new Mac does look cool and will probably sell like popcorn. And I do love my iPod.
MM
Yup, there sure are. And every one of them comes with the virus called "Windows".
I know the poor college student feeling.
It is so tempting to run out and get a laptop, but I better not. My tower is just fine.
Lugging around a monitor for the Mac Mini would be a problem...
you still need a monitor, don't you?
Yep, you do. Unless they build the screen with it, it is still too much to lug around in a backpack.
I agree. It's surprisingly easy. Read a little at www.anandtech.com, buy parts at www.newegg.com, assemble the parts. Takes a couple of weekends at most and then you understand and can upgrade your own PC for years to come, in addition to having a better box for your money.
YAWWWWWWNNNNNN. Strange that despite all the security hoopla, I've never had a Windows machine go down or even have any noteworthy difficulties due to a virus or any other security issue. I'm running seven Windows boxes right now.
As I said, I like my iPod. I may even buy one of the new Macs to tinker with; I do digital forensics work and it'd be nice to have an up-to-date Mac to be familiar with. But guess what? The world runs on Microsoft Windows and that's gonna continue to be the case for a long time.
The anti-Microsoft zealotry, whether manifested by Mac fans or Linux fans, is one of the silliest, most ridiculous things I've ever seen. Say what you will, but Bill Gates changed the world and as far as I'm concerned, the change was largely positive.
MM
I guess I'm not making myself clear. I've many times watched a DVD while burning a CD, in some cases, two different CDs at the same time on the afore mentioned machine without video and/or audio stuttering.
On several occasions I've burned CDs, scanned photographs, and watched a DVD all at the same time without stuttering. None of these activities came close to loading the machine up enough to noticeably affect responsiveness and usability, much less become unbearable. Perhaps you should take a closer look at your hardware and software mix.
that is sweet
My mix is fine--though I'm sure there are better burning applications than Roxio, I've yet to find any as intuitive. Nero is an overcomplicated mess.
I'm glad your configuration works well--for the rest of us, it ain't going to work.
One DVD drive, one system.
It's my real-world equivalent of the One Ring.
Sucks to be poor...
That's because the "owner" probably never had it to begin with.
So it was the computer's fault when the BBS continually crashed over and over?
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