The PC Informant » Apple

Did Apple blow a golden opportunity?

Vic Laurie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:49:12 +0000

When Microsoft was struggling with the poor reception for Vista, poor search market share, security holes, and other problems, Apple made some inroads on Windows. However, several observers have written that Apple failed to really take advantage when Microsoft was in a hole. Now with Windows 7 revitalizing Microsoft, they say the chance to make substantial gains on Microsoft has passed.

Jim Jubak is a stock market commentator and at his investment blog, he asks, Has Apple blown it? Did the company squander the competitive chance of a lifetime? He makes a pretty good analysis:

But it still looks to me that Apple has missed its chance. It had a limited window of opportunity when competitors such as Microsoft couldn’t do anything right and it didn’t turn that opening into a big enough share of the personal computer market. It was first to market with a game-changing smart phone but the company has pursued a high-end niche strategy with the iPhone that has left the door wide open for Google to grab for the mass market.

If this is as good as it gets for Apple, the company has no one to blame, finally, but itself. The opportunity was there and Apple didn’t exploit it as ruthlessly and as relentlessly as it needed to.

Here’s my basic problem with Apple’s strategy and execution: The company didn’t kick ‘em hard enough when they were down.

In his blog, Bill Pytlovany, Windows expert and the author of WinPatrol, writes:

The market has been ripe for Apple to pick up a sizable portion of the computer share but it has failed. According to market researchers IDC and Gartner, Macintosh sales are up but their share is still way below 10%. That compares to PC sales by Acer and Toshiba. Why doesn’t the Mac have a larger market share?

Apple Inc has a polished image, high customer satisfaction and its brand identity couldn’t be much better. People who chose Macs have been very happy with their purchase. The only portable music play anyone wants is an iPod. The iPhone has set the bar so high for cell phones that companies are struggling to keep up. The stock value of AAPL is double what it was a year ago and is still climbing.

So, why are people still forking over their hard earned money for Windows 7 machines and not Macs? It doesn’t make sense. Did Apple drop the ball while Steve Jobs was on sick leave? In their efforts to target the cool people did they missed an opportunity to attract the main stream market disappointed with Windows Vista?

Personally, I think Apple has decided that the PC is not its main business. After all, it’s the consumer electronics like the iPod and the iPhone that have been blockbuster successes. In PCs, Apple has a strong niche position in the upscale market but apparently doesn’t see any point in going up against an entrenched Windows in the mass PC market.

What do you think? Did Apple miss a big chance to increase its share of the PC market? Or is it really a consumer electronics and entertainment company?

Windows 7 borrowed from the Mac?

Vic Laurie — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 16:52:43 +0000

A small ruckus broke out when Simon Aldous, partner group manager at Microsoft, acknowledged that the design of Windows 7 had drawn on some inspiration from the Mac. In an interview at PCR, Aldous said:

One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it’s very graphical and easy to use. What we’ve tried to do with Windows 7 – whether it’s traditional format or in a touch format – is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics.

Redmond was not pleased. Aldous was quickly slapped down by a Microsoft repudiation of his remarks. Brandon LeBlanc, a company spokesman wrote:

An inaccurate quote has been floating around the Internet today about the design origins of Windows 7 and whether its look and feel was “borrowed” from Mac OS X. Unfortunately this came from a Microsoft employee who was not involved in any aspect of designing Windows 7. I hate to say this about one of our own, but his comments were inaccurate and uninformed.

I admire Aldous’s candor, but I think his career path at Microsoft just took a new direction.

New Apple Mac operating system

Vic Laurie — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:52:25 +0000

Windows isn’t the only operating system getting a new version. A new OS called “Snow Leopard” is being released for the Apple Mac. Numerous reviews have appeared and they are summarized by Harry McCracken at Technologizer.

Profile of Steve Jobs

Vic Laurie — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:21:49 +0000

Anathema to some, adored by others, Apple CEO and founder Steve Jobs is always in the news. He has been one of the biggest influences in the tech world but his recent health problems have caused much speculation about his future role. Whatever his future at Apple, Jobs has had a profound influence on personal computing and consumer electronics. Writing in the Sunday Times (UK), Bryan Appleyard explores Jobs’ outsized personality and his accomplishments.

Apple still on top of consumer satisfaction survey

Vic Laurie — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 18:03:02 +0000

Apple continues to be the most highly rated computer manufacturer when it comes to consumer satisfaction, according to the American Customer Satisfaction index. Basically, the ratings show Apple well on top with the major Windows OEMs all bunched together below. I suspect this is as much a commentary on how consumers view Windows as anything else. The San Jose Mercury News reports:

Apple slipped 1 percent during the past year, but maintained a 12 percent lead over Dell, one of the largest gaps between first and second place for any industry. Dell’s position remained the same, while Acer’s Gateway brand rose 3 percent in consumer satisfaction. Hewlett-Packard inched up 1 percent and its Compaq division jumped 6 percent.

Overall consumer sentiment of the PC industry nudged up 1 percent after two years of declines, which had been attributed to user problems with the Windows Vista operating system. The uptick is tied to a decision by notebook makers to swap out Vista with the older Windows XP operating system, said David VanAmburg, managing director of the index, which is based on 10,000 random phone interviews and published by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.

Object and facial recognition for the iPhone

Vic Laurie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 13:51:44 +0000

Speaking of different ways to interface with electronics, ZDNet reports that Apple has applied for patents on object and facial recognition:

MacRumors notes that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has published “several dozen” patent applications this morning including an interesting one that covers object and facial recognition, messaging, and voice modulation.

Unwired View took a closer look at one patent filed on March 8th, 2008 which describes how Apple could incorporate facial detection and recognition technologies into an iPhone, iMac and other devices.

QuickTime patch

Vic Laurie — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 00:07:24 +0000

QuickTime has been patched again, Also iTunes. Details are at this PC World link.

Apple tops in customer satisfaction poll

Vic Laurie — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 09:32:00 +0000

Various polls of customer satisfaction consistently show Apple at the top of PC manufacturers. The latest results are from Forrester Research Inc.’s Customer Experience Index. Gregg Keizer reports at Computerworld:

Apple Inc. beat rival computer makers such as Hewlett-Packard Co. and Dell Inc. by wide margins in a recent customer satisfaction survey, an analyst said today.

Of the five computer manufacturers that made it into Forrester Research Inc.’s Customer Experience Index top 114 firms, Apple scored 80%, enough for a label of “good” and 23rd place.

Gateway, HP and Compaq, meanwhile, scored 66%, 64% and 63%, respectively, taking places 64, 72 and 78. Only Gateway did well enough to sneak into the “okay” category; HP and Compaq dropped into the “poor” pigeonhole.

Dell was the lowest-scoring computer maker in the index, getting just 58% — “poor” by Forrester’s standards — and holding down 93rd place.

For me, the surprise here is the improved showing of Gateway. Maybe that reflects an effort by Acer after it bought Gateway in 2007.

Microsoft against the world

Vic Laurie — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:01:58 +0000

Microsoft is continuing with its advertising campaign against Apple and there is a lot of commentary about it in the blogosphere. Depending on the personal prejudices of the author, the commentary concludes that the ads are either backfiring against Microsoft or hitting Apple hard enough to hurt.

Actually, like most ads, the Microsoft efforts are not devoted to truth or facts and are misleading. They are simply the continuation of the standard Microsoft way of dealing with competitors- badmouthing them. For example, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer seems to spend a lot of his time going around trash-talking about those others out there- Linux one day, Apple the next, followed by Google. What is interesting is how little time Microsoft advertising devotes to telling us what the virtues of Windows might be.

Is the WIMP interface obsolete?

Vic Laurie — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 10:40:57 +0000

WIMP stands for windows, icons, menus, pointing device. It is the way computer interfaces have been constructed since the Alto system was first packaged at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. First Apple and then Microsoft adopted WIMP and it is the way we are still doing things nearly four decades later. It is a prime example of how static the basic setup of the PC has been.

The users of PCs are now totally different from those technically trained types of the beginning years. Hundreds of millions of untrained users, including many children, are now involved with PCs. Also, the Internet, not the desktop application, is the main focus. Mobility and the Web are prime interests.

Microsoft’s vested interest in the old desktop paradigm and its effective monopoly have delayed the development of systems more appropriate to the new situation. In many ways, Windows is a relic of a previous age.

Apple has been quicker to recognize the need for new platforms and the success of its iPhone is helping to show the way. An article at CNET illustrates this by recounting how a 3-year old quickly learned to use the iPhone:

have proof from an expert that the iPhone interface really is better. Who’s the expert? My 3-year-old son.

Over the years, I’ve seen countless newbies struggle to use the latest gadget, computer, or software. I like new technology, but it’s been work hauling myself up learning curves.

But I’m convinced that after years stuck with only modest tweaks to the WIMP interface–windows, icons, menus, pointing device–real change is upon us. That’s chiefly because the pointing devices now can be your own fingers.

Within moments of his first crack at an iPhone, my son, Levi, had figured out how to flip from one photo to another by flicking his finger across the screen. He understood with no coaching how to steer the simulated steel ball around the holes in the Labyrinth game by tilting the phone.

Another article that says the iPhone is superior to a desktop for certain tasks is at PC World. I am not trying to tout the iPhone (I don’t have one) but trying to point out how a different platform may be better than a desktop for today’s tasks.

Microsoft has begun to slowly recognize the need for new approaches. It is also developing touch as an interface and is moving to Web-based applications. Windows 7 looks to have a reduced footprint compared to the bloated Vista but I maintain that Windows is more suited to businesses than to the consumer. It remains too complex for the needs of the average PC user. The ideal consumer operating system is not yet here; Apple and Google are both working on it but the Windows hegemony is a formidable obstacle.