Ding Dong, the Mac Is Dead

[foxyloxley]

Found this : at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1745930,00.asp

That's what John C. Dvorak has concluded. He doesn't base his conclusions on market-share numbers, but instead via an intriguing online stat: how much Internet activity is Mac-based. And the answer is a miniscule and declining amount. John has laid out three reasons for the impending doom, and then adds a zinger: that the Mac's vaunted ease of use is what will slay it in the end. Read his thought-provoking column about why the Macintosh will fade away. And then complain to him, not to me!

I fear that there is truth in his rumblings.

Simply put, the ease-of-use and simplicity of the platform is killing it, because people cannot perceive that simplicity is ever worth MORE than complexity. Simpler should be cheaper.

[Double//Cut]

I never really liked the MAC, used it when i was in yr 3 (long time ago), and at that point i had only used a commodore 64....

Mac's have a market, but its small, mainly for developing images etc (correct me if im wrong)

but im sure they will make a comeback in some area, wether that be via a new contract or price drop, etc

[Tim_axe]

Mac computers have a market in Image editing. One of the largest reasons why is that multiple monitors can be color-calibrated, invidually.

In Windows, if you have multiple monitors, you simply cannot calibrate the color for each monitor, and end up having only one monitor whose color output can be trusted (and the others are wrong, and cause a headache). It is much easier to use Mac since you know the colors are correct, and don't need to drag the image over onto the single correct monitor to double check your edits.

Linux lacks a market in Image editing (although it is well used for processing in render farms, etc) simply because calibrated colors wasn't paticularly important in its design. The GIMP doesn't work with 16bit/channel images. And there is a general lack of software to run in it, although some can be emulated (but again, I don't think there is any color calibration).


I don't really like the Mac layout. It is a habit though. There are too many things that I find weird about the Mac OS (their bouncing tray icons, toolbars, shortcut-centric design, etc) that I'd never become used to, and would find annoying in long-term use. Sure it looks friendlier than the Windows/Linux desktop, but I rarely ever find myself actually using the desktop - I use maximized windows for apps, and am used to working the startmenu and whatever applications I use. I also know how to go deeper into the system to micro-manage things I want to change. Probably fits into the "complex vs simple" catogory the guy talked about, but I really can't see myself spending $1500 for a Mac that I would feel crippled on for a good long time.

[HTRegz]

Hey Hey,

I have to disagree... I don't think Macs are declining at all.

People look at Macs and their views and judgement are clouded. In the last two years we've implemented a couple of programs which require students to have Macs.... sitting in our vault you'll find quite a few G4 laptops. The students love them and many have purchased their own Macs... several students in PC programs have requested a Mac.. but we've never had a students in a Mac program request a PC.

If there was more of the correct type of marketing the Mac market would take off.... There are a few general misconceptions that exist that are hindering the world of Mac.

1) This is a common misconception that AMD finally managed to overcome... Mac now has to do the same... People are convinced that all processors are equal and that 1Mhz is 1Mhz regardless of anything else... and that it is directly comparable to any other processor... We've also benchmarking that will match an AMD with a lower speed to a faster Intel processor... We've also seen that Celeron and P4 processors can have the same speed, yet much different performance levels.. this is the same with Mac VS PC and most people still don't realize this. I have a buddy who (until he recieved an AMD Athlon64 for christmas) had two computers.. a 900Mhz PC and a 450Mhz Mac... The 450Mhz Mac would out perform the PC time and time again. People need to realize that PCs are like sex... Size/Speed doesn't always matter

2) When you purchase a Mac you are stuck with the hardware it comes with. This is false... but still commonly accepted. Everything thinks that Mac hardware is entirely proprietary and that you can never upgrade... This is a huge misconception and this scares many people away from the Mac environment.

3) The OS... Mac OS X is an amazing innovation and a hell of an operating system.... In my opinion (and I use primarly MS and *nix products) it completely blows away the competition. I think that right now it's the holy grail of operating systems. I've actually toyed with idea of tweaking my laptop to run a barebones copy of XP embedded with PearPC running MacOS X just because it is a very very nice OS...

Macs need more advertising and more opportunity for the public to play with them... My first Mac experience was with an Apple II and after that it was several years later on an older Mac running Mac OS 8 (give or take).... Then these G3 and G4s with Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X... and it's leaps and bounds above what it originally was... however most people I know rely on those Apple II experiences that they had because they have no where to go to use a Mac... In our college we have several Mac labs and they are always full.. it's nice to see students experimenting with it... however until places like Futureshop, Best Buy, Staples, etc stock Macs they really don't stand a chance.... Very few people will go to a Mac only store (which you have to do here) when computer shopping....

Anyways the Mac isn't dying... it's slowly building up steam... give it a few years... and you'll see the big name stores stocking them and selling them.. and then you'll see a huge jump in usage on the internet.

Anyways.. that's my opinion.

Peace,
HT

[nihil]

I will go with HTRegz on this one.

I think that the last Mac I had before I gave it away ran OS 8. I quite liked it actually

There is a steadfast market in the graphics/advertising/marketing which I would expect to continue, and there is a loyal user community, who I would not describe as eccentric. They have far less problems with their products than their PC owning counterparts.

Yes, they are expensive, but not THAT expensive if you bought an IBM, HP or Dell machine of similar PERFORMANCE.

Sure I build my own PCs and for others, and they are far cheaper. I cannot build a Mac...............but neither can I build an IBM, HP or Dell. I can repair a MAC and upgrade them, but I wouldn't like to do it as a living...............I would starve..............they have a much longer MTBF (mean time between failures) and don't get riddled with malware anything like as regularly.

Another point is they tend to hold a much better trade in value than a PC.

And I do not think that the number of people using a product on the internet is a good yardstick, particularly as the product has a large commercial proportion of users. I would dearly love to know from where AND BY WHAT MEANS that market reasearch mob got their statistics..............maybe Mac users don't go to the sites they got their information from?.........and if it is from the ISPs the commercial traffic will presumably go through a router, and won't be detected as coming from a Mac?.

My final comment is that "something that is easy to use should be cheaper"..............err....... Windows is easier to use than Linux, but it sure as hell isn't cheaper!!!!!

Or by analogy: A car with an automatic transmission is easier to drive than a manual one, but is more expensive to buy, run and maintain.

Just a few thoughts