Apple's iPhone 'halo effect' lifts Mac to 16.4% sales growth - Page 3

You look at it - and learn to copy and paste it and show me.

I was responding as it relates to your comment

I think that these numbers are just a rounding error.

Anyways is nice to know that apple is making awesome PCs and people still have $ to buy them. I am gonna start saving for my next macbook pro in early next year ( in about a month), but I plan to keep my macbook, it really hasn't aged much compared to competition in the 3 years i've had it. Glad I did not buy an HP for cheaper, cause it would not have even ran aero in Win7, something my macbook does in parallels

Lest ye forget, the critics loved Vista too when it came out.

It didn't hurt that Microsoft gave them free and expensive machines to run Vista on either.

When I say the title of this article the first thing I thought is what halo effect. In fact I switched to the Mac well before I purchased my iPhone. Running the SDK for the Touch devices was part of the equation but there was far more to it than that. A big component was that I was moving from Linux to the Mac, and as a result have not been a windose user. The reason for that is that the mac has commercial software available that is either better than the Linux equivalent or simply doesn't exist on the Linux platform. Plus I can easily run BSD or Linux in a virtual machine on a Mac these days. So the reality is I get the best of both worlds.

Dave

Wow. Most 3rd graders can follow a thread. Why can't you?

I stated:

" You have to give people a reason to part with enough money to buy a premium product - which Apple has clearly done.

Your response was:

"Yes they do because only the rich can afford them"

Now, explain to me how you weren't saying that only the rich can afford Apple's computers?

1) Apart from the Apple online shop, Apple has no local presences here, how am I meant to get it repaired otherwise?

2) I must have since I said my son's MacBook

Since someone said it was under warranty, it's simple. You pick up the phone and call Apple. They send a box by DHL that arrives on your doorstep the next day. You pack the computer in the box and call DHL to pick it up. A few days later, you get your repaired computer back.

It does seem pretty silly to be blaming Apple for your incompetent service technician.

I don't live in the US, last time I rang Apple when my iMac failed they made me take it to a repairer, they even gave me the wrong directions to help me. And I can't see the point of losing the laptop for days when an agent should be able to do the repair in the same day.

Also, from Apples web site

http://www.apple.com/nz/support/macbook/service/


And Apple authorised service centres are repair agents for Apple, they are representing Apple, they are trained by Apple, if they stuff up, it is Apple stuffing up as they are representing Apple

No they didn't- not like Windows 7.
MS bribed the reviewers with free computers? Do you have a link?

That is a different story. Still, Apple ≠ Apple authorized repair shop. There is a distinct difference and Ive seen such issues happen before, even recently with other peoples computers.

In the states id never take my machine to one unless it was outside of warranty though I cant recall keeping a device longer than the warranty so its a moot time.

How do you take a computer to Apple for repair if Apple doesn't have a local office? And when I say local, I mean in the entire country. They only have Apple Authorised Service Providers, who are trained by Apple to perform servicing for them, ie they are Apple as Apple authorised them to perform repairs on their behalf.

Dude- don't become a distortionist like some of the others on here. What you said was and I quote:

And I said :
Yes they do because only the rich can afford them.


BIG difference.

Don't they teach cut and paste in kindergarten?

You dont, hence my comment stating that its a different story once you stated you are not in the US.


Again, they are not Apple. They are authorized to repair your machine without voiding the warranty. Id wager they are not trained by Apple, likely just authorized and perhaps with a certification program, but they are not Apple. I was certified by Cisco with a couple CCIEs but I did not represent Cisco when fixing Cisco equipment because I was not employed by Cisco. There is a very distinct difference between.

PS: Apples customer support not having the correct address for their own certified repair shop may indicate a problem with that repair shop on being he ball. If they have moved and not informed Apple or simply didnt call to make sure that Apple has the correct info for facilitating this companys business needs, then its likely the fault of the repair shop which makes me think you may want to try a different one next time.

The thing is, if they are the only way of getting a product repaired, then it is Apple that gets blamed when they have issues etc, Apple authorises them, Apple sets the certificate program for them. The AASP programme is different that being MS, or Cisco, or Novell etc certified, they are just professional certs, this is a repair process, they are working on behelf or, and getting paid by Apple to perform work for them.


No, it was Apple's fault, they told me they have never been where Apple claims they were, and they had been trying to get Apple to fix the issue.

And I don't live in that city (or country) anymore, and there is only one service centre in the location I am currently in, so I either take it there, or send it away for several days.

If the employees are getting paid with paychecks from Apple then its Apple fault that they botched your repairs. If the business is incorporated on its own and they simply submit claims of repairs later get paid by Apple, then they are their own business and responsible for their own work and own employees.


That does sound like Apples fault, but I bet if I ran that repair shop I could have the problem resolved within an hour of knowing about it. No one is going to harm my potential business by making already unhappy customers with machine problems even more unhappy by giving them the wrong address. Or even worse, have them not come in at all. its unacceptable of Apple and but its also unacceptable of them to know of the problem and not have it resolved. Im always amazed at how some businesses ever make a dime.

That may be true, but from the customers point of view, they will blame Apple, as Apple authorised them to repair the item


At the time there were two repair centres in Dublin, it took me a return trip of 4 hours bus to get to one (carrying a 24" iMac on a bus wasn't an option) or a 60 taxi return trip to the other, so I suppose they really had a captive market.

True, MS is selling their back-asswards copy of OS X even to Mac users - they really have no standards at all.

Rest is, well, silly. Lenovo, HP, Sony... all have some very differentiable and unique products, but they are targeting very speciffic market segments (Lenovo W, HP Elitebook, Panasonic Toughbook come to my mind easily). It seems that only Apple has managed so far to differentiate themselves in consumer market segment, which is really rare feat, specially considering number of problems many new Macs have across the range while still managing to keep their image high. In short, Apple seem to be the only one who managed to put a makeup on a pig and make it look good

I must say I don't understand you. Why would you feel smug..?

Because guy is still using XP machine?

Because he didn't get replacement battery which is like $80 and takes 3 seconds to swap?

Because guy is clueless (as XP has no problems connecting to wireless, unless he hasn't applied last two Service Packs and his machine does not recognise WPA2)..?

I have 3Gs too. I like it. A few days ago a guy on the street asked for shop in my office neighbourhood. I had no idea of it, but quick check on iPhone Maps gave us address, map location, satellite and street view. A guy was absolutely impressed and I felt so goood being able to help him in like 30 seconds... but smug? Why on Earth? That could easily be done on so many smartphones. Only reason guy was impressed was because he was still using basic mobile phone and probably wasn't aware you can get such info from phone nowadays.

Regarding growth numbers, well. Is it just me or anyone else have thought that Apple does have where to grow, while MS is pretty much out of growing space..? Even if customer satisfaction within PC users is the same as customer satisfaction among Mac users on percentage level, current market shares will make numbers game completely different. If 1 in 10 PC users is not happy with his experience and decide to go Mac, that will create tremendous sales increase for Apple. However, if 1 in 10 Apple users is not happy with Mac and decide to go PC with next purchase, that will be hardly noticeable increase in global PC sales.

Considering that, I'm actually surprised that Mac numbers are not rocketing up much faster. Smugness that so many non-Mac users are relating to Mac users might actually be one of reasons for users' reluctance to move across in greater numbers. Price definitely is another one. Does number of problems Apples are experiencing with almost every new release play any role, too? I don't think that average shopper is aware of that before (if at all) it hits him, but who knows... \

As I already noticed, last couple of pools I have seen are positioning Apple computers (reliability wise) in 3rd place, behind Asus and Toshiba. Unexpectedly, Lenovo is behind - another case of hype rather than substance.

Good old HP is confidently last

Same applies to so many Mac users' opinion on Windows...

Um, no. Mac users are exposed to Windows in whatever flavour nearly every day, often at work, often fixing Windows for friends and family. See my sig for further details.

I think, as a proportion of the total users of each platform, there are way more PC-to-Mac than Mac-to-PC switchers. I have no figures to back this up, just a hunch. A strong hunch.