The End of the Macintosh Line of Computers
Hello All,
I am not here to pick fights or say is Apple is dying. Just some ideas to throw around.
What will it take for Apple to discontinue the Macintosh line of computers? Will a revolutionary break through in processors (e.g., the quantum/atomic/whatever they are called processors that are suppose to be coming) do it?
What about to draw in Windows users? If Apple would drop the Mac line would all of the misconceptions generated throughout the years be erased?
Would a product line change appear to be a trick for most (especially Wintel fokes) and create confusion to actual Apple customers?
Is Apple never going to get rid of the Macintosh line because it would have the same consequences as Pepsi changing its name to "Super Cola" just because they have a great new formulation?
What are your thoughts??
I am not here to pick fights or say is Apple is dying. Just some ideas to throw around.
What will it take for Apple to discontinue the Macintosh line of computers? Will a revolutionary break through in processors (e.g., the quantum/atomic/whatever they are called processors that are suppose to be coming) do it?
What about to draw in Windows users? If Apple would drop the Mac line would all of the misconceptions generated throughout the years be erased?
Would a product line change appear to be a trick for most (especially Wintel fokes) and create confusion to actual Apple customers?
Is Apple never going to get rid of the Macintosh line because it would have the same consequences as Pepsi changing its name to "Super Cola" just because they have a great new formulation?
What are your thoughts??
Comments
Now that half the country owns a computer at home and Mac/PC are household words, would there be a benefit to moving "beyond" the Macintosh? I can see two ways this would happen: 1) Apple actually moves beyond the personal computer, and 2) Apple transcends the Macintosh name as more of a marketing push than anything else.
I don't think the second would happen, because the Mac's brand is as strong as the Apple brand, if not more so. To ditch the name would warrant something big. No, not iMac big. Something so different it could hardly be put in the same category as personal computers of today.
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I don't think the second would happen, because the Mac's brand is as strong as the Apple brand, if not more so. </strong><hr></blockquote>
Not to mention the fact that Macintoshes run the Macintosh OS.
A revolutionary leap in technology, maybe that would be a reason to change. But if the leap were that great, the name probably wouldn't be the element that determined its success or failure. You could probably still call a hyper-fast quantum computer a "Macintosh" and run a successor version of OSX on it, and get a lot of people interested, assuming that the Wintel world hadn't already become more quantum than quantum!
Hello All,
Hi Dave!
I am not here to pick fights or say is Apple is dying. Just some ideas to throw around.
That's good. Just don't throw around any ideas about Apple dying or about starting fights. Oh, and don't throw around dead cats either, that really cheezes some folks off, Especially it is their formerly not-dead cat.
What will it take for Apple to discontinue the Macintosh line of computers? Will a revolutionary break through in processors (e.g., the quantum/atomic/whatever they are called processors that are suppose to be coming) do it?
I would guess either a catastrophic asteroid hit that reduces the few surviving members of the human race to using Computing equipment for firewood (it's a dog to light a TiBook, but once she's going watch out) or Apple dying (but we aren't throwing around any thoughts about that).
If the Macintosh name goes away (apart from the above chilling thoughts we are not throwing around) I would guess it would be not because of a change in the guts of the machine but in a true revolution in how we interact with the computer.
What about to draw in Windows users? If Apple would drop the Mac line would all of the misconceptions generated throughout the years be erased?
Yes I think if they called their next line the Apple IV everyone would look at it in a whole new way and would have no associations. But of course some people might still recognize the name and all of their horrible repressed memories from having to play SuperPhonics on a MacPlus for 9 months straight might come flooding back. SO it would be best for Apple to rename itself in the contemporary fashion, perhaps something like Nextian or Dagesh, and then no one will be ble to tell them from some outfit in the back of Computer Shopper or that evil company in the latest Michael Crichton book.
Would a product line change appear to be a trick for most (especially Wintel fokes) and create confusion to actual Apple customers?
Only for folks with toenails.
Is Apple never going to get rid of the Macintosh line because it would have the same consequences as Pepsi changing its name to "Super Cola" just because they have a great new formulation?
They'll try it only if they can lure Britney Spears away from Pepsi (which will of course ruin Pepsi's rebranding plans but we all know how Steve feels about Sculley, who used to work for Pepsi, so we really can't rule out that they might do such a thing out of sheer spite.
What are your thoughts??
You'd like to know that wouldn't you?
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If they were going to retire the Macintosh name, the jump to OS X would have been a good time to do it. The fact that they chose to call it "Mac" OS X says that Apple feels the Macintosh brand has a lot of power in the marketplace yet. If they were to simply change the name without changing the product, though, I think it would have a huge negative impact on Apple. Their motivation would be immediately suspect, and the new brand name would have no legitimacy whatever. They've got a great brand going with Macintosh - why mess with it? Yes, there's some negatives with it, but every brand that's been around for any length of time will gather those.
So my vote is for Apple to come up with a new brand by developing some übercomputer that is so far beyond current hardware as to leave the current Macs looking like Apple IIs, and leave the Macintosh brand alone. Now I'll just wave my magic wand and *presto* ... umm, my hard drive just turned into a gerbil. :eek: Hmmm - I guess I'll leave the magic up to Steve Jobs & Co.
<strong>no...</strong><hr></blockquote>
nt
However, a shift in the nomenclature for its Pro Line may not be a bad idea. I don't have the market research on hand to say it would be a catastrophic move.
Apple is actually a more recognized name than Mac.
I would not mind seeing the desktop units re-dubbed.
I have no idea what they would be called.... but with it and proper advertising could make it sound like the next best thing.
If they are trying to penetrate a MS market and lose Mac preconceptions in the process it should not be disregarded out of hand.
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Server G4. Using the PowerPC G4, Macintosh Server G4 delivers industrial-strength performance for the Internet.
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First, I must disagree with the opinion that "Apple" is still the more recognized name than "Mac." I still get customers who think the company name is "Mac," i.e., "does Mac make a...." A year ago, it was even worse. But now, everything seems to revolve around the name "iMac." People asking about the "iMacBook," or the "iMacPod." But the thing is, a simple correction is all it takes. I'm very anal with names, and I hardly use codewords ("TiBook," "Wallstreet") unless the person uses them first. Long story short, I think the Mac has done more for Apple than Apple has done for the Mac. Does that make sense?
It's used so widely I dare to put it up with the most recognized brand names in the business: Coca-Cola, Sony, McDonalds, Disney, etc. They wouldn't think of changing their names - too much rides on recognition. It comes way before product evaluation. Think about yourself; how many times have you not considered a (any) product because you had never heard of the name before? It would be the same if Apple announced a Vesuvius computer: "a what? I've never heard of that." And I don't think the name "Apple" would carry the torch for long enough for Vesuvius to gain the recognition the Mac had.
My $0.02, IMHO, YMMV, etc.
/johnny_dangerously
"Say hello to Apple Empire"
<strong>If Apple dumped their own OS and became a Windows computer maker but still included their iApps and maybe a Aqua themed version of a MS OS would you buy it? The computers would still be cool looking as well - just the OS would change. To me, if Apple does not increase market share to 5-10% than this is its future. But would WE buy it?</strong><hr></blockquote>
Ugh, that's like having egg and bacon without the spam.