gallup poll = microsoft with 79% approval rating?!?
okay, so i'm watching headline news, and they do their gallup poll review, and while enron and arthur andersen are at 8% and 11% approval rating by american citizens, microsoft is STILL at 79% approval. even after they've been found guilty by a couple of courts for monopolistic actions, holding down competition, and generally acting like the 800 lb. bully gorilla of technology.
is the microsoft pr department to thank for this, to keep the ruling relegated to only the business sections of the evening news, as opposed to the general news and jokes at night by david letterman, jay leno and jon stewart?
i was just really amazed at this stat (and i i can guess that most of the leftover 21% is comprised of mac and linux users...
)
anyway, thoughts?
[ 04-28-2002: Message edited by: rok ]</p>
is the microsoft pr department to thank for this, to keep the ruling relegated to only the business sections of the evening news, as opposed to the general news and jokes at night by david letterman, jay leno and jon stewart?
i was just really amazed at this stat (and i i can guess that most of the leftover 21% is comprised of mac and linux users...
)anyway, thoughts?
[ 04-28-2002: Message edited by: rok ]</p>
Comments
Most people have Microsoft software of their computers and don't know of any alternatives. Here's how I see it:
* They like their software or at least think it's okay.
* They are ignorant of alternatives.
* They are ignorant of the company's past and present monopolistic practices.
* Thus, they have no qualms with the company.
You must remember that what Microsoft hasn't done something that is "bad" in the eyes of the public. There are no immediately negative consequences. Enron? People start losing big big money! Microsoft? Mac, *nix, and a handful of third parties don't get as much developer support.
Is the general public supposed to be upset because some group of unknown developers can't get their projects off the ground? Not in America.
I must respectfully disagree. I am not saying this applies to you. But there are a few Macalites that believe the only reason anyone would use PC's or MS products is that they are ignorant or stupid or otherwise incapable of making a reasonable judgment. Your reply contained more than a hint of that sentiment.
Windows users are not ignorant of the alternatives. We simply have rejected them. We are not ignorant of MSs legal status. We just don't care. We use their products because we like them. Netscape is not where it is because of MS using its monopoly illegally. Netscape is where it is because when it had the opportunity, it did not produce a very good product. Same with REAL Networks and other middleware providers as well. If Apple, Linux and other companies want to compete with MS and take some of its market share, they will have to do so by understanding the people that they wish to attract and produce products that speak to their interests and meet their particular needs and desires.
The masses won't dump MS because they lost in court. But, they will dump them if they are offered more compelling products for a competitive price. It is not ignorance. It is the voice of consumer preference. And Apple had better be paying more attention to that voice than that of some judge and a room full of attorneys.
It's just that I posted what has been my experience. Hell, I just e-mailed my mother this morning about a new project I'm working on in Final Cut Pro and she said to me, "but people can't use Macs in offices. Thy don't have the right kind of programs do they?" My own mother, to whom I've tried repeatedly to explain about the computer industry, still thinks Apple computers are only for graphics artists and a handful of Unix geeks such as myself! Why? Because she only uses Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office every day when she goes to work. The story is exactly the same with my old college suitemates, friends, coworkers, and most people I chat with online. My last year's suitemates (at NCSU, an engineering university) were utterly amazed with my Mac and what I could do with it. Why? Because they had only been exposed to Windows-based PCs and a touch of Linux growing up and at school. Two of them actually got Macs by the end of the year.
I honestly can't recall all the times I've impressed "the ignorant" with alternatives to Microsoft's software.
Though, I do have to agree that the masses won't leave Microsoft simply because of a court decision (we'd have to see a judge actually flex the long-arm of the law, first). The problem is that because Microsoft is already an established monopoly, third parties such as Apple really need to get the consumers' attention and publicize their alternatives. That's one area where I have believed Apple's current strategy is sorely flawed: advertising.
[ 04-28-2002: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>
<strong>Why shouldn't people approve of MS? MS is ubiquitous, and its products and services keep day-to-day business in the average household running smoothly (enough.)</strong><hr></blockquote>Thank you, Eugene.
that's all.
oh, while i think of it, kinda on a tangent, but i found it funny nonetheless... why doesn't anyone else realize that cnn/headline news report on so many microsoft-related outlook virii, it may as well be a regular feature, like the weather report.