How well does Apple cover its markets?
With all the discussion about why the Mac sucks because it's slower than AMD or why the Mac is great because it's fun to use or powerful, I'm beginning to feel that the discussion is too generalized. We all discuss how the Mac is just plain better or worse but take no consideration for the different market segments that make use of Apple technology. I would like to discuss the advantages or disadvantages of Apple's technology in very specific market segments along with each of the requirements for people of these segements.
For example, I'm a college student, and for a college student who has similar needs to me, I've listed the features of the computer that I need and how well the Mac meets them. It would be great if different people from different markets (scientist, teacher, artist, CEO, mother...) post in an organized list of their needs and how well the platform suits them with specific programs and such.
1) Music- Mp3s are the lifeblood of the computer for me. I play them for hours on end in my dorm. This is one area that I can say the Mac is truely better because iTunes blows away Winamp or Media Player on any terms. With the iPod, I can listen to music while walking to class, back from class, through the night... no charging. Amazing!
2) AIM- AIM is something else that is essential. Right now the AIM clients for Mac and Win seem to be the same quality (I haven't used voice or video chat or whatever, I'm not sure what the comparison is between these but no one I know with uses these either). But with Apple writing an AIM client with integration with Mail and Addressbook, and considering Apple might be slightly better at coding than AOL
, I think the Mac will excel in this area. (I know there's others, but I haven't tried them. By the way is there a good OS 9 client? AOL's is clunky!!!)
3) Regular email and wordprocessing and spreadsheet tasks- I use Entourage for email, Word for papers, and Excel for keeping track of my spending. They all work great, and I think the Mac and PC versions are equal, with the Mac versions maybe looking a little better.
4) Internet Browsing- Important, and still a bit slower on the Mac. I use IE and it's fast but much slower than Windows IE. People claim Mozilla is fast but I find the interface to be too slow (it's all about the interface!!) and not as well-planned as IE.
5) Programming coursework- X-Windows, Emacs, Stk for Scheme, and Java, and ssh in terminal so I can use the school computers from home too. This is great for my computer science coursework. One of the best programming-power/ease combinations available.
6) Pictures- digital photos to keep memories of my college life is great. Thus I need iPhoto. I'm not sure how good the competition is, such as from Sony, but I know iPhoto is amazing.
7) Games- I haven't played games for quite a while, but I love Diablo II, the Final Fantasy series, Age of Empires series, and some shooters. As long as a computer plays the biggest titles like Quake III with adequate speed, I'm fine with it. Of course, the Mac is a little bit lagging compared to Windows in this area.
8) Organizing all my ideas, keeping a journal, and planning out todo-lists for next week- These 3 things I find should be very very well suited for computers because of the space-less storage and no papers to be trampled on, and these are things that I find to be very important. But so far I have not found any computer to be suited to it. If we could have a program that organizes my thoughts or future tasks or my journals effectively and makes access easy, maybe in an iTunes manner all on one screen, or maybe with a new more life-like metaphor, I would pay hundreds (well, at least $50) for it. I have tried some programs, but non seem to give me a level of organization that I need.
Well, that was long, but that's the general stuff that I do a lot of on my computer. The Macintosh lights my fire in 5 out of 8 categories! That's not a huge fraction, but the areas that it's better in, it's better by a lot. So for a college student with similar needs to me, the Macintosh platform is the way to go. How's the outlook from your angle?
For example, I'm a college student, and for a college student who has similar needs to me, I've listed the features of the computer that I need and how well the Mac meets them. It would be great if different people from different markets (scientist, teacher, artist, CEO, mother...) post in an organized list of their needs and how well the platform suits them with specific programs and such.
1) Music- Mp3s are the lifeblood of the computer for me. I play them for hours on end in my dorm. This is one area that I can say the Mac is truely better because iTunes blows away Winamp or Media Player on any terms. With the iPod, I can listen to music while walking to class, back from class, through the night... no charging. Amazing!
2) AIM- AIM is something else that is essential. Right now the AIM clients for Mac and Win seem to be the same quality (I haven't used voice or video chat or whatever, I'm not sure what the comparison is between these but no one I know with uses these either). But with Apple writing an AIM client with integration with Mail and Addressbook, and considering Apple might be slightly better at coding than AOL
, I think the Mac will excel in this area. (I know there's others, but I haven't tried them. By the way is there a good OS 9 client? AOL's is clunky!!!)3) Regular email and wordprocessing and spreadsheet tasks- I use Entourage for email, Word for papers, and Excel for keeping track of my spending. They all work great, and I think the Mac and PC versions are equal, with the Mac versions maybe looking a little better.
4) Internet Browsing- Important, and still a bit slower on the Mac. I use IE and it's fast but much slower than Windows IE. People claim Mozilla is fast but I find the interface to be too slow (it's all about the interface!!) and not as well-planned as IE.
5) Programming coursework- X-Windows, Emacs, Stk for Scheme, and Java, and ssh in terminal so I can use the school computers from home too. This is great for my computer science coursework. One of the best programming-power/ease combinations available.
6) Pictures- digital photos to keep memories of my college life is great. Thus I need iPhoto. I'm not sure how good the competition is, such as from Sony, but I know iPhoto is amazing.
7) Games- I haven't played games for quite a while, but I love Diablo II, the Final Fantasy series, Age of Empires series, and some shooters. As long as a computer plays the biggest titles like Quake III with adequate speed, I'm fine with it. Of course, the Mac is a little bit lagging compared to Windows in this area.
8) Organizing all my ideas, keeping a journal, and planning out todo-lists for next week- These 3 things I find should be very very well suited for computers because of the space-less storage and no papers to be trampled on, and these are things that I find to be very important. But so far I have not found any computer to be suited to it. If we could have a program that organizes my thoughts or future tasks or my journals effectively and makes access easy, maybe in an iTunes manner all on one screen, or maybe with a new more life-like metaphor, I would pay hundreds (well, at least $50) for it. I have tried some programs, but non seem to give me a level of organization that I need.
Well, that was long, but that's the general stuff that I do a lot of on my computer. The Macintosh lights my fire in 5 out of 8 categories! That's not a huge fraction, but the areas that it's better in, it's better by a lot. So for a college student with similar needs to me, the Macintosh platform is the way to go. How's the outlook from your angle?
Comments
I remember when I first started to use personal computers for serious work back in the late 80's (until then I only worked on mainframe terminals). I could choose between an SE30 and a 386/16 mhz I think it was. I took the Mac, not because it was better suted to my needs but because I liked working on it 10 times better than the PC.
You can't always make decisions so plainly as you do in your post. It's also about the 'look and feel', what's more enjoyable and less hassle. If I had only made my decisions based on hard facts I would have been PC user for years now. At least until XP came along, PC's have been so fvcking boring that I've given up on them. Despite the fact they're cheaper, more powerful for everything I do, with much more SW availability. I still use Macs. They're simply more fun IMO