"UPDATE: My referrer log shows a bit of traffic coming from a Mac discussion forum, though I'm not sure exactly what post, so I'm guessing its for "My Dell Experience." I thought I would throw in -- for 16 years prior to getting the Dell, my computers were: Commodor282, Apple IIe, Mac, Performa, PowerMac 4400 (which I still have and still use for some things, and my grandmother has the Performa). Macs have been great for me over the years, but I can't effectively program Cold Fusion on them (at least not yet), and until OS X, no Mac OS could beat NT for stability."
Apple has unparalleled customer loyalty, why do you think the platform survives? It sure as hell isn't because of all those new users coming in.<hr></blockquote>Statistically, Apple has poor customer loyalty. Over the past 5 years, marketshare has dropped by maybe half. So those people either haven't purchased another computer or have switched to a pc. If x86 had the same loyalty, apple would have definitely noticed the influx of customers. On the other hand, as marketshare of any product falls the majority of the users left will be the hardcore supporters. There may be some of these counterparts in x86 land, but they're obscured by the masses of regular people.
<strong>Statistically, Apple has poor customer loyalty. Over the past 5 years, marketshare has dropped by maybe half. So those people either haven't purchased another computer or have switched to a pc. If x86 had the same loyalty, apple would have definitely noticed the influx of customers. On the other hand, as marketshare of any product falls the majority of the users left will be the hardcore supporters. There may be some of these counterparts in x86 land, but they're obscured by the masses of regular people.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Marketshare, as has been pointed out by a trillion others before me, is not Apple's portion of the PC pie. It is their share in computer sales within a given time period. Mac users can be regularly buying new Apple machines, and Apple's marketshare will still drop if the PC market's growth rate outpaces the Mac market's growth rate. "Marketshare" is not a benchmark of customer loyalty. I suggest you look into studies of customer loyalty from the top PC brands. Apple is almost always #1, if not somewhere in the top 5.
I've had great experiences with Dell support and their warranties. Next day onsite support, next day part replacement, 30 day price protection after purchase (was credit $250 after the price went down), no questions asked returns if not fully satisfied with product, 24/7 support, and so on. Like their products or not, they stand by them. With the amount of systems that Dell sells, the number of customers who are unhappy is relatively small.
Apple on the other hand has one of the worst warranties and support practices out there. Even their support site is unorganized and has limited info. After paying for AppleCare, you still have to lug the hardware to a dealer and have them fix it when they can, you do not get support after certain hours, after you buy it - you're stuck with it whether it's what was promised or not. I don't even want to get into what I had to go through with my iMac! I was very disappointed. Apple needs to have more faith in their products. I am glad however, that they upped the iPod warranty to a full year.
Marketshare has dropped because those people have been forced to buy Wintels for work and then the marketshare drops for Apple <img src="graemlins/smokin.gif" border="0" alt="[Chilling]" />
Comments
The funny part is at the end when this jackass buys another Wintel. If Apple had customer loyalty like this, they would have nothing to worry about.
(wait... I sound like a switch commerccial)
"UPDATE: My referrer log shows a bit of traffic coming from a Mac discussion forum, though I'm not sure exactly what post, so I'm guessing its for "My Dell Experience." I thought I would throw in -- for 16 years prior to getting the Dell, my computers were: Commodor282, Apple IIe, Mac, Performa, PowerMac 4400 (which I still have and still use for some things, and my grandmother has the Performa). Macs have been great for me over the years, but I can't effectively program Cold Fusion on them (at least not yet), and until OS X, no Mac OS could beat NT for stability."
<img src="graemlins/hmmm.gif" border="0" alt="[Hmmm]" />
[quote]If Apple had customer loyalty like this, they would have nothing to worry about.<hr></blockquote>
If?
Apple has unparalleled customer loyalty, why do you think the platform survives? It sure as hell isn't because of all those new users coming in.
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Sounds like the guy should've stuck with an idiot box; Win9x.
Didn't know Windows couldn't read Mac disks... seriously.
(What gave it away the first 14 times, the fact that it didn't work?)
Apple has unparalleled customer loyalty, why do you think the platform survives? It sure as hell isn't because of all those new users coming in.<hr></blockquote>Statistically, Apple has poor customer loyalty. Over the past 5 years, marketshare has dropped by maybe half. So those people either haven't purchased another computer or have switched to a pc. If x86 had the same loyalty, apple would have definitely noticed the influx of customers. On the other hand, as marketshare of any product falls the majority of the users left will be the hardcore supporters. There may be some of these counterparts in x86 land, but they're obscured by the masses of regular people.
<strong>Statistically, Apple has poor customer loyalty. Over the past 5 years, marketshare has dropped by maybe half. So those people either haven't purchased another computer or have switched to a pc. If x86 had the same loyalty, apple would have definitely noticed the influx of customers. On the other hand, as marketshare of any product falls the majority of the users left will be the hardcore supporters. There may be some of these counterparts in x86 land, but they're obscured by the masses of regular people.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Marketshare, as has been pointed out by a trillion others before me, is not Apple's portion of the PC pie. It is their share in computer sales within a given time period. Mac users can be regularly buying new Apple machines, and Apple's marketshare will still drop if the PC market's growth rate outpaces the Mac market's growth rate. "Marketshare" is not a benchmark of customer loyalty. I suggest you look into studies of customer loyalty from the top PC brands. Apple is almost always #1, if not somewhere in the top 5.
Apple on the other hand has one of the worst warranties and support practices out there. Even their support site is unorganized and has limited info. After paying for AppleCare, you still have to lug the hardware to a dealer and have them fix it when they can, you do not get support after certain hours, after you buy it - you're stuck with it whether it's what was promised or not. I don't even want to get into what I had to go through with my iMac! I was very disappointed. Apple needs to have more faith in their products. I am glad however, that they upped the iPod warranty to a full year.