why don't more people switch?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
PC Mag has a pretty interesting take on the issue. What do you guys think.



it's the games



I switched because I like Apple hardware and OS X is really cool. I am not a big game player and typically stick with online games like on yahoo. But for a lot of people it is a pretty big issue.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    I think the gaming community is just more vocal. I'd say that the reason the average person doesn't switch is because they use a PC at work, they know how to use it, and it's cheaper to buy for their family. Enough said.



    It doesn't matter how wonderful OS X is or how much better it is than Windows, the fact is that the familiarity of Windows and the lower price of a PC are more appealing.
  • Reply 2 of 28
    madmax559madmax559 Posts: 596member
    $$$$



    i can drive to the nearest fry's & pick up whatever

    parts i want



    trying to get a video card for a mac is slightly more pricey

    & i'd much rather not deal with the snots at the apple store



    i do use a powerbook, but everything else is built up x86

    also its damm near impossible to return something without

    getting dinged by a 15% "Restocking fee"

    fry's has no such nonsense...you buy something & it didnt work

    out for you , you return it with minimum fuss



    apple needs to iron out some of its customer service issues



    bottom line ...people will buy what they feel like buying

    & in the end its just a computer whether its x86/ppc or otherwise
  • Reply 3 of 28
  • Reply 4 of 28
    madmax559madmax559 Posts: 596member
    thats classic



    btw anyone know offhand if you buy apple products at

    frys they still honour the return policy aka no 15%

    restock crap ?



    ive been meaning to ask this but keep forgetting everytime

    i go to fry's
  • Reply 5 of 28
    Well, i first started learning about computers with a Mac, but then started using Windows 3.1, then 95, 98, and so on. The first Mac i had would crash even more than windows 98, so i never really got hooked on Macs. I decided to stick with PCs b/c everybody had them, more games (big fan of the Rainbow 6 series), cheaper, better compatibility with other computers, and i had no reason to switch. now, it's a little different. don't care to much about computer games since i have an xbox, files are much more compatible, i've got more money, and OS X is supposedly super reliable; unlike System 6 and 7. the gaming issue is rather ironic, since i will use M$'s products less and less via computer, but they still get my money from the xbox. however, what pushed me over the edge to get another Mac was my job and helping people with their spyware and virus problems. i'd like to start setting an example at my school
  • Reply 6 of 28
    Some people just *don't know* about Macs. I didn't know anything until about a year ago. All I had seen were the original iMacs, a CD-burning-from-iTunes advert on TV and had heard of the iPod. And all I remembered was that they 'weren't compatible'. Fight the ignorance.
  • Reply 7 of 28
    ipodandimacipodandimac Posts: 3,273member
    why dont more people know about apple? thats where i'll be coming in about 5 years at chiat/tbwa





    ps: i'm in an apple store!!!!!!!!!!
  • Reply 8 of 28
    muahmuah Posts: 165member
    Why don't more people own Diesel vehicles. Same answer.
  • Reply 9 of 28
    talksense101talksense101 Posts: 1,738member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by muah

    Why don't more people own Diesel vehicles. Same answer.



    Diesel engines are bulky. To develop the same horsepower as a petrol engine, you would need a larger diesel engine. Wear and tear is slightly higher.



    How does that comparison work for a Mac?



    I think Macs are like solar water heaters. Sure maintenance is not an issue, but why spend money upfront for something people around you don't seem to use.



    For games, Mac + PS2/Xbox > any bugged piece of crap.
  • Reply 10 of 28
    doesn't diesel pollute alot more than gasoline engines?
  • Reply 11 of 28
    dmband0026dmband0026 Posts: 2,345member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by muah

    Why don't more people own Diesel vehicles. Same answer.



    Always with the car analogies. We never stop this, do we?

    But this one makes less sense than normal. Either that, or it's just that I'm really tired.

    More people don't switch because they are stupid...that's why everyone does everything, they are stupid. It has nothing to do with what kind of gas their computer uses...silly muah.
  • Reply 12 of 28
    There are several reasons why more people don't switch (and this is from someone that has almost no concrete knowledge about the newest Macs, and doesn't even own a Mac yet):



    1) The advertising for Apple stinks or is almost non-existant. I have no rebuttal for this because it's true.



    2) The public assumes that Macs cost more (I used to think that). When comparing features and performance, the truth of the matter is that the additional cost (if any) is negligible (less than $50), especially when you add the OS.



    3) There is a severe lack of presence in any computer stores other than Apple-specific ones (which are few and far between when compared to the dirth of PC-oriented stores). Again, no rebuttal.



    4) The apparent lack of upgradeability. People who investigate Macs for potential purchase see the Mac as having an artificially short life span because everytime any new CPU that comes out won't work with their current Mac. There's no CPU upgrade path for the 1.6 G5 owners (at least not that I've seen).



    5) The Mac product line isn't versatile enough in terms of configurability. Why can't someone buy a single CPU 2ghz PowerMac? Why are the single 1.8's hidden in the "Special deal" section of the Apple web site?



    6) It's hard to get that sense of processing power when your computer looks like a half a softball.



    7) They're used to Windows because that's all they've used in the past, and they don't know anyone else with an Apple to show them how to "make it go". My wife was given an iMac at work, but she never uses it because nobody's given her even the slightest instruction on using it. Keep in mind that the IT department probably fought tooth and nail AGAINST buying the machine in the first place, so there's already a lethal amount of animosity towards the softball on the part of the IT department.



    8) You can build a PC yourself, including a 19-inch monitor for a little more than half the cost of the lowest-priced iMac. Granted, it won't have an LCD screen, the components will not be that nice in terms of quality, and it won't take less space, but it will have everything most folks need to cruise the web, get/send email, and any number of other insignificant tasks they want to perform that don't require the latest, greatest and fastest hardware.



    10) The perception that Apples are only used by hippies and fags. The sad part is that Apple perpetuates that perception in what little advertising they do.



    11) When people are told that OS-X is a "unix variant", that scares the bejeesus out of them because when they hear "unix", their feeble little minds translate that to "linux", and "linux" is "hard to use".



    12) When they find out they can't get Windows for the Mac (VirtualPC notwithstanding), they immediately become highly resistant to further discussion about buying a Mac (see item 7 above).



    13) The number of games available for the Mac is quite small when compared to PC's. However, what games do exist seem to run better on the Mac. But telling someone WHY they run better is an exercise in futility.



    Those are just some of the reasons normal people don't switch.
  • Reply 13 of 28
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Those actually all sound pretty good and on-the-mark, IMO. A little of all of them, actually.



    But you're going to get dinged for the "hippies and fags" thing, I can tell you right now. There are a few people here at AI who'll make a stink about this - and one in particular who seems perpetually offended and "outraged" at anything sporting the smallest whiff of "ooh, that's not right..." and likes to go out of his way to defend women, J-Lo, the downtrodden, fat people who got that way from eating 3 Whoppers a day, etc. I'm guessing hippies and fags will fall into that group too. He's a post-feminist who dated Dean or something...I don't know.



    Watch your ass. You've been warned.



  • Reply 14 of 28
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    i'm impressed by dvorak's attitude in this article. it follows a steady stream of logic and does none of the, "well, macs just suck and apple is going out of business" that we are used to from dvorak. from the looks of it, his logic is flawed, but still, it is nice to see this guy not doing mindless bashing
  • Reply 15 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    Those actually all sound pretty good and on-the-mark, IMO. A little of all of them, actually.



    But you're going to get dinged for the "hippies and fags" thing, I can tell you right now. There are a few people here at AI who'll make a stink about this - and one in particular who seems perpetually offended and "outraged" at anything sporting the smallest whiff of "ooh, that's not right..." and likes to go out of his way to defend women, J-Lo, the downtrodden, fat people who got that way from eating 3 Whoppers a day, etc. I'm guessing hippies and fags will fall into that group too. He's a post-feminist who dated Dean or something...I don't know.



    Watch your ass. You've been warned.







    Well, I was just conveying the conception by the general computer-buying public (and I've even herad it vocalized just that way). If someone wants to grossly misinterpret that I was conveying *my* views about it, well, that's their own mental handicap to overcome, not mine.
  • Reply 16 of 28
    cosmonutcosmonut Posts: 4,872member
    I think a lot of people also have no interest in Macs because they think that they're still a specialized product that can't run Office (or that Office for Mac is incompatible with the PC version) and that Macs are only good for graphics.



    I've talked to several people that have said, "Well, I'd consider using a Mac, but I need Office."



    Or, "Oh yeah, they're great for graphics, but..."



    99% of it is ignorance.
  • Reply 17 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by CosmoNut

    I think a lot of people also have no interest in Macs because they think that they're still a specialized product that can't run Office (or that Office for Mac is incompatible with the PC version) and that Macs are only good for graphics.



    I've talked to several people that have said, "Well, I'd consider using a Mac, but I need Office."



    Or, "Oh yeah, they're great for graphics, but..."



    99% of it is ignorance.




    And the ignorance is because of Apple's marketing (or lack thereof). They could use marketing to educate people that Macs aren't just good for graphics.



    Apple also doesn't seem to be interested in coming up with less expensive machines. They could sell the iMac for $600 if they didn't put a LCD panel on it. That alone would make the iMac a more attractive purchase for a lot of people who already own monitors, or that would rather have a CRT simply because it costs less.



    BTW, does StarOffice or OpenOffice work on the Mac?
  • Reply 18 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jsimmons

    BTW, does StarOffice or OpenOffice work on the Mac?



    No and yes, respectively.



    OpenOffice is still an X11 app, though, and is pretty ugly around the edges. It uses a very alien, nonstandard interface (pictures here) and is hell to configure. Granted, it is still a work in progress and there is a roadmap to (eventually) make it into a better Mac OS X citizen.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jsimmons

    BTW, does StarOffice or OpenOffice work on the Mac?



    Install X11 and OpenOffice will work on the Mac. Aqua version is planned in 2.0 upgrade. They have to do serious cleaning up to make the code more portable, so 2.0 is expected sometime in 2005.
  • Reply 20 of 28
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Gon

    Aqua version is planned in 2.0 upgrade. They have to do serious cleaning up to make the code more portable, so 2.0 is expected sometime in 2005.



    The Mac side of OpenOffice is seriously behind schedule. I question your "2005" date.







    A "proper" native version using Quartz outside of Darwin (X11) should have been available a year ago by OO's own timeline. A version using Aqua should be available now.



    I haven't seen anything telling of OpenOffice's progress on the Mac front. Can you offer any sources showing details or dates that the developers have a plan for the 2.0 Mac version or what the status of Aqua is?



    update: I found some more info at OpenOffice.org:

    Quote:

    All further development of the Quartz and Aqua tracks has been postponed until OpenOffice.org 2.0 due to gsl timeline. Initial delivery of 2.0 for Win32, Solaris, and Linux x86 expected in Q1 2005. Projected OS X X11 port availability expected to be Q2 2005. Projected OS X native availability of OpenOffice.org 2.0 is currently Q1 2006.



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