Market Observation :: Laptop leading for how long?
Laptop saturation is an inevitable occurrence. Ironically, it will be sooner than the projections estimate.
Case in point: How many laptop systems do users keep around as compared to workstation pcs/servers?
Myself, I've got two workstations and one iBook. I won't buy another laptop until I'm ready to replace the current one. I'll buy another workstation, connect it to the switch and dedicate/delegate services between the three workstations which grows my network and reduces load on my systems.
How many laptop clusters do you see out there?
The hype for laptops is their portability. When one is at home, the portability issues drops considerably and when you have multiple systems, it drops even moreso. With wireless networks you can also make use of those no wires for workstations throughout your home as well.
Gaming: How many hardcore gamers bang make a laptop their primary system?
I personally see laptop saturation/maturation approaching more rapidly than a standard desktop.
Steve is overestimating the desire for folks to use laptops.
More to the point, with 2/3rds of the US and any nation's GDP in the earning pockets of those above 55 years old, it is a well-known fact that corporations are still having a very difficult time capitalizing on the largest bulk of private money--retirement age recipients are more interested in seeing the world before they die than surfing the web.
Case in point: How many laptop systems do users keep around as compared to workstation pcs/servers?
Myself, I've got two workstations and one iBook. I won't buy another laptop until I'm ready to replace the current one. I'll buy another workstation, connect it to the switch and dedicate/delegate services between the three workstations which grows my network and reduces load on my systems.
How many laptop clusters do you see out there?
The hype for laptops is their portability. When one is at home, the portability issues drops considerably and when you have multiple systems, it drops even moreso. With wireless networks you can also make use of those no wires for workstations throughout your home as well.
Gaming: How many hardcore gamers bang make a laptop their primary system?
I personally see laptop saturation/maturation approaching more rapidly than a standard desktop.
Steve is overestimating the desire for folks to use laptops.
More to the point, with 2/3rds of the US and any nation's GDP in the earning pockets of those above 55 years old, it is a well-known fact that corporations are still having a very difficult time capitalizing on the largest bulk of private money--retirement age recipients are more interested in seeing the world before they die than surfing the web.
Comments
He was just wrong on the implementation of that form factor. Laptops are better than desktop all-in-ones. In fact, they are better than desktop all-in-ones because they are completely all-in-one while the desktop versions have separate keyboards and pointing devices.
The laptop market won't be saturated until they are 75% or more of the entire market.
[edit: You'd think English is a 2nd language or something to me.
My wife has one desktop at home, one notebook (gateway), and her work pc is a Dell notebook in a docking station. They have several hundred employees and they all use notebooks in docking stations so they have one computer for on the go and at work.
Notebook computers are the future.
Originally posted by vormkrijger
so Steve UPDATE the PB !!!!!!
Ummm... he can't. Didn't you hear the news at WWDC? Freescale and IBM aren't interested/able to produce good laptop chips for Apple. So Apple is switching to Intel - who has very nice laptop chips. This transition will take a year or so.
- Jasen.
I'm not sure Apple can continue to flourish with high priced (albeit high powered) Powerbooks in the future. The masses simply need a utilitarian portable with fast wireless internet connection...in other words, more iBook rather than PB.
Me thinks the days of paying thousands more for sleek sexier form factors are numbered.
Ummm... he can't. Didn't you hear the news at WWDC? Freescale and IBM aren't interested/able to produce good laptop chips for Apple. So Apple is switching to Intel - who has very nice laptop chips. This transition will take a year or so.
Jasen.
hehe DHo - i am not from mars
i think (hope) the PB will be the firt to get updated.
Because the are slow if you look at the PC laptops.
The only thing good on them is the design and OS X
Originally posted by hmurchison
I just posed this question to a client and he said that he's unlikely to buy another desktop because they don't offer enough beyond what a for more flexible powerbook can do.
This feeling will only increase, I think, as desktop and laptop CPUs converge on descendants of the Pentium M. Apple's laptop slaes really started to skyrocket back in the late 90s when the same G3 chips (and later, the same early G4 chips) were going into both the Powerbooks and the towers. The laptop penalty was suddenly near-zero. And now, with the P-M taking over, it'll be near zero in the Intel world, too.
Later in life, screen size and keyboard/mouse placement become the most critical factors whem choosing a computer.
I do think that small and mobile computers will become more prevailent. However, these computers will have screens larger than found on laptops and will come with a detached keyboard and mouse. The iMac G5 is what I envision. (Of course it will be thinner, less chin-ee, and with a more adjustable stand.)
Portability matters not to old eyes and repetative strain injuries.
Originally posted by hmurchison
I just posed this question to a client and he said that he's unlikely to buy another desktop because they don't offer enough beyond what a for more flexible powerbook can do. I tend to agree with him. Running clusters and servers will automatically put you into the niche territory. For the masses laptops with wireless access is the coup de grace of computing.
You give Steve and Intel too much credit to predicting the future of computing.
For Enterprise markets, laptops are wonderful for IT Engineers interfacing with a server to fix services either via a serial cable or off an ethernet jack.
For Marketing and Sales laptops are king for interfacing with future and current clients. When they come back to the office, docking stations and/or an external keyboard, monitor and mouse are often used.
Software Consultants leverage laptops to new contracts for many benefits, not the least of which is having a development environment you are used to programming in, with all your tools to connect to your client's network readily available, plus a mouse.
For Mom and Dad, a laptop is not a draw. As was also mentioned the iMac form factor is king.
For the Grandparents? Laptop is the last product to purchase.
So far everyone who has responded has not responded with being a laptop owner, solely.
Steve is overstating the demand for laptops.
Gaming Systems: Laptops are not king.
Engineering CAD: Laptops are not king.
Scientific Computation: Laptops are not king.
Corporate Desktops [Call centers, Kiosks, etc]: Laptops are not king.
Medical Fields: Laptops are not king.
Outside of the new consumer going to college and clients adding a laptop to their list of systems, Steve is targeting another niche market.
To grow marketshare, Steve will have to target all sectors and to maintain core marketshares of Professional Workstations Apple needs to leap forward.
We haven't even mentioned XServe market opportunities.
Laptops are a short-term vision.
When I worked at NeXT and during the merger, Steve's true vision for Apple was to convert it to a Software Company. Unless you were there, at the meeting, you would not know this to be true.
What we do know is that Apple's emphasis on producing software has outpaced its emphasis on producing hardware.
Expect the trend to continue.
Originally posted by jiggy05
I bought a 23" cinema display and a Mac Mini knowing that the Mini was disposible after a year or so. I'll buy the Itel iteration of the iBook at Rev. B and never buy a desktop again. For average Joes like me this is gonna be sooo good.
Mac mini is a desktop. It just has a very small form factor.