From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system


George Williams <nyar1ath0tep@mac.com> writes:

If the Mac market share plunges below 3%, even Apple investors may
start to question the move to X, but that's probably not the cause
of the decline.

I think Apple's fortune depends not so much on market share as being
able to grow or just maintain the absolute number of Mac believers,
meaning people who have been somehow convinced that the premium
demanded by Apple is worth it. A lot of these people are repeat
buyers, and I'm sure a big part of Apple's business comes from them.

Usenet is not exactly fertile ground for reasoned discussion, but the complaints you see here can be projected to the general Mac
population. Many users who don't like the new interface can't clearly
(or calmly) tell you why, and it's easy to dismiss them as trolls.
But for Apple to take the same attitude toward this segment of
unsatisfied users would be businesswise doubleplusungood.

What Apple has going for it is that Mac believers tend to be very
loyal. Take the case of George O. He obviously doesn't like OS X,
but if you read his initial post, he was willing to find fixes for the
things he doesn't like and wait for possible future improvements,
instead of jumping ship. This kind of loyalty reminds me of a TV
commercial from way back, based on a certain novel, that warned of its
dangers and offered an alternative. I wonder if the company that made
that commercial is still around, and what alternative it may be
offering today.
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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

In article <20030720203238.06745.00000313@mb-m06.aol.com>,
Crucifyself03 <crucifyself03@aol.comnojunk> wrote:

Overall marketshare is already below 3%.

Gee Apple has it bad. The problem with X is that its more difficult to use, it
looks awful, and most of the old hardware/software does not work.

In my opinion this statement is completely subjective, and should not
be issued as a fact. In my opinion Mac OS X is not more difficult to
use, nor does it look awful. Admittedly, I do sometimes think Aqua was
designed with kids in mind, but overall I find it smooth and easy to
work with.

Just because you don't like it doesn't mean that it's all bad.

Bring back a more advanced update to OS 9 that looks like the old OS.

OS 9 is dead. There will be no more updates.
Michael

--
My email address is ROT-13 encoded. Decode to send email.

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does NOT mean to stand by the President or any other public official save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country."
~ Theodore Roosevelt (Republican)

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

In article <3F1B61CA.FAF6ECEF@snet.net>, John Albert
<j.albert@snet.net> wrote:

crucifyself wrote:
<< Gee Apple has it bad. The problem with X is that its more difficult to use, it looks awful, and most of the old hardware/software does not work.
Bring back a more advanced update to OS 9 that looks like the old OS.>>

Interesting point.

And may I ask a question in all seriousness: could OS X become the
millstone around Apple's neck as it fights for survival in a Windoze world?

Could OS X be the marketing decision that finally kills Apple?

Apple's main selling point for personal end users -- before X -- was ease
of use, ease of repair when things went wrong. With OS X, they can now
offer neither.

Without a "user-friendly" OS as its main selling point (certainly _speed_
can no longer be touted as an Apple selling point), I see Apple's market share sinking further and further. How soon will it be down to 2%? Will we see 1% in a few years?

Why buy an Apple and fight with the OS, when you can buy a PC and do the
same thing? (laughs)

For the record, I have no intention of _ever_ buying a PC. I'll stick with
OS 9 to the bitter end. I sense that those in Cupertino who understand marketing realized they'd better get some "Classic-bootable" machines out there, or risk seeing their market share drop even further, Steve Jobs insistence that "OS 9 is dead" notwithstanding....

- John

Do you enjoy tracking down Extension conflicts in OS 9? I sure never
did. That was one of the single hardest things to trouble shoot in
Classic Mac OS. You should have tried to explaining the process to
trouble shoot an Extension conflict to my mother over the phone. I
thought I was going to shoot myself before it was over.

In OS X there are no Extensions. Therefore, no extension conflicts.
Ever. Your concern about "ease of repair" with Mac OS X simply does not
exist. Things go wrong far less often with OS X than they ever did with
Classic Mac OS.

Before OS X I used to have to reboot my Graphite iBook at least once a
day, just for good measure, so the OS wouldn't lock up on me at some
critical point. Running OS X my Pismo has been running, with no
reboots, since the last security update on July 14th. That's 11 days.
Before that it was running for over 17 days with no reboots.

In my opinion Mac OS X is far easier to use and far less trouble than
Classic Mac OS ever was.

I would suggest that you actually USE OS X for a little while before
you condemn it. It's the most advanced consumer-oriented computer
operating system available, and it's easy to use.
Michael

--
My email address is ROT-13 encoded. Decode to send email.

"...and on the 7th day, God turned off his Macintosh."
~ Anonymous

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From Newsgroup: comp.sys.mac.system

In article <20030720203100.06745.00000311@mb-m06.aol.com>,
Crucifyself03 <crucifyself03@aol.comnojunk> wrote:

share plunges below 3%, even Apple investors may start
to question the move to X, but that's probably not the
cause of the decline.

So X was a mistake?

Not in my opinion. But what do I know? I like OS X and run it 24/7 on
my Pismo.
Michael

--
My email address is ROT-13 encoded. Decode to send email.

"...and on the 7th day, God turned off his Macintosh."
~ Anonymous

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