Low End Mac Reader Specials
Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core 8GB kit $232 / 4GB kit $116 / 2GB kit $72. New Macbook 2GB DDR3-$65. HARD DRIVES available -- Free shipping / LIfetime warranty.
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Mac Musings
Apple Has Always Been a Significant Player
Dan Knight - 2003.02.03 - Tip Jar
As we discussed last Friday, Apple has never been a dominant player in the personal computer industry. However, that doesn't mean they haven't been a significant player.
Apple was the first to offer color on a personal computer, and their
expansion bus architecture directly inspired IBM to offer
standard expansion slots on their personal computer. Apple
was the first with an affordable floppy, and their Lisa was the first
PC with a graphical user interface and a mouse, which inspired
Microsoft to create Windows.
Macs were the first desktop computers to use 3.5" floppies, SCSI, CD-ROM drives, built in networking, SIMMs, NuBus expansion slots, trackballs in a portable, 802.11b and 802.11g wireless networking, abandon the floppy, support DVD burning, and all sorts of other things. If you're a longtime Mac user, you probably know the whole list.
Apple's significance doesn't come from their market share, which peaked at just over 20% in 1984 and has never been higher than 12% since then. According to Jeremy Reimer's Personal Computer Market Share: 1975-2002, it's under 3% today.
Time and again Apple has led the industry, whether that was to adopt 3.5" floppies or SIMMs in the mid-80s or colorful cases in the late 1990s. And Apple has extended its influence well beyond the world of personal computers. The FireWire bus they invented shows up on all the good digital video cameras. The iPod has taken the MP3 market by storm. And the Newton has inspired a decade of personal digital assistants.
Just as the Mac's GUI lead to Windows, Apple's QuickTime has lead to Real Player and Windows Media Player. iTunes and iMovies have their own knockoffs on the Windows side. Shortly after the iBook shipped with AirPort, Dell decided that it also had to offer a laptop with wireless networking. Anything Apple does, the rest of the world wants to copy.
In a world of ho-hum Windows computers where brand is generally unimportant (Sony being a refreshing exception to the rule) and everything is cobbled together from a pretty standard selection of motherboards, CPUs, graphics cards, and cases, the Mac stands out. Whether colorful, white, or gray, Macs are distinctive in appearance, run a pair of unique operating systems that Windows just can't copy, and generate the kind of brand loyalty that Gateway, Dell, and H-Paq can only dream of.
Macs are different. The Mac OS is different. The best Mac software is also different, like AppleWorks, which completely blew Microsoft Works out of the Mac market, and FileMaker and Safari, Apple's savvy new (still in beta) browser.
Apple is a niche player because most people are content with mediocrity, don't know that Apple really is a viable alternative, or can't afford a recent Mac. We can't do much about the mediocrity; we can only wait for the worst of the PC makers to bury themselves under warranty repairs and support costs.
The Switch campaign raises the Mac's profile as an alternative to Windows PCs, although so many people still say, "Well, I'd use a Mac if I worked with graphics." Apple does have a long ways to go to convince PC users that Macs aren't just for DJs, students, artists, and people overly frustrated with Windows. Macs do all the "regular stuff" that Windows PCs do like email, browsing the Web, word processing, spreadsheets, and on and on.
We can try to cajole Apple into producing a truly affordable consumer Mac that could compete with the lower end of the PC world, but that's all we can do. Until Apple realizes how much more successful the Switch campaign would be with a lower priced Mac offering Apple's reliability at a competitive price, Apple's niche will remain small.
Low End Mac won't do much to increase Apple's market share. In a world of 30 million Macs, only a quarter million visit our site in a given month. And of those, only about one-half visit more than one page or make more than a single visit.
Of course, we're not generally pushing new Macs. Or maybe I should say, we're not pushing new Macs exclusively. After all, for some people the latest models are the ones that best meet their needs.
But sometimes it's last year's model that provides the better value - or something even older might be the solution that best fits their budget while meeting their needs. And when someone buys a five-year-old beige G3 (one of the most popular profiles on our site), that used sale is never counted toward anybody's market share.
But it does grow the Apple market when someone comes to the Mac, whether from the PC side or as someone buying their first computer. Once they experience the general quality of Macs (and we do try to warn them away from the handful of Road Apples) and the friendly, pretty darn stable Mac OS, we think they'll stick with the Mac for the long haul.
And we'll help them make the most out of their Macs, new or old, with advice on hard drive, memory, CPU, video, and other upgrades. We'll help those who can't afford an $800 iMac find something they can afford and use it until it makes sense to replace it.
In a think different kind of way, a low-end consumer Mac would go contrary to our mission, since it would really impact the used Mac market and the older Macs that we know and love. On the other hand, we'd just look it over, calculate the value equation, and tell our readers how good a value the econoMac is and how they can get the most out of it in coming years.
Like Apple, Low End Mac is a niche player on the Mac Web, but having a small market doesn't mean either of us is insignificant.
Dan Knight has been using Macs since 1986, sold Macs for several years, supported them for many more years, and has been publishing Low End Mac since April 1997. If you find Dan's articles helpful, please consider making a donation to his tip jar.
Recent Mac Musings
- No High Definition iTunes Video for You, 11.19. The October 2008 MacBooks are preventing users from viewing some high-def iTunes content from being viewed on their external displays. Poor form!
- Anticipating Macworld: Nehalem, Snow Leopard, and Updated Desktops, 11.18. Intel's Core i7 CPU has to make it way into the next Mac Pro, nVidia GeForce graphics will drive the iMac and Mac mini, and 'Snow Tiger' will unleash the animal within.
- One Used Mac Can Make a Difference, 11.12. Instead of scrapping out old Macs for raw materials, what if the Mac community worked to restore them and give them away to those with no computers?
- A Brief History of Portable Computing: From Dynabook to Netbooks, 11.06. 40 years ago Alan Kay dreamt of a two pound handheld computer. Portables have made a lot of changes since 1981, but haven't yet matched the Dynabook.
- More in the Mac Musings index.
Links for the Day
- Mac of the Day: 14" iBook G3/600 MHz, Jan. 2002 - The first 14" iBook ran at a comfortable 600 MHz.
- Group of the Day: Mac OS 9 List covers Mac OS 9 as both a freestanding OS and as Classic mode in OS X.
- December 1 in LEM history: 99: Monitor dot pitch - 00: Macs for new users - Everybody wants to use iMacs - Career options - 03: Pfinder: Panther-like Finder for legacy Macs - 04: Why I use an eMac, iBook, and Power Mac - ThinkFree Office - MacLink Plus 15 - 05: PowerBook 190 still a great laptop - Eudora, the Mac's most powerful email client - 06: Core 2 'Books cooler and faster
Recent Content on Low End Mac
- The Very Best Macs: Sometimes Apple Just Nails It, Andrew J Fishkin, Best Tools for the Job, 12.01. Apple has produced lots of good Macs, a few dogs, and some 'best of breed' models that stand apart from the pack.
- Apple Could Buy Dell, and Linux Is No Threat to Mac OS X, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 12.01. Apple has the cash to buy Dell outright, and the idea has some merit. Also, why Linux still isn't ready to displace the Mac OS.
- Will Snow Leopard Support Some PowerPC Macs?, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 11.26. It just doesn't make sense that Apple would ship a new OS that won't support Macs sold less than three years ago.
- From Ubuntu to OS X, Picking the Right Mac, an Aluminum Mouse Pad, and More, Mac News Review, 11.26. Also changes in Apple culture, OWC rebates on Hitachi drives, Clone X clones OS X, and LaCie SilverKeeper updated for OS X 10.5.5.
- Apple Retail Will Break Records This Christmas, Tim Nash, Taking Back the Market, 11.26. "Despite all the economic problems, Apple Retail can look forward to another successful quarter with sales maybe breaking through $2 billion...."
- iPhone 2.2 Software Update Released and Jailbroken, Advent Calendars for Your iPhone, and More, iNews Review, 11.26. Also making Street View work on the iPod touch, BlackBerry Storm questions answered, Microsoft's forthcoming phone, eco-friendly cases, and more.
- MacBook Slowdown without Battery, DisplayLink and DRM, 256 GB SSD, MagSafe Solutions, and More, The 'Book Review, 11.26. Also Mac netbook prospects, laptop cooling table with 2 fans, solar notebook bag, hard shell cases for unibody 'Books, bargain 'Books from $500 to $2,299, and more.
- Old Macs in the New Economy, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 11.25. "We are the kings of making our computers last, last, and last some more."
- Virtualization Shootout: VirtualBox 2 vs. VMWare Fusion 2, Kev Kitchens, Kitchens Sync, 11.25. VirtualBox is aimed at a different audience than Fusion and Parallels. While it works well, the typical desktop user will probably prefer Fusion.
- Software to Keep Your MacBook Cool, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 11.25. Heat is the enemy of long hardware life. Two programs to keep your MacBook running cooler.
- Another Way to Run WeatherBug, Aspire One Runs OS X, 17" MacBook Pro Hi-res Display, and More, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 11.25. Also finding that 'just right' notebook computer, car, or truck.
- More links in our archive.
Recent Deals
- Best iPod nano Deals, 12.01. Refurb 3G/4 GB, $79; new, $105; refurb 8 GB, $99; new, $115; 3G/8 GB, $134; 16 GB, $174. Prices include ground shipping.
- Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, 12.01. Used 1.5 GHz SuperDrive, $481/C$599 plus shipping.
- Best Mac Pro Deals, 12.01. Used 3.0 GHz 4-core, $2,102; new 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,949 after rebate; 2.8 4-core, $2,099 a/r; 8-core, $2,515 a/r; 3.0 $3,320 a/r; 3.2, $4,099 a/r.
- Best MacBook Deals, 11.26. Used 1.83 GHz, $595; 2.0 SD, $660; refurb 2.1 GHz, $949; 2.4, $999; black, $1,099; new 2.1, $869 after rebate; 2.4, $1,150 a/r; black, $1,194 a/r; more.
- Best iPod touch Deals, 11.26. Used 1G/8 GB, $160; refurb, $179; new, $198; used 16, $200; refurb, $219; refurb 32, $319; new, $340; 2G/8 GB, $219; 16, $289; 32, $379.
- Best Power Mac G5 Deals, 11.26. Used 1.6 GHz single, $450; 1.8, $499; dual, $600, 2.0, $800; 2.3, $816; dual-core, $1,000; 2.5 dual, $1,000; 2.7, $1,050; 2.5 Quad, $1,400.
- Best MacBook Deals, 11.26. Used 1.83 GHz, $595; 2.0 SD, $660; refurb 2.1 GHz, $949; 2.4, $999; black, $1,099; new 2.1, $869 after rebate; 2.4, $1,150 a/r; black, $1,194 a/r; more.
- Best Mac mini Deals, 11.25. Used 1.42 GHz G4 Combo, $429; 1.66 GHz Core Duo, $449; 1.83, SuperDrive $629; new 1.83 Core 2 Combo, $570 shipped; 2.0 SD, $760 shipped.
- Best 15" PowerBook G4 Deals, 11.25. Used 1.67 GHz SuperDrive, $539; hi-res, $800. Shipping additional.
- Best Time Capsule and AirPort Deals, 11.25. Refurb 500 GB Time Capsule, $249; new, $281; refurb 1 TB, $419; new, $462; AirPort Extreme Base Station, $159; Express, $60.
- More deals in our archive.
