Review: Windows Vista
For the New York Times, David Pogue reviews Windows Vista, trying to prove in his video that “Microsoft did not steal ideas from Mac OS X.” [Dec 15, 2006]
Posts from the ‘Apple’ Category
Dec 20
Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005
One the best speeches I have ever read, heard, or viewed regarding life work and the importance of doing what you love.
For the full text of the speech, click Continue reading below.
Enjoy!
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How to run Windows and Mac apps side-by-side with Parallels
The Parallels beta includes a new feature, called Coherence, that hides the Windows desktop and allows you to run Windows apps in their own windows on your Mac desktop. The result is that you can intermingle all your Mac and Windows apps on the same desktop. I know what you’re thinking: Disgusting! Unnatural!
‘iTunes sales are fine’ – Apple speaks against silly claims
Apple has broken its usual silence to slam well-publicised claims that iTunes sales are losing momentum; claims made by Forrester Resarch analyst, Josh Bernoff. Bernoff’s claims, which emerge just weeks after Microsoft’s launch of its Zune device, prompted Apple to issue an official rebuke
Apple marketshare up 31%, browsershare up 45%…Everything Looking Up
Apple’s marketshare and browsershare have been marching upwards over the last several years, and this is no exception, a strong indication of Apple’s strength as a brand as its turning around of its historically very niche and marginal portion of the market.
Switch To a Mac breaks down a recent report showing that from November to November the Apple marketshare jumped 31%, a nice run. Another thing to note is that Macs started the year as 4.21% of the whole market, and right now are 5.39% of the market.
That’s still pretty niche, but to understand context, only a few years ago the Mac was 2 or 3% at most of the market.
Needham and Co.’s analyst Charles Wolf estimates that by 2016Apple will have 8.6% of the market. It’s a straight projection, however, remember that market adoption of products works in similar way to viral spreads, with exponential ‘tipping points’ where products ‘take off.’ It may be more of a case that Mac will either still be in 4-5% area, or it climbs significantly higher.
Some hints of this can be found in the Switch to a Mac’s analysis of Apple marketshare that shows very fast adoption rates of Intel processor Macs, the kinds of Macs that so-called ‘switchers’ are more likely to take a chance on due their ability to dual-boot Windows. Another demonstration of growing marketshare comes from a look at browser marketplace results, where the use of Mac browsers has jumped 45% to just a little over 4% of all browsers used.
Nov 17
It’s Official: Zune Sucks!
According to Podcasting News, early reviews are in on the Microsoft Zune, which debuts today. The consensus is: the Zune zucks.
The Zune has benefited from a tremendous amount of buzz. Unfortunately, it appears that Microsoft’s second attempt at an iPod/iTunes killer suffers seriously in comparision to its 5th generation competition.
- Engadget has a blow-by-blow walkthrough of installing the Zune software, saying that Installing the Zune sucked.
- PC World says it’s a good first effort, but the Zune’s features don’t seem compelling enough to make it a serious threat to take a big chunk out of iPod sales.
- Popular Mechanics calls the Zune “the husky, ugly cousin of the iPod”.
- Gizmodo says the brown Zune looks like it’s made of swamp water jello. We’re not sure what that means, but it sounds ugly.
- USA Today says “it’s no iPod.” Reviewer Edward C. Baig adds “I’d like to see more offerings in the store, and less stringent wireless restrictions. And Microsoft should rethink the silly points system. For now, I’m sticking with iPod.”
- The New York Times review, by David Pogue, agrees, noting that a list of things that iPods do that Zunes don’t could stretch to Steve Ballmer’s house and back 10 times.
- SeattlePI’s review is one of more the positive reviews, but concludes, “We hate to send a Dear Zune after such a brief courtship, but at the end of the night there is no doubt who we’re going to go home with” (an iPod).
- WSJ’s Walt Mossberg liked several aspects of the Zune, but concludes that the “first Zune has too many compromises and missing features to be as good a choice as the iPod for most users.”
- Business Week calls the Zune “a dismal failure“.
While the first generation Zune has failed to impress most reviewers, Microsoft is already talking about updates to the Zune software and upgraded Zune hardware. It’s likely that Microsoft will make frequent updates to the Zune system in the next year, until it has a platform that has mass-market potential.
I could agree more. I am sticking with my 6 or 7 iPods.
Steve Jobs declares 2007 to be “one of the most exciting” in Apples history
During last week’s conference call in which Apple announced preliminary 4th Q earnings, Mr. J apparently also declared 2007 to be “one of the most exciting new product years in Apple’s history.
Apple’s Big Mac
Record-breaking quarterly sales of the Mac are putting Apple into the running for a top computer-maker spot!
Sure, Apple Computer (AAPL) sold a lot of iPods in the September quarter. But unlike in past periods, when surging sales of the iconic digital-music player grabbed headlines, this time around, the Mac was the belle of the earnings ball.
In fact, Apple sold more of its Macintosh computers—1.61 million—than in any other quarter. Mac sales were clearly the high point of the quarter and the year, accounting for $2.2 billion, or 45%, of revenue. Apple had made a point to emphasize the Mac following the transition to using chips from Intel (INTC) from using chips made by IBM (IBM) and Freescale Semiconductor (FSL). Apple completed the switch when it released the MacPro earlier this month.
NICHE PLAYER NO MORE
“They delivered in spades,” Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says of Apple’s Mac sales. “It’s a sign that Apple has turned the corner from being a niche player to being a player that is starting to make a run at bigger players.”
Indeed, Apple came within spitting distance of overtaking Gateway (GTW) as the third-biggest U.S. computer maker, according to Gartner figures released on Oct. 18, the same day as Apple’s results. Last quarter, Apple sold a mere 38,000 fewer units than Gateway, which trails Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Dell (DELL).
And within Mac sales, portables were far and away the favored product of Mac buyers. Apple sold 986,000 of its MacBook and MacBook Pro notebook computers, which accounted for $1.3 billion, or 27%, of revenue at an average price of $1,363 per unit during the period. Desktop sales, at 624,000 units, were slower, in part because the Mac Pro was the last Mac in Apple’s lineup to include an Intel chip, accounting for $869 million, or just less than 18%, of revenue. Desktop prices sold for an average price of $1,392.
