Apple

When Apple first came into being, it was viewed as an alternative to IBM. The hardware was not supported by anyone except Apple and parts were unavailable to anyone outside their small service system. These road blocks were circumvented simply by purchasing of whole units and breaking them down for parts inventories. A costly method but effective way of servicing a small number of units used by otherwise IBM oriented corporations. Had Apple joined with DEC or WANG they might have been able to rival the big providers but they stuck to the niche market and remains a small dog in big pound. Users who purport to be Apple dependant will continue to exist as long as Apple refuses to follow the mainstream users and providers leading edge.

I will not go into how apple computers were made, that is well documented and available.

The first Apple comuters were the first Personal Computer (PC), the techie people took to them right away. With the Apple costing only thousands, the only alternative was much more expensive systems with expensive software. The Engineers and Progammers could have fun writing code to do their projects with.

The Apple was considered to be a 'toy' of the techies by business. It was not until IBM came out with the PC, that business took them seriously, and bought them is droves. Apple could not overcome the 'cute' image, even though they were popular with the above people. Some schools still use the old Apple II computer in classrooms.

Another point, Apple and MacIntosh computers were designed to be more people friendly. Where IBM PC's were designed for business. Even today, people trained first on a Macs have a hard time switching to an IBM type PC. The opposite is not usually true.

I see Apple as an O/S and hardware company. They appear to make more reliable hardware than their competitors, charge more for it, and have an operating system that appears to be more reliable than windows. However, their software offerings don't appear to embrace a larger audience, being mostly Mac focused, so the chances of someone using apple software on a windows machine (outside of Quicktime) is not often seen.

They want all the money for anything that they touch.

And to only allow one cell phone company to be able to work with the iPhone is a perfect example of how they have become just like the rest. Way to go Steve - afraid of freedom in the marketplace? If they really wanted market penetration they would allow the iPhone to work with other cellular carriers. They could still say "If you modify the software inside, the warranty is voided" and yet make lots more sales.

So...

Look at their ad campaign. You can be the cool Apple user, or the dorky pie chart loving PC user. Well, considering I used to be an accountant, and now I'm in IT, guess which side I land on :) I also think this calling everything iWhatever is a good strategy. if someone says iX you know exactly what company their talking about.

Plus I don't think I've actually seen a TV ad for any other brand of MP3 player.

THe iPod, the Shuffle, the iPhone: all are revolutionary products, and are products others have imitated. Obviously, this company has exceeded in product development.