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The rise of Apple

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I have been intrigued by the rise of Apple Inc. Was this just due to the kind of products that they brought out or was it a huge and successful marketing campaign that they evolved? Can you send in your thoughts and also direct me towards any online resource that specifically answers this question?

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Clarifications

In reply to The rise of Apple

Clarifications

In the beginning

In reply to The rise of 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.

You forgot…

In reply to In the beginning

That Apple could get tax-free status as a religion. Apple users don’t seem to switch, ever.

So True

In reply to You forgot…

I can’t think of anyone I know who is tech savvy and owns an apple. Most people I meet that have Apples have one of two reasons.

1. I use a PC at work and hate it, so I bought an Apple for home.

2. I don’t want M$ to take over the world so I bought an Apple. (These are the types of people who don’t understand there’s a difference between PC’s and M$, and if you mention Linux, you get a glazed, confused, fearful look)

I can say that my iPod is the first and last piece of Apple crap I will ever buy. I’m sick of it. I’m reimaging it weekly, One day it decided to lock out all of my non-iTunes purchases, the next week it locked out all of my iTunes purchases. Annoying little piece of junk if you ask me.

Another truth

In reply to So True

In my experience, the owners of Apple hardware tend to
be those who both make the decision on unit to buy AND
write the cheque (check).
Owners of PC’s tend to fall into the following;
1) I just use what work buys.
2) I had no idea so I just asked my accountant
3) I bought the platform with the highest market
saturation.
4) I didn’t know there was a difference I just bought a
computer
5) I want to build my own like a construction set.
6) I want to prove I can work on THE cheapest device out
there.

There are business models where 6) makes sense. I have
heard that data centres such as Google have few high-end
devices running the master software, and a multitude of
disposable PCs that are never repaired, just replaced. A
local internet backup company also uses the same
strategy. User experience (of the PC) doesn’t come into it.

Also, ubiquitous as the iPod is, you do have to follow the
instructions. Don’t unplug it when it says “Do not
disconnect”. You need to think of it as disposable but
extremely convenient data, so that you can apply the 5 R’s
for troubleshooting with no fears.
In the story “So True” – it would not be the iPod deleting
the purchases, it would be the preferences set in iTunes.
Podcasts for example are deleted from the iPod after you
have viewed/heard them. I too have had some annoying
frustrating experiences with the iPod, but now with my
new paradigm (of disposable data, because it’s all on the
computer anyway) I have just reloaded when I hit trouble.

Your history is just a little off

In reply to In the beginning

The Apple II OWNED the market for personal computers before IBM even entered the marketplace. IBM has admitted it entered the PC market because they belatedly realized what a gold mine had been discovered by the good folks at Apple. What changed the landscape in IBM’s favor were some killer business applications and the knowledge that no one ever got fired for buying IBM.

I also mention that DEC and WANG are long since gone as independent companies and Apple still exists and is picking up customers in the business world.

Do you honestly think you would have Windoz if not for the Mac? Apple has been the innovator while MS (the tail that wags the dog) has gotten rich copying, buying or flat out stealing technology from others.

Here are my thoughts

In reply to The rise of Apple

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.

Hardware company

In reply to The rise of Apple

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…

Pure Marketing

In reply to The rise of Apple

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 products are revolutionary

In reply to The rise of Apple

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

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