[evoWalo]

Originally Posted by RC45 Wrong - it is over priced and marketed to the same demographic that "has to have the cool new phone".

Partly I have to agree with you but not everyone's like that. You could say the same thing about ACER's Ferrari laptop or Sony's VAIOs which also caters to the "has to have the cool new phone"

Folks who live on a budget and have less disposable income (mainly more people than not) find Apple expensive to buy, maintain and live with. THAT's why sales are low. Sale have been low since the beginning - prices have been high since the beginning. Apple not allowing cloned hardware killed it. No volume sales - no volume prices, no volume market. This was the land scape in 1990 - that is the landscape in 2005.

Wrong.... http://informationweek.com/story/sho...leID=166401575

Well - Apple just did this - they weren't always a Unix clone.

So why cant Microsoft do that? Apple made the transition from OS9 to OS X because it'll be the long-term OS for the next two decades.

Originally Posted by evoWALO Damn straight - A PC is not a status symbol as some folks view their cell phones, Ipods and other stupid hip crap.

Glad we agree Windows will never be as good as OS X though I have a feeling in a few years time we will see OS X run on white boxes.

You do business, home entertainment or school work. We get back to budget again - if you come from a family that is able to afford Apples for their kids - more power to them - No doubt those parents buy their kids a $25,000 graduation car as well. For them cost is no issue - this will never change. Pandering to these hip consumers will never Apple any real money either.

It's just a $100-200 premium. And that premium could be attributed to bundled software. I went canvassing for the cheapest DOS/Linux laptop this week and found that the cheapest ones off the shelf (Dell ditched us for some odd reason) equates to $700. Factor in the Windows XP Pro license and it is already touching the cheapest Apple laptop. OK I also found a $900 HP laptop (cheapest one with a license). It is a huge leap to say only rich people can afford Apple computers when the difference is just $100.

Considering the GUI wasn't Apples idea either - who cares.

It does matter. Would Microsoft make Windows if GUI-based OS werent popular? They'd probably sit tight and wait for some other company to blaze the trail for them. It does make sense though as it is cheaper.

Well - they licensed a browser to compete with Mosaic/Netscrape - but who cares... again - just because you are first, does not guarantee commercial success

My point is Microsoft never went on a limb and created something originally successful. They always had to wait for someone to get the ball rolling before making chase. I remember Bill Gates dishing the Internet as just a "fad" but after Netscape started to appear to be a threat to Microsoft's OS monopoly they did a 180 and went after em. It really hurt Netscape that Microsoft bundled/integrated IE into Windows but then again the world is better for it in a weird way. It allowed more people access to the Net as they need not pay for a web browser. Though it did have a bad side effect of allowing exploits left and right. Netscape's death spawned Mozilla and the browser I use, Firefox.

Again - who cares? I mean Porsche made an SUV - after Ford did... that makes Porsche losers?

It made Porsche copycats. Nothing bad about it but... no originality but seeming it is Porsche how can you expect much originality? They've essentially sold 1 type of car for the past few decades. Only recently did they make variations.

Originally Posted by evoWALO And competing products are now illegal?

Whoever said competing products are illegal?

Well - we can't let Apple be a monopoly now

Indeed Microsoft should create more value for their shareholders.

Originally Posted by evoWALO Thankfully M$ haven't sold baby puke green colour PC's and accessories to go with the internals Let's not forget Gates bailed Apple out - when he could have just let them wither up and die

They did sell a slime green gaming console to video gaming masses. Then again they did create Microsoft Bob and Clippy and that mutt that moves about whenever I try to search for something.

Do you mean this? Microsoft always pay there way out of problems.

The company was struggling financially under then-CEO Gil Amelio when on August 6, 1997 Microsoft bought a $150 million non-voting share of the company as a result of a court settlement with Apple (Microsoft has since sold all Apple stock holdings). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computers

Originally Posted by evoWALO That is Steve Job 's personality showing through. Apple is no better than M$ - they simply took a closed proprietary approach. In the real world commercially deployed Apple's sucked - they were slow, prone to crashing and really no better than a Windows system of the time. The few "high end" Graphics or Video workstations are not the mainstream of what Apple sold to stay in business. For every video editing setup they sold, they sold 10,000's of crappy entry level pieces of junk. They were costly and mostly just bought because the school, municipality or government office was obligated to try the "other vendor" once in a while.

Apple is the lesser of the two evils. Thing thing was at the time (before Steve leaving) they had the most advanced OS out there. They had the most advance apps out there. Even if they were crappy Windows/DOS/Amiga/etc was far worse. Also what a very odd govt for trying other vendors once in awhile.

That is APples fault - 30 years ago Gates figured out that once IBM let the clones out of the bag, SOFTWARE was where the money wa, not HARDWARE -- Apple is a bad business model propped up by brainwashed fans

And what an ever growing cult they are today.

Ford line worker drives Chevy...

Werent non-Ford vehicles being towed away from the Ford parking lot? Or was that Chevy having Ford vehicles being towed off the parking lot?

Whew - too much there Apples cost way more than $200 more than PC equals. Having fewer applications is a big deal - especially when you want to have a large choice. Malware, virii and spyware are a byproduct of user habit - not a weakness of the OS. 7 computers at home, seldom any issues - we make a habit of not surfing porn sites, warez sites and such. A Mac is not a "ferrari" of Personal Computers - unless you imply that ferraris are just hip fashion accessories? You make money supporting M$ because that is where the money is to be made - commercial success is all that counts - these are computers not religions. Remember all those car brands that failed over the years? Neither does anyone else.. That being said, I hate Apple almost as much as the E60 M5...

Pls create a brand name PC (no white boxes pls) with identical specs in both hardware & software bundle so we can do a sort off apple to apple-shapped orange comparison. Cheapest PC I could configure (white box clone) equates to $300 sans any software license.

Having a lot of crappy apps is far worse than having far fewer quality apps. Quality over quantity. After Microsoft weakened all competition who else could challenge Windows, Office, IE or Outlook? I'm surprised Microsoft hasnt created a software suite to challenge Adobe's monopoly.

An OS that allows malware/etc easy entry/installation onto the OS is a weakness of the OS.

Browsing alone doesnt cause malware to appear. Popular P2P apps install malware. Using an unpatched browser brings malware.

I have a habit on visiting JW's compilation of porn sites and checking out warez sites and never had a problem. OK I do admit to having some problems playing certain WMA files. Microsoft's WMP doesnt work properly for some odd reason.

You're right Macs arent the Ferrari of Personal Computers. Acers are the Ferrari of Personal Computers. Macs are just stable & secure computers that have a 100-200$ premium for aesthetics. Some people are happy to pay for their cars at employee prices while others are willing to pay full price for a reliable Honda.

Every MSCE and PC shop can make money because they can offer products and services to correct Windows' shortcomings. Most of the vocational school and college tech grads depend on a faulty software supplied by Microsoft. If a computer works too well what is a sysadmin to do? Also no one has ever been fired for suggesting Microsoft.

Apple has been 'beleaguered', 'slowly fading into nothingness', 'declining', 'sinking', 'miniscule' for the past 3 or so decades but they're still here and still chugging along creating technologies Microsoft could easily integrate into Vista.

Anyway Dubya loves his iPod. Does that make him part of the "has to have the cool new phone" crowd?