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Empowering Users To Switch To Apple Macintosh Computers
How to Switch
Mac Models
Commentary Topic
U.S. retail chain Best Buy Co. has announced that it will start selling the Apple iPhone 3G on Sunday September 7. Best Buy is the first U.S. retail chain authorized to sell the device outside of Apple retail and AT&T stores. Best Buy operates as a specialty retailer of consumer electronics and related merchandise.
It's time to bury the OS X licensing speculation. Prior to this year's WWDC people speculated that Apple may begin to license Mac OS X due to banners failing to mention 'Mac'. The omission of 'Mac' from the banners generated a slew of buzz as many people began to speculate that Apple was thinking about licensing their operating system.
We published a report earlier today that sheds light on a rumor that Apple may release new iMac models next week. To understand why it makes sense, we need to look at Apple's current fiscal quarter. Apple is participating in Q3 2008 - or in other words, the third fiscal quarter of 2008. Apple's fiscal year runs from October to September.
In a February 17, 2008 article posted at InfoWorld, Galen Gruman discusses if it's time to leave Windows for Mac OS X or Linux.
It's now 2008 and the latest installment of the annual Macworld Expo is upon us. As we look back on the prior year, it's clear that 2007 was the year of the iPhone. Apple shook the core of the wireless handset industry when Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone at last year's Macworld keynote. Macworld 2008 will give us the first insight into Apple's strategy for the upcoming year and beyond. Rest assured that Apple will place a major emphasis on the Mac. It's my view that 2008 will be the Year of the Mac.
Apple's MacBook and MacBook Pro portables are fast approaching their historical "days between revisions" averages. We are also approaching the 2007 holiday season so rest assured that Apple will release new models very soon. Many buyers have held out from purchasing a new MacBook or MacBook Pro for two key reasons. The first was to wait for for Mac OS X Leopard to be released; the second for systems with Leopard pre-installed. We expect new MacBooks to be released on November 6, 2007 followed by new MacBook Pros on November 13, 2007. We provide our analysis below.
Finally - the sentiment from many switchers who have held back from purchasing a Mac waiting for Apple to officially announce the release date for Mac OS X Leopard. Now that Leopard is out of the cage (ok so I'm jumping ahead of myself - Leopard officially goes on sale October 26) the most powerful wave of Mac purchases is about to commence.
In his August 21, 2007 article Jonny Evans of InfoWorld details how a ChangeWave survey describes how Apple laptop sales have surged since the release of the iPhone. The loser is Dell.
Embedded in Apple's Press Release announcing the release of iLife '08 was a quote from Apple CEO Steve Jobs that gives insight into what may be his vision for the award winning suite of digital lifestyle products. Getting PC users to switch.
In a May 8, 2007 article titled "Mac share of surfers doubles in 8 months" with a subtitle "Apple is eroding Microsoft's online market share, says analyst", Computerworld demonstrates that the number of people surfing the Web with Macs has grown substantially in the past eight months. Furthermore, the article states that the Mac audience should not be ignored by Web application developers.
As a followup to yesterday's post about the Mac OS X 10.4.9 update, we indicated that we would put forth our prediction of when Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard would likely be released by Apple. This post provides a prediction
In a March 1, 2007 post titled "Opinion: Mac OS X 'an ideal platform' for SMBs", Computerworld states that Apple's upcoming Mac OS X Leopard Server operating system "could be a boon for smaller firms"
An article at Internet Retailer details statistics from a January 2007 Nielsen/NetRatings report that demonstrates that Apple.com led all computer hardware manufacturers in average time per visit and number of unique visitors.
In a December 8, 2006 article at ZDNet Australia, Munir Kotadia writes about a recent Gartner research report titled "Enterprise Mac Clients Remain Limited, but Apple's Appeal is Growing".
When Apple introduced the Core 2 Duo based iMac on September 6, 2006, the Mac faithful were excited to get their hands on the first Intel based Mac revisions. It was only back in January 2006 when Apple's CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the first Intel powered Macs at MacWorld. The first Macs to get those chips were the iMac and the newly introduced MacBook Pro.
Apple Computer will report the earning on Wednesday October 18, 2006 following the close of the US Stock Market. The company will provide guidance for 2007 fiscal first quarter (Q1 2007) that runs from October 2006 to the end of December 2006.
Apple and its Macintosh computers have been the subject of increasing attention, especially over the past few years. In fact, during that period many Windows and Linux users have purchased their first Mac. The trend has gained momentum over the past few years and Apple earlier this indicated that their tracking data shows that 50 percent of new Macs sold in Apple retail locations are sold to those who are New to Mac Why have Macintosh computer sales risen over the past few years?
A September 15, 2006 article at CRN provides some analysis into Apple's recent iMac revisions. The article starts out by describing the prices and features of the new iMacs, powered by Intel's Core 2 Duo processors. It then goes into a discussion by highlighting Intel-based Mac sales in different parts of the United States. The article is capped off with a description of how Apple has been able to lower the price the iMac since 2004.
Apple's announcements at the "It's Showtime" event on September 12, 2006 provide further insight into the company's evolving product strategy. Apple is clearly moving towards becoming a broad spectrum vendor, it will no longer be classified as a niche personal computer and software company. The addition of movies to the iTunes Store and a peek into the upcoming iTV set top box (media hub) position the company to expand it's appeal and establish a footing in the living room.
Wouldn't it be grand if Apple included a Windows Migration Assistant in Leopard that could intelligently facilitate the switch and make it so easy that Windows users wouldn't have difficulty moving their files over to a Mac?
A short but sweet read at Yahoo news. David Morrish, Best Buy's Senior Vice President for Merchandising is quoted as stating the following at the Best Buy annual meeting on Wednesday June 21, 2006:
When comparing a Mac against a PC, cost is the most often cited metric used to make the comparison. In my view, cost is only one variable of the computing equation. Failure to analyze other variables will lead one down an incomplete analysis. At a minimum, the comparison should also look at the following:
- Features, security, and stability of the operating systems
- Included and/or bundled software
- Maintenance and repair histories
- Realibility and performance of customer service
This post is segmented into two parts; the first is a description and analysis of the May 19, 2006 Steve Jobs interview on CNBC. The second is a discussion of Apple's revitalized Switch campaign. At first glance, these topics may appear as disparate topics. I take the position that the interview provided some hints into Apple's strategy. I'll combine Steve Jobs' comments with events that have transpired pre and post interview. You're welcome to post your comments, views, and positions.
Earlier this week, the buzz was centered around Apple's new beta Boot Camp software for OS X Tiger 10.4.6 that allows owners of new Intel Macs to extend the funcionality of the systems to boot into Mac OS X or Windows XP. Apple also released firmware updates for the entire line of the Intel Macs that provide EFI and BIOS support that should allow the new Intel Macs to boot into adiitional operating systems such as Windows XP, the upcoming Windows Vista, and Linux. The Intel Macs use a modern booting technology called EFI, Extensible Firmware Interface. In order to boot Windows XP and Windows Vista, the computer needs to support BIOS, a technology over 20 years old. Boot Camp bridges the EFI and BIOS gap.