Did OS X Miss Its “Window” Of Opportunity?
Apple recently removed the word Computer from their corporate name, and this might very well reflect the mindset of those people who are calling the shots: at the end of the day they have far less than 5% market share when it comes to computers, a far cry from their lofty position atop the world of portable media playing devices.
Obviously Apple's core business is not something that they're likely to give up on any time soon, but did the switch in emphasis cause the company to miss a chance to build relationships with new customers?
“When the long-awaited moment arrived, Vista turned out to be in as sorry a state of semicompletion as Mr. Jobs could have hoped for. Many pieces of hardware that customers already owned, like printers, turned out to be incompatible with the new Vista models.
The spectacle of Microsoft’s customers scrambling to avoid buying machines with Vista was a sight to be savored for those watching from Apple’s offices in Cupertino, Calif. Dell had to retract its initial all-Vista policy and reintroduce an XP option to appease distraught customers.
The Mac was seemingly well positioned for the moment in many ways. The transition to Intel microprocessors was complete. The OS X Tiger was a sleek, feature-rich, polished operating system. (Leopard, the next iteration, is scheduled to be released in October.)”
So what went wrong?
A few possibilities include an ad campaign that turned some potential switchers off, and of course the fact that the Mac Mini (the computer designed to attract switchers) has seen a steady increase in price since its debut.
Today Vista is in a much better state, though not entirely perfect, and Apple is about to release Leopard which. It would seem like a reasonable statement to say that Leopard, like any new OS, is likely to come with its share of bugs that will take time to iron out. Once that happens it looks like Apple may have actually lost their immediate chance to capitalize on any shortcomings Vista has or had.
Obviously Apple's core business is not something that they're likely to give up on any time soon, but did the switch in emphasis cause the company to miss a chance to build relationships with new customers?
“When the long-awaited moment arrived, Vista turned out to be in as sorry a state of semicompletion as Mr. Jobs could have hoped for. Many pieces of hardware that customers already owned, like printers, turned out to be incompatible with the new Vista models.
The spectacle of Microsoft’s customers scrambling to avoid buying machines with Vista was a sight to be savored for those watching from Apple’s offices in Cupertino, Calif. Dell had to retract its initial all-Vista policy and reintroduce an XP option to appease distraught customers.
The Mac was seemingly well positioned for the moment in many ways. The transition to Intel microprocessors was complete. The OS X Tiger was a sleek, feature-rich, polished operating system. (Leopard, the next iteration, is scheduled to be released in October.)”
So what went wrong?
A few possibilities include an ad campaign that turned some potential switchers off, and of course the fact that the Mac Mini (the computer designed to attract switchers) has seen a steady increase in price since its debut.
Today Vista is in a much better state, though not entirely perfect, and Apple is about to release Leopard which. It would seem like a reasonable statement to say that Leopard, like any new OS, is likely to come with its share of bugs that will take time to iron out. Once that happens it looks like Apple may have actually lost their immediate chance to capitalize on any shortcomings Vista has or had.
