The Mac in the Gray Flannel Suit

Discussion in 'The Lounge - Off Topic' started by ffreeloader, May 5, 2008.

  1. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    The name of this thread is the title of an article from Business Week about how Macs are making inroads in to what has been Window's domain, the corporate world. It seems Apple has absolutely no corporate sales people. Zero. Then how are they getting Mac's into the corporate world? Users are demanding them. They are tired of Windows and want to use something they like.

    According to Business Week Apple's sales have risen almost four fold in the five year period from 2002 to 2007, from $5.4 billion to $24 billion last year. In that period of time their share price has risen 2300%. What's more Apple is predicting a 33% increase in revenues in the second quarter of this year. That's in a slumping economy.

    I say contrast that with Windows sales dropping 24% in one quarter, and you'll see that MS has very real competition for the first time in decades.

    You can read the rest of this 5 page article here at Business Week.
     
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  2. zebulebu

    zebulebu Terabyte Poster

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    Jesus wept.

    Macs are ****e - end of story. They will never replace PCs - they are overpriced eye-candy - how Apple gets away with what amounts to daylight robbery of its customers is and will always be a mystery to me.
     
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  3. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    I've never owned a Mac, but I have to say what I've seen of their upper end laptops was pretty impressive. It's a nice UI, stable, and the Mac users I've talked to really like their machines. That Apple can charge what they do boils down, in my eyes, to perceived value in the eyes of their customers.

    Why do people pay premiums for a Lexus, BMW, Cadillac, etc...? It's because of they see a perceived value. Whether any of those brands of cars are actually worth what people pay for them is irrelevant. The owners pay the price because, for whatever reason, they like and want the product. The same goes for Apple. At least Apple is growing its computer market share through their customer's wanting the product, not by excluding other vendor's products from the market through unfair marketing practices.
     
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  4. zebulebu

    zebulebu Terabyte Poster

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    That's because most of their customers are worthless, clueless ponces who are buying into a lifestyle rather than buying something to work with. To draw a parallel (no pun intended) there is an office on the floor above us at work where a lot of graphic design work is done. They have a futbolin table, coke machines, stupid beanbags for chairs and a 'play area' with cushions and multicoloured balls to dive into. In short, they use Macs, and are paid a living wage to piss around when they should just grow the **** up and get a real job.

    How about using undocumented APIs to give Safari a competitive edge over other browsers on Mac OSX? Sound familiar?
     
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  5. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    I know about that. I was referring to locking vendors into carrying only one product by using exclusionary contracts.
     
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  6. NightWalker

    NightWalker Gigabyte Poster

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    The thing with Apple is they will only ever be able to sell a few client machines into a Windows or Unix based network. Can they provide a full enterprise class network; server OS and clients, messaging services, web servers et al. They just don’t have the product range. What third party applications can the business select to run on their very expensive MAC network, who can they find to administer it all, how long is it going to take to re-train 1000s of users who are all used to using Windows on their home PCs? It’s just not a viable solution. The odd MAC for a web designer or graphic artist is about all they will ever do in the business arena, MACs are for home users that don’t want to use Windows.
     
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  7. hbroomhall

    hbroomhall Petabyte Poster Gold Member

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    I was interested not so long ago to be invited to BT's headquarters for a product launch. In the main reception area were a number of machines so delegates could catch up with their e-mail etc. *All* the machines in that area were Macs!

    As the Mac is based on FreeBSD I was able to SSH onto my work machine to pick up my emails with no problems.

    There are quite a few developers in my department running Macs. The company view is that if you prefer a Mac to work with, and can give justification (as the support staff don't know it that well) then you get one.

    Harry.
     
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  8. Phoenix
    Honorary Member

    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    Oh give me a break zeb
    there working environment is far more conductive to a creative mind than sitting in a grey cubicle for 12 hours a day, grow up and get a real job? what's less real about the job they do compared to yours?

    If more companies gave staff a nicer working environment we would all be better off and more productive thats for sure
     
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  9. greenbrucelee
    Highly Decorated Member Award

    greenbrucelee Zettabyte Poster

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    LOL I agree, very fuuny :D
     
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  10. ffreeloader

    ffreeloader Terabyte Poster

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    LOL. Doesn't sound like you've read the article.

    Corporations are starting to respond to the requests of their own employees to be able to use Macs.... No retraining required.... Apple isn't selling the corporations anything, the corporation's own employees are clamoring so loudly for the Mac's that the IT departments are starting to respond.
     
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  11. sunn

    sunn Gigabyte Poster

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    Mac’s have always been popular with designers, graphics artists; publishers and that scene… When Mac (OS-X?) came out based on FreeBSD many of the Sys Admins I worked with fell in love with it. Truth is I think they liked it because it wasn’t Windows but at the time easier to sell to managers/directors than a Linux based laptop.

    I’d like to have a Mac, but I wouldn’t pay the prices they’re looking for. My cousin (in med school) went out to buy a Mac laptop ($2100+); and sanity came over him at the store and he bought a ($1000+) PC laptop.
     
  12. sunn

    sunn Gigabyte Poster

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    I dunno Zeb, sounds like a non-stressful environment to me. :silly :baby
    I can imagine a lot of people enjoying & thriving in it, although it wouldn't work for me. I’m more productive under some stress of timelines, and people depending on me. It drives me. :juggle
     
  13. Phoenix
    Honorary Member

    Phoenix 53656e696f7220 4d6f64

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    I'm about to splurge on a MBP (2.5GHz, 4GB) when I get to the states
    not only is apple one of the greenest manufacturers of personal computers, the MBP runs vista better than most of the other laptops in it's class (as well as OSX!!) it's also well designed, can take a beating, and has full x64 bit vista support oh yes!

    only going for the 15" version, 17" just seems to big for a laptop if you ask me! :)
     
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  14. NightWalker

    NightWalker Gigabyte Poster

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    Ok, I didnt read the article... I saw 'MAC' and started bashing out words on the keyboard. :blink
     
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