Unswitch? I don't think so
Lots of people seem to be switching to Mac but a couple well-read geek bloggers threatened in the last week to unswitch. Cute. But the question is what can you switch to that would be close to as good?
Many of us have our differences with Apple. We don't like the suing of our favorite rumor sites and we don't like Apple's usual arrogance and secrecy. Transparency is in but Apple has 0%. They should look at OS X for a clue.
I enjoyed these two unswitcher posts: Drunkenblog, Tim Bray and Paul Graham's recent Return to the Mac and Radsoft's long but enjoyable and very well-argued rant about why Windows users should buy an iBook from last October.
It is unfortunate, but at the moment the two main options for unswitching aren't that good. Windows XP and 2000 are ultra long in the tooth. Besides that, the spyware/virus/trojan horse issues make it incredibly painful to use. Other Unix-based options still suffer greatly in the usability department even though they offer tons of power. OS X offers power, beauty, decent Windows compatibility and lots of Apps. OS X wins without breaking a sweat and if Windows didn't have complete and utter dominance in marketshare, there would be tons more Mac users out there right now.
I would like to see all three options continue to improve and aggressively compete with each other. Windows can only get better when Longhorn's feature list finally ships. And Unix will probably come up with some good UI and more apps over time. Apparently China is big on Linux and they might get serious and do something.
I would love to see 10 - 15 - 20% marketshare for the Mac but would hate to see Apple rest on its laurels as it succeeds. What I would hope for is that all this iPod money would fund Apple's continuing innovation with computers. I also expect Apple to play seriously in the cell phone, mini notebook and home/auto entertainment arenas.
Apple is still the little guy in personal computing, so I'm glad they've got some bucks in their pockets to try new things and make beautiful, useable computers and software. I'm hoping that competition and Steve's perfectionism will out weigh the downsides of his imperial ego.
It's not about Linux being great -- it's about Linux being good enough for what one wants to do -- and I'll admit in 90% of what I do, Linux lets me get my work done as well as OS X. Not always in as pretty a way, but you give up some and you gain some. For those that aren't technically adept it's not something I'd recommend whatsoever, but it's pretty much getting there.
From a technical standpoint, since I know them both so well, it's not OS X that has a remote chance of keeping me on board, its the great 3rd party apps.
Posted by:drunkenbatman | Mar 30, 2005 at 05:35 PM
I'm interested in the way people accuse Apple of heavy handedness in their lawsuit against our favorite rumor site. Two issues come to mind. The first is that the information is Apple's to distribute, not the employee, who has signed a non disclosure agreement. These employees who report future releases to the rumor sites are violating the trust of the company they work for each day. In short the information is Apple's and Apple's alone.
We can enjoy the drama of a new release and the company can protect its direction through releasing info when it knows the info is ready. Who wants to be reacting to leaks and rumors all of the time? Here is a "for instance." Let's say that a new OS release is going through the pipeline at Apple and let us also say that the company is doing something really aggressive that takes a lot of programmers, time and foresight. Do you really want rumor sites publishing that this thing is coming in the near future or do you want to have the company release the information when the OS is full and ready for mainstream?
Look at the drubbing that MS gets for Longhorn. Look at the criticisms which abound for vaporware out there and the following disappointment when nothing comes to light for months, and months and months.
I just don't see this as a free speech issue. I see it as a violation of trust on the part of the employee. I'm sorry the rumor site got stuck in the middle but when you get information that violates a contract agreement you are handling one mess of hot taters!
Posted by:Rob Short | Mar 31, 2005 at 02:28 AM
In reply to drunkenbatman:
I think you overlook that its the features that Apple adds in Mac OS X (Quartz, Rendezvous, and on and on), the development tools they provide, plus the Darwin underpinnings that allow for third party developers to create the cool software that keep you using the platform.
Also, I'm tired of Linux's marketing strategy of portraying itself as the only viable UNIX alternative. The word has become like a mantra: "Linux". The use of the word completely glosses over all the other perfectly viable UNIX alternatives. How about the BSDs? Or Solaris? If you're talking about power why stick to the currrently popular cult flavor?
Posted by:Jose L. Hales-Garcia | Mar 31, 2005 at 06:05 AM