Apple declares war on the entire PC industry • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#31

Post by iuybuyvvyu » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 2:07 PM UTC

gaius wrote: post #28

heresyforme wrote: post #22

MS is missing a huge opportunity. While Apple may be reaching the tech savvy and elite, MS needs to market to the "everyday average normal guy". Look at the Chevy "Like a friggin' rock" commercials. Is that guy going to buy some namby-pamby macbook if there's a real man's alternative somewhere? Instead of two nerds making passive-aggressive beta-male comments to each other in the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercials; im…

everyday average normal guy Said guy's too busy listening to his iPod ;-) Seriously, tho', Apple has simply chosen not to compete in many of the markets MS sells into. There's no Mac for gamers, for example, Apple simply aren't interested. They aren't interested in selling into corporate desktops either. There's no technical reason Apple couldn't flog 20,000 desktops to Boeing to use as Unix workstations, for example…

Pretty much for the same reason BMW don't sell pickups.

It's not like BMW's engineers couldn't master the technology of the solid rear axle.

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#32

Post by iuybuyvvyu » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 2:10 PM UTC

mikedouglas wrote: post #13

olliesaunders wrote: post #12

What is the article even talking about? Netbooks are destroying things? Netbooks are the best thing to happen for ages.

From the article: [Netbooks] are cannibalizing Windows PC sales at an alarming rate. By comparison, laptops commanded higher margins and average selling prices when their popularity started to increase. PC manufacturers -- and even Microsoft -- benefited from notebooks' reversing the trend of falling computer ASPs; for a time. By comparison, netbooks are a plague, because they dramatically lower ASPs and margins and…

Does this sound an awful lot like the pleadings of car companies building SUVs when oil hit $150 and those sneaky foreigners started importing subcompacts ?

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#33

Post by Tichy » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 2:10 PM UTC

idlewords wrote: post #24

Tichy wrote: post #20

Why are netbooks only the problem of the PC industry? Surely they "cannibalize" Mac sales just as they cannibalize PC sales. Except for the people who would buy Macs no matter what.

Apple sells a high-end product; anyone who might be tempted away by a netbook would likely have already been tempted away by a lower-cost PC. It's the same reason that inexpensive Japanese cars don't cannibalize BMW sales.

Still, it seems weird to put those into different categories. There could be a PC maker creating expensive PCs that don't compete with netbooks. In fact, there probably are (for example creating high end PCs for architecture and film editing). That PC maker would not be cannibalized by netbook sales.

Maybe if it is Microsoft vs Apple they are talking, but MS also sells stuff for netbooks.

Also, if there were no netbooks and no PCs, there probably would be more Apple sales. So Apple loses sales to PCs and therefore also to netbooks.

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#34

Post by iuybuyvvyu » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 2:13 PM UTC

junklight wrote: post #6

jacquesm wrote: post #3

Mac == PC (Personal Computer). I think the author meant to say on Microsoft.

I think it shows great restraint - the headline for an article like this if it was someones blog would be "Why Microsoft is dead" or "how Apple won the windows 7 war".

Microsoft will still make more money from Windows7 than Apple makes form selling computers. They made more from Vista than Apple makes.

There is a big difference between 'fails with the HN/Slashdot crowd' and fails to make money.

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#35

Post by thwarted » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 3:21 PM UTC

heresyforme wrote: post #30

halostatue wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple may have already stepped up to that with the "Call me when you're ready to compromise" ad starring Patrick Warburton.

Agreed. Patrick Warburton, though manly looking, isn't quite the alpha male that a football star type represents. Heck, Warburton was the Tick; a live action comedy character based on a cartoon character for children and Puddy on Seinfeld. Not exactly the guy known for playing an alpha male. Apple is for betas, plain and simple. MS is missing an opportunity to reach the alphas.

Brock Sampson, voiced by Patrick Warburton, stabbed Hilter to death in the season opener of The Venture Bros. If that's not alpha male, I don't know what is. But you're, ahem, probably right, I bet he is totally over compensating by voicing that role.

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#36

Post by absconditus » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 4:07 PM UTC

gaius wrote: post #28

heresyforme wrote: post #22

MS is missing a huge opportunity. While Apple may be reaching the tech savvy and elite, MS needs to market to the "everyday average normal guy". Look at the Chevy "Like a friggin' rock" commercials. Is that guy going to buy some namby-pamby macbook if there's a real man's alternative somewhere? Instead of two nerds making passive-aggressive beta-male comments to each other in the "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" commercials; im…

everyday average normal guy Said guy's too busy listening to his iPod ;-) Seriously, tho', Apple has simply chosen not to compete in many of the markets MS sells into. There's no Mac for gamers, for example, Apple simply aren't interested. They aren't interested in selling into corporate desktops either. There's no technical reason Apple couldn't flog 20,000 desktops to Boeing to use as Unix workstations, for example…

What is a veteran graphic designer going to be using?

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#37

Post by JeremyChase » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 4:10 PM UTC

idlewords wrote: post #24

Tichy wrote: post #20

Why are netbooks only the problem of the PC industry? Surely they "cannibalize" Mac sales just as they cannibalize PC sales. Except for the people who would buy Macs no matter what.

Apple sells a high-end product; anyone who might be tempted away by a netbook would likely have already been tempted away by a lower-cost PC. It's the same reason that inexpensive Japanese cars don't cannibalize BMW sales.

Japanese cars absolutely eat into BMW's sales, or have you not noticed the army of hybrids gliding around?

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#38

Post by gaius » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 4:29 PM UTC

absconditus wrote: post #36

gaius wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

everyday average normal guy Said guy's too busy listening to his iPod ;-) Seriously, tho', Apple has simply chosen not to compete in many of the markets MS sells into. There's no Mac for gamers, for example, Apple simply aren't interested. They aren't interested in selling into corporate desktops either. There's no technical reason Apple couldn't flog 20,000 desktops to Boeing to use as Unix workstations, for example…

What is a veteran graphic designer going to be using?

My point was that eliteness is nothing to do with Mac usage.

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#39

Post by gaius » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 4:31 PM UTC

heresyforme wrote: post #30

halostatue wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple may have already stepped up to that with the "Call me when you're ready to compromise" ad starring Patrick Warburton.

Agreed. Patrick Warburton, though manly looking, isn't quite the alpha male that a football star type represents. Heck, Warburton was the Tick; a live action comedy character based on a cartoon character for children and Puddy on Seinfeld. Not exactly the guy known for playing an alpha male. Apple is for betas, plain and simple. MS is missing an opportunity to reach the alphas.

Microsoft quite happily sell X-boxes by the tonne to football-playing beer-chugging mouth-breathing fratboys, if that's your definition of "alpha male".

Re: Apple declares war on the entire PC industry

#40

Post by me325r4534534 » Wed, Oct 21, 2009, 4:47 PM UTC

axod wrote: post #8

Robin_Message wrote: post #2

I wonder if Apple will try and ruin Microsoft's parade tomorrow by announcing the Tablet?

Don't believe the tablet hype. The only people who want such a thing are the few people blogging about it all the time. (And of course hype is good for getting readers/attention/subscribers etc) (Or trying to justify their own tablet - crunchpad? "Best product of 2009"?!?? http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4332415.h... ) The usefulness of a 'too big for your pocket, half a laptop that you have to hol…

I'm not disagreeing, but just remember - I heard tons of comments like this about the "iPhone" years before it was actually released. So there very well may be a "iTab" on its way.