I have often wondered at how someone could have a horrible experience with a computer and turn around and buy another one just like it. We have some friends who were using a Windows laptop. On our last visit with them, they told us it had become unusable so they ordered a new one from the same company.
As a Mac user, would I buy another Mac if I had one that died quickly? The answer might be yes.
To me going back to what disappointed you is illogical consumer behavior, but I suspect we are going to see a lot of this in the coming months as the Windows 7 juggernaut rumbles around the world.
Since I sold Apple's computers for so many years, I came face to face with that fear of the computing unknown many times. I still remember the completely illogical response from an engineering professor at Virginia Tech when I demonstrated an Apple LCII with 256 colors. He told me emphatically that no one needed more than sixteen colors.
With fear comes the need to rationalize your lack of interest in neat features.
Only in 2002 and 2003 when viruses and worms threatened to destroy Windows systems did I see people experiencing enough pain to consider switching platforms.
It is also interesting that when Vista's pain was the most severe that many users switched back to XP not to a Mac. I managed to survive the worst years of Vista and arrive at what I would call the annoying teenage years of Vista.
Of course those users who switched back to XP might have chosen a different path if Apple's OS X had been available to run on their non-Apple hardware. However, I seriously doubt very many would have chosen to run Apple's operating system on their Windows hardware.
At one time many people thought iPods would lead to more acceptance of Apple's other computer products.
While I am sure Windows iPods have had a limited impact, I somehow suspect that the number of people willing to trust their music to Steve and company is far larger than the people will to trust their whole computing life to Apple.
I have often talked about how the lack of neighborhood Mac experts helps hold down Mac market share. Actually I think there is much more too it than that.
Many Windows users are conditioned to going to multiple sources to solve a problem. The idea that there is only one place you need to go for help might seem unnatural.
Another perspective might see Apple holding too much power by owning both the hardware and software.
As Apple users we know that you pay Steve's prices and take your chances. Most of the time it turns out that letting one group make hardware and software that are elegantly fitted to each other is a better way to produce computers. Still users' opinions can be valuable.
However, we all know that user input means very little to Apple since customer councils appear to have disappeared expect possibly in Higher Ed.
Perhaps the latest Windows 7 commercials which play on the idea that Windows 7 is a result of listening to the needs of users is an attempt to leverage the idea that Apple is divorced from its customer while Microsoft is not.
I know that one of the things holding me back from purchasing an iPhone is that I am already an AT&T customer with spotty coverage. I am also reluctant give over total control of my life to two companies that are not exactly known for dedication to the wants and needs of their customers.
There was something very liberating when my Karmic Koala upgrade to Ubuntu Linux went flawlessly. In the back of my mind, I know that Linux is a good alternative to Apple.
I am probably one of the few real estate people in the area who does not carry a smart phone. Most are using Blackberries or Windows mobile phones. I have yet to run into an agent using an iPhone. Of course I have yet to run into an agent in Carteret County running a Mac. While smartphones seem to have taken agents by storm, I am still on fence in this slow real estate market.
I actually think Windows 7 might present a challenge to further Mac growth. In the same breath I have a feeling that Droid backed by Google, Motorola, and Verizon might at least be a shot across the iPhone bow.
It is the first smart phone that has seemed attractive to me and some other users that I know.
In the end, perhaps Apple still has some work to do before it can own any markets to the extent that it owns the iPod world. In truth I would rather see healthy competition than any vendor owning a market.
Some vendors, and Apple is one of the them, can become downright annoying when they become too successful.
That is it from the shores White Oak River on this sixth anniversary of my last trip to Cupertino. I am happy to report that the only runways I am seeing these days are much different than the ones I saw when I worked for Apple.
I was well trained by Apple to manage myself. Now I have a healthy distrust of a company like Apple who wants to control my digital life but that has chosen to ignore social networking which would likely bring it closer to its customers.
There is no question that social networking has led me to an interesting group of non-Apple contacts who also have a healthy skepticism of Cupertino's ambitions to control the digital world and fill their treasure chests.