[Nonsuch]

On the whole, this is a pretty good time for Apple. Its operating system is earning raves from users who wouldn't have considered looking at a Mac three years ago. Its consumer hardware is excellently designed and competitively priced. It's producing great software and acquiring more. Its professional hardware, while in the doldrums right now, is primed for a significant refresh. Market share may actually be going up�and mind share definitely is.

The only dark spot continues to be education. For the last few years Apple's edu market share has been in precipitous decline and there's no indication it's going to recover. MacCentral just posted an article stating that Dell now has twice Apple's market share in edu, now a lowly 15%. The reasons cited are familiar:

1) Windows is the "standard"
2) Macs are difficult to support
3) Macs are expensive

These three perceptions are proving very difficult to combat. Now I don't work in edu and I'm obviously biased, but I really don't see any other computer company offering the same depth of commitment to education as Apple. Sure, other computer companies offer discounts for schools and teachers. From what I can tell, they don't offer the kind of information, advice and dare I say community to their edu users that Apple does.

I'd like to think that if I were buying technology for a school I would care about more than just the price. I would want to work with a company that saw me and my job as something more than a way for them to move boxes, a company that actually had a vision as to how technology can improve the classroom. I don't see Apple having any competition in this regard right now, but next to 1-2-3 above, it's obviously not a benefit many people find compelling.

Anyway, what do you all think?

[Apple Pro Underwear]

As a Mac user for less than 5 years, i really believe this is the best time ever...

I think now that OSX is out and the transition has built more steam, it will gain the accolades it rightly deserves and the market share will go up, not only in education but in consumer as well as their normal creative markets.

Today's users are smart now too. They know how to do things with a PC, so i think they can make good decisions on how to chooses one. Macs have their drawbacks but the perks are nice too. The commercials are in the public eye and the stores are out there...no doubt in my mind Apple will be raising positive eyebrows in the future.

[flatcatch]

I'm hoping that part of the huge decline in Apple's edu market during the past couple of years was due to the uncertainty of the OS X transition. This was nothing like the move from 680x0 to PPC where it was "pretty much" transparent and schools weren't looking at suddendly obsoleted labs full of Macs.

A couple of stars are aligning that hopefully mean good news for Apple growth: Jaguar, now giving us a young, but at least no longer not-quite-ready, operating system (friendly SMB networking, QE, etc). Also, with companies like IBM betting the future on Linux, I imagine that what's good for Linux is good for all un*xes (which includes OS X) - especially with Microsoft's recent assertion that their software is not designed with security in mind.

However - to beat a dead horse, Apple really needs to step up the Mhz - consumer perception always trumps actual technical merits. Also, we do have that new lawsuit against Intel for claiming/marketing the higher Mhz of the P4 were better and faster than other chips when in reality they weren't.

These and many of other why-Wintel-is-bad-or-waning arguments can help Apple slowly grow market share, but it will never cause switchers to come flooding in. I'd say if Apple can achieve a 10% consumer market share in the next 4-5 years we'd need to have a national holiday because it'd be a freakin' amazing feat. It may be very hard for Apple to make inroads back into education right now, since their 50% decline was due to a huge number of new PC purchases, which won't be tossed aside for the next 2-3 years at best.

Of course, with a goal of a 10% consumer share, and in the spirit of the other movie quotes thread:

Tell 'im he's dreamin'! - The Castle

[Evangellydonut]

Since all other stuff is confidential (business plans etc), I can only tell you that Apple is trying HARD to work the education market right now.

[IUJHJSDHE]

Originally posted by Apple Pro Underwear:
Today's users are smart now too. They know how to do things with a PC,

Read here

[Zimphire]

Apple and Dell have been trading off the top spot for a few years now, nothing new. One time it's Dell, then Apple, Then Dell. and so on.

Doesn't help that MS has the $$ to give away a bunch of free crap to education systems. Ah the joys of abusing your monpoly.