“The more people you convert, the closer Apple comes to mediocrity while trying to satisfy the requirements of its new users.”

I didn't realize that a constantly crashing OS, and vulnerability to practically every virus imaginable would be so desirable to new converts. Only that PCs could aspire to the level of mediocrity! Anyway, .what changes have been made to the Mac that support your argument that it needs to become as junky as the PC to accommodate an influx of unsophisticated users? How is the Mac not user friendly to those wishing to use a computer for surfing the web and sending email?

I also think the automobile analogy is flawed. Toyota made its name by building affordable and reliable vehicles. An Apple product is not a Mercedes. In fact, cost of ownership is probably less than it is for PC. Apple is more like a Toyota. It costs a little more than the competition in the beginning, but in the long run it's worth it because it is far less likely to break down and cause headaches. And while Toyota, when it first started importing cars into the US was a dwarf compared to all of the other automakers, it is now, owing to its philosophy of quality, the world's largest automaker. Who then knows where the Mac will be in 5 years.

So how, Michael, do you account for Apple's recent increased market share? How do you account for the everyman appeal of the iPhone and iPod? These are two more examples of superior products that have become wildly popular. Where is the Zune? Where is the Jukebox? Look at how rapidly the superior iPhone as exploded on to the scene. Between stuff that often doesn't work (well), and quality, innovative products that do, many people prefer the latter. Unfortunately, PCs don't really work. The hardware may be fine, but since many of these companies essentially sold their sole to the devil, essentially then, they don't work.

You would like to portray Mac enthusiasts as an elite corp of irrational crazies, but this is hardly the case. We're actually very compassionate people who mourn for the rest of the world. You may tell people that must settle for mediocrity, but a lot of people would beg to differ.

Years ago, everyone with a PC held on because the idea was that Windows would get better with each new release. This never really happened, unfortunately, and when Redmond came out with Vista it was, for many people, the last straw. God how Vista was hyped, and God did they spend a long time making it. What are people supposed to think? How long are we supposed to wait around for MCSFt??? I don't accept that this is the best that we can hope for.

Maybe it's too much to say that PCs don't work. To borrow from your automobile metaphor, they work about as well as a Yugo which is to say, not very well. There prevalence has nothing to do with anything.

When I think about what must now be billions of man hours wasted fooling with dysfunctional PCs, there is in me a sense of moral indignation. There are few people at MCSFT who seem to care, but then why should they? According to the market dictum which Mr. Gates so steadfastly believes, he is not properly incentivized to produce a reliable product.

If, by the way, you would like to appreciate what an amazing visionary Mr. Gates is, reread The Road Ahead.

In any case, I will not attend to the absurdity to some of your other claims at this particular moment (unless you want me to of course).

That being said, there are plenty of users and uses for which a Mac may not be the best choice. Among them are hard-core gaming, do-it-yourself system-builders, people who need ultra-compact portables, tablet computing, CAD/CAM, and large server applications.

However, I believe the vast majority of ordinary people running Windows PCs for everyday tasks like word processing, email, web browsing, might actually be happier with a Mac.

Ironically, the Mac has historically been relegated to niche status (education, media creation, etc.) Lately, people are finally realizing that the Mac has evolved into a viable computer for a wide variety of uses.

The Mac vs. PC ads coupled with positive word-of-mouth from actual switchers are helping to increase Apple’s market-share. I see the effect snowballing as long as Apple keeps delivering the goods.

That being said, there are plenty of users and uses for which a Mac may not be the best choice. Among them are hard-core gaming, do-it-yourself system-builders, people who need ultra-compact portables, tablet computing, CAD/CAM, and large server applications.

However, I believe the vast majority of ordinary people running Windows PCs for everyday tasks like word processing, email, web browsing, might actually be happier with a Mac.

Ironically, the Mac has historically been relegated to niche status (education, media creation, etc.) Lately, people are finally realizing that the Mac has evolved into a viable computer for a wide variety of uses.

The Mac vs. PC ads coupled with positive word-of-mouth from actual switchers are helping to increase Apple's market-share. I see the effect snowballing as long as Apple keeps delivering the goods.

It is ridiculous that this guy wastes his time investing all this effort on the single statement of some other guy… but it’s obvious that he hit a critical mass of reading posts from some Mac zealots who truly are idiotic.

My opinion is that, as the author infers in his last paragraph, in the case of the personal computer user-base the HEALTHY second place where Apple is and will continue to grow to an extent IS A GOOD PLACE TO BE. I do NOT welcome the notion of an Apple 80% market-share. I do NOT welcome the notion AT ALL of Apple becoming “Applesoft” and releasing Mac OS X for legal use on ANY PC… and as a Mac user I am VERY HAPPY to let the Windows market-share draw the ire of governments and malware writers alike.

Why? Because I am an elitist zealot?

Nope.

Because Apple having the dominant share of the user-base or releasing OS X/x86 for any PC will fundamentally change the Mac user experience FOR THE WORSE. And the way Macs work is very VERY important. I’ll not go into the lengthy posts I’ve written elsewhere over time as to why, but be careful of what you wish for, Mac zealots. Everything is **fine** right now. Apple is growing market-share to the extent that more and more developers are getting on board, Apple is selling more Macs than ever before, making larger profits than ever before and yet still being able to focus their energies on more positive things than what Microsoft is obligated to fix and get right (not that they do… but that’s a post for another day).

Bottom line: LEAVE EVERYTHING AS IT IS, enjoying positive growth but not such that it would wreck the Mac model… and definitely take a double-shot of stfu like the man says.

A bunch of the bloat is only for backward compatibility or some insane attempt to fill all the check boxes in some reviewers grid. Sure, someone uses those features, but that doesn’t mean that iWork ever needs to add them! Maybe, without a single dominate Software manufacture you would instead end up with a bunch of well written specialized applications that interoperate through a solid OS and well written API’s. That was Apple’s dream with OpenDoc and what was then called Bento (an open universal document storage and description model).

I’m not going to say that all PC’s are crap (as you purpose) or even that all Mac’s are great (which is that counter assumption). I’m just going to say that if everyone realized that often times you get what you pay for, there would be fewer people upset with their PC purchases and far fewer bitching about how expensive Apple hardware is.

As a general rule, I’d say the further below $1000 you spend for a complete system, the closer to crap you get.

Oh, and I welcome the masses into our club. Because Apple will continue to make hardware and software that just work for the majority of us and let the third parties fill in the gaps for the rest.

IMHO

MSFT cannot deliver on any of those fronts. They are not hip, they have a broken OS that is still being targeted by the Russian Mafia and they don’t care about design. So is it any wonder why Apple is selling a record amount of Macs?