Mac
Opinion: Let’s forget this ‘Mac is dead’ crap and get back to work
By Peter CohenJune 10, 2010, 2:52 pm PT
Ever since Apple unveiled details about this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), pundits and hysterical-minded developers near and far have been predicting the death of the Mac. This week, Daniel “Fake Steve Jobs” Lyons stirred the pot some more in his Newsweek blog, which I’m not going to bother to link to, because frankly I think it’s tripe and I don’t want to push any more page impressions his way than I absolutely have to.
The bottom line is this – the Mac (and PC) is alive and well and will continue to be for some time to come. It’s great that Steve Jobs is forward-thinking enough to envision a “post-PC era,” but that doesn’t mean things are over for the Mac, not by a long shot.
Let’s look at the facts: Apple’s selling Macs. Apple’s selling a lot of Macs, in fact – its business is better than ever, even if Macs now make up only a percentage of its total hardware sales revenue when compared with iPhones, iPods and iPads. For as long as Apple sells Macs, it’s likely to make them.
At the Wall Street Journal’s D8 conference earlier this month, Jobs used a vehicle analogy to describe how he saw the evolution of the personal computer. He likened PCs to trucks, saying that only a small percentage of the population will actually need them.
That may very well be true. Anecdotally, I know a lot of people for whom using a computer, even a Mac, can be an overwhelming experience. For them, the iPad (or something like it), with all of its limitations and drawback for people who want a visible file system or “open” operating system or hardware design, may be the perfect option.
The idea of creating information appliances to make it easier for those consumers to access the data they need is not new – it’s been around for years, and the road to hell is already paved with the good intentions of many companies that have developed failed products designed to do exactly that. The advantage Apple has is a combination of innovation, market visibility and timing.
Surely, many, if not most, of the people reading my words scoff at the very idea of being without a computer, or being forced to only use an information appliance like an iPad. Indeed, I’d find such a future rather appalling myself.
But sooner or later we have to accept that Apple isn’t building products exclusively for us – that there are a lot of people out there who have a lot of different needs, a lot of different interests and a range of different requirements.
The world isn’t black and white. Apple understands this implicitly and that’s why they’re building a range of products to appeal to different people.
WWDC 2010 was squarely focused this year at bolstering a brand new ecosystem that Apple has created out of whole cloth in two years. It’s an ecosystem that has already returned a staggering $1 billion to its development community, as Jobs noted in his keynote address earlier this week.
None of which would have been possible if people didn’t have Macs to work on to begin with. Let’s not forget: you need a Mac to develop for the iPhone.
Some will argue that it’s only a matter of time before that changes. I guess that’s true. According to some of the television programs I watch on the science channels, all life on Earth may be destroyed by a rogue asteroid or megavolcano at any moment, as well.
At some point or another, we have to stop bouncing off the walls worrying about what might happen, put on our big boy pants and get back to work.
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Opinion: Let’s forget this ‘Mac is dead’ crap and get back to work
By Peter CohenJune 10, 2010, 2:52 pm PT
Ever since Apple unveiled details about this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), pundits and hysterical-minded developers near and far have been predicting the death of the Mac. This week, Daniel “Fake Steve Jobs” Lyons stirred the pot some more in his Newsweek blog, which I’m not going to bother to link to, because frankly I think it’s tripe and I don’t want to push any more page impressions his way than I absolutely have to.
The bottom line is this – the Mac (and PC) is alive and well and will continue to be for some time to come. It’s great that Steve Jobs is forward-thinking enough to envision a “post-PC era,” but that doesn’t mean things are over for the Mac, not by a long shot.
Let’s look at the facts: Apple’s selling Macs. Apple’s selling a lot of Macs, in fact – its business is better than ever, even if Macs now make up only a percentage of its total hardware sales revenue when compared with iPhones, iPods and iPads. For as long as Apple sells Macs, it’s likely to make them.
At the Wall Street Journal’s D8 conference earlier this month, Jobs used a vehicle analogy to describe how he saw the evolution of the personal computer. He likened PCs to trucks, saying that only a small percentage of the population will actually need them.
That may very well be true. Anecdotally, I know a lot of people for whom using a computer, even a Mac, can be an overwhelming experience. For them, the iPad (or something like it), with all of its limitations and drawback for people who want a visible file system or “open” operating system or hardware design, may be the perfect option.
The idea of creating information appliances to make it easier for those consumers to access the data they need is not new – it’s been around for years, and the road to hell is already paved with the good intentions of many companies that have developed failed products designed to do exactly that. The advantage Apple has is a combination of innovation, market visibility and timing.
Surely, many, if not most, of the people reading my words scoff at the very idea of being without a computer, or being forced to only use an information appliance like an iPad. Indeed, I’d find such a future rather appalling myself.
But sooner or later we have to accept that Apple isn’t building products exclusively for us – that there are a lot of people out there who have a lot of different needs, a lot of different interests and a range of different requirements.
The world isn’t black and white. Apple understands this implicitly and that’s why they’re building a range of products to appeal to different people.
WWDC 2010 was squarely focused this year at bolstering a brand new ecosystem that Apple has created out of whole cloth in two years. It’s an ecosystem that has already returned a staggering $1 billion to its development community, as Jobs noted in his keynote address earlier this week.
None of which would have been possible if people didn’t have Macs to work on to begin with. Let’s not forget: you need a Mac to develop for the iPhone.
Some will argue that it’s only a matter of time before that changes. I guess that’s true. According to some of the television programs I watch on the science channels, all life on Earth may be destroyed by a rogue asteroid or megavolcano at any moment, as well.
At some point or another, we have to stop bouncing off the walls worrying about what might happen, put on our big boy pants and get back to work.
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Discussion 12 comments so far
12 Responses to “Opinion: Let’s forget this ‘Mac is dead’ crap and get back to work”
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OK.
But, where is the new 27-inch iMac that my credit card awaits?
Mac is still the aspirational choice for PC buyers and will remain so till PC as a technology becomes obsolete
I think there is still a lot of things that simply can not be handled by an iPad type device. I think the Mac is probably going to be with us for a very long time. Until an iPad can actually have the processing power and storage capacity of a Mac Pro, I will have to be working on my Mac Pro. Who knows, maybe Apple will come with a way to have the processing of such things done in a box connected somehow to an iPad type device.
Funny you mentioned that because it wasn't that long ago, before the iPad was talked about, that I saw a Apple patent drawing showing something just like this. It looked like an iPad that slid into the size of a very large flat panel monitor (like the current iMacs) with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Maybe the next major iMac revisions will include this iPad device. How cool would that be? The larger drives and processing power in the iMac and syncs with the more portable iPad.
Found the Patent. I can imagine the iPad being the device that docks with the iMac like dock.
http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comm...
Well said. It's hard to imagine how much more hysterical people can get. But just you watch.
Oh no! You can break an iPhone's screen!
Oh no! Someone isn't using a traditional computer! Computers are dead!
Oh no! Steve Baller's in charge of Microsoft! (Well, actually, that's not out of line.)
Oh no! Daniel Lyons is a journalist without standards! (Okay, that's true.)
Well said. I think most people forget that most of us geeks live in a bubble, and that the bubble doesn't encompass the entirety of society. My parents are seriously considering an iPad to replace their current desktop because it meets their needs. Jobs has always been good at recognizing that, but the rest of us tend to forget that there's a whole world out there that's still intimidated by technology. The new iOS devices are attempting to bridge that divide. Instead of the two tiered consumer-pro model that we've been accustomed to over the last decade, we'll now see a three tiered system–a device for everyone, a device for someone who needs a little more power, and a device for professionals.
It makes a lot of sense, and it might just open up a new market for Apple.
Sage words, Mr. Cohen!
Out of all the whiners, I wonder how many of them don't physically fit into big boy pants, and also how many others may NEVER fit into them (figuratively and emotionally speaking, not necessarily because of physical girth).
Great article, Peter. We geeks, unfortunately, read too many articles.
Finally, someone who recognizes (aside from Apple) that there are people out there who use computers who don't live in the geek, and/or chained to their desk or laptop businessperson, bubble! Personally I own a Mac, iPod, Nano,
IPhone (soon to be a new iPhone as soon as I can get my hands on one), and an iPad. I never felt the need for a laptop. I wanted to be free of the desktop, but a laptop just didn't do it for me. But the iPad is perfect. It goes where I go inside or out, keeps me updated, allows me to be creative wherever I am, keeps the books I'm reading handy, is always happy to play my music, it loves my photos and slideshows, it's always delighted to communicate with someone, the list goes on and on…I'm an artist and photographer. I will always use a desktop because I do a lot of serious creating on it. But my iPad fills a big void perfectly. Many business and geek people seem to have a hard time understanding that. But over 2 million of us understood immediately! Thanks Apple (once again) for your vision and creativity.
Well, I for one will always need the truck , ehmm, if I may, "A Mac Truck!," (Ya I know, sorry!)
As a power user who works with video & DVD creation, I can't think of a life without my tower. I can see however that the future of mobile computing in whatever config a person might want it for will be of paramount importance to them and that it be as customizable as can be made available. As long as the info and daily tasks that most use a device for are capable of delivering what the average person needs, the focus will concentrate even more on these mobile devices.
Jobs & the folks at Apple are clearly way ahead of the curve in positioning themselves and us for this transition away from the desktop, while still cognizant of said desktop market to keep it viable and part of the entire tech food chain.
So yes, quit whining and lets get on with it!
Ohh, you're SO right! I'm not going to spend a lot of space agreeing with you Peter, you're right and that Lyons piece is worse than tripe. But this is a nice site so I won't let my language deteriorate, we'll let "The Bastards" handle Lyons
I run an Apple-centric site and forum here in Denmark, and have mirrored your thoughts many times. Here in DK there seems to be quite a different take on Apple. People want Apple to do EVERYTHING, from computers to toasters, and even hard-core Windows folk seem to be switching in droves. It's quite a thing to witness!
Thanks again for a great piece, witch I'll link to right away…