> Kevin Walzer <[email protected]> said: > > In Apple's last quarterly statement, Mac sales were up 33%. Mac sales > have consistently grown in recent years. > > By contrast, iPod sales were down 1%.
And this is why the Mac is safe. People always forget that Apple is a *hardware* company. The OS and applications are simply means of selling (and making money on) hardware. I think that Apple has realized that there are 2 types of computer users. Not "Mac and PC" or "novice and expert", but "content consumer and content producer". For years, there was one type of computer for both types of user, despite the fact that there's probably a 10-to-1 consumer-to-producer ratio. The iPad and iOS are designed to cater to the content consumer, which is why they're selling so well. The thing is, without content producers, there's nothing for the consumers to consume. Enter the Mac and OS X, which caters to the people who write software, build websites, edit movies, make music, and create all the media that the iOS device users will consume. And I'm not talking about professional content creators... I'm talking about the entire spectrum. The kid with Garage Band needs a Mac as much as the guy in the studio using Logic. And while there's iMove for iPhone 4, it can never replicate the full features of iMove on the Mac. Content consumers who dabble in content creation on iOS devices will reach the limit of those applications. In their desire to do more, they will take the path of least resistance to become content creators; they'll start with an iOS device and wind up with a Mac. Which brings me back to my original point: Apple is a *hardware* company. The iOS is simply a way of selling more hardware. But Apple knows that without content (apps, media, etc) there is no market for content consumption devices. So there *has* to be a platform for the 10% who create content for the 90%. In the end, I think there will eventually be 2 Apple developer conferences, one for iOS, one for OS X. --- Michael A. LaMorte www.mindersoftworks.com a division of Springboard Enterprises Ltd [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
