Dreams of Greatness
2005-11-21 22:13:48
LXer has a post about how OS X could crush windows.
It's a nice fantasy. I wish it would come true. But I just don't buy the idea that long-time Windows users would really switch in droves if they had an alternative OS on, for example, Dell PCs. I'm the big computer nerd in my family, and I've had a difficult time getting anybody convinced of the wisdom of ditching Windows. I finally got my mom to get a Mac Mini. But she still focuses on the few things that aren't the same as they were on Windows. And not on the thousands of things that are better.
And that's the thing: sameness is what people want. Not goodness. If it's the same, they like it. It's what keeps a lot of folks on OS 9. They would probably stay their forever, despite the awesome crappiness of OS 9, unless Apple forced them off by not supporting it on newer hardware.
The other part of the problem is that I just don't see Apple having the balls (insanity?) to instantly vaporize their hardware revenue. They still make a ton of money on PowerMacs. And while I can maybe see that they could compete against Dell with Powerbooks and iMacs (notebooks and living-rooms being places where style actually matters), I do not see how they could with workstations, servers, and even minis. Not that Dell has anything like the Mini; but there are a bazillion companies making micro-ATX and smaller machines, often custom. They are way cheaper than a mini.
Maybe it's my innate pessimism, since I grew up as a Red Sox fan. I just don't think the team I'm rooting for can possibly win.
Then again, there was 2004...