i was checkin out the web as per usual and came across this macNET article..
not sure how many others' have read it but it put's some thing's into perspective (at least from the veiws of this website anyway {macnet}) i found it quite interesting so heed not the warning they issue... or maybe do... hmm..
ah well the link:
http://www.macnet2.com/more.php?id=338_0_1_0_M
enjoy, or not.... 
neXus
Nice article.
Hey btw have you seen the iFixed apple dvd player yet?
Great article. Thanks for the link Steve. 
Good stuff. They are right, be we all knew this (except for the blind Goku). I mean, Apple cant compete with crappy hardware and inflated prices. You cant run a commercial company based on appealing to a niche. You have to try to get EVERYONE to switch, and a $1300 sloooow computer wont do that.
That's the writer's point of view and I respect him for it. But I'm still a Mac fan It's hard to explain the feeling of actually having and using a Mac.
i read somewhere that 80% of apple's share valuation is their cash mountain
- basically, the markets think apple's death is approaching and the company itself is worth nothing
Hi what's going on there? I still cannot open that URL. If that article is not too long, could anyone copy&paste it here? Looking at your comments, i'm very curious about what did the article say. 
Thank you DHSMaroon13!
It is pretty long, but here it is:
Do not read this column!
You’ve been warned. If you found yourself here this morning, you might want to pass up today’s column. I recommend skipping this one and hoping over The Hamster Dance instead.
Some people would rather live in total darkness than hear the truth, read the truth, or live by the truth. Nothing wrong with that, I suppose, for some people it’s easier to believe what they want instead of facing up to much of the world’s injustices, horrible realities, or otherwise face up to things they just don’t want to deal with. This is one of those things, so if you love the Mac, adore Steve Jobs, and hate Bill Gates; this is the wrong column for you. In fact, this might be the wrong Mac website to visit ever again. Reading past this point proves you are a glutton for punishment. Once again, The Hamster Dance website might be more to your liking.
We’ve (the MacNET staff) always known our readership was growing each month, and April and May look like banner months. Looking at our stats page we can see not only the number of page views, but we can see the shear number of unique IP’s that visit everyday, and where they come from. It has been astounding that the number of people has grown to the point where our biggest expense is bandwidth. But, as things at MacNET begin to change either our readership will continue to grow or we may be committing the equivalent of online suicide. Only time will tell.
The co-founder of MacNET, the first iteration, (1994-98) convinced us to install a ‘comments’ system, a feature built into pmachine, the ultimate blogging software written by a Mac user on OS X. Using pmachine is one of the best things we’ve ever done, and Rick Ellis, the President of pmachine, deserves all the support he has received over the last year, especially since he wrote the entire script on a Mac running OS X 10.1. More and more Mac web sites are switching to pmachine than any other system, and those of you that are familiar with it are probably not surprised.
Anyway, the ‘comments’ feature allows a person to make their views known on anything that’s published. It brings people together in ways they couldn’t before on MacNET, and it shows us who our audience is. A brilliant move on Jonathan’s part, to convince us to install this feature that is, but as nice as it is to allow people to voice their opinion in an open forum, it also exposes us to ugly side of the web. While I believed that nearly all flames are kept in forums, I found out recently that this is simply not the case. People do resort to flaming others in the ‘comments’ as well. Surprise! What to do about it is something we are still struggling with.
All this flaming began as we tackled the sensitive subject of criticizing Apple. On the Mac Web criticizing Apple is something you do knowing that it is a polarizing subject. It seems anyone with a middle position on Apple is a part of the minority. The company either has zealot supporters or spiteful haters, with middle ground opinions running a distant third. There is no better way to gauge this then by reading the more than 1000 comments posted over the last four or five columns. (Some 200 posts were deleted due to vicious attacks or extreme PC trolling that just could not remain a part of the discussion). More than 50 people found themselves banned from posting ever again. We have to draw the line somewhere.
Our opinion of Apple has soured lately, and for very good reason. By making that known to our audience it has created a chasm between our readers who seem determined to duke it out on our site.
Let freedom ring.
Today, our opinion is even more sour than it was two weeks ago, when Apple decided that a defective screen on my new 17” PowerBook was not a defect but rather my careless handling. Leaking confidential information and purposely damaging the PowerBook had a lot to do with this further ‘souring’, as Jerry Seinfeld would say.
During the last week we’ve wanted to share our opinion on the quality of Apple’s AAC encoded files but refrained from doing so because anything but cheerleading would have sounded like sour grapes. So we waited to see how long it would take before someone else got clued into what we discovered on the first day.
AAC encoded music sucks, big time.
Boy, that felt good!
To test Apple’s music service we bought two hit songs from “Tears For Fears”. When we played the songs we noticed immediately that the songs sounded muddled and barely listenable. To test our ears, and to make sure we weren’t using our anger at Apple to taint our opinion we ripped the Tears For Fears CD (yes, we actually went out and bought the CD, it’s tax deductible) and compared the two. There was no doubt, AAC or the DRM encoded onto the AAC files, created practically worthless files that cost the customer a buck a piece. But we kept quiet about it hoping some other publication would notice the same thing.
Apple got a weeklong honeymoon with the press and now the truth is beginning to rear its ugly head. The boldest statements are coming from MSNBC. But despite this writers impeccable reputation it’s now being ‘spun’ by the Apple Zealots that MSNBC is partially owned by Microsoft so this writer is himself tainted by Microsoft and somehow was forced to write that AAC encoded songs suck, lest he lost his job or worse. Man, talk about reality distortion.
Well, since other people are now beginning to write the truth about the iTunes music store we can sit back and watch the fur fly, knowing full well that AAC encoded with DRM technology was a mistake. But hey, who’s going to pay attention anyway? Remember, you’re not supposed to be reading this.
While we’re at it, we thought we might as well express our other concerns about Apple, get it on the record by burying it in this “unread” column we’ve warned people not to read. We’ll have the luxury of getting it on the record and when others begin to write the same things later on we’ll be able to point out that we talked about long before. A win-win for us, either way you look at it.
2.1% and shrinking
Somewhere along the “line of decline” Apple decided that it can no longer play with the big boys when it comes to “keeping up with the Jones” regarding speed. You can blame Motorola for this if you like, but the blame falls on the shoulders of Steve Jobs. Apple’s Board of Directors are simply puppets for Jobs and no one dare challenge his rule. What he says is final, according to the Board, so while other Chipmakers were building faster chips Jobs stuck with Motorola and got burned in the process.
No one really believes Apple’s computers are faster or equal to PC’s anymore. So the discussion has changed. In the past Apple loved to tout the power of the PowerPC processor, and loved to rub the noses of PC makers into the benchmarks of days gone by. Funny how suddenly its no longer about speed but rather what you can do on Mac that matters.
No one is adopting Apple’s expensive Xserves. These sleek but weak servers are over-priced and under performed. No one in their right mind is going to spend a lot of money on an Xserve when IT people can build UNIX PC’s for a fraction of the cost and get a faster Server in the process.
Apple’s desktop machines are ridiculously slower than PC’s and much more expensive. In these days of cost-conscious CEO’s, companies at turning to more and more Dells for employee desktop machines rather than waste precious resources on weird looking Macs that run a horribly slow OS.
And talking about a slow OS, to make matters worse Apple has forced all new Mac users to use OS X, regardless of how much faster OS 9 is. Like myself, you might like OS X because it’s stable, quite visually stunning, and can do things OS 9 can only dream about, but you have to admit OS X is slower than any other OS out there, including Lindows. How can you expect a business to pay more for a Mac only to get an OS than runs slow, is less compatible than Windows, and requires all employees to learn a new way to work. Well, they don’t, and that’s why you see the worldwide market share at an all time low.
US consumer market has doubled.
Okay, maybe so. If you can’t build a faster Mac you can put up 50-odd stores in high traffic areas to display your fancy looking machines and entice people to buy them. While this may have helped Apple sell more machines to non-computer users, these stores are still bleeding money.
Instead of concentrating on making better machines, Apple has given up and staked their future on the iTunes Music Store. If you can’t compete, change the game.
The problems with iTunes Music Store are many, but the real threat is Microsoft. Apple brags about having 4.5 billion dollars in the bank, but Microsoft has 40 billion. If Gates decides to create a Microsoft Music Store based on the ease of use of Apple’s is there any doubt that Microsoft will crush Apple in a heartbeat?
Apple has said that it will release a Windows version of iTunes by the end of the year, giving Gates several months to counter it with his own version. And lets face it, if these record labels are impressed with Apple’s ability to sell music online imagine what they’ll think if Gates comes up with an alternative that will reach the 95% of the other PC users out there dying to buy music the way these 5% Mac users do. A million tunes in the first week is a lot of music, now multiply that by a factor of 10.
All Apple accomplished here was to give Gates a template to work with and with 10 times more money than Apple, Microsoft can beat Apple at this game with one hand tied behind their back. Apple should have rolled out this service for both platforms at the same time instead of giving Microsoft a heads up on what coming, allowing Gates to throw enough money to counter attack in time to ward off the Windows version of iTunes. The move to make it “Mac only” was really stupid.
At the Microsoft Hardware Engineering Conference this week Gates told PC makers to start building cooler looking machines and make their software more attractive to look at. Sound familiar? Do you honestly think that if Microsoft wants this done it won’t happen?
Microsoft has already won, and most people know it already. Microsoft’s best R&D comes from Apple, and Apple just showed Microsoft how to launch a successful music business. Point, set, and match.
Customer Service
Apple handles customer service in a fashion so unbalanced that it’s almost juvenile. Get the right person on the phone and your Mac experience is awesome, almost unbelievable. Get the wrong person on the phone and suddenly you’re a criminal, wanting nothing more than to scam Apple. Doesn’t Apple monitor it’s own customer reps to make sure that all people are treated equally?
It would seem to me that with Apple’s shrinking market share they would want to make sure that each and every customer who had a problem with their Mac would be totally satisfied with customer support. Let’s look at this way; for every customer Apple loses to the dark side, Microsoft would need to lose 10 to the Mac platform. That pretty much says it all, doesn’t it?
We’ve recently discovered that Apple’s customer support uses an internal ‘rating’ system to tell its people how to handle certain customers. While we’re pretty sure other companies do the same thing, it would seem to me that Apple needs to have the very best customer support in the business, but they don’t.
If a PC user who has invested thousands of dollars in software and peripherals has a bad experience with their PC maker, switching to another PC maker is easy. All their peripherals and software can be loaded and used on any PC, but that’s not the case with a Mac user.
A Mac user wanting to switch hardware maker is stuck, and Apple knows this. Probably a factor when Jobs killed the Clone makers. Don’t like your Mac? Well, tough. If you want to switch to a PC you’ll have to buy all new software and most peripherals. You’re screwed. Maybe this is why Apple can treat its customers so poorly.
Over the years there have been talks of Apple’s demise dozens of times, and each time Apple has been able to come back from edge of the abyss. A lot of people think the same thing is happening now; Apple will save the day once more and remain viable. But this time things are quite different. Music will not save Apple, and as more and more customers learn that Apple simply doesn’t care about your problems they’ll begin to think twice before continuing to spend money on the Mac. They’ll begin to look for software makers who include both Mac and PC versions on the same CD. They’ll look for peripherals that work on both platforms, and when they are ready they’ll jump ship.
When the Microsoft/HP prototype hits the market, with it’s built in video cam, cell phone, 19” flat panel, and wicked fast processor running Longhorn, Apple will be faced with it’s most dire circumstances yet. By then it will be too late. And all of you who are depending on the
IBM 970 processor need to wake up. Apple has said nothing about this chip and this chip has yet to hit the high-yield manufacturing stage. Many people in the know are even skeptical about the claims IBM is making concerning the 970 processor. Corporate benchmarks are often a far cry from reality. Don’t get your hopes up until you actually see this mystery machine.
I’ve devoted a ton of money, both personally and professionally, on Apple. I’ve built a company that is finally running in the black, and I have watched Apple slip it’s market share to next to nothing, I’ve watched businesses laugh off the Xserve and the pokey desktops, I watched Mac users get abused by customer service, and I have seen the quality of Apple’s hardware sink to the level of the days of Spindler. I’m angry that just as I get my business profitable Apple decides to throw in the towel and appeal to Steve Jobs’s “id” in his quest to rub elbows with movie stars and rock stars, while thinking of his customers as nothing more than blind zealots who will gladly go into debt to buy the latest gadgets and spend money for digital music just to play their part in keeping Apple afloat. This is a horrible example of “Customer Abuse” and a runaway ego. And all those writers who claim people are maxing out their credit cards to buy digital music are in for a rude awakening. People are stupid, for the most part, and if they are downloading tons of digital music once their credit card statement lands on their desk they’ll think twice before buying sub-par music files for a buck, when you spend $15.00 for ‘Acquisition” and download all the free music you want.
This time, Apple doesn’t’ get a free pass.
Is Apple doomed to fail? If I had to bet on it I would say they absolutely are. No one at Apple has the guts to correct the mistakes of Steve Jobs. Apple is a toy for Steve, and a way to massage his ego. Right now no PC company makes hardware that looks as good as Macs, and no OS looks as good as OS X. That can, and will, change very soon. The PC world has gotten the message, and they’ll soon drive the final nail into the Apple coffin.
Could this have been prevented? Perhaps, but in order to have done so Steve Jobs would have had to have been kept in check. The focus should have remained on the hardware and customer support. In other words, the focus of Apple should have been Apple’s customers, not pandering to Steve Jobs.
Ever watch “The Family Guy”? Do you have any doubt that Steve Jobs was the model for “Stewie”?
There’s no doubt that Apple’s 17” PowerBook looks great, and for a Mac is pretty damn fast. But, like the flat-panel iMac I imagine the desire to own this $3300 portable will level off, then fall off, as more and more people see it in person and realize the thing is too big, too fragile, and too expensive.
I bet about now you are wishing you had heeded my warning and skipped this column. Well, I did warn you so you shouldn’t be pissed at MacNET. Like many of you we too were afflicted with the dreaded Reality Distortion Field, and it took a two drastic acts of criminal intent by Apple employees to open our eyes. But once they were opened the flood gates opened with it and suddenly all the hype doesn’t penetrate our common sense and we can see where PC makers are trouncing us, as Mac users.
So what’s next Mr. Bigshot?
MacNET will continue for the time being. We’ll provide reviews on the latest and greatest offerings from companies making Mac compatible software and hardware. But we’ve decided not to review Apple’s own hardware and software any longer; we’ll leave that to others. Doing so means missing out on review copies of Final Cut Pro 4, DVD Studio Pro 2, and more. We’ve decided to pass on these reviews not because we don’t want to give Apple the publicity, but because we may not be able to review them with the same objectivity we pride ourselves with. Final Cut Pro 4 may be the best thing to ever happen to Digital Video, then again, maybe not. Either way, it’s not our place to judge, not now.
Is it Apple that has changed or is it MacNET? That’s a good question. Ignorance is bliss, some people say. Perhaps being ignorant would have produced a much more rah-rah web site for Mac Zealots, and it sure would have prevented so many people from flaming us on our own comments system. But by remaining ignorant we might have sunk right along with Apple. But by refocusing our efforts on the fine companies making great stuff for Mac AND PC users we can assure our own viability. Being unfettered with any sense of loyalty to Apple will leave us more time to focus on what really matters; OUR customers.
By the way, I remember Mac users criticizing Microsoft to constantly releasing “service packs” for Windows. Has anyone noticed that OS X seems to require just as many, if not more, service packs? Call them updates if it makes you feel better, but a service pack is service pack, isn’t it?
John Manzione
Simply amazing.
Hey I love Apple and the products that they have put out but this article hits the nail on the head. I have wondered when someone was going to write a great article like this. I hate to see it happen but Apple is dying a slow death and nothing they can do at this point is going to save them but two things. MOVE TO THE X86 PLATFORM or RELASE OS X FOR X86 ASAP. We know they have it. They know they have it and have had it all along but they just keep sitting on it like a pack of dummies. Someone on the board needs to oust Steve Jobs just like they did Gill Amilio.
At least Gill Amilio saw that there was a future to releasing OS X aka Rhapsody on the PC platform back 6 years ago before Steve Jobs came back. Just think if things had gone the other way. We might all be using an Apple OS instead of Microsoft's Windows.
Just something to mull over.
Aqua-Soft Forums
OH MY GOD!!! THE RIAA IS GOING TO GET ME!!!