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This indifference toward Apple's computers isn't likely to end soon.
   technofile
Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

T e c h n o f i l e
When Apple introduces new products, is anyone paying attention?


Nov. 9, 2003


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2003, The Post-Standard

   When Ford comes out with a sexy new model, Buick owners take a look. Honda owners sneak a peek. Guys driving Dodge vans crane their necks.
   That's the way it works. Nobody stops to wonder why we're all attracted to the intriguing choices in the automotive marketplace. It's as natural as motherhood and apple pie.
   Oh? Tell that to somebody at Apple. It's the company that invented the modern personal computer in 1984. But Apple's new computers, year after year, play to the same small audience as before.
   It seems to me that most people who use that "other" kind of computer, the one that gets all the viruses and security threats, treat Apple's new computers as if they don't exist.
   I've always wondered why. But now I think I know. After looking over the mail I get from people who are fed up with computer problems, after corresponding with thousands of readers who can't stand spam and viruses, I think I've figured out what's going on.
   Many of the folks who use that "other" operating system treat Apple's computers as if they don't exist because they've put Apple's computers out of their minds.
   I'm convinced that these people deal with Apple's efforts the same way they treat pesky nephews or obnoxious dogs: They ignore them. They wish they would just go away.
   Why do they do this? I'm guessing there are three reasons:
   1. They don't understand what an operating system is. When they have problems such as crashing or general rot -- programs acting up for no apparent reason -- they identify their troubles with a fault in their computers, not with the software that runs their computers. They don't realize their problems come from the PC's faulty operating system.
   In fact, many of them probably aren't aware of an operating system at all, so they don't know that one operating system might be better than another. To them, an Apple computer might as well be a Dell computer. (An otherwise knowledgeable computer user once asked me why Apple computers weren't in Dell's catalog.)
   2. They assume that stores are giving them a fair choice. In fact, most stores that sell computers do no such thing. Walk into a typical PC store and look around; you'll see almost no evidence of Apple's computers. I've talked to many computer owners who told me they received no information while shopping that indicated they had a choice.
   3. They are afraid to change. We're all like that in one way or another, but life is never truly static. We read new books, start new school years, try out new clothes, move to different cities. Can it really be that hard to learn how a different computer operates?
   This indifference toward Apple's computers isn't likely to end soon, despite the company's introduction of new G5 models that Apple says are faster than any other computers you or I can buy. Most people won't change their attitudes despite Apple's new OS X "Panther" operating system with its built-in spam blocker and total immunity to every computer virus yet created.
   Experts are raving about the new products. I've been praising them to anyone who will listen. But that's the problem. Apart from the few computer users who already know they have a choice, is anybody else listening?