Microsoft Just Doesn’t Get It
John Gruber at Daring Fireball recently posted a quote from Steve Ballmer of Microsoft.
“Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction. The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment — same piece of hardware — paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that’s a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be.”
What Ballmer doesn’t understand is that is not the only reason people buy Apple products. If you could (legally) buy any PC and run OSX on it flawlessly for the same price as a PC with Windows, I’d be willing to be that Microsoft would see Windows’ OS share drop dramatically. People aren’t buying Apple products for the logo. They aren’t spending more money on hardware. They are spending more money on a great OS, great support from the manufacturer, and an all-around great computing experience. That is what Microsoft doesn’t get.
I’m not a big Apple fan, but even if I was, I’d still argue that Apple prices are ridiculous. That’s what Apple doesn’t get.
i wouldn’t say they don’t get it. their prices on products have come down quite a bit, which is one reason their market share has grown (along with the complete failure that is Windows Vista). Microsoft has no one to blame but themselves. They turned me into an Apple convert.