The ONLY reason apple is even still in business is because of the iPod. That one little device is what saved the company. Now I'm not saying the iPod isn't a cool device.. it is, however I would never buy one. Why? Simple.. because I DON'T NEED ONE. Apple has become very good at taking advantage of fanbois zombies... you know.. the "gotta get it" kind of crowd. The kind who doesn't even consider the consequences... all they want is the newest and greatest. These people somehow got addicted to the iPod.. then HAD to get the iPod touch, then the iPhone.. then the iPad.. and so on.
I'm not saying there aren't exceptions to this rule, but the vast majority of people who would purchase a $200 iPod over a $35 mp3 player don't use their brains. Just look at iTunes! This software makes Norton look like chlidsplay compared to what iTunes does to you O/S (I'm sure Skuzzy can relate). I never understood why software used to transfer music to a music player had to use so many resources... oh wait! Yeah I forgot.. it has to check the music to make sure it is legal.. and then convince you to purchase more and then check for DRM updates and also "album cover" artwork.. and I'm sure it has some conversion software built in (so you can BUY that mp3 you already have downloaded so it can convert it to a format the the iPod can use)...
And the whole joke of this whole deal is that with an el-cheapo mp3 player, you can simply plug it in to your computer, drag and drop the music (and other files) to it, unplug it and you're good to go! NO EXTRA SOFTWARE REQUIRED!!
Now look at the whole iPhone and iPad deal... most software for portable devices is flash based. Whoa.. Apple doesn't support flash, I wonder why this is? Oh yeah, so you have to PURCHASE compatible "applications" for the iPhone/iPad/whatever! More money in their pockets... My Samsung version of the iPhone does everything I need it to, and if I want games there are plenty of sites I can visit to download games (and other apps) for free. Oh yes, some are available for purchase as well - and for the most part the ones you buy are much better quality and I *DO* buy the few apps that I actually use regularly, but for the most part, especially with games on these things... once you play it once or twice you forget about it anyway.
Personally, I believe anyone that purchases an iAnything is a fanbois, as literally ALL of these devices are available for a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the 'big-brother' factor elsewhere.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against a company wanting to make money. There's something to be said about a good product and I *do* believe that these iDevices have excellent hardware quality, but boy do you pay for it (and I'm not necessarily talking about money).
Now, Challenge mentions that Apple only has a fraction of the market share compared to Microsoft, and I believe his statement to be true. You cannot compare MS and Apple based purely on Sales $$$ because they are so different. Apple sells Hardware, O/S Software, Cell phones, and consumer devices (iThings), whereas Microsoft ONLY sells Software, Xboxes, and a FRACTION of consumer devices (Zune fiasco). To compare the two companies in a way that we're talking about here, you'd basically have to limit the comparison to percentage of O/S sales.
Base on THIS comparison, Apple is only a tiny fraction of what Microsoft is.
