I haven't seen any numbers on Apple's market share lately. I don't
need to. I know it's going up.
I receive a wheelbarrow load of free Information Technology trade
journals each month. Although I don't have time to read each one, I try
to at least browse the table of contents to see if there are any
articles inside that I want to read. Over the last year or so, I have
noticed a marked increase in articles devoted to or at least mentioning
Apple. It is no coincidence that this upsurge in media exposure comes
just as OS X is hitting its stride.
In the May issue of CIO Magazine,
the publisher, Gary Beach, has entitled his column, "An Apple for the
Enterprise." He mentions attending a trade show and hearing several
IT guys going ga-ga over the new iMac 
and trying to figure out how to use them in their
company. Mr. Beach, also clearly impressed with the iMac, brainstorms
several ways Apple could make more inroads into the enterprise market.
I should also mention that I sent Mr. Beach a note thanking him for the
great article and received a personal reply back from him the next day
- Saturday!
Seems like only yesterday that many pundits were gleefully
celebrating what appeared to be Apple's imminent demise, rather than
looking for ways to help them grow market share.
The May 6, 2002 edition of eWeek
looks more like MacAddict in
places.
One of the cover stories, a review of the new free office suite
OpenOffice, mentions that the program is not yet available for Mac
OS X, but efforts to port OpenOffice to the Apple OS are under
way. I vividly remember the days when lack of support for the Mac was a
given - and certainly not worth mentioning.
Three of the four letters to the editor mention Apple in a prominent
manner. All three of them are also critical of Microsoft. The fourth
letter is also critical of Microsoft; it just doesn't mention
Apple.
An article on wireless LANs includes Apple among the companies
mentioned. A blurb on Microsoft's legal arguments in its antitrust
trial prominently features Apple. Finally, the cartoon on the last page
is a takeoff on Apple's new eMac.
David Coursey, Executive Editor of ZDNet's AnchorDesk tried a Mac
"for a month" and never went back.
Why the industry change of heart? I believe that with the innovative
new hardware products such as the iMac (all the way back to the
original Bondi Blue), iBook, iPod, etc., coupled with OS X, most
observers believe there is something here worth touting.
With System 7 and beige boxes that were indistinguishable from
Wintel PC's but for the small rainbow-colored Apple on the front, this
was not the case. The lion's share of the credit for this turnaround
goes to Steve Jobs. Not only does Apple no longer need "saving," but
today the company is very near to actually thriving.
Mac Challenge Update
As you read this article, I will be enjoying a much-needed vacation.
I will be away from home with the computer turned off for seven days.
At this point, I am halfway through the second half of the Mac
challenge - using Windows XP exclusively for 30 days. Since sitting
unused with the power off for a week does not really put a PC through
its paces, I will be extending this half of the Challenge for an
additional seven days. 
