Enough hay has been made of the recent softening of the PC market
to last us until next year. The PC is dead! The vultures fly around
the PC market! Consumers abandon PCs in droves! Handhelds are where
it's at!
Unfortunately, while Jobs may not always be right, he's probably
pretty close with his digital lifestyle prediction.
At first I wasn't so sure. All recent data points to a massive
surge in handheld/wireless device use and a serious slowdown in the
PC market. More people are buying handhelds and fewer are buying
cumbersome PCs.
I do believe, however, that a central hub to hold all of the
information that these wireless devices will create is necessary. At
the very least, one big backup machine for all your critical data
will be necessary.
The PC manufacturers are echoing Jobs' mantra that the digital
lifestyle is starting, and they are well equipped to handle it.
Unfortunately, I can't see other PC makers (Dell, Compaq, Gateway
etc.) handling this lifestyle as well as Apple. Fundamentally, they
are simply companies that assemble computer boxes. Nothing is truly
their own. Coupled with clunky Windows software, the digital
lifestyle may not be one that you might enjoy.
It's looking like two things will make the digital lifestyle
enjoyable: the software you use to take full advantage of it and the
peripherals you use to get involved in it. The stuff in between (hard
drives, memory, processors) is looking less and less like a deal
breaker for most consumers.
Part of the downturn in the PC market has been attributed to the
fact that consumers are finally realizing that they don't need the
fastest machine in the world to check their email. Hardware released
by Apple or Dell will be perfectly capable of handling whatever is
thrown at it. The relevance of chip performance will, I think, become
less important as time goes on. Of course, this won't stop Jobs from
running his Pentium bashing demonstrations anytime soon.
Folks are just getting smarter, I guess. The question is no
longer, "Is it the fastest?" Now it's, "Can it get the job done?"
This is the question that should have been asked all along.
If hardware is less important, its ability to work seamlessly with
external devices will become more important. Can I hook my digital
camera to it? Can I get my video onto the hard drive? Can I control
my house lights from it? Can I synch my Palm with it? These questions
and many others will become more important than clock speed.
Apple is in a unique position here. With the advent of USB and
FireWire, finding a peripheral for your Mac is no longer a chore.
Hook it up and go. The Mac can easily handle peripherals that people
will be using in their digital lifestyle because they control both
the hardware and the software.
Apple, does, however, have some things to work out with companies
like Palm or RIM. Devices from these companies do not always work
well with the Mac. Because they will be playing a major role in the
digital lifestyle, it's Apple's job to make sure that wireless
devices work seamlessly with the Mac OS. If Jobs is truly a champion
of this new lifestyle, this should happen.
So far the Mac is well positioned to take advantage of this new
lifestyle (if it should come to pass). They are no better or worse
off than their competitors, anyway.
Software makes up an important aspect of the new lifestyle
envisioned by Jobs and Apple's competitors. Apple, I feel, will have
an edge here. With the release of OS X, Apple will have a stable,
usable, and friendly operating system. Applications like iMovie that
enhance the digital lifestyle are bundled with the machine.
Controlling the hardware and the software ensures a reasonably
seamless integration between peripherals, hardware and software.
Apple's competitors are not so well positioned. They must suffer
the vagaries of the Windows operating system. By all accounts,
Windows has made vast strides in stability but, unfortunately, has
retained the Windows 95 look and feel. Bundled software like
Windows
Movie Maker is, by most accounts, a pale shadow of iMovie.
The point here, I think, is that the playing field has leveled out
considerably over the last few years. Advantages to using Windows
with all its problems were eliminated when Apple got in line with
peripheral manufacturers and started developing its own, superior
software to complement the Mac OS.
Invariably, there are fewer reasons not to choose a Mac than in
the past. Conversely, there are also fewer reasons not to choose a
Windows based PC.
However, OS X has the beauty and brains that may entice more users
to realize that using a Mac can only enhance the digital lifestyle.
With it's stability, speed, peripheral acceptance and rocking
software, Apple is poised to take advantage of this new
lifestyle.
Stephen Van
Esch is the founder and president of
the
E-learning Foundry, an online training
resource for Mac users. Steve loves the Mac and is doubly bilingual,
since he's also fluent in Windows and French.
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