Macs and PCs a new digital divide
Posted by Mauricio Longo in General on Mar 22nd, 2010 | 2 comments
I first published this article on November 27th, 2009 in another blog I used to write. This was exactly 2 months before the iPad was announced. I decided to republish it here as I believe it sets the stage for a future post I’m working on. All the information here should still be current and relevant.
Over the past couple of years, Apple has been making steady progress in increasing its market share in the personal computer business, even while it was tromping everyone else in the music player and more recently mobile phone business. While significant, the fact that their share of units sold has continuously grown pales in relation to the significance that their revenue share has been growing by leaps and bounds.
Recent numbers show that more than one in every two dollars spent on desktop computers in the US is spent on an Apple equipment. At the same time, more than one dollar in every three spent on notebooks is spent on an Apple branded portable. The huge difference between Apples share of the market in units sold against its share in dollars earned is directly related to the fact that while PC makers are busy fighting for every consumer in the low-end portion of the market, Apple decided that it would continue to produce more sophisticated products that it could sell for a premium.
In a not too distant past, when first these sorts of number for Apples revenue share came out, a friend asked me what I made of this. Without much thought I gave him an answer that has given me pause to think a lot. “It seems that most people that want to buy a GOOD computer, buy an Apple computer.”
That simple statement has come back to my mind frequently and done more so in the past couple of weeks as I went through the motions of getting a new notebook and ended up reaching the conclusion that a MacBook was the best solution for me. Reflecting back on all my reasoning about this choice, one thing stands out. Once I had concluded that it made basic financial sense due to battery replacement costs (which inevitably follow per my experience with Dell), the shear fact that with a Mac I can do anything I can with a PC, but with a PC I can’t do everything I do with a Mac seemed like the ultimate argument.
This essentially stems from the a relation Mac and PCs share with squares and rectangles: all Macs are PCs, but not all PCs are Macs. Could this lead us into a new divide based on social factors? Are we moving towards a world where those who can afford it have Macs and everybody else has a PC because that is all that they can get?
What made you ask the question; “Are we moving towards a world where those who can afford it have Macs and everybody else has a PC because that is all that they can get?”
It almost sounds like you don’t think it is fair if one brand costs more than another and that you feel that no one should be deprived of anything that they desire. Could it be that your question is the product of our entitlement mentality in this country. You know, the feeling that there should be a government program for every desire we have from cradle to grave. The basic feeling that some people should not be going to really great private schools while the less fortunate have to go to those nasty inner city schools.
Does a computer brand have to turn into a case of class warfare? Will Apple Computer be convicted publicly of producing a computer that deprives the masses from a meaningful life?
Why would you waste your energy on this issue? Everyone knows that you have to pay more for something that is better and Apple has a better product. If that changes, their product won’t sell. Let’s keep it simple.
Michael,
I asked the question because I think it is an interesting social phenomenon. While I personally think Apple makes great computers and that the OS X experience tramples Windows, I have seen many people who have started to use Macs as badges or simply status symbols. These people use the computer as a silent statement that they are are financially well off. Which I personally think is silly, but again an interesting social phenomenon.
I certainly don’t question Apple’s right to charge however much they want for their products nor do I think it is unfair. In fact I couldn’t care less about what government programs there are in that country (which I assume is the US) and I certainly don’t have a problem with people that go to private schools as I send my son to one everyday. You see, in THIS country (which is Brazil) those who can’t afford to go to a private school have to get in line for a chance to attend a public school which is so bad that it makes a mockery of the very word school. This would be laughable if it were not said.
To tell the truth, I don’t really believe that you have to pay more for a product that is better. Had you followed a link in my article to a previous article I have written on the topic of the actual cost of owning a computer and which takes into consideration things as battery replacement and an actual comparison of the hardware, you would have seen that I made the case that the MacBook is actually a lot more affordable than a corresponding Dell computer, while being technically superior. The article was titled The Cheap PC Myth.