Does OS X Have Enough of the “Good Stuff” to Sway Basic Users?
There are a million schemes for increasing adoption of OS X. Everything from bundling a demo of the operating system on any iPod large enough to hold the data to an AOL style give away of demo copies on CD-ROM. Call it fallout from the Intel switch but since last June’s developer conference Apple fans (including me) have been falling all over themselves trying to come up with ways for OS X to rapidly expand the user base. Yet all the tactics rely on a key assumption: that people will, given a equal choice, choose OS X over Windows in a significant number of cases. Perhaps the underlying assumption is a little too hopeful.
The theory generally proceeds as follows: Not many people have truly been exposed to Mac OS X in a meaningful way. Those that have often love the operating system and vow a return to the world of Windows will come only at gunpoint. If a vast number of people could use both Windows and OS X for a time they would use Windows less and less until they compute solely with OS X in some sort of digital nirvana. Which is a nice thought but not the way things usually happen. A few months after the expressed rapture the cold reality sets in that OS X may be great but it certainly isn’t perfect. Complaints start popping up about the finder or GUI consistency. The users certainly aren’t contemplating a switch back to Windows but they’ve become less enamored with OS X. This is the moment that a switcher becomes a solid Mac user, they’ve become so used to OS X they no longer marvel at round rects or are consistently amazed that they don’t have to run a virus program constantly. The behavior is also a nice example of Hedonic adaptation.
Hedonic adaptation can also be described as becoming accustomed to luxury. If you live in the north, say Boston, and you buy a car with heated leather seats (like Big Mac’s Bentley), you’re likely to be initially impressed with the comfort the seats provide on sub zero days. Eventually, however, the seats become a necessity. The next time you’re car shopping any model without heated leather seats will be instantly rejected. The fancy heating coils have gone from the zenith of luxury to the most pedestrian requirement. In that sense, Hedonic adaptation is a powerful motivator to keep people on OS X. The caveat is that people won’t adapt unless the added luxury is of use to them.
Cast your mind to a completely different scenario. Imagine for a moment the same car in South Florida. Heated seats in that part of the country are only going to be appreciated by chronically chilled octogenarians. The vast majority of automobile owners would find the notion of heated seats to be superfluous at best and wasteful in most cases. Hence, there is no reason to vet your next car purchase by looking at the inclusion of heated seats since that is an option, however nice, that was of zero utility to the driver. Put another way if the improvements aren’t something accessible the consumer the consumer never becomes dependent on them.
With the less subtle aspects of Hedonic adaptation firmly in mind we can turn out attention to the most compelling question: If the masses were exposed to OS X would the experience be persuasive enough for them to switch permanently? First, consider the mountains of anecdotal evidence provided by actual switchers who constantly gush that they wish that they had made the change sooner. Add to the happy personal experiences the media coverage where seemingly every columnist is giving OS X rave reviews while decrying the security woes of XP. Therefore, the only logical conclusion to reach at this point is that if the masses were exposed to OS X they would surely make the switch.
The conclusion, as presented, is logical but perhaps shallow. Those who have already switched are obviously interested in computing. Columnists (myself exempted) are generally keenly aware of technological trends and very well informed about the positives and negatives surrounding both platforms. In both cases the subjects are people who actually enjoy technology. The wider world is not primarily made of this demographic. The vast majority of people don’t care about their computer. For these users the computer is just something that rips music, surfs the web and prints out really bad homemade holiday greeting cards. For these people access to the world’s greatest program iMovie (written by world’s greatest programmer Glen Reid) is going to be akin to heated seats in Miami mentioned earlier. The rest of iLife and other OS X advantages share the same fate. When the things you use a computer for are limited, the advantages of any particular platform are limited as well.
Which leaves us pondering the most basic of questions: Is the most basic experience using OS X powerful enough for the general populace to make the switch given enough exposure? The big thing most will cite here is security but people seem to muddle by and, in fact, have largely become accustomed to securing their computer to their satisfaction. Put another way, as a Mac user, the steps Windows folks go through to secure the computer would have driven me to any other platform long ago. Obviously, the experience is not as bad as I envision it. Which leaves us wondering… Is the OS X experience that much better for basic users than the Windows experience? I have no answer but if Apple truly makes a mass market push, we’ll know.
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No, I take a different approach that is: I cannot afford to use crap. Crap stinks all the time and you may slip & fall. I am not willing to expose myself to the strenuous activity of maintaining say Windows. Assuming I was, I would still buy a “more expensive” machine (say a Thinkpad) since I am not willing to expose myself to mediocre engineering & hardware design in a productivity tool. I gave the example before in another comment trail, I will neither buy cheap meat not a cheap knife to cut it. If I cannot afford it I would rather have it later / less often than to compromise and expose myself to the permanent frustration coming along with the compromise. This of course requires good knowledge of one’s own needs and a certain level of control over one’s desires. This may be “more logical”, but the important aspect is that it is more logical to *me*, which is all that matters in the end. I cannot and I will not make other peoples’ buying decisions, since I am not other people, and they know infinitely better about their needs & desires. Nevertheless, I am not happy to receive negative feedback from someone who took another appoach & slipped on the crap just for stating that another choice could make most of his problems disappear, since it is not my fault that he made a (from my perspective) bad decision following his personal strategy.
I gave some reasons early, but here’s another insight on “Good Enough.”
Two female friends switched from XP over the last month. One, who’s on a budget, I installed Ubuntu Linux on her Dell. I setup everything for her and put a pretty theme. She likes it and doesn’t miss windows. Her main applications are Word (OpenOffice.org default save as word), Email (online), and Instant messaging (Adium). Updating the virus programs and spyware programs for her PC took her to the limit. She’s happy living in a secure environment and finds it simple to use, “Good Enough.”
The second, who is definitely not on a budget, was on a Dell PC and I switched her to the new 20” iMac with the built in iSight. She was also tired of spyware and virus software, along with constant firewall pop-ups on windows. She had to have quickbooks and excell. Quicken comes with the consumer models and Quickbooks comes with the pro-models. She’ll have to buy MS Office as I don’t think OpenOfficeJ is a good alternative on the Mac. She was blown away by the experience. She’s very happy and doesn’t miss her PC. She actually gave her PC to me as thanks for helping her and it’s a nice machine. I’ll install Ubuntu on that as well.
I guess my point is, if OS X is within your budget and the essential applications can be purchased for it, then it’s a go. If not, you can go the Ubuntu route or stick with Windows if you’re application dependent. Ubuntu is a great OS and “Good Enough” for those on a budget.
A note on windows: To some extent I feel some the annoyances these girls felt with windows wasn’t directly related to MS. If virus program, firewall, and spyware applications didn’t ask for her attention, she’s wouldn’t have been so disgruntled. Most of the apps were set to as much automation as possible, but they all constantly needed human interaction. Personally I think it’s a marketing ploy by these companies. They want you to see that they’re working.
Besides the obvious workout you gave the thesaurus in your writing program I dont get the point of this article. Should we all join hands & unite to get windows users to switch? I dont think so.
Most of windows users are using the wintel boxes because they are dirt cheap. They go into a store and see a $500 emachine notebook next to a $1000 ibook and there is no question. They dont care if it has imovie or idvd or whatever. All they know is that they can get a machine for $500 and buy software off the $10 rack at Best Buy (as someone said earlier) that will do the same thing. User interface, functionality and security is not in their vocab.
I dont think Apple will ever sell its boxes or notebooks with much of a higher market share then they do now. The only way it will happen is if the osx gets opened to run on these low end pcs. Either that or create some more traditional & low end (lower than the mini) boxes running osx but who wants that?
For the record:
No thesaurusi were harmed or consulted in the writing of the article.
I think all users would switch, given the choice. But the thing is, the more of a computer n00b you are, the more time you need to experience OS X before you find all the little extras making your life easier. Whereas a pro computer user will find all this stuff in nanoseconds.
And, as many have pointed out, it is a matter of pricing (even though Macs are cheap, many will still just go for the cheapest because at the end of the day computers are fundamentally the same to them. Same would be said for some people regarding cars too - some know the difference a premium price makes, others just go for the cheapest.
And so that’s why I think we’re unlikely to ever get most people to switch to Macs. We’ve all got to keep in mind that nobody ever chose windows, it’s just what got bundled with the computer. If OS X got bundled with 99% of computers sold in stores tomorrow, people wouldn’t buy it and then buy windows to run on it, they’d just use OS X.
Bad Beaver - you’re not the only one who doesn’t steal apps, music and movies online
I despise it in fact.
Richard Freed - i know man *shaking head slowly* I know…
Chris - I did give you a way out, don’t forget that =P
I think all users would switch, given the choice.
Users do have a choice. And they don’t switch.
“Users do have a choice. And they don’t switch”
Are you saying that there are no switchers? None at all? Not even one?
Further to the above point 22, what evidence do you have that there are no switchers?
People are reluctant to switch due to their investment in hardware and software. In other words they don’t feel that they have a choice. Which is part of the reason the Mac mini should be pushed as a “switch without switching by having both” option, you just need to get a KVM switch and use the same keyboard, mouse and monitor.
Then again when the Intel Macs comes out, which will run both OSes or DARWINE to run windows apps without Windows XP/Vista, all these arguments will be moot.
Beeb: You write, back in comment #12, about Mac users not wanting Apple to gain a bigger market share and have the Mac be more ubiquitous.
I’m one of those people. All that matters to me is that Apple stays in business, and so long as there are a million or two loyal Mac users, they will.
I don’t want Apple to get anywhere even close to 10% of the market share, because I fear what that “power” might do to them. After all, power corrupts…
MacGlee (re: #24), the Intel Macs are not confirmed as being able to run both Mac OS X and Windows out of the box. Apple could potentially design the systems so that that’s not possible without a hack. That multi-OS related patent means nothing until we see them unveil a product utilizing that technology. In fact, it means more of nothing when paying attention to how often companies now patent things they’re not even using. Shouldn’t that not be allowed? Or, more accurarely, companies patenting things they don’t themselves make. Look at the Blackberry problem.
re: Beeblebrox“I think all users would switch, given the choice.”
Users do have a choice. And they don’t switch.
Although my point’s already been defended above, I really meant they would switch given a simple choice. I don’t believe most consumers currently have real choice when buying a new computer.
I dare you to go into any computer superstore (you can even pick one that sells Macs) and ask a salesperson, “I need a computer” and then count how many times he mentions the word “Apple” and “Mac.”
^ Apple stores not included ^
I hate to admit this, but you have a very valid point. Even worse, the chances are the employee doesn’t at that store probably doesn’t make enough to purchase a Mac so it never enters the equation. They’re clueless to the Macintosh experience. You can’t sell someone something that you know nothing about. Most of the sales people I encounter know very little, it’s just a job so they can survive. Once in a while I encounter someone that really knows.
Also, a lot of those stores tell employees what to push. That has a lot to do with manufacturers offering incentives. Apple has never been known for this and often retailers make little of Apple hardware.
Well big mac fan here, and it has been the first comsumer computer that I really ever use....well behind the Commador 64 Whichich I messed around a bit to program. But I’m on my 4th mac, ipod and mis stuff from mac.
When I went to compusa and told a sales rep that I was looking to buy a mac laptop, she did talk to me a bit. Talked to her sales manager at my job, he was surprised she walked away, and said she would talk to her.
I have to agree with the money issue. I don’t make a ton of money, but I do get an gift allowance from time to time, and I usally purchace a new computer.
My last purchase was a late model iBook. It is a great machine, and a better computer than my iMac G4, but it is also newer.
I work on quite a few Windows systems at work, which definately need replaced. They suck when it comes to ease of use, but a lot of these old windows computer have been reliable for years.