The year of apple and the snow leopard
Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 1:33PM
As it so happened, I was in the new Apple flagship store in Zurich on the day the Apple financial results were announced, and I heard it first on my iphone through a news feed I get.
I was looking at the sparkling new mac airs and mac pros loaded with the crisp snowleopard software. Design is a big part of the apple philosophy thats clear, but client user experience and playfulness is the real rub here.
I checked my emails on the loaded-up-and-always-on-apples, which are arranged around the slick cutting edge store for people to drift in and play with.
click on images to enlarge
As it was, I was having network/account problems with that monolith Swisscom, I tried telling the staff at the Swisscom store, and they looked at me like you look at someone who is talking out of his ear. So I went, and I strode up Bahnhofstrasse, debating arbitary things like whether I should tell Swisscom to go and fly a kite, and why the showers and toilets downstairs at the well-organised Zurich station, announce Pissoir on the door. (Don't you just love the French, they don't dress things up).
When I stumbled into the apple store, and checked my emails on their play-for-as-long-as -you like- new models. Turn head to see user interactivity
So here's why they have been so successful: It's called viral user recommendation.
As I was playing on the mac, a tall young man drifted by with a smile and asked if i was enjoying the mac air, "oh yes I said, I know it already". We started to chat about its features and how I came to be an latecomer ---applehead, ...
I realised why. The store was full of people like me, drifting around, just touching things, feeling the slimness, and the brushed silver slabs of tech, buying new ear phones, checking the new model iphones and generally having fun. No one was chasing them, getting irritated. No numbers were issued to wait in line to be seen by the consultants.
It's in the sales bible, let someone touch your product, own it, play with it and they will buy it.
This young Swiss man who spoke English flawlessly, took his time to listen to my network story, and told me he'd look at my mac, so I got it out and together we tested and re-installed the crappy, not slickly-designed Swisscom usb stick, from which they deliver the internet to me. After fiddling with the usb awhile, while I spoke of Apple and its success, he told me he could also better my Swisscom iphone contract, that I had failed to get Swisscom down the road, to do!!!!
He seemed unmoved by my announcement that Apple's results are reflected in the iphone and mac sales. Well he said, "We sell a lot".
A lot,yes, close to 60 million iphones and counting ...so many, that Nokia want a piece of the pie, and are now making litigious noises.
And here's why people: they make it fun, and they think about user experience, and they'll keep making it better, plus, a whole new industry in iphone apps has been born for the new generation.
So Take note windows 7, Apple built its success on the disaster that was Vista, and having to un-install your drive and all its settings to load windows 7, or alternatively, buy a new computer, is unlikely to encourage potential new users to spend their Christmas double check on windows 7.
FOOTNOTE Two other customers who were playing with the apple mac next to me after the assistant went to off to help someone else, asked my opinion, and I said, "buy it".
Leave us a comment with your user experience, or gripes of course. We'd like to hear from you.
Donna Jackson
Social Communications Specialist
Reader Comments (12)
Fine if you have lots of money. Many people would quite like a Mac,but while PCs are so much cheaper they will always have a big advantage.
yes cheap is good Phil, but the new software windows 7 is twice the price of snowleopard. Mac OS ,plus you have to buy a new computer to use it, or dis-install and re-install all settings, thats a pain. im holding on to my old desktop with XP
Donna:
Today I celebrated the announcement of Windows 7 by deciding to purchase a Mac. Happy day!
I love Macs too. Nice design, run well and virus free :)
BTW about Microsoft... did you see this? http://www.microsoft.com/windows/social/
Andrea
Of course you enjoyed breezing around the Apple store. It is a premium product and therefore provides a premium experience. That is also the reason why Apple's market share is insignificant in comparison to its competition (Windows / Nokia etc) and will likely remain so.
Great piece. I think you're right that the Apple retail experience, and the issues in Vista, have certainly helped them to build their market share. It will be interesting to see how the new Microsoft stores fare. It's also about Apple's control of the end-to-end experience, of course - by owning the hardware as well as the software they have much more control about how the OS is encountered.
Thanks for user experience feedback and Toni u sound bitter maybe u sell Microsoft . You missed the point of the pièce which was the attitude of Apple staff and the community they build where users recommend macs to' each other in store ... I shortened yr comment for better reading
PS u can get a decent contract from swisscom you just have to' spend the entire afternoon in the store no wifi or things to' play with that Are connecte i left 3 hrs later with a new iPhone 3 GS which i pd 99chf for on a Two yr contract. Now. Antone want to' buy my other 16 mb iPhone brand new and unlocked .....
Donna,
I completely agree with the premise of your article. I too, purchased a MacBook Pro (not too sure what the proper case is here) just a few weeks before the put out a whole new line of shiny and much faster systems. Given a similar Apple experience to the one you described, I thought I could simply walk back into the local Apple store and exchange it for the newer model (it had been 27 days since I purchased the first one). The newer model was $300.00 cheaper than the fully loaded model that I owned and much faster. Not only did the refuse to upgrade my MacBook Pro (they refused with all of the style and grace you would expect at a Apple store), I was also informed that the hard drive that was installed in my current MacBook Pro was no longer supported by Apple, as the vendor they selected was no longer supported. So if my drive fails, I will most likely have to replace it without the assistance of my local Apple store. Oh joy! To make matters slightly worse, I had the foresight to purchase the additional 3 year coverage plan (I go through laptops quite a bit – traveling 150 days out the year is very hard on the equipment) and even that does not cover you if a part is not supported. All of that said, my MacBook Pro is one of the singularly best pieces of equipment I have ever owned.
The true irony of all of this, my MacBook Pro runs Windows 7 on 3 virtual machines that I have installed. Using VMWare FUSION for Mac I am able to run all of my Windows software and tools. With the added bonus of 8 Gb of RAM, it does all of this in spectacular fashion. I have yet to upgrade my MacBook Pro OS to Snow Leopard, but I will say that Windows 7 is a superior 64bit OS. It is the promise of Vista realized. A stunning interface and a liquid fast response time is at least equal if not superior to Mac OS - although this may be the first time is quite a while that Windows got it right (Windows 2000 the last time – I worked on that OS). The problem that Windows will face, as you so accurately put it, the software is not up to par. Mac has been a truly 64bit platform for years now, but Window still does this awful dance of 32bit versions and 64bit versions. Since the corporate customers are extremely hesitant to move the upgrade window to 64bit (less drivers and software supported in the 64bit world), they have slowed the adoption of the 64bit OS to almost extinction. It is a technological travesty that we are still having to deal with 32bit apps. They are so archaic. You might remember the same issues when we went from 16bit OS to 32bit OS. This time around, it is even worse. Major software systems like SAP and Sage Software, that are so highly customized by these corporations, are dragging their feet on the upgrade. So, even though all of the PC hardware is capable, consumer PCs are still installed with 32bit versions of the OS making these machine upgrades work less efficiently. Then all of this nonsense with Home, Business, Enterprise versions – Apple has proven that one OS can support all types of users, they confuse users even more.
The union of hardware and software that Apple has executed so perfectly is something that most thought would be an extreme handicap. Now, it seems, because of those things that I listed above, has been a true coup in the world of computing. A few years ago, Gateway and Dell had showrooms in the US that displayed hardware and software, where you could go in and touch it, play with it – get to really know the equipment. One big mistake, you could not leave the store with it. They were still stuck in the build on demand business model. This caused the stores to fail miserably and forced Gateway to find a buyer for the company. Another big problem was that Microsoft did not back these stores like they should have. Now, Microsoft has been talking about opening its own stores. Who’s equipment will they feature? Will you be able to buy it if you like it? So many obstacles to match the Apple model and I think they have already lost.
I still have a hard time believing that you will have a Mac for every computer user, but even at a premium price, the total cost of ownership gap shrinks significantly because of the superior support infrastructure Apple has put in place. You are only an Apple store away from a “Genius” after all. With ability to run Windows OS’s better then native Windows PCs it could add yet another nail in the coffin. We will have to see if Microsoft can get out if its own way long enough to make a big impact again as they once did. Windows 7 sure is a good start in the right direction.
Cheers!
Love me some new Mac models. Phenomenal given the current climate, people are still queuing up to pay the Mac tax. That's how powerful desire is as a motivator. I was going to go for a Mac Mini for my next PC, but those 27" new iMacs are stunning, so I might well end up paying the extra $1500. Damn you Jonathan Ives!!!
Incidentally, did you try the new mouse? Typical Apple UX charm, whereas PC users will have to shell out for fancy new hardware to smear their greasy fingers across, Mac's nail it with a simple edition to the humble wireless mouse. Masterful! Might make up for the abomination which was the original iMac puck.
Dear Rudy, thanks for your user experience story really good for others to read, Ive never been sorry, try the apple store again they are great and may be more accomodating now. thanks for the specs its helps others to know what to do. Donna
Dear Rupert thanks for a pro view on the mac like you I have become an apple head well and truly. havent tried new mouse, yet will do ,Donna
I have been a Mac user for almost 2 years now having semi-switched from Windows. I say sem-switched because supporting Microsoft systems is my job and I never really had a problem with Vista, despite all the bad press it got. The main reasons for Vista's bad publicity was due to manufactures dragging their heals when it came to driver support. In fact it got so bad that Microsoft were writing the drivers themselves on behalf of the manufacturers because the manufacturers were taking too long.
Now with Windows 7 things are looking much better out of the gate and a lot of the reason is because of those drivers. Windows 7 is a paired down version of Vista with a whole new UI built on top and is much faster and leaner than what was there before.
What is very good news is that Winodws 7 will run on much older hardware. I have plenty of old PCs and laptops laying around my office and now every one of them are running Windows 7. Some of them are over 6 years old!!!
Now compare that with Snow Leopard which has, and rightly so, dropped it's support for the old Power PC based Macs so now you can only install Snow Leopard on Macs younger the 3 years old.
Apple are able to keep their stable platform going because they wholly own the hardware. This makes releasing new drivers for new hardware totally the responsibility of Apple and therefore totally controllable.
When you consider what Microsoft has to deal with, with the vast quantity or 3rd party hardware, it's a amazing how well the OS does.
Anyway, because I have a foot in both the Apple and the Microsoft camps I fully understand all of the issues and I'm not afraid to say when either or platform fails. Do a search on Twitter for my name and Kernel Panic for example.
Apple certainly does have the best pre and post sales experience of any technology company, but it's by no means perfect. Then again, you can't please all of the people all of the time.
Great post as always Donna. Keep up the good work.
Paul