Newsletter #439 Preview: Apple Goes Up, Microsoft Goes Down
April 27th, 2008Although couched in an expected and extremely positive spin about future earnings, Microsoft didn’t have an awful lot to crow about this past quarter. Income from Windows was rather lackluster, even though sales of new PCs are on the increase around the world.
So what’s at work here, and why the disparity?
Well, one alleged reason is that a large portion of the increase in PC sales are in the third world, where computers are sold without Microsoft’s operating system and, they tell us, Windows and Office are often pirated.
But worse for Microsoft is the fact that the sales of new Macs continue to exceed analyst expectations, and are going through the roof. However, Microsoft has so far not chosen to address that troubling issue.
Worse for Microsoft, nobody is suggesting that situation is going to change anytime soon, and the fact that a reported 50% of Mac buyers at Apple’s retail stores are new to the platform — and I’ll take the figures as accurate even if it’s an open question how they were compiled — clearly means that Microsoft has something to fear.
Story continued in this week’s Tech Night Owl Newsletter.
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Gene,
All real engineering involves tradeoffs. In the Mac Book Air, an opening that large would reduce the mechanical strength (stiffness) of the unit. This is a significant consideration for this product. I just wish Apple would license its power connection so that others could produce and market external auxiliary batteries. In typical use, replacing the battery is an inconvenience that only needs be done once every several years.
Correct as far as it goes. The annoyance, however, is that you can not easily replace the battery en route if it runs down and there’s no available power connection. How many dedicated road warriors pack a second battery in their laptop bags, or wish they could?
Peace,
Gene
That is precisely why I bought a MacBook instead of a MacBook Air. Other than the batteries, the Air would have better satisfied my wants and needs.
I’m trying to remember the last time I packed a spare battery along. I have to go back at least as far as the Wallstreet… possibly even as far back as my original PowerBook 170. Spare batteries are something that haven’t been relevant to me for a loooong time; they’re frickin’ expensive, they’re bulky and heavy, and there simply haven’t been enough times where the extra power would be useful to make it worth the weight, bulk and expense.