Speaking of John C. Dvorak
Dvorak’s the Larry King of computer journalism. He’s famous, ubiquitous, and few people take him seriously. He’s the crazy uncle telling you the world is flat and you laugh and nod since getting into a debate would be exhausting and pointless and hell, you don’t even know if he really believes what he’s selling.
Regarding Vista, Dvorak recently said:
When it comes to the Apple-versus-PC battle, one oft-neglected discussion is that the majority of people do not like Macs. Get over it, it’s true. Hence, Apple’s market share is low. There is no other explanation…
blahblah
There are many reasons why microsoft owns the market (all of which Dvorak is aware). Choice isn’t one of them. Almost 100 percent of the businessmen/women I see use a PC. Mostly big, heavy, ugly, black computers with giant screens and Outlook stretched so large it’s almost unrecognizable. They didn’t choose a PC, they were given a PC (why most business’s use PCs is a another topic, but it has nothing to do with individual users choosing a PC over a Mac).
My mother and girlfriend both switched to a Mac, and are very happy having done so. They weren’t using a PC because they chose it over a Mac. They used a PC because that’s what you buy when you go to Best Buy. Because the grandparents who bought you a laptop have never even heard of a Mac.
For the majority of people, there is no choosing. For multiple reasons, the PC is the default. It was for me when I switched 3 years ago. I was one of those PC users that looked at the Mac as a toy for graphic designers who blindly used a Mac because that’s what graphic designers used (irony). I formed this opinion without ever using a Mac.
Before I made the choice to switch to a Mac I had to make the decision to ‘try’ a Mac. It didn’t take long to realize which one I preferred. Most people don’t have the opportunity or situation to compare the two. There is no choice. Slowly that situation is changing, and when users have the chance to fairly compare both the Mac and PC experience, the Mac does pretty well.
