Everybody wants to own a Mac

This week 25 years ago, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, was part of a team that delivered the first Apple Macintosh computer to the world. Ever since that week in 1984 a lot has happened at Apple. Steve Jobs would leave Apple for 12 years and then eventually return in 1997 to help propel the company to the heights it has achieved today. But his recent state of health has also placed question marks on the future health of Apple.

Under Jobs’ watch, Apple has become one of the first computer outfits to be associated with ‘cool’ global brands such as Coca Cola and Levis. The iPod is a must-have item, the Macbook Air is something that many want to own, and the lucky few who do own one of these usually show them off in coffee shops like the guys who park their Harley Davidsons outside.

If you fit the nuts and bolts profile of a PC user, there is a way to have the best of both worlds - you could try turning your PC into a Mac. All you need are a few essential programs such as StyleXP or WindowBlinds (which skins the graphical user interface, or GUI, of your operating system), ObjectBar (the white finder bar on the top of Macs), ObjectDock (the dock on the bottom of a Mac that contains icons and shortcuts to programs), YzShadow (puts a drop shadow under your windows as seen in the Mac operating system), a few new icons and iTunes (which most of us have already anyway).

But the reality is that you will never completely get your PC to look and behave like a Mac. It will never be the same, and it’s perhaps this point that underscores Apple’s success; the fact that it has had a unique CEO who has created unique products.

Most of us have heard the story about how Jobs has been the driving success of Apple and how he is an enigmatic, no-nonsense showman with an enviable vision for the company he founded. Praise for him has been played over and over again like a broken record. However, this obsession with Steve Jobs has to be problematic as well, because if his current health situation does deteriorate and if he is forced to leave, who will be his successor and what will happen to Apple? It’s dangerous when any organisation’s success becomes so dependent upon one individual.

At the moment, Jobs has indicated that he will be taking a six month break and will return to the helm as CEO. Maybe his ‘temporary’ leave and the fact that Apple has been around for 25 years could be a time of reflection for the organisation.

The question then remains about whether everybody will still want to own a Mac in years to come.

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READERS' COMMENTS

yes... mac!!!
Posted by oz, dubai, uae on Tuesday 7 July 2009 at 18:43 UAE time


I only switched to a mac 4 months ago....
(even though as a pro photographer my peers were constantly recommending a switch)

and now I feel I was living in the dark ages for years with a PC

I'll NEVER go back !!!!

YES!
Posted by Magnus Nystedt, Dubai, UAE on Tuesday 27 January 2009 at 18:01 UAE time


Of course we will!

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