I love podcasts. I mean, I really, REALLY love podcasts. I have a black 30GB iPod that has over 2,500 songs on it, but lately 60% of my iPod time consists of me listening to podcasts. I don't have a lot of friends who share my exact interests, so it's my way of listening in on conversations that I normally don't have the opportunity to be involved in. I can't talk back, of course, but it's cool nonetheless.
Anyways, I was listening to a podcast called "Windows Weekly with Paul Thurrott." Now, I know what you're thinking--Ryan is a die-hard Mac fanboy. I understand that, and you know me well. I like to listen to this podcast because, first of all, Leo (the host) and Paul talk about Macs, iPods, or the iPhone in almost every podcast. Leo is a Mac user, and Paul usually has some pretty good things to say. Plus, I like to keep up with Windows, even though using a Windows PC (from time to time) has degenerated into torture for me personally.
Paul said something interesting on the latest podcast. I'm paraphrasing, but he said that he often has to remind Windows users of what their relationship is: they are paying Microsoft money, and Microsoft is supposed to be serving them. The focus should be on making the customer happy. Paul's comments got me thinking about Microsoft's relationship with its customers, and inevitably I had to consider Apple's relationship with its own customers. I started comparing the two, and eventually the rabid devotion which Mac users develop to all things Apple began to make even more sense.
Microsoft users don't care what Microsoft puts out. They are going to use whatever Microsoft forces them to use, and it doesn't matter if they like it or not...they have to use it. When 90% of the market is Windows-based (especially the business end), then people are going to just swallow the bitter pill of mediocrity that Microsoft has forced them to take in regular doses. They don't realize there's a viable alternative that might actually make sense to them. Microsoft is not going to improvise; they're not going to dazzle anyone with the latest and greatest idea. They're followers, not leaders. Now, they're VERY good imitators, and that helps them put a thin coat of luster on their dull ideas.
Mac users laughed when Vista's "revolutionary" features like Sidebar, Windows Search, and Windows Flip 3D were unveiled. When Vista hit the market, we had been using most of Vista's most-hyped features for over a year and a half in Mac OSX 10.4 "Tiger." Watching Bill Gates squirm in his chair and get visibly upset when probed about Vista's similarity to Mac OSX was one of the funniest things I've seen on YouTube.
Microsoft does what is has to, while Apple goes above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that its products LOOK better, FEEL better, and most importantly, OPERATE better. They like to make it easy for the user. Microsoft doesn't. They love to blow their fan's minds during Steve's keynotes. Bill Gates succeeds at putting CES to sleep every year. Apple provides simplicity, aesthetic beauty, and security. Microsoft provides complexity, ugly design, and vulnerability.
Apple tries its best to make its users excited to user their products. Microsoft simply knows their users are required to use their products, so they put only their half-hearted efforts into their OS and other devices. I don't know if Microsoft just doesn't have any capable artists working for them, but everything they touch has ugly and outdated written all over it (when compared to every beautiful Apple product). It seems the only branch of Microsoft where any innovation is going on is the XBox department.
Apple knows what you want. Microsoft knows what you have. Apple wants you to give them a try. Microsoft wants nothing more than to keep you from ever dabbling in another OS, especially Apple. They know very well what's at stake, and it's only a matter of time before their wells dry up. If it's not because of Apple, it will be because of web-based programs from Google and such. Microsoft is the Titanic of the technology industry: apparently unsinkable...but...