Balmer: "The Tide Has Turned" Against Apple

[hanselthecaretaker]

Steve Ballmer believes the recession is stressing the house that Jobs built.

Every company is feeling the heat during these times of economic uncertainty. However, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer thinks that rival Apple may be hotter under the collar than most.

According to TechFlash, the boss over in Redmond sees 2009 as a year of trouble for Apple, especially in its desktop and laptop computer segments. When asked about Apple's recent market share momentum at a conference in New York, Ballmer quickly interjected and said the strong numbers Apple has seen over the last year are about to change.

"Apple gained about one point, but now I think the tide has really turned back the other direction," said the Microsoft CEO. "The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be."

While boiling down the difference between an Apple machine and a PC to a logo may be a simplification of sorts, there is truth in Ballmer's words. Apple has been using Intel processors in its machines for several years now. With this shift, the hardware in an Apple and say, a Dell or HP PC is very similar, if not the same in many cases. While many argue that the Apple price premium is worth it when it comes to laptops, making the same argument for desktops is much more difficult.

Psystar is churning out computers that use off the shelf PC components combined with Apple's OS X operating system. While the debate is still raging whether or not Psystar can legally do such a thing, the company is offering computers that run Apple software flawlessly at a fraction of the price when compared to an iMac or Mac Pro. Psystar's OpenPro with an Intel Core 2 Duo E8500, 8 GB of RAM, 1 TB of storage, an Nvidia 9800GTX+, and all the same firewire/wireless options as Apple's desktops goes for about $1,610. A similarly configured 24-inch iMac (3.06 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 8 GB RAM, 1 TB storage, ATI Radeon 4850) goes for $3,250. After throwing in a decent 24" monitor, the OpenPro is still more than a grand less than the iMac. The only major difference between the components is that the Mac uses DDR3 memory over the OpenPro's DDR2...but is that worth the absurd price difference?

Only time will tell if Ballmer is right about Apple. What is already a certainty is the fact that this shot at Apple will fan the fires of the Redmond-Cupertino rivalry. For now, what do you think about Apple in 2009? iPods and iPhones aside, how will its computer segments fare compared to the rest of the industry?

UPDATE: After realizing that the Psystar Open7 doesn't run OS X (thanks SneakySnake!), I added a better Apple/Psystar comparison. Sorry about the mix up, guys!


Ballmer: "The Tide Has Turned" Against Apple - Tom's Guide


Razorguns in 3....2.....1.....

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Welcome to the easy going, user-friendly Apple brand-

Why HDCP Sucks; Apple, Are You Listening?
2:20 PM - March 20, 2009 by Tuan Nguyen
Source: Tom's Hardware US – Category : Buyers Guides
33 comments

Let's get straight to the point: HDCP (High-bandwidth digital content protection) sucks--and so does copy protection in general.

Originally developed to prevent people from copying high definition movies, HDCP has become more invasive to the user experience than it has to help promote the distribution of high-definition content. There's a clear reason for this: copy protection schemes hurt the honest user more than it does the pirate. In fact, piracy isn't affected by content copy protection schemes at all. To put it blatantly, pirates and crackers will find a way to circumvent a protection technology sooner than later, and it's usually no trouble for them. People who cheat the system, will cheat it no matter what.

Several years ago, I wrote a series of articles on DailyTech, where I was previously senior editor. The articles focused on HDCP and ATI (at the time), and how ATI was claiming that its cards were fully "HDCP ready." This was simply not true. Suffice to say, after posting my articles, ATI scrambled and attempted to modify its website to be a little more vague on verbiage. Not one to stand for the deception, I immediately posted a follow-up with Google-cached screenshots of ATI's specifications page. It was clear that, at the time, HDCP-marked video cards from ATI weren't HDCP-compliant at all.

Consequently, ATI didn't want to talk to me anymore after I wrote those articles. ATI was very irate about my articles, since it landed the company a lawsuit. ATI did eventually attempt to resolve the situation. Nvidia was free of the same problems because it didn't make boards, its partners did. The same couldn't be said for ATI. Box artwork from both ATI and its partners all had the HDCP compliant label on them. Since HDCP requires a hardware key embedded on graphics card during manufacturing, there was no going back either.

At the time, it was known that if you did not own an HDCP capable display and video card, high definition content would be locked out, displaying either a black box or being displayed in low resolution. This was a big thing during Vista's release.

An article on Gizmodo this morning, reminded me just how bad copy-protection technology has become. This week, Apple enabled purchasing of high-definition movies from its iTunes store. Previously, you were only able to rent the movies, but this week, you can now buy to own. Why is this an important distinction? Because, I for one, would like to be able to play the movies I own at any time, anywhere. I think this is true for everyone.

Here's the problem though: unless you own a HDCP compliant display, be prepared to watch your high-definition movies in crappy standard definition or nothing at all. iLounge points to a solution of using an older Mac to play back your movies. I'm not sure if this applies to iTunes running on Windows, but I am guessing that the problem exists here as well. Although more and more HDCP displays are becoming available, the display is the part of a computer system that gets upgraded least frequently.

HDCP is the bane of movie watchers--there's no two ways about it. Let's even go out on a limb here and say that problems like this, contribute more to piracy than not. If you have a non-HDCP compliant system, you can't buy the high-definition movies even if you wanted to.

Of course, HDCP isn't the only invasive technology out there. Disc copying schemes and DRM, are all part of a poorer user experience. Some copy protection schemes have even caused damage to a user's operating system to the point that a complete reinstall was necessary to fix. In all honesty, we don't condone piracy, but with problems like these, it's no wonder that piracy is as prevalent as it is. To Apple's credit, it has gone DRM-free with music on iTunes, but not until you've coughed up more money for the tunes you've already purchased. If this is going to happen with movies on iTunes, then expect people to be upset--again.

To companies out there that are all over content protection: it's generally an invasive technology. You're only hurting the overall user experience of your honest customers. If you haven't realized, software piracy is rising (PDF warning), not declining. And this is caused by a combination of bad user experience, causing otherwise honest people to look for alternatives, made by people who know that copy protection is a hassle: your own customers.

To Apple: iTunes is definitely the market maker out there in terms of content distribution. From music to movies, it's the top service. News like this though, don't help your cause, especially when you're trying to appease to the crowd here, on Tom's Hardware. With ads boasting about great life style, user experience, and how "everything just works," this is a slap in the face.



Why HDCP Sucks; Apple, Are You Listening? - Tom's Hardware


I can't believe they ever made a market off of the "It's soooo much easier than a PC!!" mantra, considering using a PC is so, well, easy as it is to begin with!

 

[Dial_tone]

Those Psystars have pretty good prices. I have the Antec P182 case they use.

 

[Razorguns]

He has a point, but apple fanboys and chicks that wanna be cool at starbucks will continue buying them.

But the rest of the planet and corproate america will continue buying pc's. You open a new division, need 30 computers for your employees. 30 pc's at $850 each, or 30 mac's at $1400 each and have to hrie an outside IT agency cuz none of yoru IT tech's know shit about macs.

I have been to many foreign countries. I have yet to see a mac. People can't afford them.

r

 

[Dial_tone]

He has no point. They've been pushing the price argument for years. If the price argument were THAT important we'd all be on Linux.

 

[Razorguns]

He has no point. They've been pushing the price argument for years. If the price argument were THAT important we'd all be on Linux.

If you can't afford something, it kinda doesn't become an option now does it?

For PC vs Linix pricing it's - Price vs Return on Investment.

I'm sure you've heard of Rate of Diminishing Returns at work. Zillions of graphs, equations and formulas are used to decide what what type of asset to purchase.

r

 

[calveless wonder]

i still see everyone in the world with a fuckin iphone and an ipod....

so i think they'll be fine

 

[puddlemonkey]

I have multiple iPods. No iPhones though.

 

[Dial_tone]

If you can't afford something, it kinda doesn't become an option now does it?

For PC vs Linix pricing it's - Price vs Return on Investment.

I'm sure you've heard of Rate of Diminishing Returns at work. Zillions of graphs, equations and formulas are used to decide what what type of asset to purchase.

r

I have a C-note that says iPhone sales are up in 2009, despite being more costly than Windows Mobile/Blackberry equivalents.

 

[needtogetarmy]

Apple sucks. They products they sell are fads.