[Macworld]

Post your comments for The Macalope Daily: Fringe analysis here

[Rycho]

It proves that there are link-bait writers in Australia too. I've had local confirmation that the skies are clear, with no zeppelin sightings reported.

[genovelle]

She is clearly an Apple hater with a chart that takes up a third of the page to tell you how to switch to android.

[k88dad]

Fauxlivia and Walternate ask: Where would the Zeppelins dock? The Eureka Tower?

[Hologram]

G'Day!

Let's see. When it's night in Australia, it's mostly daytime here.

When it's winter here, it's summer there.

If you look at the globe, we walk around with our heads pointing upward, they walk around with their heads pointing downward.

Australians drive on the left side of the road we drive on the right side.

They talk funny, we ... ok, we talk funny too.

Maybe less means more in Australian?

Re: " the company’s popularity is diving and rivals are scooping up disgruntled Apple fans."

A "disgruntled" Apple fan must be a terrible sight, especially if its left out in the sun and the elements for a while. Who would do that to an Apple fan?

Sounds like a dirty job but somebody has to do it. I hope those "rivals" wear googles , rubber boots and gloves for their own protection.

Judging by their anti-Apple commentary, Android fans appear to be born "disgruntled". Could it be that Google designed Android from the ground up to appeal to disgruntled people?

Hmmm.....

This post has been edited by Hologram: 04 December 2012 - 12:17 PM

[zenaugie]

I don't know much about the link bait issue. Who prepared the graphic: Google? Did Google or Samsung induce the writer in some way. The Macalope throws another writer on the barbie.

[RipRagged]

"Stick a fork in them. They're toast." Best mixed cliched metaphorical malapropism I've read all morning.

[Dennistrator]

"And not everyone likes a crappy user experience and Apple has managed to capitalize on that more than any other product maker."
Macalope, that is exactly why I was sold on the iPhone before I ever heard the first rumors of Apple possibly making such a thing. I got so tired of the horrible time I had with my Nokia and Motorola units. I knew if Apple did a cell phone, they'd do it right. I've owned the 3G and the 4, and have been very satisfied. Keeping people like me happy is why they have $100+ billion in the bank.

[jaydisc]

I read that over the weekend. Made me instantly think of you. Was going to send it in, but didn't. Glad someone else did. FYI, news.com.au is a Murdoch rag.

[jendudley]

Hi everyone,
So I feel quite attacked here and wish I'd actually been asked these questions directly. Twitter alerted me to the article so I'll try to answer the queries below.
As background, I'm not an Apple hater and my handbag is packed with Apple products. I aim to be gadget agnostic, however, and my SIM card sees a lot of phone hardware and software.
1. A series of iPhone 5 missteps?
Apple Maps did not fare well. Face it. Streets are melted, directions faulty, Apple execs have been fired. Long wait times for the product also have not helped its success, though I personally believe the next quarter's figures will tell a different story and the iPhone 5 will make a bigger impact. I can only report these figures.
2. The company's share of the tablet market has fallen to 55 per cent.
When you come from such a high mark, this is a massive opportunity lost. You can't lose 40 per cent of a market and expect it not to be reported as a big loss. Otherwise, journalists aren't doing their jobs.
3. "Backlash" was not my descriptor. That's what a respect analyst told me. I'm reporting the news.
4. You ask how Apple's popularity could be dividing when more people are buing iPhones?
That's actually answered in the story. More people are buying Apple products, it's true, but the company's share of the market has fallen. I'm surprised you didn't read that part of the story you say you're analysing.

[BillBennettNZ]

Another point worth mentioning here, it's obvious to us in the rest of the world, is that North America is not everyone on the planet. It's not even everyone who buys technology. It's not even most technology buyers.

So, while Apple Maps may be frayed around the edges in the USA, here in New Zealand they are positively crap.

We have to wait even longer than Australians to get stuff. The new iMacs probably won't get here until after Tim Cook has gone on stage to sell more new kit to you yankees.

And while Apple's market share may be declining slowly in North America, it's falling faster in Asia-Pacific.

Lastly, I should point out Jen was writing for an Australian audience which will enjoy (or possibly not enjoy) a different Apple experience to Americans.

Technology is global.

[podpersontvsu]

Jennifer — good for you for defending your article here.

I'd suggest that describing Apple's popularity as diving because its dominance of a market is eroding as that market grows, so much so that Apple's sales are hitting records as it loses market share is either lazy or worse. The only thing we've seen thus far is a dip in sales prior to a long-expected product launch.

In terms of actual sales, surveyed intention to buy, etc. — measures of popularity rather than market share — Apple is still growing.

I pretty much agree with you about Maps, although once you've actually found the place you want, its UI is better than anything else I've seen including dedicated devices.

[Stewsburntmonkey]

jendudley, on 04 December 2012 - 06:30 PM, said:

1. A series of iPhone 5 missteps?
Apple Maps did not fare well. Face it. Streets are melted, directions faulty, Apple execs have been fired. Long wait times for the product also have not helped its success, though I personally believe the next quarter's figures will tell a different story and the iPhone 5 will make a bigger impact. I can only report these figures.

You can find plenty of StreetView glitches and Google Maps certainly don't give perfect directions either.

jendudley, on 04 December 2012 - 06:30 PM, said:

2. The company's share of the tablet market has fallen to 55 per cent.
When you come from such a high mark, this is a massive opportunity lost. You can't lose 40 per cent of a market and expect it not to be reported as a big loss. Otherwise, journalists aren't doing their jobs.

I don't think intelligent readers view that as doing your job.

Apple almost single-handedly created the modern tablet market. The fact that the demand has exploded such that the market has expanded to the point that Apple's focus on the high-end, high-margin segment is no longer a near monopoly is a sign of just how successful they have been. They now have a healthy market which will continue to generate huge sales for them. People who may today not be able or willing to buy in the premium market segment are set up as perfect iPad customers in a few years. Marketshare and market power are not the same thing, something a journalist should certainly understand. Apple knows it would be poorly served by trying to maintain a marketshare dominance in the market as it doesn't have any interest (philosophically or economically) in being a commodity vender.

jendudley, on 04 December 2012 - 06:30 PM, said:

3. "Backlash" was not my descriptor. That's what a respect analyst told me. I'm reporting the news.

"Trusted analyst" means virtually nothing and reporting an opinion as "news" is one reason the press are currently held in such contempt.

jendudley, on 04 December 2012 - 06:30 PM, said:

4. You ask how Apple's popularity could be dividing when more people are buing iPhones?
That's actually answered in the story. More people are buying Apple products, it's true, but the company's share of the market has fallen. I'm surprised you didn't read that part of the story you say you're analysing.

It's not a matter of not reading it. It is a matter of thinking it is a ridiculous argument.

This post has been edited by Stewsburntmonkey: 04 December 2012 - 09:01 PM

[Hologram]

jendudley, on 04 December 2012 - 06:30 PM, said:

Hi everyone,
So I feel quite attacked here and wish I'd actually been asked these questions directly. Twitter alerted me to the article so I'll try to answer the queries below.

Some of us might wish you had shared your "findings" with us directly too. Luckily the Macalope brought your article to our attention.

Quote

As background, I'm not an Apple hater and my handbag is packed with Apple products. I aim to be gadget agnostic, however, and my SIM card sees a lot of phone hardware and software.

Your love or hate of Apple products is irrelevant. I'd say that your portrayal of "the facts" as spelling impending doom for Apple is being questioned.

Quote

1. A series of iPhone 5 missteps?
Apple Maps did not fare well. Face it. Streets are melted, directions faulty, Apple execs have been fired.

Apple Maps might not have fared well among people who needed something to write about that would generate hits on the Wild Wild Web after the iPhone 5 introduction. Maps, even if one forgets the fact that it is a V1.0 app, is impressive and solidly trumps the comparatively crippled abomination Google's licensing agreement imposed on pre-iOS6 users. Sure, many people have vocally expressed their dissatisfaction and found errors. I'll bet there is an ever larger proportion of of iOS6 users who are quite happy with Maps, just as I am, or for whom Maps simply is NOT an issue.

So, Apple execs have been fired. Since when does the fact that someone at the top is paying attention and is not afraid to take action spell disaster for an organization?

Quote

Long wait times for the product also have not helped its success, though I personally believe the next quarter's figures will tell a different story and the iPhone 5 will make a bigger impact. I can only report these figures.

Could the long wait times, at least in part, have been caused by the record breaking demand for the iPhone 5, thus indicating a very successful launch instead of the opposite?

So you really think the iPhone 5 will do better this quarter than last? Seeing that iPhone 5 was available and in short supply for only a portion of last quarter, that's a fairly safe assumption.

Quote

2. The company's share of the tablet market has fallen to 55 per cent.
When you come from such a high mark, this is a massive opportunity lost. You can't lose 40 per cent of a market and expect it not to be reported as a big loss. Otherwise, journalists aren't doing their jobs.

Yeah, that's the problem with being the innovator who creates entirely new markets. You have 100% market share. As competitors slowly wake up and throw their own devices into the fray, guess what, market share drops.

Name ONE of Apple's competitors whose market share has fallen from near 100%. Where were they when there was a "massive opportunity" to create a groundbreaking product and own the entire market for over two years? Gee, you think that maybe THEY missed a "massive opportunity"?

Journalists who report a 40% drop in market share as disastrous and fail to put that figure into the context of exponential overall market growth are NOT doing their jobs if that job is to inform and educate. Market share numbers are relatively meaningless unless they are juxtaposed against market dynamics. Is the market stagnant, expanding or shrinking? What is the rate of change of market size versus the market share change rate? That is the kind of information I expect of journalists. Anything less than that, any ambulance chaser can do.

This post has been edited by Hologram: 04 December 2012 - 10:15 PM