Apple's Tipping Point and Marketing 101

[Deanpaul]

Actually, this is a little more advanced than a 100 level course - and really interesting. Try to keep up.

This fascinating diagram is found at the following site.

I work everyday as a consultant to companies trying to find their niche or an opportunity to leverage their equity in the market. We spend a lot of time together trying to articulate where they're at as companies, who they're trying to reach and where they're trying to take their brands. I've followed Apple as a user since 1989, and observed a lot of innovation through hard times - this chart makes sense that they are in the middle of executing a plan that will take the better part of a decade to implement. I'm excited by their recent successes.

[Deanpaul]

Seriously. 20 views so far and I'm the only one who finds this interesting? 

[Scott]

I don't get people who buy the iPod mini when you get 5 times the storage space for $50 more

Pretty neat stuff

[Rob]

I don't get people who buy the iPod mini when you get 5 times the storage space for $50 more

Pretty neat stuff

Because it's 1/8 of an inch slimmer and is way more stylish.  Duh!

[Deanpaul]

I don't get people who buy the iPod mini when you get 5 times the storage space for $50 more

Pretty neat stuff

No doubt. I've never quite understood the mini - but I see them around town a lot. There must be something magic about a $249 price tag that a $299 can't touch.

Santa passed me over for an iPod this Christmas, and I must admit the raging jealousy I felt reading the number of people in the Christmas haul thread who did receive the little bundle of white joy.

I'm holding out hope for my birthday next month. For a long time I thought I'd want to go for the iPod photo - but it's way too much money and I'm not sure the photo feature would be all that useful. I'd like to use the iPod to haul data around as well as songs, so I'm considering a 20gb and a 40gb right now.

Because it's 1/8 of an inch slimmer and is way more stylish.  Duh!

True, but like Scott said, 5x the storage. Maybe the mini users are only looking to haul a partial music library around? that would make sense to save $50 and .125"... And the dudes chart supports that thinking: Sensible balance between design, features and performance within reasonable price range... Grouped between mass market and early adopters.

[Jeff]

Plus, iPod Mini comes in fun colors!   

As for the stategy, I think it's working... 

I love my iPod (20G version) and an seriously thinking about switching back to Mac despite it being 9 years since I last owned an Apple computer (college).

My 20G iPod has ALL of my CDs on it (over 200) and is just under half full!  Plenty of room on there for other stuff - excel files, data, games, etc.  You can even use the dang thing as a digital recorded for audio!

With some of the other software I've added to my iPod, it's even got my Palm Vx beat as I seem to use the iPod more than my Palm for address book/calendar/etc.

Jeff

[stormie]

I've never been a big fan of Apple...mostly because all my experiences with its products have been bad. I do realize I'm in the minority, though. However, it's encouraging to see the company trying to appeal to a broader, more money-strapped audience. I think the Mac Mini is a great idea long overdue, but I do question why they didn't include a monitor, keyboard and mouse. Yeah, price point, but I still think potential customers want the full package when they upgrade systems. The iPod Shuffle sounds neat, but the memory seems a bit small for the price. But all in all, a definite click in the right direction for Apple. Maybe in a few years the gap will be just a hairline.

[Deanpaul]

I understand where you're coming from, Bob.

When I first heard about the mini I knew it was targeted at my sister. Mom of 5, not a lot of dough, she wants a computer for the kid's school work/internet/family finances - yet terribly frustrated by her pc's sub-par performance and customer service issues. She had a monitor, mouse and keyboard, all she "needs" is a new cpu. The mac mini says "I'm inexpensive and I'll work with peripherals you already have". Including camera, scanner, printer and iPod.

ClubMac agrees with you, and as part of their "hook" they're selling the mac mini below Apple's MSRP with a USB keybaord, mouse, printer and software bundle. Those guys usually throw in free RAM as a promotion, but they've obviously picked up on the keybaord/mouse vibe.

[jjks]

I didn't respond to the thread originally because I have a burning hatred for any posts that make me scroll across to view everything 


I blame Apple for this of course.

[Deanpaul]

I didn't respond to the thread originally because I have a burning hatred for any posts that make me scroll across to view everything 


I blame Apple for this of course.

What is your monitor resolution?

[jjks]

1024x768.

[Deanpaul]

1024x768.

I see... I tried to downsize the image from it's original, but it made the text unreadable. I'm on 1680x1050 - but I changed my resolution to see how it looks for you - It was pretty gross.

Sorry about that.

[Mister Skeezler]

I want that power mac G5 so bad I can taste it!

I have the suped up version here at work, but my computer at home is rapidly becoming a piece of ****. And I think I'm pretty much done with PCs for awhile. There's so many viruses and trojans to deal with its sickening.

[Jediknight760071]

I want that power mac G5 so bad I can taste it!

I have the suped up version here at work, but my computer at home is rapidly becoming a piece of ****. And I think I'm pretty much done with PCs for awhile. There's so many viruses and trojans to deal with its sickening.

My sister got one of those...Flat/Widescreen too. Liquid Cooled etc etc. I feel old on my Toshiba Laptop.

[Chris]

The Apple corporation is somewhat disgusting to me, I am a die hard PC person. Their computers, from all of my experiences along with that of my co-workers and friends who are all in the networking field agree. The machines are far too limited in their capabilities and their operating systems are far from stable. Sure they are nice for editing photos (don't know why exactly), but I find them to attempt to win people over by looking trendy. Trendy does not cut it in a world where functionality is everything. Windows dominates the computer world (as shown by sales and usage records). Now to top all of this off, I am a Linux man when it comes to servers. Apple bases their OS off of Linux, which I find to be amazing in how they can screw up something that is so good. Linux at the desktop at this point does not seem reasonable for businesses, I will give you that, but a world of wonders is that of a Linux server. Sit any guru down at a Linux command line console and watch the magic of what can be done. Case in point is that Apple attempts exploit people are are somewhat ignorant to operating computers by their "ease" of use (keep in mind I was not saying that all who use the Apple are ignorant to computer operations) and their "artsy" look and feel. Lastly, look at their computer prices! Ouch. For what you get, they are not a great value. They require such "fast" equipment because there mediocre at best OS will not function at all without the best of equipment (or you would think, MAC likes to boast how its components are "better" than PC components, but it is often forgotten that the numbers they throw out are not equal to that of a PC.) My sister has an I POD mini, its a nice and simple device. It looks pretty... it plays music..... when the battery dies you are screwed or have to send it in or whatever.... but it looks nice.....

</rant>