Originally Posted by swise
I'm sure the fact that PC Magazine and Consumer Reports just ranked the Powerbook the best in quality and reliability doesn't have anything to do with the recommendation.
The fact that Apple has scored far better in support than any other company (Web, email and phone) for five years running in Consumer Reports' studies is not relevant either. (The lead has grown year-over-year, btw.)
Having complimentary in-store support and free user workshops within a 30 minute drive of 80+% of the US population definitely hinders any viability, as shown by the doubling marketshare in the past year.
Wall Street has no faith in the viability of the product either, as we see when we look at the stock price today, which is up over 5% to another all-time high.
All these things are great, but if you've been using a Windows PC for the past 15 years then a Mac is simply not a viable alternative. It is a terribly steep learning curve, proven by the recent requests for support here in this forum.
Everything you said is true, but you are still not seeing masses of people flocking to buy a Mac. As far as the stock price goes, don't you think that might have a tiny bit to do with the iPod, the only real success product left?
I don't want yet another Apple VS Windows discussion; I just grow a little tired of mac fans trying to push THEIR platform to anyone asking for regular PC purchasing advise, I guess I can't blame them for trying...