THIS is why I buy Apple
When anybody asks me why I buy Apple products almost exclusively, from now on I’m going to point them to the keynote speech given yesterday (October 22, 2013).
It’s not because of the release of the new iPad Air (a name nobody saw coming) or the second-generation iPad Mini expected to ship the first of November.
It’s not even for the happy years spent with my myriad of iPods or my four-year-old MacBook Pro that still rocks long after many of my friends computers have crapped out. It’s not the iPhones or my iPad 2 I just sold for 70% of what I originally paid for it almost three years ago.
(PHOTO: ROBERT GALBRAITH / REUTERS)
It’s because Apple has balls. Great big balls.
While it may have gone unnoticed by many, in announcing brand new versions of iLife and iWorks, Apple challenged Microsoft and other digital players, in a way nobody ever has.
The software reveals came with bravado; touted as the biggest day in history for Apple Apps and promising to set the world “on its ear.”
Not only are the Apps completely new versions, they will now come free with the purchase of any Mac or IOS device.
Let’s try that one more time for effect. They will be FREE.
To put it in perspective imagine buying a new computer, phone or tablet and Microsoft giving you its entire Office Suite – for free.
No. Chance. In. Hell.
If you don’t know what iLife or iWorks is. It just means you’re probably reading this on a Windows machine. You have my condolences.
iLife is a multimedia suite that allows you to work with photos, videos and music in a way that is shockingly simple and alarmingly powerful. iWorks, simply put, is Apple’s much sexier and exciting answer to Windows Office.
While they don’t have the consumer recognition of Windows or Office, both products more often than not outshine anything Microsoft has put on the table.
So here’s the rub, and if you’re Microsoft it might feel like sandpaper. These two applications make up a very small part of Apple’s overall revenue stream so giving them away really won’t be that painful – especially because the value add will sell more hardware.
But on the other end of the spectrum, the primary revenue stream for Microsoft IS software and I can’t fathom it’s in their business model to start giving away their bread and butter.
Who will be left standing
I love Apple because the move is about way more than making its customers happy. It’s looking at Microsoft eye-to-eye with a “here, match this,” this challenge unlike any other.
Will this bold strategy take a huge cut out of Microsoft profits? Probably not, though it will be fun to see how it tries to respond.
The real proof will be felt in the long term. Just as the release of the first iPad took computing to a new level almost four years ago, so too will the concept of free software.
Put October 22, 2013 in your calendars. You may likely look back one day and be able to say, “I remember when…”
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