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PCs, Apple battle for market share, popularity |
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Thursday, 29 November 2007 |
by BRANDON BROWN
Lifestyles Reporter
While eavesdropping on a conversation between two college students, one might hear some polarizing questions.
Democrat or republican?
Yankees or Red Sox?
However, technology in the modern era has given birth to a new debate: PC or Mac?
While PCs dominate the market share, Apple released the “I’m a Mac, I’m a PC” advertising campaign to garner more support.
 Sophomore journalism major Davey P. Hieliger (l) and sophomore English major Kyle C. Jones display a Mac and PC side by side in Belk Library & Information Commons. Photo by Holt Menzies
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The message has had an effect on students on Appalachian State’s campus.
“I know that it’s 99 percent marketing, but [I] believe in the
product,” said David L. Forkner, a senior business management major and
Mac user.
Although Apple holds 4.6 percent of the market share according to
technological research firm Gartner Inc., some students believe Macs
are widespread across campus.
Mike R. Staples is a senior criminology major and Gateway PC owner who is interested in buying a Mac.
“It sounds stupid, but everyone has one,” Staples said.
Technical Support employee and senior physics major Leander Hutton has
seen a higher percentage of PC problems dealing with the Microsoft
Windows operating system.
Students have encountered problems with spyware and harmful downloads
from peer-to-peer networks on the Windows system, said Hutton, a
four-year veteran in the Technical Support office.
Hutton attributes the lack of malfunctions in OS X, the Apple operating
system, to its obscurity, and to the fact the system requires a user
password to modify anything system-related.
“[Technical Support] rarely see Macs with software issues,” Hutton
said. “Most of the time the hard drive has gone out or the memory is
bad.”
One of the most polarizing differences is the price discrepancy.
Dell’s least expensive Inspiron Notebook is listed at $499, while Apple’s cheapest Macbook tops $1,000.
Rose A. Himmelman, a freshman interior design major, prefers her PC.
“My PC works with most programs [I use] and it’s cheaper,” said Himmelman.
One of the PC’s steadfast supporters is the gaming community.
Microsoft’s DirectX application is the most popular choice for game programming, Hutton said.
“Apple’s hardware is definitely better,” said David C. Perry, a junior
computer science major and avid PC gamer. “[But] Apple doesn’t have
the licensing to compete in the gaming world.”
PCs account for the majority of computers found on the Appalachian
State campus. Some departments that deal more with design and graphics
offer Macs.
“Traditionally, Macs have been bigger in the film, music and visual
arts departments because there is a lot of software that is Mac-only
for those majors,” Hutton said.
Jay J. Shepherd, a freshman communication major and PC owner, is
looking at getting a Mac to aid in video editing and photo design.
Lynn Lysiak, the systems and automation coordinator in Belk Library
& Information Commons, said a dozen additional Mac computers will
be added in the library by spring semester 2008.
Appalachian State purchases computers at a discounted rate, with Macs being more expensive than PCs, Lysiak said.
According to Gartner Inc., Apple holds 23 percent of the U.S. education market, second only to Dell.
“We will get the students what they need,” Lysiak said.
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