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Comment by culturestate | Hacker News Reader

If I'm reading this right, it seems that the results are from a survey of the Laptop Mag editorial staff, which is a little disappointing. I'm much more interested in seeing some third-party consumer data – very curious to hear how Joe Public's opinion of the current lineup compares to the tech industry's.

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I think it's still relevant, because Apple has historically had great mindshare amongst thought leaders — now that it appears to have lost it, it's only a matter of time before it starts to lose mindshare amongst normal folks.

A non-technical acquaintance who occasionally asks me for computer help recently switched from Android to iOS (at the behest of her daughter, indicating Apple's continuing mindshare amongst at least one segment), and she utterly hates it compared to Android. From what I can tell, it's not solely because of the pain of changing — it's also that iOS simply isn't as pleasant to use. And that says something, given that she was using a fairly terrible vendor Android previously.

That's just one anecdote, but I wonder how many others there are. How many vi-users will seriously consider switching to Windows or Linux? How many power users will have to switch to Windows or Linux just for more RAM? At what point do people who used to be proud Apple fanatics become sheepish, and at what point do sheepish Apple users just switch to something else already?

And I know as many people who went in the opposite direction, love iOS and love the integration with their Macs (hand-off, etc.). An anecdote is just an anecdote.

At what point do people who used to be proud Apple fanatics become sheepish, and at what point do sheepish Apple users just switch to something else already?

Until 'something else' offers: good retina support (including mixing retina and non-retina displays), hardware that works out of the box, long battery life as stated by the manufacturer [1], no spying on user behavior, proper GUI and application sandboxing, low weight, uniform application look & feel + shortcuts, etc.

(I use Linux and Mac, switched from 3 years of Android back to iOS. So hardly a purist ;).)

[1] http://www.which.co.uk/news/2017/03/which-laptop-battery-tes...

You know what happens in nature when you don't adapt quick enough to change...

Joe Public isn't using expensive Apple laptops. They want a $500 laptop that does the job.

In any case, the editorial staff are much more capable of comparing laptops, since they not only use a wide variety of laptops, they are also likely to be more savvy than the regular public when it comes to newer features. I'm not sure what you intend to find after asking people who only have experience across a few brands and a few models.

Joe Public doesn't even use a laptop, they use a phone now.

Well Joe Corporate uses the platform his PC department supports and can easily push updates/etc too. Still pretty most home users have the old standard box with monitor, I wonder where in the age ranges that the transition occurs of if you start on a laptop because of school you stick with that form?

Apple has figured this out too. They use the phone (iPhone) for 90% of their informational access needs, but still need a laptop to do more extensive work.

Now, however, instead of having multiple PCs, Joe Public needs one, and preferably one that lasts years. Enter Apple's high-end pitch.

The high resale value is both indicative of the value ascribed as well as a nice perk for buyers.

> Joe Public isn't using expensive Apple laptops. They want a $500 laptop that does the job.

This probably depends a lot on how you define what Joe Public looks like, but I think you're seriously underestimating the yeoman's effort Apple has put in to become an aspirational brand. Lots of people may make do with a $500 laptop, but lots of them want a Mac.

For better or worse, Apple is as much a lifestyle brand as a technology company today.

Then that's great for Apple and their shareholders. I don't begrudge their success. But as a consumer, I don't want to line Apple's pockets, I'd rather keep the money in my own pocket.

Agreed. The description of why Lenovo is suddenly "#1" seems fairly arbitrary and subjective.

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