iPod Drives Students To Buy Macs

[Kent Pribbernow]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=711&ncid=738&e=12&u=/usatoday/20040823/tc_usatoday/studentscrazyaboutipodfollowthemusictoapplelaptops' target='_blank'>http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=711&ncid=738&e=12&u=/usatoday/20040823/tc_usatoday/studentscrazyaboutipodfollowthemusictoapplelaptops</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Apple's trendy iPod digital music player, which has revitalized the company, is giving laptop sales a boost during back-to-school season. Many students, after falling in love with the iPod, are packing for college with new Apple Macintosh computers. "This is my third student rush season," says Jason Thorpe, a sales associate at the University of Oregon's computer store. "When I started, people wouldn't even look at Macs. Everyone came in wanting a PC. This year, two-thirds of them want Macs."</i><br /><br />As a forensics expert would say...I'll wait for the DNA results. The ultra hip iPod is certainly a hit among college-bound students. But the notion that Apple's shiny white music player is causing legions of former PC users to switch to Macs sounds like some wishful fantasy originating in the minds of Mac fans. This form of unscientific anecdotal evidence is manifested on a daily basis in many popular Mac forums. Some claims made by posters blur the lines between sanity and mental illness. But that's for another post. :wink:

[dean_shan]

I bought a PowerBook but it wasn't for an iPod. No plans to get one soon either. I bought mine becasue the PowerBook is such a good machine. So small and light. There was also a lot of Mac only software that I had used in High School that I still wanted to use when I left. My mac has accualy got more use then my Windows box this summer.

[coreymcl]

Well, I did buy a iPOD first. Did I buy my PowerBook because of my iPAQ? I don't know. I decided to buy it because of the easy of use aspect of OS X. Since then I have fallen in love with it. Things are so much faster, cleaner looking and easier to do in OS X than Win XP. Now don't get me wrong I really like Win XP and will get Longhorn when it comes out. But I don't have to worry about virus as much on my PowerBook, and it has never crashed.

It's things like Office for MAC is so much better than for a WINDOWS box. I have the exact same Outlook .PST on my Win XP box as I do in Entourage on my PowerBook. Searches take NO time at all compaired to the minutes I have to wait on my Win XP box.

So I would bet Apple would sell alot more devices if the cost was not so high and actully showed off more of what OS X brings to the table.

Anyway that's my thoughts on the subject.

[klinux]

I use Lookout (MS bought it, see their Sandbox section on MSN) to search my Outlook e-mails. It performs all its searches in &lt;2 secounds (99% of of the time &lt; 1 sec). It is like a taste of OS X in Windows. :)

[Felix Torres]

Well, it *could* be related to the fact that a couple of major online retailers have been giving "free" iPODs with Mac system purchases.

Or it could be a pure coincidence. ;-)

[bdegroodt]

Maybe. Maybe not. But, I'm pretty sure Apple is enjoying a little more attention for the rest of their products on the back of the iPod. It certainly gives--otherwise uninterested--prospective Apple customers a reason to "stop on by" and see what else they've got in the lineup.