gaze at surveys and poll numbers for too long , and you’re able to come up with some pretty daffy conclusions . The savourless , uninspired offerings you ’ll retrieve on net television on any given night are , more often than not , the by - production of one too many focus groups channelise TV executives toward the least original computer programming decisions . You could fill a rule center with the politicians who use public opinion poll results as an excuse to pander , create policy calculated more toward winning majority approving than actually solving anything .
But , used properly , resume resolution can also be an effective room to approximate how people experience about specific issues — specially when it comes to interrogative sentence and fear they might have . Which is why Apple could learn a mess from the late Macworld Reader Panel view conducted by Karlin Associates on the move to Intel - built chip in Macs .
I ’m not talk about the study ’s main finding — is it really that shocking to learn that the hope of Intel - power Macs appearing in 2006 might dissuade some people from shelling out for a PowerPC - based Mac this year ? And as exemplifying a glance into Mac users ’ buying deliberations as the survey tender , it ’s by no means the definitive word . Thirty - three percent of the answerer did n’t say that theywouldn’tbuy a new Mac in the next 12 months because of the pending move to Intel chips , just that they wereless likelyto make that leverage . They could weave up buying a newfangled Mac long before an Intel - base simple machine ever arrive just as well as they could wind up up playing the await game .
“ Will all my expensive , current software still work with the [ Mac ] I buy in 2006 ? ” asked one survey player . Another tell , “ I ’m apprehensive about app updates for previous Macs and compatibility with raw applications run on old macintosh . ” And another : “ I fear the viruses that I fear will provoke the new system of rules . ”
One final remark from a responder who seemed to summate up the mood of a lot of survey player : “ Before I can even come close to call how this will turn out , I ask to learn more . Right now , we know very little . ”
Macworldis endeavor to do its part to help expand what we do know . We ’ve beat answers to ofttimes asked questions like the ones listed above . ( And to briefly suffice some of those head , most software will probably be updated to run on the new Intel computer architecture though whether you ’ll have to pay for the update will vary from developer to developer , and viruses should n’t be a problem since the ones you see chevvy Intel - based microcomputer are attacking the Windows operating system . ) And we ’ve set up an Intel Transition varlet where we ’ll put the in style break Intel information as we hear and digest it .
But Apple has a role to play in this physical process , too . Having announced a significant and far - hit conversion elbow grease , it ’s incumbent upon the company to leave as detail an overview of what to require as potential , to correct any misconception or flawed assumptions before they spiral out of controller , and to address any headache that its customer might have . Apple has done a swell job of making its case to analyst and developers . But when it comes to peach right away to the masses buying its products , Apple has been perceptibly soundless from the moment Steve Jobs leave the level at this month ’s Developers Conference .
Let ’s go back to that politician metaphor for a consequence . When the president makes a actor’s line announcing a major policy go-ahead , he does n’t retreat to the White House , never advert that picky policy again . He hits the route to talk up the new proposition , advertize his agenda , and entrap the terms of any ensuing debate .
That ’s really what Apple ask to do here ( minus the statecraft , ideally ) . But go to the company’sWeb situation , and you ’d be severely - pressed to find any evidence that Apple harbinger its Intel switch less than three weeks ago . If the approximation is to manage a unseamed and stress - free changeover , that seems like a funny way to kick things off .
To be sure , not every Mac exploiter is plagued with worries about the Intel switchover . “ The micro chip could be made by Frito / Lay for all I care , ” say one of our study participant . Similarly , someone who reacted to the Intel intelligence by pronounce , “ The mentation that my next Mac might contain parts made by a manufacturing business known for its microcomputer chips fills me with dread , shame , and horror”—another survey reply — is improbable to be convinced otherwise by any amount of Apple persuasion . But , like it or not , there are Mac users out there with literal , lawful and very addressable concern about this Intel business — isn’t it in Apple ’s best interest to be out there addressing them ?
Apple executives — well , one Apple administrator in particular — have a well - earned reputation for being soused - lipped when it comes to talk about the futurity , addressing those kinds of topics only when it suits them . It should suit them now .
