Is Boolean Dead?

摘要

This is the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the Macintosh computer and Apple's ground-breaking ad, "1984," shown only once ― at halftime during the Super Bowl in January 1984. Apple has a QuickTime version of the ad on its site, with the hammer-throwing woman (updated so she is now wearing an iPod) sprinting down the aisle to the image of Big Brother. Seeing that ad with the addition of the iPod (one piece of technology I now cannot travel without) got me thinking. Apple has a 5% market share in the PC market, despite an architecture that has for years been superior to Microsoft's offerings. This is due to Apple's decision to maintain a closed system and not license their software. On the other hand, Apple's iPod has 30% of the market for MP3 players, and its iTunes service holds 70% of the market for legal music downloads. Why? Because Apple finally recognized that having a cool interface isn't enough; they also have to provide products and services that don't require a proprietary system to use and are accessible to Windows as well as Mac users.