For various reasons, Apple is the leading IT provider in the creative, design, print & publishing industries worldwide. It`s not just about beauty and awesome technology, but also economic factors which consistently emphasise why Apple is often the best solution for the IT requirements in our industry.
If Picasso were still around, he`d almost certainly be using a Mac. From the developers of The Lord of the Rings to those involved in the cracking the human genome right through to graphic artists, designers and print professionals around the world - wherever there is creative excellence, you are sure to find an Apple.
Why? What is it about an Apple computer that elevates it to almost cult status amongst those who use the solution? To be sure, just looking at a new G4 PowerMac, PowerBook or zany iMac is a clear indication that this is not just a computer. They seem to be more like objects of art rather than the stable and dependable creative workhorses they actually are. Sitting behind a Mac and letting rip with Photoshop, Freehand, Quark or InDesign is the creative equivalent of taking a Ferrari for a spin around a race track. Riding a bicycle around the same circuit will get you where you want to go - once or twice. But you will never tire of firing up a V12 Ferrari and giving it horns around a tight corner.
Which is all touchy-feely - but the Apple user experience represents the culmination of years` of research and development in the creative industries. As Apple Country Manager, Bruno Verolini puts it, "Apple is the only company in the industry which creates and develops both hardware and software. This situation enables us to bring to the consumer an integrated computer solution developed as a whole. Each part of the hardware or software is designed to work in concert."
A Ferrari, is, well, lovingly constructed by Ferrari. It`s not an engine block from Korea or a steering wheel from Cuba. It`s the combination of super-high quality workmanship and engineering at every stage of the Ferrari creative process. So too, as Verolini puts it, every piece of Apple technology is designed to work "in concert". It`s an orchestra of hardware and software, design and engineering with one explicit purpose - to produce the best computer experience available. You cannot do that when you whip together a chip from Taiwan, a hard drive from Brazil and a poxy display unit from China. Somewhere along the line, the chip won`t want to talk to the hard drive and the display unit will convert peach to cream.
In the past, there were price discrepancies. Apple`s products used to be roughly 15% more expensive off-the-shelf than branded rival machines. More recently, Apple`s unit pricing has dropped dramatically. A top-of-the-range iMac will cost roughly R20 000 - and that includes FireWire, CD R/W, DVD R/W, 17-inch screen and advance wireless networking options. A similarly aspirated branded computer will not cost any less, and possibly even more when one considers how much a good-quality DVD burner will set you back - and you still need to use that unreliable, computer crashing operating system.
Conversely, all new Apple computers are shipped as standard with the latest version of OS X. OS X is perhaps best described this way: Think about the most stable, industrial-strength operating system, UNIX, packaged in Apple`s legendary GUI design interface. Basically, Apple have provided the best operating system available in a package anyone can use - not just those text-based propeller heads.
Obviously, there is far more to the purchasing of a computer than just shelf price. What about return on investment? What about depreciation? What about productivity and what about maintenance?
The FutureForesight Group, apparently independent consultants, circulated a paper entitled Evaluating the Return on Investment (ROI) of Apple Installations in the Creative, Design, Print & Publishing Industry at this years` Computer Faire.
The paper concludes that "various indicative benchmarks show that lower depreciation costs, increased discrete, system and value chain productivity and reduced maintenance costs are the main factors that justify investments in new, or upgrades of existing Apple installations over Wintel". It`s a rather complicated way of saying that in real terms, Apple solutions are cheaper than rival technology over a period of time.
The paper indicates that ROI is the metric that managers should use to evaluate investment decisions. Since IT investment capital has to be raised (either as debt or equity), the cash used could have been held in a bank account or invested in other business opportunities. Therefore, investment needs to generate a profit that exceeds at a minimum the interest that can be earned on cash reserves.
The paper claims that the best way to look at IT investment, and especially when comparing the acquisition of one kind of technology over another, is to evaluate how comparative technology increases revenues, lowers costs and decreases investment requirements.
With regard to depreciation, even if Apple solutions were slightly more expensive "off the shelf" compared to similarly branded rivals, the productive economic life-span of their products are typically much longer. Internationally, Apple machines are replaced on average after 3.9 years while rival machines last only 2.4 years. The result - Apple solutions have a 60% longer productive life.
The argument is that although the initial capital outlay for Apple equipment is slightly higher than other solutions, they can be used productively for much longer, and the net result is substantially lower (over 40%) annual depreciation cost.
The FutureForesight Group also found that because Apple hardware and software components are developed to run "in concert", there were significant advantages in terms of productivity. "When operators or an entire organisation can be made more productive, the same amount of revenues could be realised with less (human) resources, or the same number of (human) resources can generate higher revenues," the paper reads.
"This is the first order productivity effect. Sometimes, increased productivity allows for (drastic) changes in an organisation`s business model (second order effect). A good example can be found in the newspaper and magazine publishing industry: increased productivity allows for shorter production times, and could push out the deadline for the publication.
"The extra time gained could then be used to increase advertising sales. Apple makes these first and second order productivity gains possible at the level of the individual operator (discreet productivity gains), the production system (system productivity gains) and even by enabling paradigm shifts in the value chain (value chain productivity gains). Discreet productivity gains are the result of the genuine standardisation of Apple`s hardware and software environment. In the Wintel world, all players (hardware and component manufacturers, operating and application software developers and peripheral suppliers) minimally customise their products so as to attain a competitive position in the market space while still adhering to the standard. The downside of this is that applications and peripherals are never 100% compatible with, or optimised for, your Wintel configuration of choice. Apple`s hardware and software, on the other hand, is "made to match" exactly, and third-party application developers and peripheral suppliers only have one specification to deal with, as a result of which their offerings can be maximally optimised for the operating system and hardware configurations available," it reads.
The paper also claims that the compilation of various research publications shows that the direct and indirect support costs per "Wintel based PC" can be as high as $6 000 per machine per annum. "Because of the high threat of virus attacks, companies spend on average $2,500 on security measures (staff and systems). A further $200 is spent on repairs, and a total of $3,300 is spent (staff) and lost (loss of productivity) due to downtime as a result of hardware failure and (operating) software malfunction.
"On the Apple platform, however, support costs tend to be 2 to 4 times lower for a number of reasons. First of all, the Mac OS X operating system is very stable (because it is essentially UNIX BSD with a graphic user interface) and has thus a much higher uptime. Secondly, 99% of all known viruses only affect the Wintel platform, virtually eliminating security support expenditure. Finally, Macs require significantly less interventions by specially trained staff, and hardware configuration and system management can be done by experienced operators, reducing the need for support staff."
Looking forward, Apple`s Verolini says that unlike other manufacturers, Apple has not reduced proportional budget on research and development during the current economic slump in the sector. "At Apple, we believe the computer is on the threshold of entering its third golden age-the age of the digital lifestyle," he says. "Digital devices are everywhere. We carry cell phones, PDAs, and MP3 players. We watch movies on DVD players, and we capture pictures and video with digital cameras and DV camcorders. Digital devices are changing the way we work and play, changing the way we use information and communicate with others. It`s the age of the digital lifestyle," he says.
"Now the digital lifestyle includes not only the online world of the internet, but also the integration of an amazing array of affordable digital devices into everyday life. While these devices offer inexpensive, bite-size chunks of technology, they share little commonality in the way they operate or the types of data they collect," says Verolini.
"At Apple, we believe the personal computer-and especially the Mac-will become the hub of this emerging digital lifestyle, because of the value it adds to digital devices. With regard to communication with digital devices, the UNIX-based OS X will provide further advantages because it`s simply a platform poised for growth in this area. In addition, Apple has been rapidly introducing new solutions that enhance the value of digital devices: iMovie for camcorders, iDVD for DVD players, iPhoto for digital cameras, or iTunes for digital music players," he says.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.
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