| Home > Technology > More evidence of a seachange at work with OS Platforms |
| More evidence of a seachange at work with OS Platforms | | Date Created: Sep 26, 2004, 05:11 PM |
 Here in Australia, we have a term for people wishing to make wholesale changes to their lifestyles - it's called a Seachange, and we even have a television show of the same name.
Often times people take a seachange when their lives have been turned upside down through tragedy, unfortunate choices, dashed hopes, and the usual travails that life throws up when you least expect it.
It's also a term that's been used for anyone seeking change in their lives without it necessarily being on an enormous scale.
But it does connote a significant shift in thinking and attitude. Such as switching computer platforms, where you need both new hardware and software, and time to get comfortable with a new way of working. You need to suspend your doubts of whether you've made the right choice, otherwise known in the real estate business as buyer's remorse, and the patience and determination to stick it out when your lack of knowledge proves frustrating.
(Change, even when you desire it, is often not easy to achieve without considerable hardship and relapses. I recommend the work of Proschaska, Norcross and DiClemente in their book "Changing for Good")
Is there a seachange underway in the world of operating system platforms for the average Joe or Joanne? In a previous entry, I suggested that the scales are tipping against Microsoft's dominating Windows platform.
With the metaphor of a seachange firmly in mind (people tired of the same old, same old and wanting "out"), one of the first indicators has been the uptake of free web browser software such as Mozilla's Firefox, with its motto of "rediscover the internet". Others have used the motto "take back the internet".
The other hint I am noticing is the release cycle of those new software applications which can be described as "disruptive" and which release simultaneously for Windows, Mac and Linux.
Voice of Internet Protocol (VoIP) software such as Skype and X-lite as well as clients for services like FreeWorlddialup are examples where the usual six month (if ever) delay between Windows, and Mac and Linux is no longer occurring. (More Mac only VoIP information can be found here courtesy of pure-mac).
Of course, a lot of this new software will come from the Open Source Community so it's a no-brainer to expect platforms other than Windows will be respected.
But I expect other applications that will achieve broad market acceptance to be released simultaneously, including personal and SME financial software, multimedia apps., and intriguing apps such as Adam Curry's iPodder, which will automagically fill up your iPod overnight with desired audiofiles. I expect more and more people will return to a state of computing delight with these concurrently released apps, a state many Mac users take for granted.
The other hint, by the way, is when major websites stop pandering to Internet Explorer for Windows only, and add Mac users with improvements over the Windows experience. Witness ESPN.com's Motion Showcase which displays clips of sports events. As MacMegasite states:
"ESPN Motion for Mac operates optimally in the Safari, Netscape/Mozilla and Firefox Internet browsers, but also operates on a limited basis in Microsoft Internet Explorer for Macintosh. Unlike the original version of ESPN Motion for PC's, ESPN Motion for Macintosh requires no initial application download, needs only the Flash 6 plug-in for operation and will appear to all Macintosh users visiting ESPN.com."
Moreover, one of the other important developments which will drive this seachange will be the increasing size of storage devices. Rather than computer processing speed pushing development - except for video and graphic rendering, how much faster can you type or read to demand faster and faster CPU speeds - being able to take with you more and more data will drive innovative use of technologies, and these will be platform independent.
Such as mobile phones with hard drives, small portable video playback devices for special uses (no, not a video iPod), and small laptops with huge hard drives.
Keep your eye out for more examples of simultaneous release of software for multiple platforms. In addition to the growing library of Mac only software, these releases show more evidence of the tipping phenomenon I wrote of previously.
And one more peripheral piece of evidence: Most people by now have heard of blogging even if they don't know what it is exactly, courtesy in the US anyway of the Rathergate affair. Check the front page of the New York Times magazine for Sept 26 where political blogging is the feature article (reg. req.). Next time you locate a picture of a blogger conference, like BloggerCon, look at the proportion using Mac laptops. It ain't 2%. And ask how many are running Linux on their Powerbooks...
Reminds me of the story of the female software rep. giving a presentation to a Hollywood crowd and reminding them that Microsoft holds 95% desktop share.
"Not in this room, lady!" was the sharp reply apparently.
If you know the full truth of this story, please let me know. |
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