Sunday, February 06, 2005

Farhad Manjoo is jizzing for Apple--but he does make one very salient point I haven't heard a lot of people making amidst all the Apple hoopla:

Thanks to the Web, it is also now easier to start using the Mac without really going through the hassle of "switching." Key applications -- like e-mail in the form of GMail, or photos with Flickr -- are available on any platform, reducing your dependence on Windows.

This is so very true, and I'm seeing this effect all the time--the Net is the killer app, but not the way that folks thought it would be with push technologies and server-side apps...instead it's simply that the Net is where the most people play, and the Net (for the most part) obeys common standards and plays well with everyone, making the type of computer you use at the other end irrelevant. That's great news for Apple, as they do well in the digital lifestyle arena, where online connectivity can't replace end-user firepower and usability for editing DVDs and the like.