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The OTHER Truth (4/8/99)
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People who think that numbers don't lie are the same kind of people who think that photos don't lie-- apparently they've never spent an hour with Photoshop sticking Steve Jobs' head onto Jennifer Aniston's body. (It was an inspired moment, we admit-- and the results were more than a little frightening. No, you can't see. Do it yourself.) As for the numbers thing, it's not hard to find examples of studies whose numbers are plainly out of whack when it comes to reality. For instance, consider the new study from WebSide Story; according to MacCentral, WebSide found that only 2.68% of the web-browsing community are using Macs.
2.68%? Does that sound just a little on the low side to you? Are you also suspicious of the fact that supposedly over 94% of web-browsing computers are running Windows? Well, as it turns out, WebSide's data is based on visitors to web sites using something called the "HitBOX" Tracker. "HitBOX" allows webmasters to view real-time statistics involving traffic to their web sites-- but it's available only for Windows. Given that the webmasters are using Windows, isn't it likely that their sites' content, design, and focus will be much more Windows-centric? You're not going to find MacInTouch or Mac OS Rumors in that list, for instance. WebSide's methodology is akin to trying to determine the number of Americans with Internet access-- by posting a web survey. ("Well, hit my head and call me shorty-- 100%! Alert the media!")
Gee, according to our recent stats, over 75% of viewers tuning in to AtAT are using Macs to do so; that sure seems different from WebSide's findings. Perhaps we should issue a press release announcing that three-quarters of web surfers are using Macs? Sure, our numbers reflect data gathered from one site providing Mac-centric content, but hey, that's for the small print...
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SceneLink (1453)
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 4/8/99 episode: April 8, 1999: AppleCare just got more restrictive and more expensive, as Apple continues to chisel away at the Mac's former technical support lead. Meanwhile, one study shows that less than 3% of web surfers are using Macs-- based on traffic to Windows-centric sites, and Apple offers to buy back your PowerBook 5300 or 190 if you agree to buy a G3 to replace it...
Other scenes from that episode: 1452: Stepping Backwards (4/8/99) Remember when great technical support was just one more reason to buy a Mac? In addition to a decent one-year warranty, you got free lifetime phone support and a machine that was much less likely to need technical support in the first place... 1454: Mistakes Were Made (4/8/99) Do you have a PowerBook 5300 or 190 kicking around somewhere? If so, it may finally be worth something. Longtime Apple watchers will recall that the 5300 was the first PowerPC-based PowerBook, and the 190 was a 68040-based unit with the same boring PC-laptop-wannabe chassis and plastics; however, both units received less-than-stellar reviews, both from the press and from the user base...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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