Mac vs. PC is it really the money?

Looks like Computerworld is offering up a special feature on the great Mac vs. PC Debate.

And one of the most common threads of the debate is well Macs are more than PCs. Glad to see Computerworld set the record straight. Windows is cheaper because there is more choice. Apples and Apples, they are fairly close with a few minor details, as long as you compare the right class of machine. Same is true for cars. If you compare, lets say a Kio Rio and a Mini Cooper, the Mini Cooper will look totally over prices all though both have an engine, keyless entry, AC, and a stereo. Clearly they aren't apples for apples, but they do the same thing. What do you think, does DJ Shadow have it right, or is it really.....the media?

The important question for any company when planning the product strategy is defining who they'd like to be: everything to all people or the be-all product for selected people. Unfortunately it is pretty difficult to be the everything to all with limited resources, but that doesn't stop people from trying. More often than note it is better to start with strategy 2 and grow into strategy 1 then try to do everything before you are ready.

Now is a good time to look at Starbucks (Well really Peet's since Starbucks admittedly copied their former employers). They started off selling premium coffee to people who cared and didn't mind spending premium cash for a "better" cup of coffee. So they continues on the path, seeking out the coffee seekers. Eventually they caught on that adding flavored sugar syrup and focusing on the experience, a few extra people joined the premium coffee seeker club. Sure enough, over a few years, everyone came to appreciate the creamy sugary coffee the shop was peddling, and everyone else wishes they started selling $3-5 coffee. So did Starbucks try to sell to everyone? Nope, they decided to sell to a few and the masses followed. Even Walmart took the same strategy by focusing on the small markets lacking affordable shopping options.

Focus....and the masses may come to you (or you can make a tidy profit while you wait for the masses, without spreading yourself too thin.)

Look out below, the FUD abounds ...

The battle for the virtual server throne is on. A few days ago searchservervirtualization.com posed the question, who is using Microsoft's solution? Open-source challenger, Xen has tons of benchmarks about the performance of their hypervisor. And this week a user fires back singing the praises of Microsoft's Virtual Server. Scrolling through the comments, it only took 3 before a VMWare fan piped in about FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt), chastising the user's story praising Microsoft. In the war of the Virtual Servers, we are still in the early goings, but as with all tech battles, the challenger, the incumbent or the fans accuse the other of defending their market position with BS to throw off the marketplace and prospective customers.

Let's do a quick web search to get a handle on how prevalent these FUD accusations are. I did a search for a few top of mind tech companies, and a general search for the term.
FUD: 5.65M
Apple and FUD: 1.25M
Apple and FUD without Microsoft: 189,000
VMware and FUD: 662,000
Microsoft and FUD: 1.37M
Sun and FUD: 1.25M
Sun and FUD without Microsoft, Oracle or Apple: 633,000
Oracle and FUD: 956,000
EMC and FUD: 131,000
Blog Search for FUD: 833,888
Blog Search for FUD without Oracle, Sun, Microsoft and Apple: 28,757

Looks like Microsoft, Sun, Apple, and Oracle account for about 2/3 of the web references to FUD. Interestingly enough 97% of blog references to FUD include references to one of these four companies. You'll also note these organizations have some of the most famous, and infamous Silicon Valley CEOs. Coincidence? I think not.

Here's the moral: increasing your 'thought leadership' or blog comments only requires a quick mention of FUD.