5 Reasons Why Low Marketshare is a Good Thing

For the longest time Mac users have lamented their low market share. We theorize about why people do not switch, produce lists of reasons why they should switch, construct conspiracy theories on why the Mac is kept down and generally obsess over unverified statistics of marketshare.

I am here to tell you, good people of Mac-nation, lament no more. Do not worry about that 4% marketshare (or was it 5%) or MS envy or whether people are more likely to switch now that Macs can run Windows. Having lived in “4% or 3% nation”, I have good news.

Low marketshare is a good thing.

Before you run to your bunkers for shelter or to your stockpiles for ammunition to fight me on this, hear me out and know that my tongue is firmly in cheek. Low marketshare is a great thing for Apple and the faithful for a variety of reasons, usually illustrated by comparing the usage of a Mac with living on the moon.

Malware
The most obvious and least “tongue-in-cheek” reason is malware. While Mac OS X is inherently an extremely secure operating system, there is no question that a passionate malware author could create something quite lethal for the Mac. As of now, the afore-mentioned malwarist does not have as much of an incentive—his (or her) weapon of terror has little potential for traction or damage. Even if there was a tremendously malicious and viral piece of code unleashed in some corner of the internet, its potential for spread prior to the OS being patched is slim. It would be like bird flu on the moon.

Underdog
With the advent of the iPod, Apple is no longer an underdog. The Mac, however, still is. And geeks, the media and the public in general love an underdog. How many times have you watched a successful Hollywood sports movie about the cool, tough team that always won everything and this time, after sweeping the early rounds of the tournament, they win again? Never- that story just isn’t as interesting as the loser underdog with a heart of gold who wins against all odds. People want to see it happen, even though it rarely ever does.

Coolness Factor
Along the same lines as the underdoggedness is the “Coolness Factor”. Admit it- part of the reason you chose to use a Mac was because it was just so cool. The world of PCs is just so bland because they are everywhere, built by anyone for the cheapest possible rate. I fear the day when Macs are as ubiquitous and available in beige and off-white.

Again, geeks, the media and the public in general love to talk about ‘cool’ stuff. Things with humongous marketshares are rarely cool- except for the iPod. Of course, this does not mean that people will spend oodles of money on cool stuff. To re-use my moon analogy, people usually think the idea of living on the moon is cool but few will actually buy a ticket any time soon. Of course, if everybody moved there and there was a McDonald’s in every crater, the early settlers would no longer think it was cool.

The Press
The underdog status and coolness factor result in the best perk of low marketshare of them all- being a media darling. The advantage of low marketshare nation is that the major press centres focuses on every positive development a lot more than they do on negative developments. Media talks about what sells- and “grass is greener” stories sell. Tell someone they could be better off only if they spent more money and they will want to hear more. Tell them that their life is great the way it is and they won’t have a reason to buy your magazine or newspaper. Low marketshare ensures that the Mac is always the greener grass across the fence.

The Ability to be Obtuse
Finally, the Mac and its users have gained the ability to be obtuse. The ability to say, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I use/am a Mac.” I have said that on numerous occasions- when people have sent me strange proprietary attachments, when they have told me to try out that new app or online game or when they tell me to buy a laptop for $600. These things are outside our realm of understanding. It would be like asking a moon-dweller to take up horticulture.

Apple in particular can afford to be a lot more obtuse on account of it not having to please too many people. The Mac can afford to not support legacy software (OS 9), it can afford to lock services with software and to be obtuse about its price because it has a low marketshare. If the Macintosh was a market behemoth, it would still support Apple ][c software, a MacBook would cost $799 in beige, would still support legacy Apple ][c software, would come with pre-installed adware, would be weighed down by anti-trust lawsuits from most governments on the planet and would work with all Apple Genuine Advantage Certified Gold Plus software and hardware.

Be thankful for low marketshare.