ASUS wants to be "another Apple"

Asus is pretty nice. My boyfriend has an ASUS gaming laptop that cost barely over $1000, and after over a year of near-daily World of Warcraft playing, and occasional stuff in Adobe CS, it's running fine, save for the audio jack. So they need to work a little on their hardware quality, maybe, because the search I did on Google says this is a common problem on his model laptop.

I'm more than happy with my iMac, personally, but the ASUS holds its own. We've been impressed by it, actually.

However, it takes a whole lot more to be "like Apple," which I'm sure we all know. I had a Sony Vaio before the iMac and I'd say that's closer to being "like Apple," but it had a lot more hardware problems than any Apple I've ever seen.

Apple is Apple. Copying is stupid. Do your best and be original, dammit.

I wannnnnnt you to waannt me

Who cares about all that? ASUS makes a nice product. I have their latest netbook which I took to Paris, France with me this summer to do some photography work and it handled my post production and shooting just fine. I was also able to keep in touch with all my friends while I was there with no crashes.

It was fully loaded and it's a pretty sapphire blue (no cracks about the color please) and I take it everywhere with me. I own an Apple desktop but I wouldn't spend the bucks for a Mac laptop.

I think it's admirable that they would want to be another Apple, everyone should aspire to that. "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery".

In my earlier post, I meant to say that I think if manufacturers were to make *Android* phones which did not require data plans you would see a much more rapid adoption of Android.

I too wish them the best of luck. Although, sure, they can be opened, but not so opened that their brains fall out.

I have to agree with everyone's criticism of using the word "niche" and the claim that Linux has gained little traction. The author seems to have a personal slant based on personal preferences rather than facts.

I think OS X is the best desktop platform on the market, but that's not going to make me claim that Windows doesn't hold a significant share of the market.

It's inappropriate to call a relatively fledgling product "niche". Every new product starts of with a small market share. Not only that, but Android isn't like other products that consumers can just run out and buy. Remember, first it started of on T-Mobile and not that long ago just began spreading to other carriers. It takes handset manufactures some time to retool and develop new devices. It's not an overnight process.

Also, adoption has been slowed because of carrier contracts and mandatory data plans. I realise that Symbian holds a significant share of the market. But is that because the types of phones that run Symbian are what people want or because those are the most common phones available without mandatory data plans?

I think if manufacturers were to make phones which did not require data plans you would see a much more rapid adoption of Android.

Also, if an Android handset isn't available with your carrier, you either have to wait for your contract to end (if you are under one), or pay a penalty for breaking your contract early in order to switch to another carrier. Sometimes switching just isn't an option for people or one they want to make just for a phone. For instance, I had an unlocked iPhone running on T-Mobile before they started charging an extra $5/mo. for using an unlocked iPhone. Now I just use my iPhone like a Touch because I'm not willing to switch to AT&T just to have an iPhone.

By the way, all of the above is true regarding Palm Pre as well. Palm's decision to release on Sprint only at first was a huge set back for the device.

Finally, the author is also incorrect about Linux not gaining much traction. The major GPS manufactures have been running their devices on Linux for quite some time. Just search for the Microsoft vs. Tom Tom lawsuit and you'll find interesting information on that.

Red Hat's stock value surpassed Microsoft's last year http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1559094/red-hat-share-price-passes-microsoft

The Whitehouse.gov site now runs on Red Hat and Drupal.

There's been a lot of news about France, Germany, and other European countries switching to Linux in key government offices. I even read about a school district in the state of Virginia switching to Linux.

The list of growing Linux adoption goes on and on, it just doesn't get as much publicity.

They want to be another Apple? Well, who wouldn't?

However, they aren't going to get there using open-source software and off-the-shelve parts!

The reason Apple is so profitable is because of product differentiation; it allows them to avoid the commoditization status that the other computer manufactures suffer through.

You can avoid becoming a "commodity' through the use of branding too, but it is much simpler if you have software and hardware that no one else can use.

Apple is successfully using all these differentiation strategies simultaneously (and magically)!

So Asus wants to be another Apple? Without the tools to get there, it will remain an unfulfilled dream. I want to be a professional basketball player, but it ain''t gonna happen!

What does "chips sourced from ARM" mean? ARM doesn't make chips, it designs them. They license the designs to numerous other companies for fabrication.

Hey Rawson, want to continue looking like a "journalist" instead of a journalist? Keep putting "open" in quotes, as if it were some strange term you're not sure what to make of.

I wish ASUS the best of luck. Their laptops are incredible.