"Reaction [beta]"
Apple not good for the web? 15 Jun 2007
During his keynote at WWDC, Steve Jobs presented two pie charts depicting browser vendors' market share. The first showed the marketplace as it is today (or at least what Apple thinks the world looks like today), while the second showed how Apple expects the marketplace to change as a result of the launch of Safari for Windows. In presenting these to charts however, Jobs revealed an interesting - and perhaps disturbing - glimpse into Apple's vision of the future.
The first graph (i.e. "pre Safari for Windows") showed Internet Explorer controlling 78% of the market, Firefox with 15%, Safari (for Mac) with 5% and all of the "others" owning the remaining 2%. The second graph ("post Safari for Windows") showed Internet Explorer retaining its 78% and Safari controlling the remaining 22%. The suggestion implicit in this illustration being that Apple sees Safari as swallowing up Firefox and all of the other smaller browsers.
As you can imagine many people aren't too impressed with this. Here's what Mozilla's Chief Operating Officer John Lilly had to say on the matter:
"Make no mistake: this wasn't a careless presentation, or an accidental omission of all the other browsers out there, or even a crummy marketing trick. Lots of words describe Steve & his Stevenotes, but 'careless' and 'accidental' do not. This is, essentially, the way they're thinking about the problem, and shows the users they want to pick up.
"There are a couple of problems, of course. The first is that this isn't really how the world is. The second is that..this isn't how the world should be.
"First, it isn't really how the world is. The meteoric rise of Wikipedia, Creative Commons, Linux and Firefox, among many other examples, shows that today's connected world is no longer constrained by the monopolies and duopolies and cartels of yesterday's distribution -- of the publishers, studios, and OS vendors. Hundreds of millions of users, in every language around the world are now making new choices. That Apple doesn't feel this, even within the familiar reality-distortion-field confines of Moscone Center, illustrates much of the problem.
"Second, it isn't how the world should be. Even if we could somehow put that movement back in the bottle -- [and recreate] a world of just Starbucks & Peets, just Wal-mart & Target, just Ford & GM --- [to suggest] that a world of tight control from a few companies is good, it's the wrong thing to do. It destroys participation, it destroys engagement, it destroys self-determination. And, ultimately, it wrecks the quality of the end-user experience, too. Remember (or heard about) when you had to get your phone from AT&T? Good times.
"So here's my point, to be clear: another browser being available to more people is good. I'm glad that Safari will be another option for users. (Watch for the Linux port Real Soon Now.) We've never ever at Mozilla said that we care about Firefox market share at the expense of our more important goal: to keep the web open and a public resource. The web belongs to people, not companies.
"This world view that Steve gave a glimpse into betrays their thinking: it's out-of-date, corporate-controlled, duopoly-oriented, not-the-web thinking. And it's not good for the web."
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17 comments so far
DRG 15 Jun 2007 10:19 AM
What's interesting about this is not that Apple wants to swallow up FF and the other smaller browser manufacturers, but that it doesn't see itself as capable of eating into Microsoft's market share. OK, so Apple is never going to persuade the average home PC user to switch from their preinstalled version of IE, but still - it seems very unambitious of them not to try.
Dave C 15 Jun 2007 10:26 AM
What I find interesting is that this shows how seriously the major players take FF - i.e. not at all seriously :(
Hi! 15 Jun 2007 10:42 AM
I'm always using Firefox on my Mac, I'm addicted to extensions, type-ahead find, etc. :-D As long as Safari is standard compliant I won't be worried for the web. Safari will never reach that kind of marketshare anyway.
PB 15 Jun 2007 11:28 AM
I wouldn't worry too much about the situation right now. After everything I've read around here so far Safari didn't make the best start into its Windows-existence and as a heavy MAC user and Apple-enthusiast I'm still no Safari user. I love what FF offers, the endless possibilities to extend the basic browser and as long Mozilla takes care, that the FF-backbone won't get as heavy as certain colleges (with a blue "e" in the logo), stays true to standards no Safari in the world should become a serious thread.
Safari is light-weight and fast solution for everyday browsing - no doubts - but since it's sticks so close to the Aqua UI-conventions (besides some JS issues etc.) I can't see a problem here (yet).
Elvis 15 Jun 2007 11:55 AM
This is sooooo short sighted. If Apple is going to eat into anyones market share its Microsofts, not FFs. Most FF users have chosen FF because they dont want to be at the mercy of a large corporation. They are unlikely change their minds about this for Apple.
sharkz 15 Jun 2007 02:01 PM
It doesn't really matter how Steve Jobs sees the world. As long as everyone is free to choose which browser they use, it doesn't really matter what Apple's plans are.
James 15 Jun 2007 03:06 PM
I agree with sharkz. And I wouldn't dwell on a single keynote slide so much. I can't imagine anyone with half a brain would believe that any increased market share will actually come from firefox.
Baglan 15 Jun 2007 04:42 PM
As a web developer, I'm heavily using Firefox for debugging and sometimes to view some "troubled" sites which do now work correctly in Safari (I'm a Mac user). What I've noticed is that with each major release, Firefox, while a great browser (with a terrific community), is getting more and more bloated and unstable. Personally, I'd love to see more great standards-compliant browsers and I hope Firefox's popularity will grow, still I think Firefox is headed to trouble - and not because of Safari.
Carlos Bernal 15 Jun 2007 05:18 PM
It doesn't matter what Steve may say. What if he would of said that Safari would control 98% of the browser market, it would not make it so. Great he has a goal and I'm sure Apple will invest to realize it. So what Firefox needs to do is say we will have 100% of browser share and get busy.
To many people are worried about playing nice when competing as if they don't want to win, just get by.
If the Firefox people would have that determination maybe they would rise above the 15%.
That's all.
Matt Mikulla 15 Jun 2007 07:12 PM
I think there are several reasons for Safari Windows and I'll mention one.
Make tons of money from the google search field in the top right corner
Ian Jenkins 15 Jun 2007 07:24 PM
Carlos: You're missing the point. Competition is good, but the question is: Why is Apple only interested in competing with the small guys and not the giant from Redmond?
Joao Pedro 15 Jun 2007 09:08 PM
@Ian:They're chicken. Microsoft owned their asses a while back and now they're scared silly. Idiots.
Craig 16 Jun 2007 10:11 AM
Yeah, the fact is that if the second graph had shown Safari gaining market share at the expense of IE, it would have be an outright declaration of war against MS. For whatever reason, that's something Jobs obviously didn't want to risk.
Adi 16 Jun 2007 01:44 PM
Why so quick to point the finger? The division of the second pie chart could easily have been the result of an accident. Perhaps the graphic designer oversimplified in an attempt to help Steve get his point across and the only thing we're supposed to take from the chart is that Apple wants to claim 25% of the browser market and that's it.
ThatsRight! 18 Jun 2007 06:49 PM
Until Firefox's Web development tool bar is available for Safari, Safari is still a toy.
Matt Mikulla 22 Jun 2007 03:45 AM
It's unfortunate that all browsers except safari do not support jpg color profiles and therefore display images improperly.
Did Apple carry this positive to the windows safari?
Dave 26 Jun 2007 07:09 PM
I saw the keynote, and when i saw that pie chart , Steve just blew it for me. IIt's soooo NOT """cool""", Steve! But a grain of salt wouldn't hurt either. As we all know apple is the best when it comes to being stuck up. Not using Safari as primairy browser, not on my Mac nor on my PC.