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Stacking The Odds (6/4/00)
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Hey, are you a big fan of Computer Hardware Web Site Racing? Do you follow PC Data's weekly site visit statistics the way other people follow the pennant race? Do you cheer heartily when Apple's site takes the top spot, and boo and hiss when Compaq snakes into first place instead? Do friends and loved ones merely sigh, roll their eyes, and reach for the well-thumbed "Psychiatic Services" section of the Yellow Pages when you do this? Well, then odds are you're currently stomping around the office and snapping at coworkers, because according to MacObserver, Apple's still in second place right now, with Compaq locked squarely in the winner's circle. C'mon, cheer up-- Apple's still getting more unique visitors per week than Gateway, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and IBM, right?
But what's this? Sounds like a scandal's about the shake the world of web site racing to its very foundations, and MacObserver's leading the way with a hard-hitting exposé. When these intrepid journalists wanted to know just how PC Data got its numbers and ranked the sites, they sent in undercover investigative reporters to infiltrate the highest echelons of PC Data and discover what methods were used. (Oh. alright, so they just picked up a phone and asked. Same difference.) You may be shocked at what they discovered: PC Data's information is based the usage patterns of "120,000 people who install a software application on their machine" which acts like a virtual Nielsen box and allows the company to track those users' web movements "in 15 minute chunks." Well, guess what? Not one of those 120,000 "representative" surfers is using a Mac.
That's right; PC Data's sample Internet user base consists wholly of PC users. That special monitoring software the company uses is a Windows-only product. Say, you don't suppose that only counting Windows systems might skew the results strongly away from Apple's favor, do you? (Duh.) Seen in the light of this juicy piece of info, Apple's current runner-up status and occasional first-place finish seem practically miraculous-- PC users are visiting Apple's site more than Gateway's. So now you know why Compaq's decidedly uninteresting site keeps edging Apple's out of first place. If you've been laying any cabbage on Apple to win, it may be time to have a stern word or two with your bookie...
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SceneLink (2333)
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And Now For A Word From Our Sponsors |
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 | | The above scene was taken from the 6/4/00 episode: June 4, 2000: Our quest to revive a fallen Power Computing clone yields plenty of options, thanks to the ever-helpful AtAT audience. Meanwhile, PC Data admits that Apple's web site is generating stupendous amounts of traffic from Windows users, and Microsoft denies that Canada asked it to move across the border in a last-ditch attempt to escape the government's impending smack-down...
Other scenes from that episode: 2332: Period of Mourning (6/4/00) Since there aren't any earth-shattering developments rocking the Apple world right this second, we figured we'd fill you in on the recent death in our little computer family and the progress in our quest for resurrection... 2334: Mounties, Beer, & Windows (6/4/00) It's been done to death by now, but just in case any of you were as unwired as we were this weekend (as we drove doggedly back and forth through Galveston, TX looking in vain for a nonexistent hotel-- don't ask), we simply can't resist discussing one of the more bizarre twists to issue forth from the warped minds of the "Redmond Justice" writers since the show first hit the airwaves lo these many moons ago...
Or view the entire episode as originally broadcast... | |  |
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