Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) 
latest version of its iLife creativity suite has earned praise from reviewers and envy from Windows users. This collection of "iApps" -- iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD, iMovie and GarageBand -- has established the Cupertino, California-based company as a trailblazer in the digital media space, much as its iPod has over the last few years.
Apple's position within the growing digital media space may well position it to attain something that has long eluded the company -- PC market share. If nothing else, the ability Macs offer in creating digital content has staved off greater decline, said Jupiter Research senior analyst Joe Wilcox.
"Some analysts say Apple's consumer share has declined. Would those declines have been deeper if not for the iApps?" Wilcox told MacNewsWorld. "In multi-PC households, some consumers are replacing older Windows machines with new Macs."
The Latest Surge
According to Wilcox, the PC market has gone through three so-called "surges."
"The first was early on in the life of the PC, when people bought computers for spreadsheets, word processors and other productivity tools," Wilcox told MacNewsWorld. The second happened during the mid to late 90s, when people were logging onto the Internet in droves.
The latest surge is the move toward digital media, a place in which Apple, with its "digital hub" philosophy, is well-positioned, Wilcox said.
Riding the Digital Wave
Illuminata senior analyst Gordon Haff concurs that Apple is well-positioned for this evolution in personal computing.
"It is a morphing into a digital life which plays very well to Apple's strengths," Haff told MacNewsWorld. "Their initial success with the iPod proved that."
The iLife suite "approaches something familiar," Wilcox explained. "For example, iPhoto allows a user to do something they wish they could do with a traditional photo album -- cropping photos, touching up pictures, e-mailing to friends and family."
The ILife Advantage
According to his data, Wilcox said that the Mac platform has an adoption rate of over 10 percent than on Windows for those consumers interested in digital media, particularly in areas like photo editing.
ILife's Windows counterpart, Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Plus Digital Media Edition, offers similar content creation capabilities; however, it lacks the powerful marketing message of the iApps, said Wilcox.
"ILife sends a personal message to the individual about putting the power of creativity into their hands," Wilcox continued. In comparison, Microsoft's solution requires too many steps to accomplish the same creative tasks.
"Microsoft integrates so much into the operating system level, it is either too complex or hidden," Wilcox said. "Apple did not tie iLife directly into the underlying OS X, thus keeping the features visible."
Wilcox illustrated his point by delineating the difference between plugging in a digital camera using Plus, which starts a wizard, and iPhoto, which simply imports the user's photos.
"Any extra step is a hindrance to the usability factor," Wilcox said.
Haff, meanwhile, believes consumers just want simplicity. "At the end of the day, they want what is familiar and easy to use."
That Ease-of-Use Factor
Wilcox believes the iLife suite satisfies his four rules of good product design.
"A product must be familiar [and] approachable," he said, adding that a simple and clean interface contributes to that feeling.
"Second, a product must do what it is supposed to do well -- meaning ease-of-use," Wilcox continued. "And third, it must allow people to do what they wish they could do," such as the way iPhoto streamlines and simplifies the traditional photo album.
Finally, Wilcox said that, if the product is intended to displace others in the marketplace, it must be easier to use. And if a displacing product is good enough, consumers will invest in the hardware and software to adopt it -- both Mac users upgrading from legacy systems and Windows "switchers."
"Usability is an Apple hallmark," Haff said. "[Apple] will sacrifice openness [with other systems] and on price to insure that superior usability."
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