Ever since Apple launched its ‘Get a Mac‘ campaign, with the accompanying ‘I’m a Mac – and I’m a PC’ ads, lots of people have voiced their opinions on the campaign; the content has been discussed, the actors, the humour; however, relatively little has been said about the actual goals – and consequently the effectiveness – of the campaign.What did Apple have in mind when they thought up this campaign? This question seems fairly easy to answer (sell more Macintosh computers, of course), but if the content of the various commercials is anything to go by, you may start to wonder if the folks up in Cupertino had some completely different goals for this campaign which us mere mortals cannot comprehend. As far as I can see, two things are fundamentally wrong with the campaign (assuming its goal is to sell more Macs to Windows users, that is).
The first big flaw is very visible in the ‘Cancel or Allow‘ commercial. In this one, PC is accompanied by a bodyguard figure, which asks approval for each action PC wants to take; a pun at Vista’s new User Account Control, which has been criticised for being too restrictive (asking for permission too often, effectively). While this is a debatable ‘flaw’ in Vista*, it does have some shred of truth in it (so many reviewers cannot be wrong, I suppose); however, this is all irrelevant. This ad is supposed to sell Macs, right?
Well? Did you see any reason to buy a Mac in that commercial? Ok, so Vista has annoying UAC dialogs… But does that say anything about the Mac? How is this supposed to tell unknowing viewers (i.e. non geeks) anything about the Macintosh and its operating system? In an ad, you have to present the target audience with a ‘reason to buy’; this is absent in many of the ‘Get a Mac’ commercials.
The second major flaw in the campaign is one that is less obvious. Apple uses the concept of personification to represent both the product ‘Windows PC’ as well as the ‘Macintosh’, after which they start lamenting the personified Windows PC. They make fun of him, of the work he does, his family, everything. This is generally not a very wise idea, because what Apple is doing here is not ridiculing the Windows PC.
They are making fun of Windows PC users. And while this can be very entertaining, it is not a very wise idea to do this when those same Windows PC users are your target audience. You can safely assume that your target audience is stupid (because we consumers really are fairly stupid), but making fun of them is not very wise.
Would you buy from a salesman after he publicly humiliated you? Time and time again?
Since I do not believe Apple has a lousy marketing team (I mean, it is Apple we are talking about here), the only possible conclusion I can draw from the ‘Get a Mac’ campaign is that it is not trying to achieve the goal everybody thinks it does. While common sense says Apple wants to expand its installed base using this campaign, this cannot be concluded from the commercials, meaning Apple apparently has a different goal in mind.
One thing I can think of is that this campaign is supposed to consolidate the userbase Apple already has, which is not far fetched at all. However, if that is the case, it does have the wrong name– ‘Get a New Mac’, or ‘Get Another Mac’ would be more fitting in this scenario.
All in all, if the campaign’s goal is to sell Macs to Windows users, this campaign is simply not a very good one. It does not bring forth any ‘reasons to buy’, and on top of that, it ridicules its target audience. From this the conclusion can be drawn that the campaign simply has a different goal.
We can only guess what this goal is.
* You mostly see UAC dialogs during the installation of programs, which is a flaw in those specific programs, and not in Vista, since applications generally should not need to install stuff in places an ordinary user does not have access to. In normal use, I rarely encounter UAC.
The goal is to make angry people that do not have any sense of humor and taking the ads seriously.
no kidding, who in their right mind think about commercials this much other than marketers that are coming up with them.
commercials do more than just sell products (directly). the super bowl in the US here is a good example. some companies advertise in it every single year. does Budweiser really expect a spike in sales because they show a commercial every 10 minutes? no, of course not. they advertise because if they didn’t, people would wonder why budweiser isn’t advertising at the super bowl, something is wrong here.
apples ad’s are just mindshare advertising. they are simple and fun, most people probably ignore them like every other commercial.
The PC guy is much more funny than the Mac squirt anyway…
I know
Too bad he himself don’t think so.
It could be aiming for those angry Windows users who are looking for an alternative. When one of those users watches the ads they may say to themselves, “You know, Windows is kind of a drag, maybe I will check out the Apple platform. I don’t want to be one of “those” Windows users anyway.”
That is what I get out of it anyway…
“I will pay $500 or more likely more to try out a platform that this commercial told me pretty much NOTHING about.”
Hm.. yeah.
(I’m typing this as I have my macbook next to me)
You may not pay for it blind, but you might google up apple.com or visit a store, and then we set the real dogs loose on you: the salespeople!
A brand new operating system is not something you can feel out by looking at screenshots or playing with at a store for 10 minutes unfortunately.
Neither is a test-drive in a car an all-encompassing experience of the car’s future, but people roll off the sales floor every day with precious little more experience, and movie reviews, even ones with massive spoilers, aren’t blow-by-blow accounts of every scene in the film, yet millions of people go to the movies armed with little else.
Remember, you’re coming from a position of someone comfortable with carefully critiquing an OS for its strengths and weaknesses. Most Apple switchers merely have to be introduced to the idea of the alternative, and feel gutsy enough to try and learn the rest themselves. It’s how I ended up with Ubuntu, even though I had never seen it run on anything before.
While on the topic of the Ads, yesterdays comment by Charlie Brooker:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2006031,00.html
What’s up with the end of the article?
“This week: Charlie watched some episodes of Larry Sanders (on his PC). He played the customised Fawlty Towers map for Counterstrike (on his PC). He listened to the Windows startup jingle every 10 minutes as his PC repeatedly rebooted itself.”
Was the whole thing sarcastic or is he just pointing out that he hates Windows too but lives with it anyway?
This is a very perceptive article. I definitely agree, it’s probably to consolidate mac users, or to strengthen the brand culture behind Mac.
I did realize this a while ago that these ads don’t seem to do much to appeal to people to buy a Mac. However, they do create buzz amongst non-technical users who own PC’s. I’ve heard people talk about how “Mac’s really figured out how to appeal to me” after seeing these commercials.
The commercial seems to assume that you believe you can do on a Mac what you want to do on a PC now, and then it tells you PC’s suck in a way that you won’t disagree with (security, or rebooting, or something else that annoys you).
Sometimes I wonder, though, if it wouldn’t be a good idea to simply keep the campaign and insert the price and a picture of a Mac at the end of each commercial? This has, historically, been a hard thing for Mac to get over. Regardless of their price today, they used to cost more than PC’s and not everyone has realized that they have come down in price.
Some of their ads are better than others though. Some ads mention iLife repeatedly, which seems to be what Apple believes sells Mac’s.
Or maybe Jobs was just sick of crappy ads about this drug and that tampon?
I’ve heard people talk about how “Mac’s really figured out how to appeal to me” after seeing these commercials.
Only smart people get upset when people call them stupid or ignorant. The truly ignorant seem to revel in it. That’s how we got here in the first place. Dumb people having problems using their computers, and instead of demanding that Microsoft make it easier, they chalk it up to their own ignorance.
Especially in Apple’s favorite market (America), people value being uninformed, since knowing stuff often leads to expressing potentially unpopular opinions, which is the worst thing that could possibly happen to a flag-waving American.
When average (borderline retarded) Windows users watch these adds, they identify with PC guy. Here is another simple guy that encounters hilarious limitations because he’s too dumb to realize that PCs are outdated and Macs are better. They honestly could care less about why the Mac is better. They just know that if the TV says so in a commercial that makes them laugh, then it must be time to replace their unpopular PC.
Wow, cultural elitism at its acidic and derisive zenith. How do YOU feel when people call you stupid, since you didn’t state that in your response? And (totally off topic, but it didn’t stop you) isn’t America the LAND of the unpopular opinion? Doesn’t the entire remainder of the civilized world largely disagree with America on everything? I seriously doubt that many people enjoy being called stupid, or the word wouldn’t be considered an insult. They don’t identify with the computer, they identify with wrestling with the alleged problems of PCs, and the folks at Apple are banking that they might, well, switch.
One last thing: In the ads, the PC person doesn’t identify himself as a PC user, but rather as the PC itself. And he’s not primarily dumb, he’s mostly in denial.
* You mostly see UAC dialogs during the installation of programs, which is a flaw in those specific programs, and not in Vista, since applications generally should not need to install stuff in places an ordinary user does not have access to. In normal use, I rarely encounter UAC.
I’ve seen UAC prompts to view some parts of control panels, not even changing, just looking.
They had it prompting you to delete things on your own desktop at times.
I’m not targeting you, but because we know you use Linux/KDE more we’d assume you don’t really use Vista all that much to see the UAC prompts as others.
Vista is a fine OS, don’t get me wrong, and after a Service Pack or two it will be doing pretty good after they iron out all the UAC and other little bits and pieces. But for the moment, nearly everyone is disabling it straight away because it it just so damn frustrating.
As for the Mac Ads, it’s pure marketing, stupid people see a PC, and an Apple computer, most people now know Apple make computers thanks to the iPod.
And they see, PC has problem, Mac doesn’t have that problem.
That’s what nearly ever ad boils down to.
It’s short, it’s simple, and it gets the point across, maybe more subliminal than people think.
If it gets people to think about it briefly, it’s enough to plant at seed that the user will think about at a later stage.
Might be enough for the user to check out the Macs at the store when they pass and see how pretty they are. Bam, one sucked in user.
I think the Ads are great personally, I get a good chuckle out of them.
Some people take things way to seriously these days, lighten up and live life more.
Edited 2007-02-06 22:37
I agree. Also, just to push them over the edge when they’re in the Apple store, shopping for an iPod, and go in for a MacBook or iMac.
I think they pick a likeable actor to play the PC then ridicule them. You feel sorry for the PC guy is some way. Slowly this transforms your view of the PC and PC users. Next time you go to buy a PC you say to yourself maybe I’ll give the Mac a go. After all my PC has crashed loads and I feel sorry for people who’s computers crash all the time.
It’s not about making people buy macs it’s about adding reasons NOT to buy a PC. People already have iPods and trust Apple so they need a nudge toward Macintosh.
It is a kind of Wake Up call
Edited 2007-02-06 22:33
The ads tell more about the Mac in what they DON’T say.
By pointing out annoyances with Windows that everyone has experienced, or taking statistical reality (the boring office apps is the majority of use for Windows – don’t flame me on this – it is STATISTICAL truth), or pointing out common misconceptions (that Windows isn’t the only platform with business apps) and NOT commenting anything about the Mac the suggestion is (be it right or wrong) that the opposite is the case on the Mac. They don’t actually have to say it.
FTA “Would you buy from a salesman after he publicly humiliated you? Time and time again?”
I think it’s more like an election ad. Setup a strawman, break them down and the person watching at home gets that “I’m not like him” feeling. Just think of a hypothetical political ad such as “Candidate Jones is for clubbing baby seals! You’re not for clubbing baby seals are you?”. The person watching/hearing that thinks “Well, no.. I.. I don’t like clubbing baby seals. That’s just wrong” and feels a connection to the opposition candidate because they feel the same way.
It’s about trying to make people identify with you. These ads are targeted at high school and college aged people who feel the need to associate very strongly. These are the consumer “swing voters”. They don’t want to be associated with that lame PC guy. So really this is about building the brand as hip and cool (which this demographic desperately wants to be), not just selling more computers. Building the brand does have the desired effect of selling more Macs, iPods, iPhones, Airport Base Stations, iTunes songs etc. Because it’s cool.
I think it’s more like an election ad. Setup a strawman, break them down and the person watching at home gets that “I’m not like him” feeling. Just think of a hypothetical political ad such as “Candidate Jones is for clubbing baby seals! You’re not for clubbing baby seals are you?”. The person watching/hearing that thinks “Well, no.. I.. I don’t like clubbing baby seals. That’s just wrong” and feels a connection to the opposition candidate because they feel the same way.
This sounds about right to me. If a Mac user starts talking about how much better Macs are, and I ask him why, he starts talking about crashes, security issues, and other problems that I don’t have with my PC. This sort of logic might appeal to Joe Sixpack, but power users are left scratching their head and wondering what the big deal is.
Luckily for Apple, most people aren’t “power users”. They haven’t achieved that zen-like state where they have enough utilities to protect themselves from spyware and viruses while simultaneously having them configured so well that they never get incessant questions from the system for approval.
I achieved that state once, it was actually with Windows 95, which I ran very stably and virus-free on my PII-300. However, I also reinstalled Windows so often that I can still remember my serial key, and indeed use substrings of it for passwords and PIN numbers…
Little addendum to this: my mom used to always call me up saying her computer wasn’t working. Doing tech support from 700 miles away is not easy, so whenever I went back home, I’d spent a couple of hours fixing something. It was never a huge problem, a lot of times it was just Windows being silly (trying to jump to my neighbor’s wifi network, for example). A “power user” probably would’ve fixed it with a couple of clicks and never paid it a second thought. But for my mom, who has enough trouble using GMail, every little issue was a show-stopper. My mom has now had an iMac for almost a year. In that time, I’ve had one tech support call, which was easily handled over the phone in two minutes. I have had to clean out zero pieces of spyware, zero viruses, and deal with zero system updates breaking important functionality (I’m glaring at you SP2). Sure, the iMac was a couple of hundred more than a comparable PC. But the peace of mind of not ever having to worry about my mom not being able to use her computer for work or shopping is PRICELESS.
Edited 2007-02-07 04:47
Do agree with the negative part of this. If you are committed to supporting a naive user at a distance, the prospect of Windows security issues is a nightmare.
However, this does not mean Macs are a right or the only reasonable alternative. The problem is the hardware and the cost, and the lock-in. The hardware choice is absurdly limited – you either get them a Mini, which is a joke from a price/performance point of view, or you throw out what is probably a perfectly good monitor only to get tied in to total replacement on the next cycle.
You can get the exact same low support requirements and high security for users like this on any of the major Linux distros, and its far cheaper and more flexible. Been there and done it. The first time with trepidation, but after that experience, with complete confidence. You have to set it up right, but you have to set up the Mac right also.
Its not that Macs are so wonderful. Its that Windows isn’t. And there are other good alternatives.
That’s the beauty of the Mac. I didn’t have to set up anything. I literally took it out of the box, and showed her how to plug it in. I selected the access point, and that was the only configuration I ever did to the machine.
Yes, you could achieve a similar end result on a Linux distribution. But it would take substantial time investment on my part, in the form of building a completely Linux-friendly machine. With a Mac, Apple does that work for you.
As for the monitor issue, I find upgrading in general to be useless these days. Back in the day, when a RAM standard would last the better part of the decade, and a couple of generations of CPU used the same socket, it made some sense. However, if you buy a nice Core 2 machine today, I’ll guarantee that three years down the line, you’ll have to upgrade almost all of it. The CPU socket will change, necessitating a new CPU and motherboard, and so will the memory socket and graphics bus, necessitating new DDR3 RAM and a PCI-E 2.0 graphics card. Also, your monitor will have a fading CFFL backlight, while the market will have moved at least to LED backlighting, and perhaps even to OLED or SED displays. As I certainly don’t need any more obsolete hardware lying around my house, it makes a lot more sense to me to just EBay the machine, and put that towards a new one. It probably won’t cost appreciably more, and it’ll be a lot more stable and trouble-free in the end.
I think you made a perfectly reasonable choice. Lets say that right away.
But take a sort of hybrid of the cases that makes me go the other way. A fairly poor academic needs to upgrade. I could get him a mac. It would be north of $800. But he has a perfectly good 17 inch screen. He knows that when LCDs get cheaper, he will replace it. But right now the money matters. We pay around 300, we get him a white box, we put Mandriva on it. All I do with kde is put the stuff he uses most in the bottom menu bar. You’d have to do the same for the mac. Show him how to use multiple desktops, which oddly enough are a pleasure and a real gain. He goes on vacation with the savings.
Two years later, its still doing fine. We buy another 512 memory because its got so cheap. We buy a 19 inch screen because its now only a couple of hundred. We buy a cheap 1G usb memory stick for backups and to carry his files around. We upgrade OO to version 2.
One of these days we’ll take him to a core 2, or more likely solo, and we’ll carry on using the 19 inch screen. When Core 2s cost a couple of hundred. We’ll reuse the DVD writer and maybe the hard drive as well.
Its a different kind of user, but it just makes more sense. I have to say that the only calls I ever get are how to use the more exotic features of OO. Or once in a while something silly, like accidentally deleting a printer or forgetting some detail of how to do backups.
I think people who think Linux on the desktop cannot be used as an appliance by ordinary people have never actually tried it.
The other day, another similar case, a guy from one of my computer classes said he had moved to Linux. He got sick of viruses, so he got PCLinux, and found a local computer shop to install it for him. He finds it so easy to use.
Why should he have bought all new hardware? No reason at all. His hardware was perfectly fine for his purposes. I know Apple is a hardware company. But that’s no benefit to him. It just makes more sense.
Not always, but a lot of the time. If money is no object, fine. But that is not the case for a lot of the people and institutions I meet. If they go to macs, they would just spend money they have better uses for, for no benefit to them whatever.
As I said, that kind of ‘peace of mind’ logic works great for people like your mom. This is not in dispute. But what, exactly, is there for power users (meaning those who have 0 security/stability/maintenance issues with their PCs) ?
I have to disagree with the conclusion that Apple is making fun of PC users. To me, they were simply stating that performing projects in OS X is much easier than in Windows.
This is not to say that there aren’t tools and programs available for Windows that are very easy to use to create great projects, but PC’s typically are purchased without those programs installed.
What could be the goal of an ad campaign.
I’ll make a bold guess here: Maybe they want to sell more Macs?
My take:
The goal of the ads that appear to ridicule PC Users is to sell Mac to people that DO NOT YET HAVE A COMPUTER of their own.
A side effect is to “reward” Mac Users by pointing out the flaws of the competition.
The goal of the ads that appear to ridicule PC Users is to sell Mac to people that DO NOT YET HAVE A COMPUTER of their own.
Are there such people ? I don’t know any. Must be a small demographic for a market.
The men who run these companies and their ad campaigns can have monumental egos. They all think they’re brilliant. Which, in a certain sense, they are. But when their talent and hard work is expressed in the form “wow, how cool am I?!” the results are as delusional as they are comical.
What does any ad campaign do? Try to spin the truth to make your product look better than the competition.
Truck commercials do this all the time, so do political ads, or soap commercials.
Of course it’s cr@p, what else is new?
“…The only possible conclusion I can draw from the ‘Get a Mac’ campaign is that it is not trying to achieve the goal everybody thinks it does.”
Yes, Thom. It’s called an ad. Have you ever saw a McDonald’s ad that said Big Macs are healthy for you? Stop trying to analyze MARKETING. There’s no rationality behind it, and this has been established since the BEGINNING of the public relations industry. (There have been plenty of studies about this, so if you’re interested in it, drop me a line.)
“Well? Did you see any reason to buy a Mac in that commercial? Ok, so Vista has annoying UAC dialogs… But does that say anything about the Mac?”
Yes, the ad clearly showed that mac does not have these dialogs. He did not have a security guard interupting him.
Watch the ad again.
Mac does have a “security guard”, try editing system files. It’s less intrusive but some apps require entering user password.
and entering the administrator (not just any user) password is much more secure, because you actually have to be responsible for what you’re doing. if all i have to say is “allow” then i’ll pay attention to them as much as i do when i’m hitting “ENTER” through the installation wizards.
install program: enter, enter, enter, enter, wait, enter enter, finish
Sometimes I think the reason for some of these kinds of commercials isn’t really that deep. They’re just fun to watch, they make you laugh. My wife, who is not computer savvy, just roars when she sees these commercials. It reminds me of Staples, Vault, Vonage, etc. The advertisements are just funny, give you a good feeling, and hopefully that fact makes you more likely to buy the product. I think you will find that it does actually accomplish that goal. We are not as logical of creatures as we like to think.
The goal is not to sell anything. The goal is to brand Windows as beeing stiff and inpractical, while Mac is cool, hip and young. That’s it, the rest (sales) will follow from this automatically.
I think that others have ponted out the goal of the ads. It is to subtlety point out the flaws or issues that widows machines have and Mac don’t have.
I’m not so sure Apple pulled it off. The branding that is. My dad saw one of the ads the other day and he said the ad portrayed the mac as being hip and cool while the PC was a practical buisiness tool. Made him want to stick with PCs.
The Mac used to be a PowerPC system, now with the Intel chip, it’s a PC. So there’s no such thing like Mac vs. PC.
The differences are getting smaller, but they still exist. I think BIOS is one of the last remaining differences.
Not to mention branding. A lot of people just still think of wintel as a PC and anything Apple makes as a Macintosh… It’s hard to argue with what words have come to mean to most people, just because they’re completely wrong.
Reguardless, the terms are helpful in quickly identifying them without using a negative. Otherwise what would we call them? Apple and non-Apple PC’s?
“The Mac used to be a PowerPC system, now with the Intel chip, it’s a PC”
Actually, it was always a PC since PC means “Personal Computer”. It wasn’t, and still isn’t, an IBM-compatible PC though. It ‘s just that now they’re using Intel chips but Intel != PC.
Way to enlighten us all.
We all know the implied connotation and so do you Joe User.
It’s rather ironic that the real star of the Apple ads is the PC. Hodgman was a perfect choice for the role, he makes the whole thing work.
I’m still trying to make heads or tails of Micrsoft’s “Software For The People-Ready Business” commercials. What’s that supposed to mean again?
I’m still trying to make heads or tails of Micrsoft’s “Software For The People-Ready Business” commercials. What’s that supposed to mean again?
It’s even worse in French, because they didn’t translate their “People-Ready” pseudo-buzzword. The ads end with “Des logiciels pour les entreprises People-Ready.”
That makes little sense in English, it makes even less sense in French.
If you don’t understand Microsoft commercials may I recommend http://www.dilbert.com ?
It provides exhaustive reference material on synergizing people-ready eBusiness strategies.
Edited 2007-02-07 18:17
Well, the numbers may not be amazing but it seems to be working. Adweek writes:
Voight reports, “The ads also seem to be boosting sales. In the last three months of 2006 Mac sales grew three times faster than sales of PCs, compared to the same period in 2005, says an Apple rep. Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies in Campbell, Calif., says the Mac comparison approach is working, with half of all Macs being sold to non-Mac users and Apple’s share of the total computer market growing steadily…
Net Applications’ “Market Share” has tracked Apple Safari usage and there has been a steady increase in marketshare from Mac users in the browser area.. up to approximately 6.22%, up more than 36% over the year…
Gartner: Apple’s U.S. Mac shipments up 30.6% year over year (jan 2007)
Apple Q1-2007 results ended December 30, 2006: record revenue of $7.1 billion and record net quarterly profit of $1.0 billion, or $1.14 per diluted share vs. revenue of $5.7 billion and net quarterly profit of $565 million, or $.65 per diluted share, in the year-ago quarter…. Apple shipped 21,066,000 iPods in the quarter, 50% growth YOY… Apple shipped 1,606,000 Macs in the quarter, 28% growth YOY
It is basically saying
‘Remember me, I’m Apple.’
It’s not about converting people to Macs, it’s only about keeping Apple fresh in people’s mind.
if you take the adverts as a joke then theres no harm. gates is proberly just upset as he is coming off bad. bet he wishes ms had a cool brand like apple. the fact is he dosnt. image is everything in marketing
I am a computer systems analyst for a agency with 10,000 employees. While we support only Windows computers it sometimes “slips out” that I’m remoting into their Windows computer with my Apple computer. More and more people are commenting about the ads and saying they are tired of the hassle of Windows and will probably buy a Apple computer next time.
I’m hearing the same thing more and more from people that said they would never get rid of Windows. Microsoft is wearing people out of the viruses and having those (my friends words) “constant security patches” and anti-virus updates and anti-spyware updates. When they stop updating them their computer gets hosed.
My friends are seeing the ads too and even the hard core Windows fans are getting tired of the maintenance of updating security patches, AV updates, etc. These ads, along with more and more of them getting rid of other MP3 players and buying iPods, they are seriously looking at Apple computers.
I’ve invited them over or taken them up on their offer for diner and brought my iMac over for them to see and play with for awhile. I do create a separate account for them and delete it after I’m back home. I let them play around on it including hooking up their digital camera, video camera, printers, USB memory cards, etc., and they are astounded that they don’t have to load drivers off a CD. “Things just work.” And, “you really don’t need anti-virus software for these?” The answer is no. And they don’t cost more than (non cheap piece of rubbish low end) Windows computers?
More and more of my friends are buying Macs. Before iPods and these ads they didn’t take Apple seriously.
These are the people that are Apple’s target audience. And that audience is responding more and more. Just look at Apple’s announced sales each quarter for the last couple of years. Over all they are definitely on the up swing.
I’m not sure of the goal of the commercials, but after trying vista on some of the new pcs at work I’m thinking of buying one of those new black macbooks. Why not? If I hate it I can put windows on it. Maybe this means that the commercials are working?
BTW Anyone here buy a black macbook lately? If so what are your thoughts on it?
Well I havent bought a Black MacBook, but I have a White one that bought in July, before the newest models come out. I’ll tell you what I think of it: I absolutely love it. I am a Mac user and have been for the past 10 years or so but I am also a Windows User and have made custom PC’s for gaming, graphics, development and web for many years. I have been supporting and trouble shooting Macs and PC’s for many years as my line of work. I say that so you can see that I am not a Mac Zealot but am a Computer User.
That said, I will say that this little MacBook has been the best Laptop I have ever owned. Matter of fact it has been the best Mac I have ever owned, and believe me I have owned a lot including top of the Line PowerMac G5’s. It is fast, it is stable, it is designed superbly. It is even a better design then the MacBook Pros at the time, IMHO. Changing out RAM and the HD are extremely easy and considered DIY so it does not void the warranty. Trading out the HD in a Pro model used to be more involved, I don’t know if the new models are the same. Anyway I upgraded my Ram to 2GB and my HD to 160GB. Rock on, you will have fun with this little puter.
With that said, the only bad part of these systems is the, relatively speaking, sucky graphics GPU. It uses an Intel GMA 950 integrated solution. Have no worries though, unless you are into games, most things run great. Heck even Vista will run with Full Aero on a MacBook with 1GB RAM. OSX limits the GPU share to 64MB, but Vista will up it if you have 1GB or more.
Cheers.
A friend of mine bought it because he felt his iBook was too slow. He now regrets this because he thoroughly hates the keyboard. It just doesn’t feel right to him, unlike the one on the iBook which was perfect.
Seems like you found a new market for a keyboard covers made of <some material> that change the way your keyboard “feels” when typing.
Well, maybe you have seen those Macbook keyboards, they have rather small keys with a lot of space in between, and they are square, flat and edgy.
Good keyboards have some dip in the middle for your fingers. Tiny detail, but this is what you’ll be typing on all the time. The iBook keyboard is very good in that respect, so I don’t know why they had design prevail over ergonomics this time.
i got the black macbook back in august- giving up my job and going back to school, thought i deserved a present
some people think the keyboard is wacky, but i really like it. after about a day i didn’t even notice the chiclet keys.
here’s me being a mac fanboy for a second: obviously, the quality is top-notch, and it’s perfectly fast for me. i’ve been using macs for over 15 years and this does everything i need it to and more.
i installed windows on it, and then broke the installation about a week later, so i need to reinstall windows. (i installed windows using apple’s bootcamp software, and then tried to set up the same partition in Parallells software, and i screwed something up)
problems with the windows install: so far, you cannot use the trackpad to click the mouse- you have to press the button. this is annoying, because the macbooks allow you to tap the trackpad with 2 fingers to simulate a right-click… but any USB mouse works fine. some of the function keys don’t quite work yet, but the volume buttons work, which is 90% of what you need to mess with.
basically, bootcamp is still beta software, and there are some kinks to be worked out. but i was impressed with the ease i had installing windows (you DO need xp SP2 or better… i installed with Media Center) and when the complete version of boot camp comes out i’m sure it will be even better.
Why, the goal of the campaign is to persuade folks to buy Macs and I’d guess it has been fairly successful.
My guess is that this ad is targeted at first-time buyers – the iPod trades up to a Mac market. To that extent, it is not making fun of its target market. The target market is young, and defines itself against dads, bosses and anally retentive straights of all stripes. Of course that’s BS, but I suspect it’s the dynamic the ads are trying to slip under the viewer’s defences, while the viewer concentrates on the overt comedy of Gates and Jobs, the preposterous nerd/dad and the ludicrously self-regarding hipster/son.
I am with the guy in the Guardian newspaper on this one. The PC guy may be a pretty grim type who probably has sex through a hole in a sheet once a month, purely for the sake of his health, but the Mac guy is insufferable and makes one want to tread on his head. Luckily there is a third way, the way of open saucery, er man, on which I am typing this.
If Linux guy ever appeared in these ads, he’s probably be lampooned as some grimy, argumentative mechanic busy picking his nose, but hey, he doesn’t appear at all so Linus and co can proceed with reputations intact.
“Linux guy” did appear once, I recall seeing an ad like that. But I can’t find the ad anymore. Maybe they abandoned it. Or maybe I’m very confused and it was on Youtube, but I definitely think I saw that on an Apple ad a couple of months ago.
> But I can’t find the ad anymore. Maybe they abandoned
> it. Or maybe I’m very confused and it was on Youtube,
The linux guy was hilarous!
Yes, he appeared several times in the TrueNuff Mac Ad Spoof series on youtube. The Windows and the Mac guy are lame and forgettable compared to the Apple ads, but the Linux guy is HILAROUS!
i think these commercials are more of a bait than anything else. Say something about a pc that will make a windows user feel like they have to defend their computers and once they start talking, converse with them about how great macs are. Without this crucial opening line, most people will just dismiss macs and go about their business( updating their anti viruses, checking windows updates, rebooting, worrying about spyware etc, etc, etc)
I disagree with at least 2 screamingly obvious flaws in your logic.
You say that these Apple commercials personify both the Mac and PC machine. I agree. Then you say that these Apple commercials ridicule the PC personification. I almost agree (see my second point). How on earth can you leap to the conclusion that these Apple commercials therefore ridicule the PC machine user? The personification of my PC in no way whatsoever represents me. Not even close. It represents only my machine. Criticize it all you want, I didn’t build the OS. Like every computer user, I take no personal responsibility for it actions or character.
In addition, the Mac Guy never says or does anything to directly ridicule the PC Guy. On the contrary, the PC Guy does an excellent job of humiliating himself. We just watch him do it. So, how can you say that anyone (saleperson, Apple Inc., Mac Guy, TV audience, whatever) is performing a public humiliation?
In addition, the Mac Guy never says or does anything to directly ridicule the PC Guy. On the contrary, the PC Guy does an excellent job of humiliating himself. We just watch him do it. So, how can you say that anyone (saleperson, Apple Inc., Mac Guy, TV audience, whatever) is performing a public humiliation?
Um, because the PCs acts of self humiliation were scripted by Apple? It’s not like they grabbed an anthropomorphized PC off the streeet and he proceeded to make an idiot of himself with no Apple intervention. Apple marketing scripted the whole thing. If PC humiliated himself, it’s because he was told to by the script Apple gave him.
It’s hilarious that you see the result as the PC humiliating himself and belive Apple had nothing to do with it, that they just sat back and watched. Fark man, did you think you were watching a documentary?
of those OS/2 ads that features nuns. The audience never saw actual OS/2 stuff. Just like these Apple ads.
They are making fun of Windows PC users. And while this can be very entertaining, it is not a very wise idea to do this when those same Windows PC users are your target audience.
I don’t see them making fun of pc-users anywhere. Like all the best adds it just takes feelings people already have and stimulates them. People already know pc’s are dull – that’s why case modding exists. People are already complaining about constant reboots and virusses in Windows, even among non-techies this is accepted wisdom by now.
If you feel somehow personally attacked by this add you are probably taking computing and your os much to personally (this is always a safe bet on OSAlert I guess.) Most people identify as much with their pc as they do with their toaster.
First off, how many products never mention anything about the product they are selling, this isn’t unique to Macs.
Second, no commercial is going to convince any user to chose an OS on technical merits, its just won’t. It also doesn’t really matter if current PC users perceive the ads as saying they are stupid. If all it does is make a consumer stop and think Apple for even a split second when looking for a computer, it’s accomplished its goal.
For many years the thought of a Mac wouldn’t pass some user’s minds. Now, even if they hesitate for 1 second thinking: “why does that commercial call Windows user dumb”, mission accomplish.
Edited 2007-02-07 02:20
Well my next computer will be another mac. This time around it was a PC. I have a mac mini(powerpc), but it needs an upgrade. The commercials are so funny! Gates and Microsoft have thier own “distortion field” that customers buy into. The commercials point them out in a really funny way.
Plus my next mac will be able to run windows.
Most people don’t choose their OS or really type of computer. They order a Dell because that’s what everyone else does, or get an HP computer at work and that’s it. They don’t see themselves as the “Windows” guy because they didn’t choose Windows in the same way they would choose to buy a Mac. So most people don’t see themselves as the Windows guy. We’re supposed to identify ourselves with the cool, hip “Mac” guy.
Frankly, I think they’re effective ads because they highlight the differences between the products in a way non-technical people can understand. Most people use Windows and don’t think it’s a useless piece of junk, but it’s something for work, and somewhat boring. People don’t understand the technical differences between iLife and similar tools that ship for a PC, but they get that the Mac is geared for home users doing “fun” stuff. Like most people I don’t vew myself as a Windows user, but rather as someone who is required to use Windows for work.
We’re supposed to identify ourselves with the cool, hip “Mac” guy.
Too bad for Apple that they picked John Hodgeman as the “PC guy.” Between those two, who is “cooler”? A very talented, clever humourist – or some silly hipster cut from the “Apple is the only brand of computers I let my parents buy for me” mold? And here I thought that Apple and Apple users were supposed to be exemplars of sophistication and discerning taste (the Eminem iPod commercial notwithstanding).
There are some brands that try very hard to make sure they are not “diluted”. Thus in high-end clothing shops and restaurants, the clerk/server is essentially expected to sneer at the “lower class” if they should enter into their establishment – if they didn’t they might end up losing their “high end” clients. Thus, there are at least some situations where it might make sense to make fun of potential customers.
Apple has a very good positioning right now compared to Microsoft. In my country it is very ridiculous to buy Vista Ultimate alone with price around US$ 400 meanwhile you can get an Imac 20″ with price around US$ 1100(which already bundled with iLife, etc.) More people now are moving to Mac because Microsoft OS price is very expensive. Apple has only one type MacOSX besides MacOSX Server. Nobody in the world still sells such expensive OS. Even compared to XP, it is very hard to justify Vista over XP Pro.
The three strongest software contenders against McSoft are BSD, Linux and OS X.
These three software prongs are pointed straight at McSoft’s tender underside.
Why else would you believe William would go off against the OS X ads and launch a campaign against Linux?
Once people learn there is absolutely no reason to be running WinTrash for price they pay … wait … that’s already happening.
I agree with some commenters already.
I agree that the PC isn’t really overtly being made fun of. Again, I think you are meant to like both guys – they are both personable and friendly. Sure, the Mac is the younger, straight guy, more in tune with what is hip. The PC guy is still friendly though, a little socially awkward, maybe even more practical in some respects. He’s your goofy uncle that means well even if he is a little eccentric.
The key thing is that they are talking together. The ads are also reinforcing, other than the Mac’s key things (digital media integration, ease of use, etc.), that they talk well with PCs. By using a Mac, you aren’t isolating yourself or speaking some other language. You can do anything a PC can do… and maybe even without some annoyances.
The ads even seem to say, in some sense, that Windows is here to stay. Apple is NOT trying to shove it off screen and smugly laugh. Apple is doing its own thing – Macs are a great option against the run of the mill Windows beige/black boxes. There is coexistence implied.
Clever ads… they are fun to watch, I guess. Better than Budweiser and Coca Cola commercials at least.
They are making fun of Windows PC users.
No, they aren’t. PC users don’t contract more viruses, need surgery to upgrade, or tape webcams to their head, and they certainly don’t have conversations with digital cameras or reboot every so often. I mean, I expect Bill Gates not to be able to get past the literal, but an average person should be more on the ball.
The goal with pointing out the UAC hassle is to divert funds that might have been on the cusp of being used for a new PC with Vista. They’re putting out the message that there are reasons to reconsider that path. The commercial doesn’t tell you to do something else instead because commercials aren’t that powerful. When the ad campaign has succeeded is when someone walks into an Apple store to look around. Look at it. Touch it. Move the mouse. Change the desktop. Isn’t it wonderful? This is Apple’s philosophy. The products sell themselves. The ads just open the door.
If you think about it, the infamous Stevenotes work the same way. This is not a company that goes around begging and pleading with customers to consider their offer. Steve Jobs says “I’m not going to tell you what the Mac can do,” and everyone swoons. MacWorld is packed. Then everyone gathers in a big room all wondering about the products, and he comes on and talks about them, very enthusiastically, but not like he’s trying to prove something. He’s got people losing their minds with excitement over what kind of product they might be able to buy next year. A TV ad spot could never do that, so all they do is poke fun at the other guy’s flaws and remind people there’s an alternative they should check out.
Ah good old wacky waving inflatable arm-flailing tube man. Brilliant reference, I would mod you up if you weren’t already +5.
This is not a company that goes around begging and pleading with customers to consider their offer. Steve Jobs says “I’m not going to tell you what the Mac can do,” and everyone swoons. MacWorld is packed.
That brings to mind another animated reference:
“Whoa, that store looks like they don’t even need my business – let’s shop there!”
1) When an ad points out a PC’s fault, it implies that a Mac does not suffer from that same fault. People are not machines; they are sophisticated, psychologically speaking. You don’t use a programming language to send a message to humans. In fact, the best messages are not explicit at all!
2) The ads clearly positions the Mac to be better at “life-style” digital activities while giving the PC credit for more business-oriented ones. So, they are not necessarily demeaning to PCs and if they are…
3)… they are accurate in their judgment. It’s not that the ads have a “shred of truth” in them; they are wholly based in reality… yet presented in a light-hearted manner. Of course, exaggeration comes as part of the nature of advertising.
And the ads are working. Over half of new Mac sales for last year were from people who’ve never owned a Mac before.
As has been said the ads are only there to make people stop and think and it is working as I have more people asking me about Apple as well. People are now looking at there other options and that is a good thing for the industry so whats the problem?
Also as a side note I find most of the “Windows Zelots” have never used another OS and just do on things they have heard and those of us that use Linux(such as myself) & Apple are really the ones best to compare our OS to Windows when the Windows guys normally have little to no info on us. At least not first hand info.
This is old news. The biggest problem with selling something different is that people are scared they won’t be able to do or use the same stuff as on a PC which most people have. The ads’ purpose just lets the public know that you can keep doing those things. That you won’t be left out and it’s easier. (How true the ads are? That’s up for debate and not the topic at hand).
Well? Did you see any reason to buy a Mac in that commercial? Ok, so Vista has annoying UAC dialogs… But does that say anything about the Mac? How is this supposed to tell unknowing viewers (i.e. non geeks) anything about the Macintosh and its operating system?
Errrr, it tells you that Mac do NOT have annoying UAC dialogs. I mean, *DUH*, it’s bloody OBVIOUS.
(If the UAC dialogs in Vista have bitten you, that is enough of a reason to consider buying a Mac).
The second major flaw in the campaign is one that is less obvious. Apple uses the concept of personification to represent both the product ‘Windows PC’ as well as the ‘Macintosh’, after which they start lamenting the personified Windows PC. They make fun of him, of the work he does, his family, everything. This is generally not a very wise idea, because what Apple is doing here is not ridiculing the Windows PC.
They are making fun of Windows PC users. And while this can be very entertaining, it is not a very wise idea to do this when those same Windows PC users are your target audience. You can safely assume that your target audience is stupid (because we consumers really are fairly stupid), but making fun of them is not very wise.
It’s obvious you are oblivious to the ways that advertising works. The idea is that PC users viewing those ads will want to identify with the “cool” guy. Nobody is going to think “Hey, i am this lame pc user depicted in this ad. I am so offended“.
Instead, they will go “Hey, I’m not like that sorry PC guy, I’m cool. What am I doing with the drone crowd? Maybe I should get a Mac“.
Anyway, the ads seems to work, if we are to believe the numbers of new mac users.
I just wanted to point out that you can’t say
“All in all, if the campaign’s goal is to sell Macs to Windows users, this campaign is simply not a very good one”
just because you don’t like the campaign (or you think that most people don’t like it). The only way to judge if it is a “good one” is by looking at how it affected Mac sales. I don’t think that has been published (but I bet Apple knows it)
Ask any advertising person. Their is no such thing as bad publicity. The more people talk about the ads the more publicity Apple is getting. I think they are down right funny. Thumbs up to Apple! (and I don’t even own a Apple computer)
> Ask any advertising person. Their is no such thing as bad publicity.
No, that’s just not true. Bad publicity is just that: bad. It doesn’t create a relationship, persuade, or call to action. All it does is effect name recall, and then only in a negative way.
Ask Britney Spears how all that bad publicity is helping her singing career. It ain’t.
Ask Britney Spears how all that bad publicity is helping her singing career. It ain’t.
Bullshit. You obviously aren’t in PR. Britney’s new album, whenever it comes out, will be front page news. Everyone will know about it. It will receive airplay. Eventually, one of the crappy songs will work its way into your head. It will be high on iTunes best sellers as 14 and 15 year olds download it endlessly.
Having your name out there in ANY context is preferable to fading into the background for any public career. Britney hasn’t released an album in years and she’s still front page news every week.
The adds don’t target people who strongly identify with a PC or against Mac. They would be wasting their time trying to convince those people, so Apple doesn’t care if they make fun of pro-pc dudes and get them pissed. Apple is targeting people who bought a PC, but don’t “get” it, and aren’t very satisfied with it. To these people, the adds are providing them an option that they were already thinking about in the back of their head. To them, its not about identifying with the actor, but getting a laugh at the expense of a PC shortcoming. Soon, you realize you’re laughing at an exaggeration of what you have to go through day in and day out.
Most switchers are getting a Mac because of momentum, not the adds. With so many people finding this <apparently> better alternative, it feels much safer to buy knowing that tons of other non-mac-zeelots have taken the plunge and are happy with it.
Is Gates upset about the commercials ?
OMFG: then they must be true
Doesn’t MS has commercials that “poke a little fun with other products” ? (get the facts-campaign fi)
btw: I don’t think Apple’s Ads are making fun of PC users, they are making fun about the PCs
The ads weren’t made for you. You’re getting old, dude.
Edited 2007-02-07 08:22
Apple uses the concept of personification to represent both the product ‘Windows PC’ as well as the ‘Macintosh’, after which they start lamenting the personified Windows PC (…)
They are making fun of Windows PC users. And while this can be very entertaining, it is not a very wise idea to do this when those same Windows PC users are your target audience.
So you argue that since the “PC” and the “Mac” are personified, people will think that PC *users* are being made fun of? Of course they wouldn’t think that! The two characters are/represent/stand for *computers+operating systems*, not users, and everybody watching the ads understands that.
Believe me: sometimes a pipe is just a pipe.
And the only goal of this ad campaign is selling Macs showing the boring side of the PC industry using an allegory.
Just that! Can you believe that? This is the “hidden” goal.
Conspiracy theories can be really boring sometimes…
What is the goal of this article? :p
I don’t think that the goal of Apple’s marketing (in the last decade or so) has ever been winning-over converts. It seems primarily aimed at generating/maintaining positive sentiment towards Apple in existing users. Or in other words, giving the “warm-fuzzies” to the diehard faithful.
If it’s entirely deliberate, then it’s really quite genius – from a cynical perspective. Apple has essentially managed to unleash an army of volunteer guerrilla marketers. It’s the people with major cases of the warm-fuzzies who will willingly paste Apple marketing copy into online message boards, or regale any non-Mac user friends with some lengthy exposition on the wonders of iLife and the “Digital supercomputer hub thinking different Lifestyle (power to burn!)”.
Disclaimer: I don’t dislike Macs, I regularly work with them in my job, and freely admit that they are the best tools for the job in some circumstances (but not all – just like any other OS/computing platform). And there’s nothing wrong with sensible Mac users – which I would define as “people who use Macs because they are the best tools for the jobs they’re doing.” But the Mac “Fans”, the folks who treat Apple as if it were their favourite football team or pro-wrestler – I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a more insufferable, tiresome, and pretentious group of people (with the possible exception of first year undergrads who have just discovered “social consciousness” and have suddenly decided they are feminists/socialists/enviromentalists/whatever).
Edited 2007-02-07 12:42
Apple’s offer certainly looks very interesting, but as a long-time Windows user, I’d like to try OS X for a couple of days before spending some serious cash on a new Mac. I want to be able to see if I can be productive, if I find suitable replacements for my regular applications, if it is fast, if it is easy to use and so on. I can read all the reviews in the world, see all the commercials in the world, but nothing compares to actually using the system even for a little while.
I wish Apple would offer a Live CD, or even a severely limited and crippled version so I can see what I’m buying.
“I wish Apple would offer a Live CD, or even a severely limited and crippled version so I can see what I’m buying.”
Or better, if they could borrow me a Mac Mini or iMac or Macbook/Macbook Pro in order to test it over the weekend.
Then see if it’s really as good as they claim it is.
Edited 2007-02-07 13:21
Yup, that would be even better.
“Apple’s offer certainly looks very interesting, but as a long-time Windows user, ….”
Wait till you start working with OS X server. It’s, and this is a non-technical term, sweet. I can say this after 6 long years of being a Win-only sysadmin in an educational environment.
Between OS X, Linux and BSD there is absolutely no reason to run Win.
USA Today Ad Track poll for Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ campaign shows above-average consumer response
“Apple’s marketing has been so focused on growing its iPod/iTunes business that it had been four years since the company put some national ad gusto behind its Mac computer line,” Theresa Howard and Jefferson Graham report for USA Today.
“Capitalizing on its iPod chic — and with a lineup of Macs transformed last spring with Intel chips to talk about — Apple again has been flexing its marketing muscle behind its computers with an ad campaign that began in May. The campaign now has 12 ads — created by longtime Apple agency TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles — that feature two characters who personify the PC and Mac,” Howard and Graham report.
Howard and Jefferson Graham report, “The campaign uses the same tone to promote the differences between PCs and Macs as the Switcher ads, but the characters put more humor into the ads. ‘We wanted to try and get some perspective out there in a fun way and remind people of some of the things they probably already know, and talk about how the Mac might be a little better,’ Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO, said in an interview.”
Howard and Jefferson Graham report, “The ads got an above-average response from consumers surveyed by Ad Track, USA Today’s weekly poll: 25% like them ‘a lot’ vs. the Ad Track average of 21%, and 22% rate them ‘very effective’ vs. the average of 21%.”
Full article here:
http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2006-09-17-apple-…
—–
Justin Long and John Hodgman win best actor awards for Apple ‘Get a Mac’ ad characters
“Garfield’s ‘Bobby’ awards honor the year’s best performance by an actor in a commercial. This year’s Best Male Performance was won by Justin Long and John Hodgman who play Mac and PC in the Apple Macintosh ads created by TBWA/Chiat/Day,” Bob Garfield reports for Advertising Age.
“Hodgman is a PC, earnest and uptight, and Long is a Mac, casually cool. Yes, PC is a doofus, but what so distinguishes these performances is how the two interact — affably and respectfully, in spite of the central premise. Long is cool not because he’s ultrahip but because he’s laid-back and confident, minus any trace of condescension,” Garfield reports.
Full article here:
http://adage.com/columns/article?article_id=113944
—
Also interesting this comment by Haroldo (a “Microsoft Most Valuable Professional”):
QUOTING:
“Two amusing real life parallels to the ads.
* I ran Windows Movie Maker (WMM). While it was relatively easy to use (this was not fairly depicted in the advertisement) and the end product was similar to similar movies created with iMovie HD, WMM crashed three times during the production. (the BETTER RESULTS advertisement)
* I am upgrading my computer in anticipation of installing Vista. I will dual boot, in case I don’t like it. During the installation of the video card, I had a ton of problems, some of it might have been due to the way Dell set up my PC, some of it might have been Windows fault (some of it might have been my fault). Irrespective of that, this scenario is fairly depicted in the recent advertisement is right on the mark. (the SURGERY advertisement)”
Edited 2007-02-07 14:38
They remind people Microsoft didn’t invent the pc.
I think the ads are very effective. I have found the ads make a real impression on people. Furthermore, they are BASED in truth: people really do get worried about PC upgrades, Macs are perceived by most people as cool and PCs are perceived as what we use at work.
In the end, I think VERY few people see themselves as the subject of mockery. I think that it’s interesting to hear Thom’s perspective, but then, Thom is a professed Vista user and has confessed to ridding himself of his Macs. So to hear that he is offended is very interesting. But certainly not representative.
Adam, your comment is off in just about every ‘fact’ it presents.
I’m not offended. Where did I say I was? In fact, where did I use the word ‘offended’? I was saying that Apple is basically making fun of Windows users, and if from what I’ve been hearing from people, they might not be offended, but they sure do find the commercials condescending and arrogant– and that’s not what you want your potential customers to think about you or your products.
I’m also not a ‘professed’ Vista user; I use Vista because it’s the best fit for my laptop (Ubuntu has a set of annoying quircks on this laptop). On my desktop for instance, I do not run Vista; it runs Ubuntu (it also has an XP installation in case my university requires a certain Windows app, like statistical software SPSS).
I also not ridded my house of Macs. I in fact have an iMac G3 in my bedroom. The reason I currently do not own a modern Mac is because I simply do not have the money to buy one. I sold my iBook G4 last summer in order to buy a MacBook, but “sadly”, right after I sold it, I moved to a new house which was a major drain on my financial reserves. The MacBook had to wait, and it still is waiting.
I really hate not having Mac OS X around. Seriously.
Edited 2007-02-07 16:42
My bad then.
I thought you had told me on multiple occasions that you don’t run OS X anymore, which is what I mean when I say “Mac.”
I have yet to find a single person who finds the Mac ads to be condescending, but if I did, I would wonder whether or not they have a sense of humor. everyone I know seems to agree that they depict the PC as a work fixture and the Mac as a fun home computer. There’s really not much room for offense, just oversensitivity, because these ads are pretty much all based in truth. Having managed several thousand computers, I can tell you about incidents that likely served as the source behind ALL of these ads.
On many occassions, you’ve written about how much you like Vista, and you told me that you have been using it full time (on your blog).
And lastly, the one that’s hardest to overlook is the fact that your personal weblog is overwhelmingly pro-Windows and anti-Apple/anti-OS X. You may not mean this to come across, but it does. That may explain why everyone is taking your opinion about Apple with a rather large grain of salt.
I thought you had told me on multiple occasions that you don’t run OS X anymore, which is what I mean when I say “Mac.”
I indeed do not run OS X at this point, but NOT because I chose to. I simply cannot justify, at this point, buying yet another computer. I would love to buy me a Mac right now, but I’m sorry, my social life, my rent, electricity/university/car bills are about 3928593583195 times more important than yet another computer.
A G4 Cube is in the pipeline though. Someone has one lying around, and as a new year’s gift, it will come my way one of these days/weeks.
because these ads are pretty much all based in truth
Yes, based in truth. Yet, when I say “Macs are only used for DTP purposes”, I’m an anti-Apple zealot and I am lying (apparantly offending Mac people), despite the fact it is “based in truth”. Yet when Apple fans overgeneralise the PC world, then suddenly “there’s really not much room for offense”.
Look, I like the ads, they are funny, and I have laughed over them, despite the fact they get old quite fast (and some truly make me cringe)– I just do not see them making PC users buy Macs. That’s all.
On many occassions, you’ve written about how much you like Vista, and you told me that you have been using it full time (on your blog).
Full time is a relative term. Darnit, I should’ve known not to use hyperboles like that, as many people on the net are unable to understand my overusage of hyperboles (ask my friends).
I run Vista on my laptop, and that’s it. My other machines all run other operating systems (Ubuntu/Zeta on my desktop machine, and OS9 on my iMac G3).
And lastly, the one that’s hardest to overlook is the fact that your personal weblog is overwhelmingly pro-Windows and anti-Apple/anti-OS X.
I hate the iPod, yes, but not because it is made by Apple. I hate the iPod because it’s a device I cannot use, the interface sucks, and I cannot use the scrollwheel, as I have often explained in great detail on my blog. That’s all.
I refuse to go all soft on Apple just because it’s Apple. It’s a company like any other, and if it makes crappy music players, or ads that I think do not work, I will call them on it.
As for pro-Windows… Apparantly I am not allowed to praise Vista. Everybody in the tech world is negative about it, so, when I write something positive because I sincerely like it, I am suddenly pro-Windows? Throwing away the past 18 months of unbiased reporting on OSAlert?
Thom, you’re not pro-Windows. You’re anti-everyone else. Right now everyone is out to get Vista, so you’re defending it. And right now OS X is all the rage (among the technocracy), so you’re not using it (even though you’re getting your hands into everything else).
Not long ago Linux was the constant buzz. You seemed to utterly despise anyone who was a real big fan: Too many pragmatic reasons to like Windows or Mac I suppose. Of course, completely ignoring that being a fan isn’t about pragmatism at all
. You can’t have pragmatic fun, seriously, you just can’t (or at least a lot of us can’t), and being a fan is about fun. Of course then there’s the ones who practically attend emacs/gnu church meetings, I can understand not getting along with those folks.
You’re also coming off as very defensive in this post. From the last few posts I tend to agree with Adam because he’s calm.
Hyperbole isn’t a tool you should use often in writing because it’s very hard to communicate without inflection. Especially if you have multi-national readership!
A decent article, but I tend to disagree. They are not making fun of PC users, they are making fun of the Windows Operating system. Microsoft always had problems creating an OS that is functional and well balenced. Sure Mac OS X certainly has it’s problems, but Windows has alot more of them. Vista out of the gate maybe pretty good or the best Windows OS ever, but that really isnt saying much. I’m not going to pay $399 for an OS that bugs me with “Are you sure”? or I need to buy 4GB of RAM in order to run it properly. I can go on, but why bother. Mac “Tiger” runs good on a 1GZ G4 or a Intel Core 2 2GHZ. Feed it 1GB and it does very well. I can replace any parts in it or load it on any Mac and I paid a little over $100 for the OS. Great deal to me and to boot Linux will run happily on one. Nope the ad is just fine. I’ve been using Windows since 3.1 and after XP I simply stopped using it. Windows sucks and it seems it will always be that way.
The ads are funny. I know several Windows users and they don’t get offended. PC has problems, but Mac doesn’t make fun of him directly. Mac just points out that he doesn’t have that problem or that certain tasks are easier or better on the Mac. And the issue of PC crashing and “I’ll go get IT” is something to which many Windows users can relate. We got Vista on one of our Windows boxes at home and the whole security thing is absolutely annoying. I will get a password dialog installing certain apps, but it’s not intrusive (I can leave it in the background if I want) and doesn’t happen very often. I’d say the ads work pretty well.
As for the MacBook, I’ve had one since July. It’s been a great machine with no problems. I did put 2GB of RAM in it and it flies. I’ve tried Parallels (have two Windows machines on the network, no need to have it on my Mac) and ran Windows and Linux side-by-side just for fun – and it worked well. As noted before, the GPU kinda sucks, though it will play WoW with options turned down. And the keyboard is a little funky at first, but after getting used to it, I LOVE it. MagSafe is nice too and has already saved me potential heartache (another Mac/PC ad that was funny).
The ads open the door. If it gets people into Apple Stores to try them out, they’ve done their job. Apple’s retail stores are great. Every time I go by one, there’s usually a line at checkout. They must be doing something right.
Apple is not going after that market. If all you want to spend on your computer is $300, and all free software, then Apple doesn’t care about you. It makes iPods more expensive than that. They’re looking for people who are willing to invest at least $800 when they buy a computer, software included. And thats the very bottom of their market. Most of their money is from the $2000 crowd.
nuff said…..