Apple Comments on Microsoft's Laptop Hunter Ads

[russellb]

No Not Strange

It IS odd that Microsoft is saying that Macs are cool right in their own ads.

Really, that's the best they can do? Tell people that the other company is "cool" and hope that that somehow makes people like you more? No wonder Apple PR made a rare public quote on this one. They're being served softballs.

No it's not really strange. Basically Microsoft know they cant fight Apple on the "cool" factor so why not run adds that grab people attention and say hey we know Macs are cool BUT !

That way they get the punters thinking for a second that if the statement about macs being cool is correct then maybe the rest of the add has some merit.

But that aside , pretty stupid of microsoft to be promoting that fact as they dont have a hope in hell of building anything that actually functions as a better user experience than a Mac.

 

[ziggyonice]

You don't think a college student knows what a torrent is? Really? Have you not read the news lately?

I work on a very large college campus. I help hundreds of college students with their computers each day. I can tell you, without a doubt in my mind, the average college student doesn't know what a torrent is. The geeks do, yes. The average college student? No.

You can't say that Mac users need to be concerned with their security based on the idea that the one dreaded "iWork '09 torrent trojan" is going to be a game changer in the Mac vs. PC argument. Again, the average computer user (Mac or PC) doesn't even know what a torrent is. The geeks do, yes. The average computer user? No.

Macs remain more secure than Windows based PCs.

 

[TennisandMusic]

Aha. Yep. Sure. Great designs and advanced software. Ahem. I had to buy Aperture to get something that's actually useful and not a toy like iPhoto. And that pretty much ends the entire iLife discussion for me -- on my Macs, iLife is about as useful for me as all that demo-ware that comes on an average grocery store PC.

Most of that "advanced" software this guy is talking about is actually a waste of space on the hard disk.

Putting a full version of iWork on a new Mac would be more useful for many people - especially for those who use their computer for boring stuff like real work. And even better than iWork would be a fully working version of Microsoft Office - after all, that is the de facto standard.

Or is he talking about OS X? You know, the consumer OS that falls short in almost every regard when you want to deploy it in an enterprise environment.

Or is he talking about Apple NOT providing on-site warranty like the rest of the big PC companies?

No. He's just getting paid to tell the fans the same old catchphrases again so that they keep donating their money to the Holy Church of Apple for the next "amazing, awesome, patented product that will totally change the way of how you think of whatever". And at the end of the day, it's just another buggy mp3 player, a cell phone that lacks basic features (copy & paste, anyone?) or another computer that still needs an additional Windows license for most customers to become useful - or compatible.

Sorry, folks, but I've been in the industry way too long (since the early 1980s) and I'm sick of tired of all that "Hooray!" crap, no matter from which "fraction" it comes. Apple is nice for the home office, but they completely suck in a business environment. Apple also sucks for gamers and for a lot of other typical consumer things as well (digital video-recording, for example). On the other hand, there are very good reasons why Dell, HP and IBM "own" the corporate hardware market and why Microsoft is and will remain the #1 provider of software platforms - for both the enterprise AND consumers. Those guys sell excellent SERVICE and VERSATILE solutions at extremely competitive prices. No, they don't sell designs. And they don't sell dreams, either. That's the business Apple is in.

As a user of both, and someone who just doesn't care about all of this, it's good to see someone else "gets it." Some of the comments in here are completely asinine.

Also, unless Apple has something up their sleeve with Snow Leopard, they should be terrified of Windows 7. In my opinion, it kills OSX. Using my mac has become painful.

 

[miggitymac]

But that aside , pretty stupid of microsoft to be promoting that fact as they dont have a hope in hell of building anything that actually functions as a better user experience than a Mac.

Also, unless Apple has something up their sleeve with Snow Leopard, they should be terrified of Windows 7. In my opinion, it kills OSX. Using my mac has become painful.

I was just about to say to russellb: Enter Windows 7.

 

[applecultvictim]

It's an expression of envy and insecurity, which is uninversally perceived as pathetic, and the last thing you want is for your business to look pathetic. I can see why he was once ousted from his own company because he was too erratic and temperamental. Brilliant, sure, but immature and unprofessional (at least back then... everyone grows up eventually).

In an area such as geekdome and the computer industry full of immaturity, I think it's very mature to bank on this dynamic. Plus it's fun to me, don't take it so seriously.

 

[Anuba]

Also, unless Apple has something up their sleeve with Snow Leopard, they should be terrified of Windows 7. In my opinion, it kills OSX. Using my mac has become painful.

The new taskbar is quite the game changer, yeah... though Win7 still hurts my eyes, like Vista did, like XP did. Too many jarring color combinations (typically green/blue). If MS would only realize that the OS is supposed to be in the background, not the foreground, their products would be much better.

 

[Winni]

(Macs aren't problem-free, but they have FEWER problems, and easier to diagnose. That trend is real.)

No, it's not. It's a very subjective statement.

Macs have fewer problems? Really? You cannot even properly debug most Apple problems, because the software does not even give you a descriptive error message.

Connect half a dozen or more external hard disks to ANY Mac via FireWire and/or USB and then tell me why sooner or later the Mac won't find its boot volume anymore. Without ANY error message, of course. Just a folder symbol with a question mark on the screen. Very helpful. For me, this has been a real issue for four years now on more than just one Mac.

Issues like the OS X 10.5 retail DVD being unable to boot on a Mac Pro with an nVidia 8800GT graphics card are also very real. If you don't know that you have to use a 10.5.2 DVD, you're really screwed. And if you've bought a Family Box of 10.5 and -do- know about that issue, you're still screwed because you have to purchase a new DVD from Apple because your marvelous Protection Plan won't help you here.

To make a long story full of anecdotal evidence short and simple: Among other things, I troubleshoot computers for a living - no matter what brand or OS. Open Source products are great here because they are, well, OPEN. On the other hand, Open Source products are the worst nightmare because they actually need MUCH more troubleshooting than any commercial product that I know. But when it comes to the old battle between Macs on OS X and PCs on Windows, I pick the Windows-side of things any day. As long as the Mac works, it provides a much nicer user experience. But when it stops working - and like any other machine that's really being used, it rather sooner than later WILL stop working - it's a bitch to troubleshoot.

 

[DMann]

pretty stupid of microsoft to be promoting that fact as they dont have a hope in hell of building anything that actually functions as a better user experience than a Mac.

For this, they ought to be commended for their honesty.

 

[polaris20]

I work on a very large college campus. I help hundreds of college students with their computers each day. I can tell you, without a doubt in my mind, the average college student doesn't know what a torrent is. The geeks do, yes. The average college student? No.

You can't say that Mac users need to be concerned with their security based on the idea that the one dreaded "iWork '09 torrent trojan" is going to be a game changer in the Mac vs. PC argument. Again, the average computer user (Mac or PC) doesn't even know what a torrent is. The geeks do, yes. The average computer user? No.

Macs remain more secure than Windows based PCs.

Uh oh, personal anecdote time. You work on A college campus. That's a very scientific survey of students across the country.

Much has been made of the use of torrents and P2P for music and movie downloads in terms of lawsuits. You don't think these same people are using it for software?

And again, the example I gave is just that; an example it can be done. Whether or not it will be done on a larger scale depends on Apple's ability to grow its marketshare coupled with the profitability for malware writers.

The Pwn2Own contest alone shows that OS X is not more secure than Windows, but merely has less malware written for it because of such a sliver of marketshare. No money in it.

 

[Anuba]

In an area such as geekdome and the computer industry full of immaturity, I think it's very mature to bank on this dynamic. Plus it's fun to me, don't take it so seriously.

I don't, but Steve does. Look at all those old clips where he disses everything non-Mac in general and Microsoft in particular, his eyes begin to emit a faint red glow and you can see smoke coming out of his ears.

 

[dokein]

I can tell you, without a doubt in my mind, the average college student doesn't know what a torrent is. The geeks do, yes. The average college student? No.

You can't say that Mac users need to be concerned with their security based on the idea that the one dreaded "iWork '09 torrent trojan" is going to be a game changer in the Mac vs. PC argument.

On the other hand, I think it is safe to say the average college student can tell you what a trojan is. And not just the Classic Civ majors.

But they won't be talking about computers.

 

[Eidorian]

No, it's not. It's a very subjective statement.

Macs have fewer problems? Really? You cannot even properly debug most Apple problems, because the software does not even give you a descriptive error message.

Connect half a dozen or more external hard disks to ANY Mac via FireWire and/or USB and then tell me why sooner or later the Mac won't find its boot volume anymore. Without ANY error message, of course. Just a folder symbol with a question mark on the screen. Very helpful. For me, this has been a real issue for four years now on more than just one Mac.

Issues like the OS X 10.5 retail DVD being unable to boot on a Mac Pro with an nVidia 8800GT graphics card are also very real. If you don't know that you have to use a 10.5.2 DVD, you're really screwed. And if you've bought a Family Box of 10.5 and -do- know about that issue, you're still screwed because you have to purchase a new DVD from Apple because your marvelous Protection Plan won't help you here.

To make a long story full of anecdotal evidence short and simple: Among other things, I troubleshoot computers for a living - no matter what brand or OS. Open Source products are great here because they are, well, OPEN. On the other hand, Open Source products are the worst nightmare because they actually need MUCH more troubleshooting than any commercial product that I know. But when it comes to the old battle between Macs on OS X and PCs on Windows, I pick the Windows-side of things any day. As long as the Mac works, it provides a much nicer user experience. But when it stops working - and like any other machine that's really being used, it rather sooner than later WILL stop working - it's a bitch to troubleshoot.

After reading your post I'm starting to believe my Windows using peers on the learning curve to diagnosing OS X and Apple hardware problems. The ridiculous number of details, even limited to just one model, that I've picked up over the years.

 

[Mal]

Aha. Yep. Sure. Great designs and advanced software. Ahem. I had to buy Aperture to get something that's actually useful and not a toy like iPhoto. And that pretty much ends the entire iLife discussion for me -- on my Macs, iLife is about as useful for me as all that demo-ware that comes on an average grocery store PC.

Not going to bother with the whole post of this drivel, but seriously... want to actually back up statements about iPhoto being just a toy, etc? I use iPhoto constantly. It's an incredible piece of software and does more than most PC software programs can dream of for your pictures. The rest of iLife is almost all used on a daily basis by either myself or by people I know (I don't have a video camera, so I don't use either iMovie or iDVD, but I know a number of people who would be lost without either or both, just as an example). Sounds like you've got something against software for normal people.

Sure, if you've got something like a professional digital SLR camera and you're shooting in RAW, you're going to need Aperture. Short of that, iPhoto will handle anything the average person would need and beyond. Same can be said of everything that comes on the Mac. It'd be nice to have iWork included too, but when was the last time you saw a PC loaded with Office? It's more and more rare now, because companies are trying to drop prices so they eliminate extra features that not everyone needs/wants in order to lower their costs. In Apple's case, they probably could throw in iWork still, but it's only $50 with a new computer now, and only $80 after the fact, which wipes the floor with Office, so why would they feel any need to do so? Besides, anyone who really needed Office would just find iWork preloaded to be a waste of space and money, so then you'd have the same complaints from some other camp.

Get a grip, dude.

jW

 

[synth3tik]

Bill should keep his mouth shut.

Apple is no bargain, and honestly OS X works the same amount of time as Windows. The one thing is at least with my Macs I am over charged for cheap components.

What is the difference between Apple and other computer manufacturers?

Apple gets more revenue per unit. The end user only sees a higher price for that.

About a year ago or so I made the decision not to buy any more Apple hardware new. Don't get me wrong I love OS X, but the computers don't even come close to worth it.

 

[twoodcc]

not a great response really. where's a new mac vs pc ad?

 

[applecultvictim]

I don't, but Steve does. Look at all those old clips where he disses everything non-Mac in general and Microsoft in particular, his eyes begin to emit a faint red glow and you can see smoke coming out of his ears.

he's a bit of a psycho that way lol, but that's part of his charm, how committed he is.

 

[BongoBanger]

That was Apple's reply?

Talk about digging an even bigger hole for themselves.

 

[AppleG]

Whichever way you may think, pcs may be cheap but they do the job right if you use it in a proper way. Just think about it it's just like a car if you take care of it it will last for a long time. Don't get me wrong here i'm on both sides when it comes to computers... although i still think apple is a little bit more innovative

 

[Penguinwrangler]

In a nutshell...

Apple has completely and utterly won the marketing battle that seemed so daunting for them just a few years back--the battle to convince the masses of the following:

Macs are an option that exists.

This is what it's been about for YEARS. How quickly people forget how close Apple came to the brink, and how it was the combination of the iPod and the iMac that saved them, not the iMac alone.


And, also, Windows 7 IS a very clean looking OS. Too bad they're going to license it to a bunch of idiots who are going to install it on horribly built machines and then fill it full of bloatware. I'll continue to dual-boot, thanks.

 

[Anuba]

That was Apple's reply?

Talk about digging an even bigger hole for themselves.

I don't think it should be taken as the official response... sounds more like they got hold of some intern who uttered a couple of sentences before he realized he was in way over his head.

 

[diogossb]

My thoughts: Microsoft's recent ads clearly show that Microsoft doesn't know what they can say for people to stop leaving Windows. What they say is: "Ok macs may be better, but we are cheaper" , and this is not the best marketing strategy as i see it, and this is what i thought when i saw the ads.

Now, Apple on the other hand, clearly says what they wanna do: We want to increase our sales by being better than the others, not by being cheaper.

This is way i am buying 13.3 macbook tomorrow and i already had an iMac before. FOR ME, they do make better products has they advertise.
I can give you some examples, a member of my family has a macbook, and the thing which most liked about it and actually used it, was the trackpad. I never liked the other laptops trackpads, if i want to scroll down i have to use that side thing which doesn't work most of the times, now on the mac i drop two fingers and there it is. Another example, doing network sharing using a mac is the most easiest thing on Earth, you go to a finder window and the computers in your network automatically appear on the sidebar. This is brilliant. If i try to share files between Windows XP and Vista... well i never got it to work lol.

So to conclude: People, please stop making these "i am better than you" wars because in the end, everyone buys what they thinks it is best for them, and both brands' ads try to atract the costumer to their side, but personaly i think Apple is doing a better job here.

 

[synth3tik]

I don't think it should be taken as the official response... sounds more like they got hold of some intern who uttered a couple of sentences before he realized he was in way over his head.

Evan's no intern.

 

[ziggyonice]

That was Apple's reply?

Talk about digging an even bigger hole for themselves.

It wasn't their reply. It was just a two-sentence comment a PR rep. told during an interview. A "reply" would be much bigger than this. This is really just "Page 2" news.

 

[Morod]

PCs make the world move so they don't have to be so bad...

You've obviously never been dependent on MS boxes in a work environment. I was in the engineering dep't of a broadcast TV station where our signal was run through a plethora of Windows computers (due to the digital transition). What a nightmare!
I'm not saying OS X would've handled the situation better, but it sure couldn't have handled it any worse....
Morod

 

[lunarworks]

Actually, PC users started it. All of the Mac users I've see are innocent people and then there's the PC fanboys always [first to] pick on Mac users and how they suck. I haven't heard one good reason about why Macs suck from any PC fanboy. Oh and saying Macs suck because it just does is not a reason at all, much less a good one.

It used to be MUCH worse. I've been dealing with it since 1993.

Also, at one point there was an overnight hater flop from "Apple sucks because they're not popular" to "Apple sucks because they're too popular".