Apple Releases Three More Mac Versus PC Ads

[jimgleeson]

Macs Are PC's Too

I think just a couple of years ago I would have been shocked to hear those words uttered, but here it is 2007 and a Mac admits it can also do PC tasks without the performance hit that a PPC has to face when it runs Virtual PC. Some people most likely find this commercial to be an admission that Apple has gone to the darkside whereas I think it is simply inroads for the coming Windows to Mac OS X migration that is inevitible.

The commercial was great and placed during a re-airing of the Show House that apparently since I had nothing better to do I watched it.

By The Way you know your a mac geek when...you slow the Tivo down to watch the Apple ads.

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

Apple should be focusing on the positives of the Mac, not running a negative add campaign. You don't want Dell or Microsoft to start running ads detailing Apple's faults and there are some big ones.

That'll be funny - the day when Dell and Microsoft are forced to advertise the negatives of Apple to garner more market share.

With 4-5%, I don't think either of these companies have much to worry about - not yet, anyway (hopefully, sometime in the future tho )

 

[sushi]

By The Way you know your a mac geek when...you slow the Tivo down to watch the Apple ads.

Definitely!

 

[scibry]

the ads

i watched them. i recognize the mac guy from the (bad) movie The Break Up and the new one Accepted. it's amusing he played Lindsay Lohan's boyfriend. i guess that gives him cool points.

 

[seashellz]

I live in Seattle, and am stunned, literally stunned by the number of jazzy iPod billboards in the Seattle and King County area-dozens of them,
And on top of that, Bus Placards everywhere and even WHOLE Metro Transit buses painted up as iPod ads-top/sides/back
(i dont know how they see through the windows, but I hear they can)

Apple could really snatch the ring out of Microsofts nose here if VISTA turns out to be a dud like it apparently is....(and this is Microsoft territory-irony: APPLE has a major store less than a mile from MS HQ in the Bellevue/Redmond area.....)

 

[rayz]

You are clueless. I'm not saying these ads are the best thing ever, but you clearly don't get advertising. Or know anything about Windows. And certainly nothing about Macs.

Go back to a Windows site, that post is just sad. You are blaming Apple for people who can't remove packing from their new computer? Really?

I think you've got a bit of foam dribbling out the side of your mouth there ...

But thanks for making my point; you are EXACTLY the kind of person Apple is targetting with these ads ...

A fanatical response to a criticism of Apple. So sad, and so predictable. Will happily blame anyone else for the ills of world, on anyone else, but Apple MUST be blameless of anything. That would put a dent in your life-validating choice of the Mac platform, wouldn't it? ...

Don't tell me. You bought a PC only last week, and as soon as you opened the box, viruses jumped out of your fridge and infected it immediately ....

As I said, the ad is really aimed at Mac users (and not even the majority of Mac users; just the fanatical ones, such as your good self.) ... Wintel folk's self-esteem is certainly not tied to their platform, so rubbishing the platform is not going to work. It never has.

The iPod/iTunes campaign is perhaps THE best bit of widget marketing I have ever seen. And they have done it without even acknowledging that the competition exists. Completely focussed on how fab it is to have an iPod. I hope they learn lessons from it and come up with something as impressive for the Mac.

 

[rayz]

Definitely!

Wow!

I thought folk bought Tivo so they could get past the ads and straight back to the programmes ...

 

[mbabauer]

Bwahahahaha

These ads pwn! I watch them all the time because they are so damned funny. I hope Apple makes more.

Hmmm, I need to find them on bittorrent or something...

 

[Macnoviz]

I live in Seattle, and am stunned, literally stunned by the number of jazzy iPod billboards in the Seattle and King County area-dozens of them,
And on top of that, Bus Placards everywhere and even WHOLE Metro Transit buses painted up as iPod ads-top/sides/back
(i dont know how they see through the windows, but I hear they can)

Apple could really snatch the ring out of Microsofts nose here if VISTA turns out to be a dud like it apparently is....(and this is Microsoft territory-irony: APPLE has a major store less than a mile from MS HQ in the Bellevue/Redmond area.....)

There are good things about Vista, and bad things, but the good things are actually evil:
1. It features a lot of iprovements, most of them were stolen from Mac OS X (they didn't even bother to conceal it very well, come on, aero vs. aqua, gadgets vs. widgets !!??)

2. It looks promising for those people that like to answer dozens op pop-ups (sorry, dialog boxes) before performing simple tasks, and in one review, the reviewer didn't even understand what was said.

On a side note, the reports sent to Microsoft are now supposed to work, too

 

[rayz]

1. It features a lot of iprovements,

Was that deliberate? ....

 

[mbabauer]

But thanks for making my point; you are EXACTLY the kind of person Apple is targetting with these ads ...

A fanatical response to a criticism of Apple. So sad, and so predictable. Will happily blame anyone else for the ills of world, on anyone else, but Apple MUST be blameless of anything. That would put a dent in your life-validating choice of the Mac platform, wouldn't it? ...

I am new to the "mac world", having bought my wife a PowerBook G4 two years ago (she is a photographer), and finally getting a MBP when they first released earlier this year. As a software developer since high school, I have ALWAYS been on Windows until about 3 years ago when I switched to Linux because I was tired of the boring interface. I then switched to Mac because, as any self-respecting geek knows, running a source distribution like Gentoo, or even a package system like RedHat or Debian, takes a LOT of time. The switch to mac gave promise of *nix with commercially available software like Photoshop.

That said, I am no Mac zelot, BUT I can tell you out of the box my MBP did WAY more than my Windows PC did. When you actually USE a Mac with OS X, you find a new world of convenience right at your finger tips. Things like AppleScript and Automator, which I have automated about 80% of my wife's mundain tasks like downloading her pictures off her CFs and resizing them for upload and such. There really is a ton of freebies that come with a Mac. And as a developer, I was excited to see Apple just GIVING AWAY Xcode! Try looking up how much Visual Studio costs, even just the C++ compiler.

There are also some downsides, the most obvious being lack of games on OS X. This is "somewhat" erased since you can run Windows on a mac now, but then you are going backwards in my opinion. I feel as more people switch, this problem will alieviate itself.

Don't tell me. You bought a PC only last week, and as soon as you opened the box, viruses jumped out of your fridge and infected it immediately ....

My best friend works for Foundstone, and I get the "inside" scoop on security and viruses from him daily. He just made the switch, on his own with not one lick of presure from me, and he is in the same state of euphoria as I.

That said, the main reason there are not viruses for Macs or any *nix has to do with demographics, not security of the OS. If I was devious, and decided to write a virus, who would I rather target? 10 billion Windows users or 1 million mac users? Add to this the general hackers disdain for anything Microsoft, and it obvious *why* there are so many viruses for Windows.

As I said, the ad is really aimed at Mac users (and not even the majority of Mac users; just the fanatical ones, such as your good self.) ... Wintel folk's self-esteem is certainly not tied to their platform, so rubbishing the platform is not going to work. It never has.

The ad is aimed more at my mom and dad than some Mac zelot, IMHO. My dad, who is 54yrs old, calls me up to ask me about this new "Mac thing". My dad is no idiot, he is just computer-illiterate and slightly phobic. The ads are wity, and the humor appeals to any well educated market.

Also, the style has an apeal that demands a second glance. I was at a sports pub the other day, and one of the iPod ads came on, and I swear everyone turned and watched for at least 20 seconds. Don't fault Apple because they hire good PR people that have great attention-grabbing ads, blame Microsoft for not doing so.

The iPod/iTunes campaign is perhaps THE best bit of widget marketing I have ever seen. And they have done it without even acknowledging that the competition exists. Completely focussed on how fab it is to have an iPod. I hope they learn lessons from it and come up with something as impressive for the Mac.

Do you even own an iPod? I actually own both a Creative Zen and several iPods. I bought the Zen first, because I could get a 20gb Zen for less then a 10gb iPod. Let me tell you, the Zen sucks. Everyone I know has bought an iPod because the competition just doesn't have a decent offering.

Just as an end note, I know this has been said time and time again, but I just don't understand why people who do not seem to like Apple come to an Apple-related site to post about how Apple sucks. I mean, do you REALLY have that much time on your hands that you just troll around for arguments? I mean, common sense tells you that you don't paint yourself black and run through a KKK meeting. You are not going to change anyones mind here, and we are not going to change yours.

 

[jaxstate]

So let me get this right. PC's aren't good at networking, PC users are dumb, PCs have virii. Then to end it, "Macs are PCs too" (WTF). If apple only knew that the PC users I know think that Mac users are not very bright, so they have to use a Mac. I think this entire "FUN" ******** ads are just silly and annoying.

I don't think this will have any affect on the current trend of how people buy computers.

 

[rayz]

I am new to the "mac world", <snip/>having bought my
Also, the style has an apeal that demands a second glance. I was at a sports pub the other day, and one of the iPod ads came on, and I swear everyone turned and watched for at least 20 seconds. Don't fault Apple because they hire good PR people that have great attention-grabbing ads, blame Microsoft for not doing so.
.....

Well, I guess our opinions. Personally, I haven't met a single PC user who has been fooled by this. Then again, I haven't met a PC user with a virus on his machine for quite some time either ....

Do you even own an iPod?

Did you even read the message? Nope. Didn't think so. What really made me laugh here, is that you were so keen to jump and defend Apple at all costs, you didn't even take in what I said about the iPod.

I own two iPods. One 60GB chunky, and a 1GB Shuffle. The 60GB one went wrong, and Apple replaced it without batting an eyelid. The Shuffle has never given me one ounce of trouble. The Shuffle was bought within an hour of seeing the advert. Best UI (not the Shuffle obviously; though for a device with no screen, the UI isn't at all bad), pretty good sound, and the best music service to go with it.

Just as an end note, I know this has been said time and time again, but I just don't understand why people who do not seem to like Apple come to an Apple-related site to post about how Apple sucks. I mean, do you REALLY have that much time on your hands that you just troll around for arguments?

My apologies. As a Mac user I thought I was entitled to an opinion on a Mac forum.

I really had no idea that you came here just to worship ....

Ok then

"Er ... the Apple ads are fantastic. Every time I see one I just wanna ... oooh ... I just wanna ..Gosh I can't even say what I wanna do!"

There ya go. Feel better?

Now you carry on mate .. worship away; but don't wear your knees out ....

 

[rayz]

So let me get this right. PC's aren't good at networking, PC users are dumb, PCs have virii. Then to end it, "Macs are PCs too" (WTF). If apple only knew that the PC users I know think that Mac users are not very bright, so they have to use a Mac. I think this entire "FUN" ******** ads are just silly and annoying.

I don't think this will have any affect on the current trend of how people buy computers.

I'm not sure they were really meant to ...

 

[BenRoethig]

Apple could really snatch the ring out of Microsofts nose here if VISTA turns out to be a dud like it apparently is....(and this is Microsoft territory-irony: APPLE has a major store less than a mile from MS HQ in the Bellevue/Redmond area.....)

Only if Apple allows OSX to be run on the kind of hardware they want to buy. Apple (and many Mac users) have a hard time understanding this. As long as the Mac platform caters only to the wants of 5% of the market, Microsoft can keep producing crap and they'll buy it.

 

[rayz]

Only if Apple allows OSX to be run on the kind of hardware they want to buy. Apple (and many Mac users) have a hard time understanding this. As long as the Mac platform caters only to the wants of 5% of the market, Microsoft can keep producing crap and they'll buy it.

How would Apple make as much money selling just software, as they do selling hardware? Perhaps they need a better range of hardware ....

 

[jaxstate]

This is the only way. If apple haven't gained any ground in the 5 years (guess) XP has been out, while releasing major OS bumps, I don't think they ever can. Not buy doing what they are doing now.

Only if Apple allows OSX to be run on the kind of hardware they want to buy. Apple (and many Mac users) have a hard time understanding this. As long as the Mac platform caters only to the wants of 5% of the market, Microsoft can keep producing crap and they'll buy it.

 

[dubnluvn]

Only if Apple allows OSX to be run on the kind of hardware they want to buy. Apple (and many Mac users) have a hard time understanding this. As long as the Mac platform caters only to the wants of 5% of the market, Microsoft can keep producing crap and they'll buy it.

Apple is different. The build their computers such that all the components are completely compatable with each other. Thats one reason why you can't upgrade them, except for the PowerMac (Mac Pro) They design the software to work as flawlessly as possible together, with very tight tolerances. Windows on the other hand is designed (i'm not even sure we can use that term since it represents a deliberate act of form and/or function) with loose tolerances allow various hardware to work, without regard for efficientcy.

So why then would they let their OS that they meticulously designed to work with a set group of hardware to run some joe-shmo built PC that will no doubt adversely affect the performance of the OS. Kinda like putting a mercedes body on a Hyundai chassis. It'll look good parked but won't be nearly the experience when you actually drive it.

 

[Macnoviz]

Was that deliberate? ....

No, but it will be corrected with the next service pack...
coming in a few months,... I mean this year,... I mean somewhere in the future

 

[swingerofbirch]

Apple is having some trouble; their Get a Mac site seems to be a work in progress. Yesterday the section on Windows said:

"Plus, since Apple designs and tests the operating system and new hardware at the same time, the company can optimize software and hardware to work well together. That means on such well-designed hardware, that MacBook Pro runs even some Windows software faster than PCs themselves, according to third party results. (They’re able to get these results with beta software from the next version of Mac OS X, Leopard. Apple Computer does not sell or support Microsoft Windows.)"

This made absolutely no consequential sense. Apple is saying the Mac Book Pro runs fast because they manufacture OS X specifically for the hardware, and because of this Windows apps run faster!? Huh?

Today they deleted this paragraph to the website.

They still have:

As fast as lightning, according to some industry pundits. Listen to what Computerworld’s Scot Finnie has to say. “Windows XP,” he exclaims, “runs extremely fast on the Mac with very few quirks or issues — so fast and well, in fact, that the notion of having your cake and eating it too comes to mind.”

VERY FEW QUIRKS OR ISSUES! This isn't great advertising. I wish Apple would go back to that certain elegance they had in their understated marketing.

 

[gloss]

Let me present a script to summarize all the ads to date:

Mac: Hi, I'm a Mac.

PC: And I'm a PC.

Mac: PC, bend over.

PC: OK, I'm used to it. (bends over)

Mac: (spends the remainder of the ad paddling PC)

Shot of iMac/MacBook.

They really should make an online-only ad with this script. I would buy 10 more laptops.

 

[crossed-over]

The PC guy looks like Bill Gates. On purpose?? Either way... i crack up every time I see one of these on TV.

 

[JAT]

I really had no idea that you came here just to worship ....

You are still clueless. Anytime a person says something good about Apple, they are rolling around on the floor in their own spittle, right? Life is less black and white than you want, get a grip. I voted Meh on this thread.

You think these are aimed at Mac users? Fanatic Mac users, only? That's just stupid. Fanatic Mac users think they are cute and talk about them on the internet, but it won't change how they buy computers, they already buy Macs. Why would any company throw millions in advertising at their own fanatics? What a waste of money that would be.

They are aimed at average computer users who might want to upgrade to something better. And that's why they are pretentious, to convince people that the Mac is better. Whether it works depends on the person.

I may actually agree with you that an ad series like the iPod series could be more effective, not sure yet. The iPod was not in the same situation, so the same format may not be appropriate for Macs. Cute little MP3 players were not the popular item they are now, it didn't have mountains to climb like Mac does with its 3% market share of one of the largest consumer product markets in the world.

Windows virus free....I'm still trying to parse that one. No idea how to respond to someone who thinks Windows doesn't have a virus problem. What else, Africa doesn't have a food shortage problem?

 

[zephead]

Then again, I haven't met a PC user with a virus on his machine for quite some time either ....

That's because the PC user doesn't know he's infected with a virus. He just takes the unusual sluggishness as a normal part of using a computer.

 

[mbabauer]

You are still clueless. Anytime a person says something good about Apple, they are rolling around on the floor in their own spittle, right? Life is less black and white than you want, get a grip.

Here here...

You think these are aimed at Mac users? Fanatic Mac users, only? That's just stupid. Fanatic Mac users think they are cute and talk about them on the internet, but it won't change how they buy computers, they already buy Macs. Why would any company throw millions in advertising at their own fanatics? What a waste of money that would be.

They are aimed at average computer users who might want to upgrade to something better. And that's why they are pretentious, to convince people that the Mac is better. Whether it works depends on the person.

That was exactly my point, although not stated as clear. My dad actually DID call me and ask me about buying a Mac. He has an older Dell. My response, it depends on what you want to do with it, really. The lines are a little more blurred now you can run Windows on a Mac, but its still a valid response. I let him use my MBP for the weekend, and he seems like he wants to buy one now. The funny thing, he was up and running on OS X with very little help. This from a man that still calles 3 1/2" diskettes "Hard Drives".

Windows virus free....I'm still trying to parse that one. No idea how to respond to someone who thinks Windows doesn't have a virus problem. What else, Africa doesn't have a food shortage problem?

Again, totally agree. I work for a VERY large corporation that has 180k devices. My job is to develop web tools using Tivoli and such to allow management of those devices. I could not tell you how many patches and what-not we distribute through these systems in a given night...its a lot. Part of this is due to crappy code from Microsoft, but part is due to the large target sign Microsoft wears.