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MacBook??? - Steve Jobs vs Apple 2009...

crackbookpro

crackbookpro

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 25, 2009
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Om nom nom nom
...or should I say, Apple 2008 vs Apple without Steve Jobs in 2009. I find more and more posts about Apple's marketing stance, and their rebranding. I am confused, so if anyone has a good grasp on there future marketing predictions...go ahead. I know there has already been posts about these issues, but I was looking for some in-depth thinking, as well as a just yes or no - Would Steve Jobs be in approval of what is going on with the MacBook?

Apple 2008 - check out Steve Jobs explaining the introduction of the MacBook last year at the keynote - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-JcLA2vEIY. If you tune in to the 8th minute of the Keynote - the part where he introduces the new alu uni MacBook. Right away, Steve Jobs tells us why they have an all new MacBook!!! ...and tells us what MacBook users 3 most lusted features were:

1: metal enclosure
2: faster graphics
3: LED backlit screen

Apple 2009 - Well, just it check-out....... http://www.apple.com/macbook/

I know it's just a name, but MacBook users have to be bummed. That site looks like the apple website from 2 or 3 years ago. :p I get it, go get a 13" MBP now, but stratetigic marketing is something Steve Jobs always had, and I don't think it lies in Apple right now because Apple is starting to lose people...


CrackBookPro:cool:
 
The bottom of the pack range MB is going to go soon.

People are heading for the MBP - regardless of price now because it is more advanced - better and the enclosure is amazing.

I am thinking of a tablet - just seems weird having one product in that line.

What about this press conference at the end of this month?

Could SJ announce a new revolutionary product?
 
crackbookpro said:
...and tells us what MacBook users 3 most lusted features were:

1: metal enclosure
2: faster graphics
3: LED backlit screen
Click to expand...
A metal enclosure? I doubt that was on the most requested feature list.

So what is it you can't figure out about Apple's marketing? The fact they are still keeping the white macbook?
 
Richard1028 said:
A metal enclosure? I doubt that was on the most requested feature list.

So what is it you can't figure out about Apple's marketing? The fact they are still keeping the white macbook?
Click to expand...

Metal Enclosure? - Yes, it was the first feature he mentioned. Did you watch the Keynote in 08?

White MacBook? - Who knows why they still have their white MacBook. My first answer would be popularity & demand. But, who knows - maybe the manufacture of their polycarbonate just gave them a new price of white polycarbonate that was a business decision they could not resist...because I thought as I know many of you have - the polycarbonate was getting phased out because of cracking issues and durabilty, and the reason for keeping it was because the demand was still there.

Apple Marketing? - For one, if you might have figured out by my OP, I'm a fan of Steve Jobs, and I believe it is he who deserves the utmost respect when it comes to Apple's success. And, I was more or less asking if SJ would approve? If you are asking what I can't figure out about Apple's marketing - click here >> http://www.apple.com/macbook/

CrackBookPro:cool:
 
:eek: Where'd the metal macbook go?? There's a reason behind this, step backwards perhaps because of the economy???

Either way still interested in the price point with a cheaper "netbook" , that's why I'll be looking to buy one for my wifey :)

I guess a lot of people were impressed with the macbook pro's aluminum enclosure that they tried to adapt it to the macbook too soon. Seems that didn't work out so hot :confused:
 
There has been an assumption that the whitebook is being phased out. I have yet to see any solid evidence that this is the case. If I had to put a bet on it, and of course I could be wrong, I think that the macbook has at least another two years before it is phased out. A lot of people still like them, and as far as I can see, they are not even going to attempt to bring the 13 inch MBP into the macbook price range.
 
I betchya they're freeing up the MacBook name for a range of cheaper laptops in the 10 or 11 inch range.
 
Are people seriously this dense?

The exact same 13'' unibody aluminum MacBook from last October is still here... It's just been given a few minor updates and rebranded. That's it. "Pro" means absolutely nothing, it's just a marketing gimmick that Apple has used for the last decade. The 13'' MacBook "Pro" is more or less the same machine as last October, with only minor differences.

And yes, I'm sure Steve Jobs would be perfectly fine with how things are right now. So can we please stop acting like Apple has regressed, downgraded, etc. the MacBook? If you don't understand that it's possible to rebrand a single product in multiple ways, then obviously you should take a class in marketing.
 
Why are so many people wanting a tablet? I see it in every other post when it comes to predictions about any new Apple hardware. Are that many people really going to buy one?


The only real advantage I could see about one is if you wanted to actually "draw" something into an editor. Other than that, unless MacRumors is filled with artists just dying for a tablet I think too many people want things for the sake of just having them.
 
Chozo said:
Why are so many people wanting a tablet? I see it in every other post when it comes to predictions about any new Apple hardware. Are that many people really going to buy one?


The only real advantage I could see about one is if you wanted to actually "draw" something into an editor. Other than that, unless MacRumors is filled with artists just dying for a tablet I think too many people want things for the sake of just having them.
Click to expand...
People want a tablet because it will be made by Apple, instantly making it superior to every other tablet PC in the history of the known universe. Or so it will be written.

Tablet PCs are very much a niche product, like netbooks. They aren't really going to appeal to a mass audience, but they do have some very clever advantages over traditional notebook computer designs.

I think at this point, it's quite clear that Apple's tablet form factor is in the iPhone/iPod touch. Between the App Store, iTunes Store and upgradeable firmware (along with a touch screen), it can practically emulate a tablet PC in every way.
 
crackbookpro said:
White MacBook? - Who knows why they still have their white MacBook. My first answer would be popularity & demand.

CrackBookPro:cool:
Click to expand...

Price Point - plain and simple

Imagine if Apple made the White Mac Book for sale at $999.

Now imagine if Apple made an Alum MBP entry model and sold it at $999.

What do you think would happen to sales of the White MB ????

Perhaps this realignment is an indication of something to come.

Tablet? Perhaps.

I think in time we will see the White Macbook dropped, and the lowest MBP priced at $999. Apple needs a sub $1000 notebook for those people who absolutely refuse to spend $1000 for a notebook. Sounds silly doesn't it, I mean what's the difference between $1000 and $999? Well in numbers it's only $1, but in peoples heads it is the difference between BUY and DON'T BUY.


But in the end - it's JUST A NAME

Macbook
Macbook Pro

IMHO if it does not have a PC Card Slot so I can use my CF adapter like I do in my Powerbook, it's not a Pro anyway! ;) :lol:
 
Chozo said:
Why are so many people wanting a tablet? I see it in every other post when it comes to predictions about any new Apple hardware. Are that many people really going to buy one?


The only real advantage I could see about one is if you wanted to actually "draw" something into an editor. Other than that, unless MacRumors is filled with artists just dying for a tablet I think too many people want things for the sake of just having them.
Click to expand...

The advantage of a tablet?? One handed MOBILE COMPUTING, touch screen !!! Give it Full Bluetooth and SPEECH COMMAND

The possibilities would be ENDLESS

OMG!!!

I would be FIRST IN LINE if Apple came out with a 12" Tablet !!!!

I'd be the first to mount one on the handlebars of a Motorcycle !!!!

Imagine being able to strip off all instrumentation - GPS - Radio from the bike and having only that Tablet up front!!!!!!!!

That'd be so cooooooooool !!!!
 
Quillz said:
Are people seriously this dense?

The exact same 13'' unibody aluminum MacBook from last October is still here... It's just been given a few minor updates and rebranded. That's it. "Pro" means absolutely nothing, it's just a marketing gimmick that Apple has used for the last decade. The 13'' MacBook "Pro" is more or less the same machine as last October, with only minor differences.

And yes, I'm sure Steve Jobs would be perfectly fine with how things are right now. So can we please stop acting like Apple has regressed, downgraded, etc. the MacBook? If you don't understand that it's possible to rebrand a single product in multiple ways, then obviously you should take a class in marketing.
Click to expand...

To let you know, I do understand marketing, but I don't understand what is going on now with Apple.

I explained my point about Steve Jobs, and him taking his stance on the MacBook less than a year ago. I know MB & MBP are just a name, but Steve made it the name it is today through strategic marketing & Apple is going against his wishes in his last keynote speach. just check the site out - http://www.apple.com/macbook/ ...there is no option for a metal enclosure for MacBook customers. To me, you would be an awful consumer right now buying the whitebook. Why not spend an extra $200 right now for the metal enclosure that the "MacBook customers wanted in years past" as Steve put so eloquently in the fall Keynote?

Quilz, do you have a good marketing reason why? I mean, in a simplified look, you are getting the customer to spend $200(I see the quick gain there), but that can not be the reason behind this. I do not get the price point of the white $1000 MacBook vs the $1200 MBP. There is a MacBookPro for $200 more than a plastic MacBook. I would pay the extra $200 anyday for the 13" MBP. $200 is nothing for a metal enclosure, newer & better trackpad, LED display, SD slot, better battery, FW 800, better CPU and DDR3 RAM. IT"S BASICALLY A STEAL FOR $200 more!

The only thing good coming of this, is that Steve Jobs will be back in action in less than 30 days, and I totally see him adding a line of cheap Macs because of the free'd up branding of the now white plastic only MacBook :( http://www.apple.com/macbook/ :( the MacBook website looks like 2006 all over again...

To me, Apple Marketing in the past has always made sense and for me as a Marketing Director of a medical technology firm, I would use them for guidance & motivation. But right now, I see Apple in a transitional phase and their once very smart strategic marketing in aloof. Something big is going to be released...sooner than later. It has to, because they are not making sense with their line of products, and their price differentiation at this time.

Apple, only months back, made you cough-up a lot of dough to go from a MacBook to a MacBook Pro. And with that jump in price, came a drastic jump in technology. I thought this was very smart, because fewer options = less buyers hesitation, and altogether is good for most of the consumers in the world who do not get all the advantages/disadvantages of computer technology.

The only way I am calling Apple a smart Marketing company again, is if they release something that is around the $700 price range before Snow Leopard comes out....or maybe when SL comes out ;)

This make me believe even more of a cheap Mac debuting in 09!!!

CrackBookPro:cool:
 
Do you guys really think Steve Jobs is just being kept in the dark on decisions and has no say over what happens? Seriously...
 
Apple (like most companies) does whatever it believes will bring in the most money between now and the next fiscal review. They'll change things again as soon as they decide more money would be made a different way. Just look at the iPod Chameleon, I mean, Nano.
 
heatmiser said:
Apple (like most companies) does whatever it believes will bring in the most money between now and the next fiscal review. They'll change things again as soon as they decide more money would be made a different way. Just look at the iPod Chameleon, I mean, Nano.
Click to expand...

I thought they were not like other companies, and were built on innovation through all their product lines. But at this time, I think you're right, Apple is looking in what will bring in the most money between now and the next fiscal review, and that is why I think we will be seeing something that will well undercut the price of the polycarbonate MacBook.

...it has to happen, the MacBook looks lonely, and has an undernourished product line :p:p:p

I am buying this CheapBook when it comes out...Can't wait!

CrackBookPro:cool:
 
uberamd said:
Do you guys really think Steve Jobs is just being kept in the dark on decisions and has no say over what happens? Seriously...
Click to expand...

I agree. I think over the past few months my favorite thing to do is read "OMG Can you believe what apple is doing without Steve?" as if to assume that somehow he had NO knowledge of what was going on (despite Apple publicly saying the exact opposite) and that somehow these new products weren't already in development before he left. I could be wrong but I think I remember reading something that went along the lines of "If Steve didn't take time the time away Apple never would have released the 3G S, it wold have been way better if Steve was there."
C'mon people. Just because he wasn't AT work day-in-day-out doesn't mean that a) he wasn't aware of/a part of major decisions b) aware of any minor decisions c) updated on project developments etc etc the list could go on forever.
 
Chundles said:
I betchya they're freeing up the MacBook name for a range of cheaper laptops in the 10 or 11 inch range.
Click to expand...

The MacBook line will likey continue to be marketed to the education crowd, and also sold to everyone else.

Can't see it going away like some would think, that would be sort of silly, basically hand Dell Apple's share of the education market.
 
JonHimself said:
I agree. I think over the past few months my favorite thing to do is read "OMG Can you believe what apple is doing without Steve?" as if to assume that somehow he had NO knowledge of what was going on (despite Apple publicly saying the exact opposite) and that somehow these new products weren't already in development before he left. I could be wrong but I think I remember reading something that went along the lines of "If Steve didn't take time the time away Apple never would have released the 3G S, it wold have been way better if Steve was there."
C'mon people. Just because he wasn't AT work day-in-day-out doesn't mean that a) he wasn't aware of/a part of major decisions b) aware of any minor decisions c) updated on project developments etc etc the list could go on forever.
Click to expand...

I agree & also disagree. For months Steve was literally fighting for his life, so if you are asking if he know about everything I would say false. But, I am sure, when he was in ok condition(and recovering) he was not left in the dark as much, and was kept in the loop, but did not have executive power that he once had before he took illness.

Apple's MacBook product line has mislead people, and right now they are back to square one with a plastic MacBook, which is exactly why Steve planned to release a better MacBook less than a year back. Well, the MacBook went backwards with his absence...and I can't wait for him to get back. I hope his digestive protein imbalance is all behind him now, and he can get back to the top of Apple once again!

CrackBokPro:cool:
 
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