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Microsoft's "I'm a PC" Ad Airs
- Thread starter davepelz
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Your wife sure knows her surveys …
I wonder, has she also had a computer for only a year?
You are aware this is a Macintosh forum, right?
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I think M$ is making a mistake by taking this route. Apple's add are funny, simple, and easy to understand - which appeals (no offense) to the majority of PC users. Mac users are in general less computer-challenged than their PC counterparts (ime). The M$ "I'm a PC" ad tries pathetically to strike back, but really it doesn't work - it doesn't address the issues raised by the Apple ads, and completely sucks at being memorable.
I think the Sienfeld ads were better, but that's not saying much.
I hope they do. I wouldn't hate the new apple if they didn't keep on bashing microsoft. how about instead of saying windows you suck in their commercials how about they tell us what's good about a mac.
but I'm sad they took off the seinfeld ads. their goal was to advertise a product without using product placement in an ad itself, and I thought that was grand... being someone who hates product placement in any entertainment (damn you MGS4 and fantastic 4!)
Powerpc (when with mac) for life,
-Tyler
It's kinda both in those ads. I think they should keep them going for a tad longer but showcase the great things about Macs.
...and those things are???
And wouldn't people realize that finally adding some substance to the "Get a Mac" ads after all this time is acknowledging that they've been pwned by Microsoft?
"Get a Mac" is dead. This week, the line "I'm a PC" doesn't mean anything like it meant a week ago. If an Apple ad says "I'm a PC" today, they're now reminding people of the Microsoft ad. Great for Microsoft - bring on more.
Justin, while you're looking for a new girl or boy friend - look for a new job as well.
Yeah, Apple already has enough Skinny-Hip-Cool-Arts'y customers, they need more of the "other" people. Apple needs a super fat-guy, al-la Carl, for their next spoksman.
I volunteer.
Where do I sign up?
I volunteer.
Where do I sign up?
Apple is attacking people who wear glasses and are a little overweight and/or nerdy/geeky by portraying them as uncool and dorky. Pretty arrogant by anyone's standards. MS is just helping bring that to light by embracing all people the same.
That's exactly the point. Apple doesn't make computers where you can find millions of different applications and use for millions of different things. PCs are used for a hundred times wider variety of things (including designing and making Macs!), by a hundred times wider variety of people. Hence the ads.
Like I said before, Apple is attacking people in general by making the argument that some people are worth more than others because of how they dress or act. That's why MS's ads are genious, they make Apple look arrogant and discriminative. MS looks encompassing and appealing to all people, not just hip wannabes who want to be associated with Justin Long.
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
If Apple is specifically showcasing the product differences and not the people, why does the PC wear glasses and a tie and look like an older dork, while the Mac looks like a "hip" and "cool" dude? Those aren't features of the product.
Also, who told you that MS ads are not making a perfect analogy of how every PC is different and unique, just like the people portrayed? PCs are different from each other (unlike Macs). PCs are unique. PCs are used for many different things (thousands of times more than Macs).
Just like John Hodgeman can figuratively be a PC in the ads, these people can be PCs in de ads. I can't believe people will use any excuse (including not using 1% of their brains to get the point) to try and push their zealotry.
But...
Well, if Microsoft was so all so good, why doesn't it use its own products then? Microsoft uses Adobe CS3 on MAC to create the images for its ads?! Isn't that direct admission that MACs are better than WINDOWS?!
In fact, I think the $300 million would be put to better use IMPROVING VISTA or WINDOWS 7 rather than in ads to show how widespread Windows is. Otherwise, everyone's going to downgrade to XP!
Well, if Microsoft was so all so good, why doesn't it use its own products then? Microsoft uses Adobe CS3 on MAC to create the images for its ads?! Isn't that direct admission that MACs are better than WINDOWS?!
In fact, I think the $300 million would be put to better use IMPROVING VISTA or WINDOWS 7 rather than in ads to show how widespread Windows is. Otherwise, everyone's going to downgrade to XP!
I was going to try and be post #1000 but was beaten to it.
WOOHOO did not even notice I was #1000. They should hand out prizes for that......I don't know, I'd like a cool black Apple t-shirt or something...
(off topic I know)
Oh stop babbling alright! "PC's are unique"...that's twisting and turning JUST to defend your preference! Listen it's not said that EVERYTHING PC is bad, but it IS sad that Window's JUST wants to up it's coolness by creating this sorry excuse for an ad. I'd rather have them think up something in the style of what HP does, actually showing all you can do with your PC, and having "cool/interesting/appealing/average Joe" people do it. And to be honest Apple could /should do that too....focus on the cool STUFF of whatever they are selling instead of just stereotyping.
And if Apple started that trend it was meant to prove a point(e.g. Windows being this big communist like arrogant monster for so many years....having their OS on virtually ALL PC's), Windows counteracting with their ad is just a sign of UTTER lack of creativity and plain stupid. (and before you start ranting that I am saying this just because I am an Apple fan...NO....I actually can think independently of the PC/OS I prefer.....unlike you it seems.
Well, if Microsoft was so all so good, why doesn't it use its own products then? Microsoft uses Adobe CS3 on MAC to create the images for its ads?! Isn't that direct admission that MACs are better than WINDOWS?!
Microsoft's ad agency uses MACs, and used them to prepare the frames captured for stills.
Is that a surprise? No. Is it an "admission" of anything? Of course not.
Check Netcraft to see what systems are running http://apple.com. When it returns "Solaris 8" - is that an admission by Apple that MACs are failures? Of course not.
Well, if Microsoft was so all so good, why doesn't it use its own products then? Microsoft uses Adobe CS3 on MAC to create the images for its ads?! Isn't that direct admission that MACs are better than WINDOWS?!
In fact, I think the $300 million would be put to better use IMPROVING VISTA or WINDOWS 7 rather than in ads to show how widespread Windows is. Otherwise, everyone's going to downgrade to XP!
Microsoft did not create the images for its ads. Are you not paying any attention? If we follow your logic, why does Apple use PCs to design and create Macs? Isn't that a direct admission that Macs are worse than Windows?
Why don't you stop babbling. PCs are unique. There's millions of differently configured, different looking, differently purposed PCs out there, as opposed to just a few identical models of Macs that all of their user base shares. How unoriginal.
These "sorry excuses for ads" are generating quite the positive buzz, and as mentioned before on this thread are incredibly effective at countering Apple's lame and arrogant attempts at insulting PC users and people in general by trying to paint "hipness" and "trendyness" as the most important values in a person and/or computer.
The fact that you label the strategy and the ads "stupid" is merely a projection of yourself. You obviously don't have a clue.
Seriously, dude you're up there with Einstein!
Honestly my friend, find yourself a Microsoft/Windows forum and be merry....you're an Apple hater, you can't be at least a bit unbiased, you can't even read that I put some criticism for Apple in my reply too, Noooooo... like a leech you live of being a sour grape over here ....
Am not even going to waste precious energy trying to explain that I "do have a clue"... cause it is obvious that you really DO have a clue judging from how well you analyzed the new Windows ads...as a matter of fact I read some of your remarks on the Seinfeld ones, and there you go; Microsoft read them too,saw the wrong of their ways, and pulled them off the market. Bet they will do that too, after reading your genius remarks about the "I'm a PC" ones.
Have fun dude, look up the meaning of that in some dictionary is my friendly suggestion!
Honestly my friend, find yourself a Microsoft/Windows forum and be merry....you're an Apple hater, you can't be at least a bit unbiased, you can't even read that I put some criticism for Apple in my reply too, Noooooo... like a leech you live of being a sour grape over here ....
Am not even going to waste precious energy trying to explain that I "do have a clue"... cause it is obvious that you really DO have a clue judging from how well you analyzed the new Windows ads...as a matter of fact I read some of your remarks on the Seinfeld ones, and there you go; Microsoft read them too,saw the wrong of their ways, and pulled them off the market. Bet they will do that too, after reading your genius remarks about the "I'm a PC" ones.
Have fun dude, look up the meaning of that in some dictionary is my friendly suggestion!
All the while generating thousands of comments on Apple fan sites.
Brilliant strategy, if you ask me.
Leeching is not a strategy......innovation is more like it..which clearly they lack with these ads....cause "Apple fan sites" is not exactly their target market..I have yet to hear or meet the first person that switched from a Mac back to a "PC".......
Admittedly, down to their own ignorance, but eh. Guess no one told them about One to One
How is he an Apple hater for stating the obvious? I'm an Apple user and I agree with almost everything he said. Microsoft's new ads are working. Apple's "I'm a Mac" ads are insulting, it's sleazy negative campaigning on the level of John McCain. I don't quite agree that PCs are "unique" (there are more identically configured specimen of any particular Dell model than there are alu iMacs), but Apple does have a very limited product range. There's nothing remotely individualistic about a Mac, it's more like East Germany back in the communist days when everyone drove the exact same car (the Trabant). But at least the Trabant was available in different colors, whereas most Macs only come in one color (if naked aluminium indeed qualifies as a "color"). The only thing missing is an Apple uniform to wear, and the scary part is that some would gladly don such attire.Honestly my friend, find yourself a Microsoft/Windows forum and be merry....you're an Apple hater, you can't be at least a bit unbiased, you can't even read that I put some criticism for Apple in my reply too, Noooooo... like a leech you live of being a sour grape over here ....
Am not even going to waste precious energy trying to explain that I "do have a clue"... cause it is obvious that you really DO have a clue judging from how well you analyzed the new Windows ads...as a matter of fact I read some of your remarks on the Seinfeld ones, and there you go; Microsoft read them too,saw the wrong of their ways, and pulled them off the market. Bet they will do that too, after reading your genius remarks about the "I'm a PC" ones.
Have fun dude, look up the meaning of that in some dictionary is my friendly suggestion!
I work at a music software company and stay in touch with the customer base as much as I can, and there are dozens of them who have switched from Mac to PC. Some of them switched back to PC, others were long time Mac users who switched.
One of the reasons they switched was that during the transition from OS9 to OS X a few years ago, there were so many compatibility issues and so much confusion that they got tired after months and months in limbo and switched to Windows, where nothing dramatic ever happens due to Microsoft's oft-criticized commitment to legacy support. Some of their apps were OS9 only, some were OS X only, some were available for both but the OS X version was extremely shaky (along with the entire OS, initially), audio and MIDI drivers for OS X were shaky or non-existant... And once everything finally kinda sorta started to settle, in a surprise move Apple introduced a brand new audio architecture called AU. This bugged the hell out of software companies who were already busy trying to get VST and RTAS support to work, so then we got another few months of limbo before everyone caught up with AU.
Another reason for switching has been that Apple has no midrange tower. Most musicians and bedroom producers tend to prefer tower machines over laptops (for reasons too numerous and complex to explain here), and the Mac Pro was just too expensive, even at the starting price. Once you've spent money on audio and MIDI hardware, music software, monitor speakers and umpteen other things you need for music production, some just don't have the cash it takes to buy a Mac Pro. Then they realized that they could get a Dell midtower with sufficient specs for half the price, and that all the software they use is cross-platform anyway, so they caved in and switched to PC.
Yet another reason for switching was that prior to Apple's switch to Intel, Macs were so much slower than PCs, especially on the laptop side. Music software is usually very CPU intensive, juggling hundreds of virtual synths, FX devices and audio tracks. Mac users who downloaded and tried to play back material made on PCs discovered that their machines buckled a few seconds into the song, while PCs were barely breaking a sweat. This was particularly bothersome to laptop-based musicians (there are those as well) since Apple never got around to making a G5 PowerBook. So some of those guys switched to PC out of mere CPU power envy. Some switched back when Apple moved to Intel, others stayed.
So, no, Mac-to-PC switchers are not mythical creatures, there are many of them. Not as many as PC-to-Mac switchers, though, but still.
So according to you Apples the worst of both worlds,more sleazy than McCain and more controlling than the communists,Apple hater anyone...
Look -- I own a lot of Apple products. I love them, I use them. This doesn't mean I have to like their marketing strategy or business practices.
I know that a lot of Americans want to see everything in black and white ("If you're not with us, you're against us", etc), that everyone is either a fan or a hater and nothing inbetween, but the world is a little more complex than that.