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New 'Get a Mac' Ads: Flashback and Computer Cart
- Thread starter Rocketman
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Yeah, their marketing-people should be busy coding Leopard instead!
As to the ads... Well, I'm not sure that are they such a good idea or not. If I didn't know Macs beforehand, I would be left with an impression that if you want to do any serious work, you need a PC. Is THAT the image Apple wants to convey here?
As to the funny-factor in the Ads... The UK-ads are funnier.
Bundled programs, silly....
When I use a Windows box, I constantly use calculator...
On Macs, I use iPhoto, iWeb, iTunes, iDVD, and iMovie...
If Microsoft would bundle this kind of software with Windows, they would be sued (over here in Europe they even had to remove the Media Player from Windows - ridiculous, considering that Apple ships QuickTime Adware with every Mac).
Fire the marketing guys, hire more programmers
My thoughts exactly. Flashback was really completely pointless, it did nothing and to top it off wasn't even amusing! Computer Cart was cute with the different errors...
I think it's pointing out that while a mac comes with all sorts of creative software, the most fun thing a PC lets you do out of the box is play with the calculator - which it's had since it was young.
Yes, not entirely true, but most of these ads are like that.
Yeah, that would go over like a lead balloon. Bloggers from here to Slashdot would have a field day with Apple charging for its own ads. They get posted online within a day or two of first airing, for free. I think that's enough to satisfy interested parties.
Of course it's true, but it's a function of how many minutes are in a "corner" so it's not exactly testable. 2008 could be "just around the corner" if they wanted it to be. There's a reason ambiguous phrases are used prior to the setting of a launch announcement, and furthermore no binding agreement to launch products on time (to the SEC or anyone else). Vista would be in a whole heap of trouble if there were.Not only a promise but subject to SEC scrutiny, so it BETTER be true
They sure are, if "people who aren't so uptight so as to not purchase something based on a television ad for that product" counts as a different demographic. Anyone who makes an actual, measured decision to purchase a product and then gets offended by a satirical commercial (where people play computers, for crying out loud) has some bass-ackwards priorities.
I'm not a terribly huge fan of the commercials (I find some of them mildly amusing), but I'd choose them any day over whiny tightwads or the spec-sheet infomercials some people seem to want.
While the flashback ad was kind of puzzling, the security ad is absolutely hilarious if you've ever used Vista.
I'll echo that. If people who were "seriously considering switching" are being put off by these ads, you wonder to what degree these people are being disproportionately influenced by the shallow world of advertising, et al, generally. So, if you're in that camp, please don't buy a Mac unless you want all your family & friends to go around saying: "Well, he really must be a smug son-of-a-bitch!"
FWIW, I don't like these ads, but I'd like to see the PC guy become the Mac guy (a switcher), yet allowing him to keep his suit in some ads & wear casual clothing in others. - On 2nd thoughts, this idea would probably just play around with some people's minds to no good purpose at all!
wow thats harsh, especially the security one- but very very true. I know the first thing i did when i got vista was turn off that annoying security thing. i love the sick pcs on a cart analogy- i was wondering when they would make fun of DLL errors! lol! Are they allowed to use "Vista" in their commercials?
These two ads do nothing but once again portray Mac users as arrogant teenagers. This ad series has just about reached its end.
But I am an arrogant teenager.
I don't think the ad series has reached its end at all. Not one bit.
-=|Mgkwho
What I think is great is that these ads hit two market areas. Creative peeps and tecs.
So I would say I enjoy the flash back. It hits me more on what a mac is to myself and my interests. Plus that is my sense of humor in a nutshell. It seems they know who their true cult following is still, and that makes me happy.
Personally I don't want anyone else to switch, I don't want apple to become the "metalica" of the computer world. It makes me feel like people are conforming to the non-conformists and therefor mac users are not as different as everyone else. *shivers*
So I would say I enjoy the flash back. It hits me more on what a mac is to myself and my interests. Plus that is my sense of humor in a nutshell. It seems they know who their true cult following is still, and that makes me happy.
Personally I don't want anyone else to switch, I don't want apple to become the "metalica" of the computer world. It makes me feel like people are conforming to the non-conformists and therefor mac users are not as different as everyone else. *shivers*
Seriously? Steve was only 21 when help start apple. That is still young! Children are our future and sad to say arrogant teenagers are as well. Who is to say there are not arrogant 45yr old people? Isn't that what the PC guy is portrayed as?
Based on my visit to an Apple store about a week ago, one visit in an evening and one the following morning to meet with my personal geek squad, the store was swarmed with teens, pre-teens and even some barely legals. High percentage female too. Lots of tats and piercings.
The demographic Apple is appealing to seems to be teens and twenty-somethings.
Old folks like us just buy what we need when we need it, and probably buy higher end items too.
Rocketman
Just a subtle observation - when you click the link to Apple's website to view the videos, the text says "every Mac comes with iLife" - didn't old ads say that every Mac came with "iLife '06"???
But most of them are only there for the candy-coloured iPods, not Macs. They certainly aren't your average, fairly moneyed, Mac buyers.
This Mac/PC ads are getting boring, really rehashing the same thing over and over again. Move on Apple, think of something else.
And I am not sure those ads actually send the intended message. Seems that only thing Macs are good for is "artsy" stuff and PC people spend all day working on spreadsheets.
I agree entirely.
And it just says that for Apple to gain market share they have to mock PC's.
Anybody can tell jokes either way.
Flashback/Macpaint
The point of flashback is the bundled apps question. I think that it is indeed probably too subtle, but you need to think about the flashback side of things.
To wit: what were Macs & PCs like when they were young? On the Mac, the killer app to play with was MacPaint. It was totally revolutionary and a ton of fun. Sections hand coded in assembly by Bill Atkinson for speed. The funny thing is that most MacPaint pictures actually ended up looking like the picture that young Mac shows young PC (i.e., they were lame because of the bitmap limitations of the program -- the Lisa had Illustrator object-center drawing several years before the Mac even existed).
On the PC side, of course, there was nothing at all for a while, but the emphasis here is that the bundled apps don't get any better than calculator (no mention of the fact that Windows Solitaire probably reduced the GDP of the US by 0.5% the year that Windows 3.1 came out).
Now, what do we have? On the Mac side we have all of the iLife stuff that does completely cool stuff akin to the revolutionary MacPaint. On the PC side, we still have the same sucky calculator. Things haven't changed, except that the Mac is even more qualitatively ahead of the PC.
That's my take at any rate.
The point of flashback is the bundled apps question. I think that it is indeed probably too subtle, but you need to think about the flashback side of things.
To wit: what were Macs & PCs like when they were young? On the Mac, the killer app to play with was MacPaint. It was totally revolutionary and a ton of fun. Sections hand coded in assembly by Bill Atkinson for speed. The funny thing is that most MacPaint pictures actually ended up looking like the picture that young Mac shows young PC (i.e., they were lame because of the bitmap limitations of the program -- the Lisa had Illustrator object-center drawing several years before the Mac even existed).
On the PC side, of course, there was nothing at all for a while, but the emphasis here is that the bundled apps don't get any better than calculator (no mention of the fact that Windows Solitaire probably reduced the GDP of the US by 0.5% the year that Windows 3.1 came out).
Now, what do we have? On the Mac side we have all of the iLife stuff that does completely cool stuff akin to the revolutionary MacPaint. On the PC side, we still have the same sucky calculator. Things haven't changed, except that the Mac is even more qualitatively ahead of the PC.
That's my take at any rate.
(this question may have been posted before but...)
I know errors are *generally* less common on OS X but I wouldn't go as far to say that when they do get error's they are not cryptic, especially in iTunes, what the hell am I supposed to do with 'iPod could not be synced: an unkown error occurred (-48)'!?
EDIT: woops, it seems they have (finally) posted a fix to this on the support site... still you can't say it's not cryptic
I know errors are *generally* less common on OS X but I wouldn't go as far to say that when they do get error's they are not cryptic, especially in iTunes, what the hell am I supposed to do with 'iPod could not be synced: an unkown error occurred (-48)'!?
EDIT: woops, it seems they have (finally) posted a fix to this on the support site... still you can't say it's not cryptic