New Microsoft Ad Campaign Targets Mac Prices

[brop52]

Well, some people use a laptop as a plain laptop, others use it as a desktop replacement and need a little more connectivity. When I use my PC laptop on the loose I usually only need two USB ports (one for the nano-receiver for my Logitech mouse, the other for charging and synchronizing my iPhone). But when I use it in my studio I have it in a combined docking station/laptop stand, and, well... there's a LOT of stuff plugged in here:

Belkin 7-port USB hub
Logitech USB speakers
Receiver for Logitech DiNovo Edge keyboard
Receiver for Logitech MX Revolution mouse
iPhone dock
Universal Dock (for iPod Classic)
Canon scanner
USB hard drive for backups
Digital camera dock
Card reader (bank stuff...)
Korg MIDI controller keyboard
Copy protection dongle for Cubase
Additional empty USB port for occasional use of USB memory stick

That's 13 USB ports used, 7 on the hub, 4 on the docking station and 2 on the laptop. Then there's a 24" monitor (DVI), Gigabit Ethernet and a firewire audio card/mixer.

Here's how I plug all this stuff in: Put the laptop on the stand and press until I hear a click.

I've been thinking about replacing this machine with an MBP 17" and getting a Rain Design stand, but my biggest gripe (since Apple are too cool for docking stations) would be plugging and unplugging all the cables, even with two external USB hubs there'd be like 5 or 6 cables to mess with every time I move the machine.

Obviously if you use a notebook as a desktop then you have issues and need hubs. Having a wireless router that can connect a printer through USB or if the printer has ethernet that saves on the whole USB printing issue and backups.

I also think it is safe to say that most users don't have as many things going on as you and no amount of notebook USB ports would help. Though the beauty of something like bluetooth is the ability to use wireless peripherals without using any ports. Unfortunately, the Apple Cinema Display is very expensive and provides a lot of capabilities of a hub without all the extra wires. It is designed to use with the Apple notebooks in this way.

If you use something with IR that requires a port, then that can be a problem. Though usually if someone is really on the go they use the trackpad and keyboard. I actually prefer the Aluminum MB trackpad to most mice. Multi touch is an often overlooked perk of the Aluminum version vs. the White version. It's nice to never have to click anything and the various maneuvers.

Now when you aren't on the go it is nice to have a multi-function printer with a card reader that you can hook up to the USB and also contains a card reader to transfer photos. If you are on the go then there are many cameras that have wireless SD card capabilities. There are also printers that do all wireless which is also a nice thing.

 

[bruinsrme]

I think it is safe to say that Lauren is an actress, and we have no idea what computer, if any, she is personally using, but we _do_ know that she did exactly what she was told to do during the creation of this ad.

For all we know she took the money she was paid for the advertisement and used it to buy a MacBook.

or paid her rent....

I can't believe so much energy has been spent on disproving or discredtting (if thats a word) this commercial.

Anyone know why Apple pulled all its ipod advertisements off the street trains in Boston?

 

[gnasher729]

If it's 6% tax and $949 for the MB. I would have gladly paid $6 out of pocket (Total $1,006) for a nice new White MB.

That's actually not how it worked. The actress was given a $1000 budget. For that she had to buy a laptop, hand the laptop over to the producer, keep whatever wasn't spent. I am sure you prefer Macs to PCs, but you wouldn't have paid $6 out of your own pocket to hand over a MacBook to the producer, you would have found something a lot cheaper than $699, hand it over, and cash the difference.

 

[gnasher729]

If you go to Microsoft's website and watch the video for Windows 7, it talks about how it will be about touch screen. HP is the only desktop computer that currently is all touchscreen. Based on that I agree with you.

HP is doing touchscreen again? I remember they had a computer with touchscreen around the time the first Macintosh was released. Didn't sell too well. Especially when people found out the meaning of the word "gorilla arm".

 

[Anuba]

Obviously if you use a notebook as a desktop then you have issues and need hubs. Having a wireless router that can connect a printer through USB or if the printer has ethernet that saves on the whole USB printing issue.

I also think it is safe to say that most users don't have as many things going on as you and no amount of notebook USB ports would help. Though the beauty of something like bluetooth is the ability to use wireless peripherals without using any ports. Unfortunately, the Apple Cinema Display is very expensive and provides a lot of capabilities of a hub without all the extra wires. It is designed to use with the Apple notebooks in this way.

Sure, Bluetooth is good but a little laggy and unstable. On both my iMac and my Mini I use Mighty Mouse Wireless, and ever so often the mouse cursor gets stuck and moves jerkily with a 5-second delay, due to some wireless crosstalk phenomenon I haven't been able to isolate. Logitech's non-Bluetooth wireless stuff is lag free, rock solid and gives all the precision control I need, but that blows one USB port right there.

As for wireless connection to printers etc -- yeah, I have a printer with built-in 802.11g so that's cool... but for transfering large files over the home network, even 802.11n is too slow.

But you don't buy a 13" MacBook if you have these requirements anyway so I guess 2 USB ports is decent enough.

 

[MowingDevil]

Its Sad that people have actually gone to these length to pull the advertisement apart. An actress in a commercial..... how could they. Someone please find out if the video was edited on a Mac....

This is just sad. Its an advertisement, does anyone actually believe that Budwieser is the King of beers???? Or that a shampoo is going to give you the hair that you see the models wave around in an advertisement. Next you will be believing that if you buy expansive makeup you will suddenly look like the models in the magazines. Whoever has gone to the lengths to pull this advertisement apart needs a life, at very least a girlfriend.

The point is, it was portrayed as not being a hired actress but rather just a regular consumer in a reality TV type environment. Its a valid criticism.

[hundreds of deniers' heads explode] That's too much reality, be careful, they'll call you a "fanboy"

You called it.

 

[AidenShaw]

Originally Posted by MowingDevil
From the Lefsetz Letter

It's sad that people have actually gone to these length to pull the advertisement apart. An actress in a commercial..... how could they? Someone please find out if the video was edited on a Mac....

This is just sad.

I agree. The ad doesn't say "we found someone on the street...", it starts with "This is Lauren. She told us she wants a laptop....". We make the assumption that it's meant to be natural - but of course we realize that it's role playing.

In essence, these "Lauren detractors" are engaged in ad hominem arguments.

They can't argue with the facts of the ad (that you have more choice in features and price with Intel vendors other than Apple), so they attack the ad itself. Doesn't work.

And it's not a "price vs value" issue. Few here will argue that the $700 HP is a "better" computer than the $3000 Apple 17".

We can argue whether it's a better value, however. If you need the additional features or better specs of the Apple, then it has value for you. If you don't need those features or specs, then they don't have value for you.

I think what's really riling the faithful, though, is the realization that a lot of people have budgets that are too small to cover the Apple Tax. This ad tells those people that it's OK - you don't need the Gucci laptop, the HP is fine. This scares the faithful....

I can't wait for the full series of these ads....

 

[bruinsrme]

HP is doing touchscreen again? I remember they had a computer with touchscreen around the time the first Macintosh was released. Didn't sell too well. Especially when people found out the meaning of the word "gorilla arm".

i think touch screens will make it this time around.

With more people moving to laptops i hear a lot of people complaining about the touch pads. tablets may actually be viable

 

[buymeaniphone]

I find it funny how she goes to a "Mac Store" even though Best Buy sells Macs. Did any one else notice that she never really entered the Apple Store. Check out this Youtube video to see what I'm talking about.

 

[Anuba]

The point is, it was portrayed as not being a hired actress but rather just a regular consumer in a reality TV type environment. Its a valid criticism.

But she isn't a hired actress. If you read the Gizmodo article on her and put the pieces together you'll find that she had no clue it would turn out to be an acting job of sorts in the end and that her being an actress was incidental -- she responded to an ad about participating in market research. Where she lives, everyone and his brother is an "actor", meaning someone who washes dishes at night for a living and goes to auditions for playing a corpse on CSI.

Also, Apple used similar methods in the past, like the Switch ad with that Ellen Feiss chick who was just ad-libbing some nonsense about a PC that went beep-beep-beep and ate up half some paper, there was nothing remotely "real" about that either. And that's cool, it's advertising. If you want documentaries try the Discovery channel or something.

Face it - the fact that it was staged isn't the real reason you're upset. It's only because of her "not cool enough to be a Mac person" comment that everyone has their pants up in a bundle.

 

[NT1440]

But she isn't a hired actress. If you read the Gizmodo article on her and put the pieces together you'll find that she had no clue it would turn out to be an acting job of sorts in the end and that her being an actress was incidental -- she responded to an ad about participating in market research. Where she lives, everyone and his brother is an "actor", meaning someone who washes dishes at night for a living and goes to auditions for playing a corpse on CSI.

She also had to sign a NDA about the hp.....

Like it or not, while filming the commercial she knew exactly what she was doing and being told to do. I sincerely doubt that she ran up to an apple store for 1 second and ran away only to spout out how limited the selection was and get the prices in that amount of time.

Edit: Also, note how they got her to say her requirements, but used the voice over guy to add in "under $1000"

 

[B2k1977]

When was the last time you paid $400 for Windows?

When I bought a copy of vista for this pc I built.

 

[Anuba]

She also had to sign a NDA about the hp.....

Like it or not, while filming the commercial she knew exactly what she was doing and being told to do. I sincerely doubt that she ran up to an apple store for 1 second and ran away only to spout out how limited the selection was and get the prices in that amount of time.

Sure, I have no doubt that it was directed to some degree, but what do you want? Pointing a camera at someone and hoping that good TV will be produced all by itself has never worked. Every so-called reality show you see is directed (to a point) and they often do retakes because the genuine look of surprise on someone's face didn't film well or whatever, and what you see is them pretending to do what they did for real two minutes earlier.

It's 2009, I don't understand why people are still shocked that photos of supermodels are photoshopped, that the food the TV-chef takes out of the oven isn't actually the same food he was shown preparing earlier, or that raspberry jam is mostly made up of apples, or that the glass on MacBooks isn't actual glass.

 

[VoR]

When I bought a copy of vista for this pc I built.

ouch, I think an oem copy might have been a better idea

Retail from a retail shop? Take it back! Could save a few more quid with the win7 beta, it's 'free' until august.

 

[NT1440]

Sure, I have no doubt that it was directed to some degree, but what do you want? Pointing a camera at someone and hoping that good TV will be produced all by itself has never worked. Every so-called reality show you see is directed (to a point) and they often do retakes because the genuine look of surprise on someone's face didn't film well or whatever, and what you see is them pretending to do what they did for real two minutes earlier.

It's 2009, I don't understand why people are still shocked that photos of supermodels are photoshopped, that the food the TV-chef takes out of the oven isn't actually the same food he was shown preparing earlier, or that raspberry jam is mostly made up of apples.

Oh I hope i never gave off the impression that I was "shocked". I've ALWAYS hated the "reality" trend since the very beginning (I was probably around 10 at the time). I was just pointing out that if you stop and think for a second (which your not supposed to do in this day and age according to advertisers) theres holes all over. I dont personally care that much, its just fun to talk about

 

[-hh]

Why, yes. For the Chinese market. Several brands have set up factories in China where they make what could perhaps best be described as Asian pirate copies of their own products, and sell them to poor Chinese schmucks who want a fake taste of Western luxury. There are Chinese Volvos, Chinese Volkswagens... none of which are sold here. The VW Santana is China's #1 taxi -- it's a replica of the Santana we had over here in the 1980's.

Yet that doesn't explain how some BMW 3-Series exported to the USA come from their factory in South Africa, instead of from Germany.

Those are industrial-grade servers, always more expensive than workstations and only remotely comparable to the Mac Pro's from Apple's online perfume shop. I'd hold out for the Dell Precision machines with Nehalem processors, they're the direct equivalent. Not that I think the prices will change substantially once they're upgraded to Nehalem, so you might as well look as a Precision T5400 today.

True, but it is the first direct CPU comparison....and last year, the T5400 had been running $1000 more expensive than the equivalent Mac Pro.

Make your predictions now.

It has all those certifications that a Mac Pro has, metal enclosure, etc. Note however that it comes with a minimum of 3 years warranty baked into the price so you'll have to throw in AppleCare to compare.

Also fair enough...but will that cost more than $2100, so that there actually is an Apple Tax to pay?


-hh

 

[-hh]

But you failed to mention the
3Yr Basic Hardware Warranty2 Repair: 5x10 HW-Only, 5x10 NBD Onsite3yr warranty included. NBD Onsite does apple offer that?

I did admit that it was a quick cut. In any case, Anuba has been suggesting that there's an Apple Tax on the order of magnitude of upwards of $2000 that has to be paid, so there's plenty of room left in the hypothetical budget.

-hh

 

[VoR]

I dont personally care that much, its just fun to talk about

I stopped and had a think about it too, allowed to or not - A woman wants a 'laptop with a big screen' and has a budget, she gets one at the end of the story.
Seemed fine to me, not that I'm intended audience - but If they really want the advert to work, I should have seen it without having to log onto a mac forum.

 

[Anuba]

Oh I hope i never gave off the impression that I was "shocked". I've ALWAYS hated the "reality" trend since the very beginning (I was probably around 10 at the time). I was just pointing out that if you stop and think for a second (which your not supposed to do in this day and age according to advertisers) theres holes all over. I dont personally care that much, its just fun to talk about

Well it better be fun to talk about or we just wasted nearly 3000 posts for nothing.

The ones who are really having fun and laughing their heads off right now, though, is Crispin, Porter + Bogusky who made the ad. They're the kings of viral marketing and they must feel like puppetmasters now that everyone's walking straight into their trap like lemmings. Thousands of Mac users on dozens of Mac forums, all talking about Microsoft like they never talked about anything Apple ever did. Jackpot!

 

[NT1440]

Well it better be fun to talk about or we just wasted nearly 3000 posts for nothing.

The ones who are really having fun and laughing their heads off right now, though, is Crispin, Porter + Bogusky who made the ad. They're the kings of viral marketing and they must feel like puppetmasters now that everyone's walking straight into their trap like lemmings. Thousands of Mac users on dozens of Mac forums, all talking about Microsoft like they never talked about anything Apple ever did. Jackpot!

Well theres good talk and bad talk. From the looks of it they havent shaken much if any of us, but for the broader audience id say they deffinatly plucked some of the low hanging fruit.

 

[merelli]

Well, some people use a laptop as a plain laptop, others use it as a desktop replacement and need a little more connectivity. When I use my PC laptop on the loose I usually only need two USB ports (one for the nano-receiver for my Logitech mouse, the other for charging and synchronizing my iPhone). But when I use it in my studio I have it in a combined docking station/laptop stand, and, well... there's a LOT of stuff plugged in here:

Belkin 7-port USB hub
Logitech USB speakers
Receiver for Logitech DiNovo Edge keyboard
Receiver for Logitech MX Revolution mouse
iPhone dock
Universal Dock (for iPod Classic)
Canon scanner
USB hard drive for backups
Digital camera dock
Card reader (bank stuff...)
Korg MIDI controller keyboard
Copy protection dongle for Cubase
Additional empty USB port for occasional use of USB memory stick

That's 13 USB ports used, 7 on the hub, 4 on the docking station and 2 on the laptop. Then there's a 24" monitor (DVI), Gigabit Ethernet and a firewire audio card/mixer.

Here's how I plug all this stuff in: Put the laptop on the stand and press until I hear a click.

I've been thinking about replacing this machine with an MBP 17" and getting a Rain Design stand, but my biggest gripe (since Apple are too cool for docking stations) would be plugging and unplugging all the cables, even with two external USB hubs there'd be like 5 or 6 cables to mess with every time I move the machine.

I have a 17" MPB and here is how you can make all that simpler with one.

Your keyboard and mouse are bluetooth so you dont need the receivers with a mbp.
Get a wireless HP All-in-one for the camera and scanner.
The Harmon Kardon speakers in the laptop sound great on their own.

An now you down to one plug the 7-port hub

Belkin 7-port USB hub
iPhone dock
Universal Dock (for iPod Classic)
USB hard drive for backups
Card reader (bank stuff...)
Korg MIDI controller keyboard
Copy protection dongle for Cubase
Additional empty USB port for occasional use of USB memory stick

 

[jmccullough108]

How come in the ad it doesn't ever talk about Vista? Wouldn't Microsoft be proud of there operating system?

 

[DMann]

Yeah, that is strange. They might as well have been advertising time-shares because the end doesn't seem to jive with the message of the rest of the ad.

Typical MS ambiguity.

 

[NT1440]

How come in the ad it doesn't ever talk about Vista? Wouldn't Microsoft be proud of there operating system?

Lol show some pride man!

 

[polaris20]

From the Lefsetz Letter
March 30, 2009 01:04:32 PM PDT

"über attractive"? Were we watching the same commercial?