It's difficult responding to this situation because there are so many small things that may or may not attribute to the advantages of spending more for a Mac. In the case of this Microsoft advertisement, while they don't mention the specs of the computer, we know that it
does meet the qualifications Lauren is looking for. Granted, due to lack of information, she may not know what exactly she's talking about, which makes this slightly more difficult.
But let's just throw in some information here, to assume we know a little bit more. Judging by Lauren's age,
she could very well be a college kid who is studying the basics and needs a computer for fairly simple stuff: to type papers in Microsoft Word, check her Facebook profile, and listen to music on iTunes. This seems to fit the common criteria of the typical college girl.
Now, after studying the commercial, and identifying the same computer she purchases,
it's revealed her computer is certainly meant to be cheap: the tech specs are horrible. The machine is slow, the 17-inch screen has a low resolution (which basically makes it a 15-inch in essence), and it comes with no additional software, aside from trial versions and annoying demo programs that she'll have to uninstall anyway. Now, in terms of hardware, there
is going to be greater choice with a PC because manufactures make them in all shapes and sizes. This means that some PCs will be the cheap, $699 17-inch laptop that Lauren wants, while some will cost the same, if not more, than the 17-inch MacBook Pro that Apple has available. Depending on what Lauren wants to do with it, the cheap PC she has purchased may or may not give her the options she's looking for. But based on our assumption that she's using it for the basics,
she's still going to have to spend some additional cash.
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As the laptop she purchases doesn't come with Microsoft Office, she's going to spend at least $150 to type her papers. Also, seeing as PCs are prone to viruses and spyware, she's going to need protection software, which usually has to be paid annually (often upwards of $130 per year). And in the case there's ever a time Lauren needs to edit a video for a group project in one of her classes, it'll be practically impossible as few editing programs are going to run on a computer as slow as the one she's purchased (and she's looking at probably $40 for a program, if not more). This being said,
we can already see how the cost of ownership is starting to add up with a PC.
The great thing about a Macintosh is you get more than what you wanted. You get everything you would ever need as a standard consumer.
This is a good point. For a $699 17-inch laptop, you're going to get mediocre hardware -- but Lauren didn't care (or know better), as her only requirements were "speed, a comfortable keyboard, and a 17-inch screen."
With a Mac, sure you're going to spend some additional money, but it would still meet her needed specifications and more. That "more" is what sets Macs apart from the competition: top-of-the-line hardware components, incredibly well designed software that has few problems, and great support when issues do arise. And that’s putting it vaguely, the amazing stuff is what you can do out of the box.
Yup. Wasn't it Henry Ford who said that if he asked people what they wanted, they would have asked for faster horses?
Lauren got just what she THINKS she wanted.
I know several people who recently switched to MacBooks. These are average every-day PC users, not power users or Mac/PC experts. They are continually being impressed by one more feature they just discovered on their Macs that they never knew about, never thought to ask for, but can't live without now. I hear it all the time now -- "Wow - it can do that?!" Or, more importantly, "Wow, I can do that?!"
And that’s the key thing: Lauren will never know what she could have done if she had a Mac. So is the additional cost of a Mac worth it? Once again, it depends on what Lauren wants to do with it. For the simple tasks we're assuming she wants to complete (word processing, Internet access, and playing music),
her $699 PC will accomplish what she wants to do, albeit some drawbacks.
Her computer will be slow, meaning that she'll have to wait (literally) several minutes just to have it startup. Opening programs, or even simply folders and files, will take time as the computer reads the information. Videos she watches on YouTube may skip, and songs she listens to in iTunes might take a moment to respond to her clicking the "play" button. And of course, the security of her computer is always at risk on a PC. The typical college girl isn't going to know what sites are considered "legitimate" and what isn't. So when she Google searches for "watch tv shows online", and comes across a site that promises her all episodes of
Grey's Anatomy provided she installs their plugin, Lauren is going to do so without a second thought. Soon her computer starts running slow -- reeeeally slow -- or popups are occurring each time she turns it on, if it turns on at all. The virus protection software she purchased does nothing to fix this problem, and she takes it to a local computer store for help. They'll her $75 to reinstall Windows Vista, erasing the computer entirely. If she wants her personal files backed up so she doesn't lose them in the process (any of her papers, pictures she's taken, music she listens to), it's an additional $40. (And that's a cheap price; Best Buy, for example, charges $129 for reinstall and $99 for backup!)
To think that all of this happens for simply one reason: she bought a PC. This situation doesn't happen on a Mac. Period.
But alas,
Apple doesn't sell cheap computers, they sell premium computers.
Steve Jobs himself said it best just last October, "We don’t know how to make a $500 computer that’s not a piece of junk." Apple sells computers that work every time. And if, for some reason, something doesn't, they'll fix it. But in Lauren's case, she doesn't know any better. Unless some of her friends have Macs, or until the point she gets fed up with her PC,
she'll just accept the problems that plague her laptop as "normal computer stuff".
The 17" MBP is definitely a better laptop, but the slight benefits the 17" MBP will make to most consumers is not enough to warrant... the price, especially if they're not all that into computers to begin with. Ask my girlfriend if she's happy with her computer, and she'll ask you what there is to be happy about.
That's the thing: typical PC users don't know what constitutes a better computer until they've seen something that catches their eye. When they realize that Macs don't deal with the same issues they've dealt with using PCs, that's when they consider the switch.
So while the Mac may certainly cost more initially, the total cost of ownership of the PC can turn out quite a bit more than originally thought. Lauren spent about $700 on a new laptop which came with no software for what she wanted to accomplish (according to our example). She'd have to spend an additional $315 on programs that she later found out she needed (Microsoft Word, virus protection -- paid annually, and a video editing application). But despite taking care of her computer, she's still a typical PC user, and experiences the same, typical frustrations PC users face: slowness, bugs, additional costs, and viruses. This leads her to spend more of her money: $75 for a reinstall of Vista, plus $40 to backup her files.
We're at $1135 at total cost of ownership for a machine that originally cost $699. And once you start throwing in things she wish came with her computer (a built in webcam, Bluetooth connectivity, a screen with a higher resolution), the cost starts going up with every upgrade. She has to purchase an external USB camera ($50, not to mention it looks tacky snapped to the top of her laptop), a Bluetooth USB adapter ($50, not to mention taking up a USB port), and a new screen is completely out of the question, seeing as her computer won't even support it (but it'd be at least an additional $300 if it did, plus parts and labor for a technician to install). Say another virus is causing problems to her system (which, for a college student could happen at least once each semester) -- that's another $115 for a reinstall and a backup. Who knows how much longer the list could go on?
By the time Lauren's PC finally bites the dust (no pun intended), and she's ready to purchase a new one, she may have spent a grand total of $1660, if not more. She's spent almost $1000 more than what she paid for the laptop to begin with! Say she wants to sell the old machine: at this point, the value of her PC is worth approximately $150 and it's only a couple years old. Looking on eBay, two year old 17-inch MacBook Pros are going for eight times that value.
Epilogue
Tired of having to deal with the same things she's put up with as being "normal" with PCs for years, Lauren looks at a Mac. She finally realizes that computers can be made to work exceptionally well, without all the hassles, extra time and spending that went into her PC. She becomes so enthusiastic about her new Mac that something changes in her -- maybe it's the simplicity of having a computer that "just works" -- but for the first time, Lauren feels "cool" to use the computer she does. And now she knows why.
