New Microsoft Ad Campaign Targets Mac Prices

[Damballah]

Which is almost everybody. Apple is the one who needs to "pull people away."

Absolutely not. Apple is making money by the truckload even with a sub 10% market share. Microsoft MUST have a gigantic market share to be profitable, because their model is predicated on having their software installed on as many units as possible. What's really happening is MS is fighting to NOT LOSE market share, which is impossible given Apple and Linux.

As to your other point, seriously, who doesn't know that Macs are premium products? Seriously, if there is one thing everyone knows, is that macs are more expensive premium products.

 

[Anuba]

Heh yeah yeah good ole Conficker's just a figment of everyone's imagination, and it's such a relief that Vista has solved buffer overflows once and for all, so we can just kick back and relax now.

Umm yes we can, as anyone with automatic Windows updates received a removal tool and a patch to plug up the vulnerability in October last year, some 6 months before Conficker is programmed to kick into action.

These days, hacker kids are recruited by the likes of the Russian mafia to work in the shadows rather than bask in the sun, hacking bank systems, designing phishing scams and such. At some point they will recognize that there are millions of people out there who were well off enough to buy a Mac, and laid back enough to never even consider the possibility of trojans, spyware and intrusions, and on that day a lot of sitting ducks are going to do a lot of helpless flapping.

 

[Harry Bosch]

Exactly. This ad resonates with a lot of different people for many, many different reasons.

Those ad agencies know what they're doing when they fire up the ol' Mac Pros in the morning.

The ad may resonate in terms of generating attention, but I wouldn't say it's effective, at least not on everyone. Personally, it has had no effect at all in getting me to consider going back to Windows

I now tell my PC friends that I will no longer provide free tech support for them and that the problems they are trying to cope with are all hidden costs of their "cheap" machine. But suckers always go for the lowest price, and then cry when it turns out they bought a POS. "Sorry mate, not my problem"

 

[gnasher729]

With the launch of a Windows ad campaign, there's a thread on a Mac forum with lots of "new" users. As someone who has seen how Microsoft works over the years, is it that much of stretch to assume that some of the comments here might come from employees of the software giant.

Interesting. My company's policy is that nobody posts anything related to our company's products on any Internet forum. And I haven't heard of anyone who goes against that rule. So when I say that Windows stinks and MacOS X rocks you now know two companies that I don't work for.

 

[iSlicer]

YouTube Users. Sigh.

It's a joke to see what the clowns over at YouTube are saying about this video. Unfortunately for Apple, it's those clowns that they need to sell to so that they can extend their market share, however those YouTube users are really sympathizing with this ad campaign. Sigh.

 

[-hh]

Rocketman I disagree with you about longevity. Ive had dell laptops that lasted for 7 years...

Our office used to buy Dell laptops. They typically averaged only 18 months before they were trashed and had to be replaced.

The business folks that had them actually had to take them on travel. Typically, they averaged around 50,000 miles per year.

Around 4-5 years ago, we switched to Thinkpads.


-hh

 

[XsuspendedX]

I've owned Macs since 1983-ish. I've owned an eMachine (the old one, not that the new one was much better) and a Dell. I've spent a lot less time in the innards of my MacPro or futzing with my MacBook Pro *combined* over the last two-and-a-half years than I did with my eMachine and Dell in one year. I seriously started to think about getting my A+ certification. Then it dawned on me - I didn't WANT to futz with my computer 75% of the time!!!

How much an hour does the Geek Squad charge? Or the salary of an IT person? Now, add that to the price of your PC. Oops. I think you probably just spent a lot lot more than the price difference between a Mac and a PC.

I'm not unrealistic or in denial. Yes, my Macs have had to trek down to the Apple store (although in fairness, one should NOT try to jam a memory stick into a motherboard - $$$ - not covered under AppleCare, unbelievably enough ;-) a few times, but I still spending a lot more time *WORKING* than I do futzing. If I have to pay more at the outset, I'm happy to do it. And 3/4 of the time when I do call AppleCare, I speak to someone whose native language is American.

Not trying to be a Jerk, I agree with you accept that our native language would be English... not American...

 

[Jayomat]

the majority buys windows-based computers.
some buy macs...
most people do buy what suits them best.






so what?





#care




jeeeeezzzzzzz

 

[Anuba]

You keep talking about your one Mac that died

...and others keep talking about the absolute infallibility of Macs. Do you have something against balance? Prefer to live in a pink fluffy dreamworld where the myths perpetuated by brainwashed Mac zealots is the truth?

complaining that you didn't activate your AppleCare in time (how much more time do you need besides one year?).

Nothing to do with procrastination, just a misunderstanding. The IT guy at my client's office assumed that I would register it, and I assumed that AppleCare works like any other service contract, i.e. it's automatically registered on purchase.

As many have stated, N+1 doesn't make any significant statistical difference.

Yeah, 'cause my iMac is unique in being the only one that failed.

 

[griz]

Here's the laptop she got for $700
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...+17+inch+laptop&type=product&id=1218041148373
It may be 17", but it's got poor resolution for the screen size, slower ram, questonable CPU, rubbish battery, 100Mb (not gigabit) ethernet, G wireless, shared graphics memory. Comes with Vista, the list goes on.

There's a reason it's cheap...

You forgot to mention that while the Mac might break the bank, the HP will likely break your back.

 

[3282868]

...and others keep talking about the absolute infallibility of Windows. Do you have something against balance? Prefer to live in a pink fluffy dreamworld where the myths perpetuated by brainwashed Windows zealots is the truth?


Nothing to do with procrastination, just a misunderstanding. The IT guy at my client's office assumed that I would register it, and I assumed that AppleCare works like any other service contract, i.e. it's automatically registered on purchase.


Yeah, 'cause my iMac is unique in being the only one that failed.

There, fixed that statement for you . Just because YOUR machine failed (and if you claim to be so knowledgeable in computers READ YOUR MANUALS) does not mean Mac's suck and Windows rule - and FYI I use both, so please refrain from the assumption cowboy.

Thanks for finally admitting the truth, that you've been trolling this site for years.

P.S.
How is it the I.T. guys' fault for you not reading the AppleCare Protection Plan?

Oh and further FYI, having worked at Apple for a while, when you purchase a Mac with APP, they scan both in and you're APP is AUTOMATICALLY activated. I find it very difficult to believe you failed to activate it and Apple refused to service your machine. As an ex-Genius, if you have your proof of purchase, Apple will honor it. There are many holes in your story. I also highly doubt you would let an "overpriced" iMac just sit without use as you don't want to be "bothered". Again, this makes no sense.

 

[Anuba]

It's a joke to see what the clowns over at YouTube are saying about this video. Unfortunately for Apple, it's those clowns that they need to sell to so that they can extend their market share, however those YouTube users are really sympathizing with this ad campaign. Sigh.

Of course they are. The agency knows exactly what they're doing. In the current economic climate, there's nothing more gratifying than going after elitists with torches and pitchforks. Nothing can rile up and unite a mob at the moment like being rich, elitist and aloof, and the Mac has become a symbol for that (whether deserved or not); celebs, gen-X yuppies, smug designer types and other latte-sipping creeps. Then along comes "Lauren" in a car she could afford two years ago, about to buy a computer she could afford two years ago but not anymore, turns around and mumbles something about not being cool enough, gets a sub-1k notebook, appears happy beyond reason. The subliminal message is exactly the same as in the previous ads from Seinfeld and onward: Microsoft is on your side, your pal in a world of smarmy ******s. It's all a big fat lie of course (like all advertising), but it works.

 

[roski11]

I'd give Lauren the pipe. I would film it then post it on her new HP.

 

[Resist]

In the commercial Lauren said "This one has all of my qualifications". Didn't she mean "specifications"?

She isn't only not cool enough for a Mac, she isn't bright enough either.

 

[Wikinerd]

In all fairness, I have a great $500 desktop running Linux that does 95% of what a consumer would do. Web, email, music/video watching, image editing, etc ... and it's run for years without the slightest hiccup due to the Linux OS.

Linux and OSX are technically, pretty much the same.

The day they release a decent video editing app and something even close to Garageband for Linux .... I am gone from the PC AND Mac world forever.

Unfortunately, since the argument is always codified as "Windows vs. Mac", that will never happen.

If it did, though ... we could all have much better for much less.

We are all corporate slaves, one no better than the other.

The way you talk about Linux being an OS.... It's frightning...


PS. Woot 1971 post

PPS. Linux is a collection of free OS's

 

[Wikinerd]

In the commercial Lauren said "This one has all of my qualifications". Didn't she mean "specifications"?

She isn't only not cool enough for a Mac, she isn't bright enough either.

+1


And by "Qualifications" did she mean that the computer has all the degrees (none?) that she has?

 

[chris200x9]

open source windows it's the only way to fight the mac attack!

 

[Freyqq]

You may want to read up on the actual performance penalty



It's never worthless, and the Pro isn't a consumer computer.

Otherwise that was a terrific post.

"It's not Apple's fault, but FB-DIMMs absolutely kill memory latency; even running in quad channel mode, the FB-DIMM equipped Mac Pro takes 45% more time to access memory than our DDR2 equipped test bed at the same memory frequency. Things don't get any prettier when we look at memory bandwidth either."

http://www.anandtech.com/mac/showdoc.aspx?i=2816&p=11

ok you're right..not half..more like 45%

 

[Beerfloat]

Umm yes we can, as anyone with automatic Windows updates received a removal tool and a patch to plug up the vulnerability in October last year, some 6 months before Conficker is programmed to kick into action.

Heh, excuse me while I don't stand up and applaud for a fix for a vulnerability that left users sitting exposed for many years. The next mass exploit may not have such a gentle timer, especially given your suggestion that:

These days, hacker kids are recruited by the likes of the Russian mafia to work in the shadows rather than bask in the sun, hacking bank systems, designing phishing scams and such. At some point they will recognize that there are millions of people out there who were well off enough to buy a Mac, and laid back enough to never even consider the possibility of trojans, spyware and intrusions, and on that day a lot of sitting ducks are going to do a lot of helpless flapping.

While that would undoubtedly be a very inspiring event for Windows advocates everywhere, it doesn't really change the fact that Windows will remain by far the most rewarding target for malware writers.

And Antivirus or not, Vista privilige escalation or not, completely secure software is a pipe dream and vulnerabilities will continue to surface. A break from the Windows monoculture is probably the best way to keep the potential impact limited.

 

[davewolfs]

Most Mac People are broke and stupid. I guess that is because they are in college

 

[Wikinerd]

What??? You're not seriously posting this old quote...are you?

So Apple seemingly (wants to) makes it ILLEGAL for me to install it's OS on ANY computer in the world other than an Apple. But a "PC" (with extremely similar hardware brands (Intel) to the Apple world over the past 10 years) has never had an issue with installing "whatever I want" on my pc hardware. Sure, I pay for Windows (or OS/2 or Ubuntu) when I initially buy my pc (just like you Mac heads pay for OSX when you buy a Mac hardware platform)...but I can easily nuke it and install ANYTHING I WANT on the hardware. And yes, very often I can take the serial # from that Windows install and put it on a different machine without violating the EULA.

Sheeeeeez.

-Eric

That's because Apple is a hardware company. Or, if you prefer, a "all-in-one-widget" company. Regardless, OS X is the reason why their machines costs more, and it's the same reason why you are not allowed to install OS X on a non-"Apple-labeled" computer—look what happened when 3rd party manufacturers are allowed to install OS 9 on their computers (that was back in the early 90s).

 

[Anuba]

Oh and further FYI, having worked at Apple for a while, when you purchase a Mac with APP, they scan both in and you're APP is AUTOMATICALLY activated. I find it very difficult to believe you failed to activate it and Apple refused to service your machine. As an ex-Genius, if you have your proof of purchase, Apple will honor it. There are many holes in your story. I also highly doubt you would let an "overpriced" iMac just sit without use as you don't want to be "bothered". Again, this makes no sense.

I will put this as nicely as I possibly can, which I assure you is a chore given your attitude:

They're not so "automatically" activated if the vendor isn't Apple, are they? This one came from a store called "Macoteket" where my client buys all their Macs. We don't have Apple churches, err, Stores in Sweden, except the online one obviously. Hence no "geniuses" either, our potential geniuses are probably flipping burgers at McDonalds for the time being.

I tried to register online first, which was a no-go due to having gone past the 1-year mark, so I called Apple's support line and was instructed to fax the receipt along with the code CHANGE DOP, followed by a number. A procedure you should be familiar with if you worked at Apple.

As for the iMac being overpriced, I already stated in this thread that it's the one machine they offer that isn't overpriced.

As for it sitting in a corner in its box, it most certainly does. I've been working my a$$ off for the last couple of months and I simply haven't had the time or energy to carry a 30-pound behemoth to the train station and go to Stockholm, as I'm not dependant on this machine in any way since I semi-retired it last year.

It's quite the testament to your rabid zealotry that if people claim to have a broken Mac, you accuse them of lying.

 

[-hh]

I work as an independent roving IT consultant. I am fluent with Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, Solaris, etc.

This completely dismisses TCO....

+1.

Of course it dismisses TCO. This is unfortunate, but it is very much in tune with where our society has been for the past 20 years: in two words, it is:

'Immediate Gratification'


Much of the reason why we're in this Hellhole of an Economic Downturn is because too many people did the "Me! Me! Me!" bit without a care in the world regarding if they were going to have a roof over their heads tomorrow.

I have a business acquaintance that he & his girlfriend are sleeping in their Audi & BMW ... both are leases ... because they didn't manage their budget and thus, ended up not being able to afford the rent on their apartment.


One of the things that I've seen over and over again is that there's hundreds of small hidden costs with the ownership of a home computer, and invariably, they add up. When one starts with a "cheapo" PC, there's simply more of these additions: a $75 sound card here, another $200 to bump the RAM there.

This is very inevitable when one starts with a stripped-down product, and the only place that the Apple-Microsoft competition starts to enter this conversation is in their respective propensity to offer stripped down PCs. In a nutshell, the MS vendors are in their death-spiral "race to the bottom" of a commodity market, whereas Apple has achieved successful product differentiation, so they've been able to avoid this.

What this means in a nutshell is that when you compare "Equal Hardware" versions to what Apple offers for sale, the MSRP's are generally quite close: within 10% or thereabouts. However, what happens in the marketplace is that there's scores of other price segments where Apple is absent, so someone shopping based on only price will find that proverbially 80% of the time, they can find a PC that's "much cheaper" for the basic reason that from a hardware specifications perspective, it is literally much less capable.

And for the clinically short-sighted "Immediate Gratification" buyer, they won't ever understand this.


-hh

 

[Wikinerd]

Keep typing this garbage until you believe it.

Why do so many people here think that a worst case Windows 95 scenario is waiting for everyone who picks up a Vista system?

Well I didn't believe it either... until my month-old computer became un-bootable due to corruption of "hal.dll". Now I'm at least happy with a hackintosh.

 

[Scottgfx]

I'd give Lauren the pipe. I would film it then post it on her new HP.

You took down the Dell guy the same way, didn't you?