New Microsoft Ad Campaign Targets Mac Prices

[Micklucky7]

hmm this is misinformation

Sure sure sure Microsoft would go after the people who still think the specs are all the same. However, there is an important difference, OS X or Vista... hands down OS X wins. Sure it's clever marketing for Apple to say there is a 8 hour battery life (which is true if you run the standard Text Edit on the lowest energy settings) but time and time again, people will go in to an Apple store and say it's been 2 years and my PC is dead. They don't know why... They don't care, they want something that works and for a number of years after they buy it. What Microsoft doesn't tell you is that their HP 17" laptop is going to be a glorified paperweight in a year's time.

 

[papiti]

Honey, you are so cheap to go and get a PC Notebook but you own a Volkswagen. YEAH RIGHT!!!

 

[Baffles]

I'm "baffled" by this...

Well, obviously my info is outdated. I do have a MBP. Otherwise, what is so baffling about that?

 

[D-Love]

Few things about that ad...

1. The woman was obviously a paid actress. No way was she going into an Apple store and seriously going to buy something, even if it was cheap and in her budget. It was all set up by Microsoft, obviously. I hope the American consumer can see that and doesn't think it was truly a woman going out on a mission to buy a 17 inch(who wants that size anyway for a general use laptop, again obviously set up by Microsoft to target the new 17 inch MBP) laptop.

2. Further proving it was set-up, the balance due on the register was 699.99. Very clever, ever heard of tax you idiots? Taking a cue from movies such as Cloverfield, I like how the camera is shaking around and the Best Buy employees looked confused wondering what is going on. Nice acting people.

3. Nearly every laptop she was looking at looked like a POS. And the one she got WAS a POS.

4. WHY is Microsoft starting this ad campaign while Vista is still the default OS for these computers? By all indications, Windows 7 will be a far superior OS that finally gets it right. Why not start these kind of ads THEN?

Bottom line - Apple doesn't have much to worry about. The fact this commercial is even being run is evidence to quite the contrary.

 

[Anuba]

Anuba, care to chime in here? (and please don't give me the same song and dance about dissenting opinions and Mac "fanboy's" getting upset ). As I have stated numerous times, I use and like both Windows and Mac OS X systems. However, I am not posting baiting and insulting comments on a fan based site for a product I "claim" to use but seem to detest more than "fanboy's". Your arguments contradict themselves, and if we have to read about your iMac one more time, I'll personally fly to your small town south of Stockholm and get it repaired/replaced myself.

First you don't want to hear about the iMac one more time - and neither do I...

While we are on the topic, which is it?

...and then you start asking about it AGAIN.

First you lived in Stockholm, then you stated you live 60 miles south of Stockholm.

Technically that's correct, although it was 8 years ago I last lived in Stockholm. The client I worked for last year has their office in Stockholm, though, but I can't recall saying I lived in their office.

You stated you did not have a warranty for your iMac

I never stated I don't have a warranty for the iMac, I said all along that I bought it with APP. What I did say was that I was disappointed that APP wasn't a standard NBD on-site repairs deal, but more like an extension of the basic warranty. Am I contradicting myself or are you simply paying zero attention?

then you stated you HAVE APP but as your "IT guy" never informed you properly you couldn't use it cause you never activated it.

That's right. He never activated it, thinking I would do it, and I never activated it because I didn't know there was any such thing as "activation" of a support plan, as when I've bought similar plans for other computers in the past it's been done by the vendor on the date of purchase.

Then your comment is that AppleCare is not the same in the EU and they do not send shipping packages, when in fact they certainly do send packing for repairs. Then it was... I can't keep up with your inaccuracies.

I have no idea what AppleCare is like in any other countries but Sweden, and they DO. NOT. SEND. ANY. DAMN. SHIPPING PACKAGES. according to the Apple Support line person I talked to.

 

[Baffles]

Sure sure sure Microsoft would go after the people who still think the specs are all the same. However, there is an important difference, OS X or Vista... hands down OS X wins. Sure it's clever marketing for Apple to say there is a 8 hour battery life (which is true if you run the standard Text Edit on the lowest energy settings) but time and time again, people will go in to an Apple store and say it's been 2 years and my PC is dead. They don't know why... They don't care, they want something that works and for a number of years after they buy it. What Microsoft doesn't tell you is that their HP 17" laptop is going to be a glorified paperweight in a year's time.

Why will it be a glorified paperweight in a year? If it breaks, send it back under warranty. Or is this more Windows fud?

 

[xhambonex]

Sure sure sure Microsoft would go after the people who still think the specs are all the same. However, there is an important difference, OS X or Vista... hands down OS X wins. Sure it's clever marketing for Apple to say there is a 8 hour battery life (which is true if you run the standard Text Edit on the lowest energy settings) but time and time again, people will go in to an Apple store and say it's been 2 years and my PC is dead. They don't know why... They don't care, they want something that works and for a number of years after they buy it. What Microsoft doesn't tell you is that their HP 17" laptop is going to be a glorified paperweight in a year's time.

youves missed the point of the commercial. They aren't saying the specs are the same, there is just no mac in her budget. So simply she can't afford a Mac, so she bought a PC. Is that Microsofts or HPs fault. You do realize they are seperate and the fact that Apple makes boht OS and hardware is just a special case. Microsoft is simply saying that Apple computers lack variety and are at a much high price range. (even if its a justified price range in your opinion)

 

[3282868]

Except Apple Care costs more money, at least PC manufacturers let you call in past 90 days.

Sure they do, for a cost...

MS Office is also much more functional than iWork. Vista Premium is a full OS license, you can install it on any system, OS X is just an UPGRADE for Apple branded hardware.

I like OS X.

Quad Core PC Desktop (runs OS X), Gateway Laptop, several servers, buying MBP soon!

Again,

 

[xhambonex]

That's like giving people $10,000 to buy a car and then saying that since they got a Kia, it must mean that Audis and BMWs are overpriced

but you are the one assuming that Microsoft is calling them overpriced. The point is the BUDGET. You wouldn't go looking to buy a BMW with $10k, likewise if you have under $1k to spend on a computer, buy a PC. Its smart and they are correct, people with that budget just can't afford a Mac. Its not saying Macs are bad or too expensive, they just aren't her budget. Just like a BMW is not in my budget.

 

[Eidorian]

I you think price is not important check this out:

Apple US Mac Sales Down 16%, Windows PC Sales up 22%

http://www.osnews.com/story/21148/Apple_US_Mac_Sales_Down_16_Windows_PC_Sales_up_22_

Given that Apple will not cut its margins, I think we're headed for one of 2 scenarios:

1. Mac share of the market falls to 2-3% - affluent, die hard Mac fans and the professionals;
2. Apple sells off the computer business to focus on iPods, the iPhone and perhaps a tablet netbook.

If you think you're not overpaying for a Mac check out the profit margins on a Mac vs. a PC.

That fat margin is of no value to the consumer - only to Appple shareholders.

This is pretty much where I stand. The current iMac update just proved my point. Downshift some processors and sell it as a speed bump.

I don't see a need to replace my MacBook until AppleCare expires on it. Even then it'll be tough.

 

[3282868]

...

I looked over your comments on your profile, about 95% of your comments attempt to paint Apple in a negative light. In fact, it seems this argument regarding Windows OS versus Mac OS has been ongoing for you on MacRumors for a long time:

Pfffffffft. Yeah, I'd love to hear Steve explain that it's not really the users they're talking about. Right after McCain explains that by "the fundaments of our economy", he actually meant the American workers!

Superficially, Hodgeman and Long represent computer platforms but that's just a thinly veiled excuse for targeting the users. Apple's marketing is all about image. They're hell bent on pushing the idea that anyone who uses their products is cool. They want kids to feel like total losers if they leave home without white earbuds. The "I'm a Mac" ads are appealing to their insecurities in the hope that they'll run home and hide their nerd computer and buy a jock computer, stressing that the Mac is the #1 computer on college campuses (which is funny coming from the one camp that always insisted popularity proves nothing...)


Judging from the content of the "I'm a Mac" ads, it's quite evident that they're not trying to appeal to people of reasonable intelligence. Otherwise they wouldn't try to sell the infantile notion that PC's can't be used for creative stuff, only for pie charts and number crunching. Anyone 'reasonably intelligent' would instantly call Apple's bluff with the stupid Ellen Feiss switch ads ("I was writing a paper on the PC, and it was like, beep-bleep-bleep-beep, and then, like, half of my paper was gone. And I was like... ehh? It devoured my paper".). Mmmmkay.

Secondly, I will not address your comment again, it is getting old and no matter what any one writes in response you gloss over their valid points and reiterate the same statements over and over. Your stories do not add up, as many have pointed out, and it seems your agenda has been to troll MacRumors for a long time. As another user stated, it seems more logical to simply ignore this antithetical behavior.

 

[anthony71571]

come on!

It's a good thing they didn't ask her to just buy the best laptop. She would've gotten a Mac. Yes the 17 inch is a sweet size but wait until she sees the blue screen of death in that 17 inch screen. Her room is going to look like a night club with black lights.
Choices:
big screen, crapy computer
or
small screen, great computer?

 

[Anuba]

Few things about that ad...

1. The woman was obviously a paid actress. No way was she going into an Apple store and seriously going to buy something, even if it was cheap and in her budget. It was all set up by Microsoft, obviously. I hope the American consumer can see that and doesn't think it was truly a woman going out on a mission to buy a 17 inch(who wants that size anyway for a general use laptop, again obviously set up by Microsoft to target the new 17 inch MBP) laptop.

I think the consumer realizes she was a paid actress, like in every other commercial ever made, unless the consumer is retarded. Just like Apple used "fake real people" like Ellen Feiss in their Switch campaign. The "faux witness" is the oldest trick in the advertising book, it was used by scam artists who sold "miracle elixirs" in the Old West, and probably long before that.

2. Further proving it was set-up, the balance due on the register was 699.99. Very clever, ever heard of tax you idiots? Taking a cue from movies such as Cloverfield, I like how the camera is shaking around and the Best Buy employees looked confused wondering what is going on. Nice acting people.

Again, is there any indication or reason why it would not be a set-up? These things are set-ups. It's understood. Most of the reality shows you've seen in your life were set-ups too ("Can we do a retake on that? I want a more emotional reaction this time when we announce that Bill gets voted off the island!") The rule of thumb is, if it's on TV, it's fake.

3. Nearly every laptop she was looking at looked like a POS. And the one she got WAS a POS.

Yep, the one she got was certainly a POS, with a slow AMD processor. She should have gone for that other HP she looked at.

4. WHY is Microsoft starting this ad campaign while Vista is still the default OS for these computers? By all indications, Windows 7 will be a far superior OS that finally gets it right. Why not start these kind of ads THEN?

Between products is exactly when companies run brand ads like these. You want a Win7 campaign? Oh, there'll be a Win7 campaign... but that's not what this is, it's not selling Vista or Win7 or HP (or Lauren). It's about the Windows brand.

 

[skaertus]

85 pages this is hilarious! all the Apple consumers / fanboys are here trying to justify paying the Apple tax just to run OS X on the very same hardware that is inside every single Windows based PC look, you Apple fan boys can spin this all you want at the end of the day Apple has imbedded a huge tax on every box they sell giving you the rights to run OS X on the very same hardware a Windows user probably paid half the price for.

It was inevitable that this argument would gain more steam once Apple changed over to using the same Intel processors used in a Windows box yet they continue to charge the Apple tax for using OS X

Its time for Apple to lower or drop the OS X tax plain and simple you really cant spin this any other way! there are 85 pages of post in this thread and this is the bottom line, how much are you willing to spend in order to run OS X ?

Microsoft's ad was right to the point. The difference between a PC and a Mac is, basically, the OS. Apple cannot justify higher prices on the differences of hardware anymore. It's not a PowerPC against an Intel processor. Then, how much are you willing to pay to get MacOS X instead of Windows? And how much are you willing to pay to get a machine which is more integrated with its OS? Is it really worth it? For some, it may be. For others, it may be not.

 

[Anuba]

I looked over your comments on your profile, about 95% of your comments attempt to paint Apple in a negative light.

That sounds about right, yes. It's a rotten company. I still like their industrial design and some of their products, such as my iPhone. Maybe in your mind, everything is black and white and things of dualistic nature don't exist -- that would explain why you keep arguing about the "logic" of just about everything -- but I assure you, it's quite possible to have a love/hate relationship with something.

 

[wiini]

Of tv add

I will gladly give Apple a bit more of my money cause I know their going to use it for innovation rather then copying like Microsoft

 

[3282868]

That sounds about right, yes. It's a rotten company. I still like their industrial design and some of their products, such as my iPhone. Maybe in your mind, everything is black and white and things of dualistic nature don't exist -- that would explain why you keep arguing about the "logic" of just about everything -- but I assure you, it's quite possible to have a love/hate relationship with something.

If 95% of your comments are disparaging, it seems more of a hate/hate relationship than love/hate. You do not know me or my "mind", the world is very grey, I am well aware of that fact. So please, do not attempt to educate me on what I know.

 

[skaertus]

I will gladly give Apple a bit more of my money cause I know their going to use it for innovation rather then copying like Microsoft

C'mon. Apple is not the good guy and Microsoft is not the bad guy either. They're both large companies which invest in innovation just for selling products. Microsoft had some original ideas with Windows Vista and, especially, Windows 7. And I wish Apple copied Microsoft more...

 

[niuniu]

Notice she headed straight for the Mac store when she had the cash

 

[ccuk]

I will gladly give Apple a bit more of my money cause I know their going to use it for innovation rather then copying like Microsoft

Wow. Such an ignorant comment. I really have no idea where to begin.


The last time I checked, Microsoft produced software other than Windows offering features other companies don't. Needless to say, I would say Direct X is pretty innovative as is Silverlight.


I really don't understand why is has to be black and white. Just because you like OS X doesn't mean you have a sworn allegiance to therefore hate the competitor with everything you have. Microsoft are a competitor, and that to me is a good thing. The best example I can think of is the iPhone. I find it more than a coincidence that Apple magically add all the features we have been asking for, for nearly the past two years, just as a competitor (the Pre) enters the market. Notice the connection?

 

[themightyspitz]

OK, Macs are more expensive, yes. But add in some of these other things: anti-virus software, maintenance, upgrading specs, number of hairs pulled out over Vista, and number of hours spent on the phone in India with tech support.

Sorry folks. My Macbook simply works.

 

[donmega1833]

Ok

Maybe I missed something that Microsoft's marketing people didn't see. The first place she went was the "Mac store"! I thought that was pretty funny putting your competitions superior product in your ad and also taken the position that we sell cheap products . I consider this ad Strike 2, the first was the Seinfield ad which was ridiculous. I will say this, it has seemed to strike a nerve with the Mac community. I own a HP Pavillion also and I hate it. Number one reason it runs Windows Vista. If I was HP I would tell Microsoft to stop putting me in there ads!

 

[skaertus]

OK, Macs are more expensive, yes. But add in some of these other things: anti-virus software, maintenance, upgrading specs, number of hairs pulled out over Vista, and number of hours spent on the phone in India with tech support.

Sorry folks. My Macbook simply works.

Again: how much MacOS is worth for you? Being better than Windows, well, it's just a matter of opinion, no hard data to prove that.

 

[opeter]

OK, Macs are more expensive, yes. But add in some of these other things: anti-virus software, maintenance, upgrading specs, number of hairs pulled out over Vista, and number of hours spent on the phone in India with tech support.

Sorry folks. My Macbook simply works.

Well, good for you. Be happy with it, use it as long as you can.

But what was that about India tech support?
Many people buys no-name comps (that they can take back to store if they need it for tech support) or are buying components and are building their own machines.

 

[iPhoneNYC]

I would buy a PC but it would make me so crazy I'd have to jump out the Windows...