Thursday, February 1, 2007


Read This article and then read what i have to say. This is off CNN.com

Apple revs up Mac attacks on Vista
POSTED: 1:25 p.m. EST, February 1, 2007
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SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- For nearly a year, television and Internet audiences have been seeing a familiar string of ads from Apple Inc. attacking rival Windows-based computers. With this week's release of Windows Vista, the newest jabs aren't any friendlier.

In one ad, the character personifying the PC is dressed in hospital patient garb, talking about how he's set to undergo major surgery to upgrade to Vista. He then saunters off, telling the Mac character that if he doesn't come back, Mac can have his peripherals.

In another ad, a man pretending to be the Mac character heaps praises for the PC -- until the real Mac character steps in, confounded, asking "What's going on?" The fake Mac replies, "Nothing," and then mutters "I'm a fan" as he walks away.

On its own Web site, Apple Inc. tells visitors to get a Mac, stating, "Why upgrade to Vista when you can upgrade past it?"

Microsoft Corp. launched Vista on Tuesday, its first major overhaul to the Windows operating system in five years. It features sleek new graphics, better search capabilities, improved security measures and multimedia tools, as well as more advanced parental controls and gaming support. (Full story)

Yet Microsoft detractors, Mac users, and even PC-oriented magazine editors are pointing to how some of those features already exist on Macs. And Apple -- set to release its own upgrade to its Mac OS X operating system, code-named "Leopard," this spring -- has already promised more innovations, such as automatic backups of files and advanced animation features.

The Cupertino-based company has repeatedly ribbed Microsoft to "start its photocopiers."

Representatives of the Redmond, Washington-based rival declined to comment Wednesday, following its typical stance of not responding to Apple's marketing ploys.

The series of "I'm a Mac -- I'm a PC" advertisements debuted last spring and are an extension of Apple's broader campaign to attract Windows users to the Mac platform.

Windows remains the predominant platform for personal computers, though Apple's share of the PC market in the United States grew to 4.7 percent in the October-December quarter, up from 3.6 percent a year ago, according to technology research group IDC.

It's unclear if the ads have had a direct effect on Mac sales, but analysts say they have played a role in raising the public's awareness of Apple, alongside the immense popularity of the iPod player, Apple's growing number of retail stores and its new line of computers using Intel Corp. chips.

The ads have been criticized by some as too derisive, but many pundits, including bloggers who say they are Windows users, admit that the commercials are entertaining.

The video commercials star actor Justin Long personifying a Macintosh, and author and comedian John Hodgman personifying a PC. The Mac character is always portrayed as hip, cool and confident.

The PC character, pudgier and older, is frequently portrayed as staid, dorky and a bit clumsy with its failed attempts to one-up the Mac in some way.

The underlying themes tout the Mac as more secure against virus attacks or more slick, with easy-to-use software to make movies or slideshows. The PC is usually trumpeted as a great but boring productivity tool that can't handle creative assignments very well.

About two dozen of the commercials have aired, spawning a smattering of goofy amateur spoofs as well.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Alright, this is my problem with Mac:

Mac has this insane fixation with having to degrade and insult PC's and indirectly their user's. Ever since Mac has come out with their iPod, they have been on a verbal tear. Yes the iPod is awesome, but their computers are not. Their computers serve a purpose. Maybe they are crash free, but so are PC's if you aren't an idiot and know how to look after your computer.

Apple stated today on their website that "Why buy Vista when you can upgrade to better already". WHAT?!?!?!? According to who, Apple. Take a closer look on the Apple site and you'll see that they take even more shots at Microsoft, they take the time to get articles from publications and put them on their site. Why? Why do they have to do this, what are they trying to prove here with their little attacks on a company that makes more money on their console gaming a year, then apple does in 10 years.

Apple commercials consist of two guys, a guy representing a PC, who looks like a nerdy business man with no life, and a cool guy, who looks culturally informed, from apple. So basically Apple is saying that anyone with PC's is nerdy and has no life, but once you have a Mac you will be cool, wow, their are idiots who believe this too. This is where the indirect degrading comes in. There is no place in business for this. Apple claims their computer can do things "better" then a PC. They talk about making Photo Albums and stuff like that. What about Business work, or word processing. Their word processing software is less then stellar. Then we come to hardware. Their machines are bottlenecked by the hardware. It's not cheap to switch out a PSU from a Mac, and im not sure you even can. And they cant handle top end video cards either, because their PSU are terrible. This makes a gamer, such as myself, weary of buying a computer that has no potential to be a good gaming machine.

Macs, in my opinion fall short of being great, they can do anything a PC can do, but PC's still do most things better. Gaming, graphics, business applications and home office applications are done much better on a PC, this accounts for 90% of the market, if not more. And PC's rule the business and academic world, and why, because they are simple and cheap. The price of a Mac is ridiculous. Their top end computer is $2500. You can build a better PC your self for 1/2 that.

Ive considered by a Mac Laptop, therefore you can throw away your biased assumption right about now. I, in fact, will probably get a Mac for my next laptop because i enjoy the way it works as a laptop. I don't support, however, attacking and degrading to sell a product. The problem is people are stupid enough to believe these falicies.

So if your a Mac fan boy, consider that you support a company that sells its product by insulting and degrading other companies. Great tactics, and what do they gain, nothing, Apple is such a small percentage of the computer sales market Microsoft doesn't even waste its time with comments Apple makes. Now who is the bigger man here?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jealous much of Apple's awesomeness?

Scott said...

Hi Brad, no i am not. In fact I'm disgusted by their marketing techniques. Those commercials, funny as they can be sometimes, are a disgrace. I'm glad i support a company that can sell their product based on quality and usefulness, then a company that tells you to make a photo album, because it is their only use.

Anonymous said...

Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Scott said...

lol, i dont hate you Brad, i just dont like how Macs are marketed, and i dont believe they are better then PC's. They just cant do what a PC can do when it comes down to it.