This episode of Laptop Hunters has been brought to you by Microsoft and Sony VAIO. Spoiler: the actors don’t buy a Mac, instead wander aimlessly around the dozens of PC models until finding a Blu-ray equipped Sony VAIO. Sorry to ruin the surprise. Video after the jump.
Adding commentary to these things is getting fairly tedious. The Mac attack wasn’t very egregious: “They’re kind of popular with this age,” eh? At least this model performed a bit better in standard benchmarks and it has Blu-Ray, one of the bigger draws for most people. Sadly, it’s not really a “full-HD” (1080p) laptop and it’s as big as a pizza box.
Here’s the product page in case you want to pick one up.
I found it. I think…
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9156557&st=sony+fw&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1218038552017
BLURAY! Never seen a 11-year-old so excited about HD.
2.0GHz!
Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with Intel® Clear Video Technology!
$900? Why aren’t they using more of the budget?
The strange part is that in the last ad, the guy said he wants to pay for the computer, not the brand. But isn’t Sony known to be more expensive because you’re buying the Vaio brand?
Follow me now @ http://twitter.com/IanMikutel
The last guy is paying for the computer and not the brand.
The kid is buying whatever can play his games, regardless of brand.
Microsoft didn’t pick the computer for them, they each picked out what they wanted.
O RLY?!
These guys are hired actors, so I really doubt that they had a choice on what they wanted.
They aren’t using more of their budget because they don’t need to. We are at the point where advances in chip technology and memory storage offer little benefit to home/entertainment users, so there is no need to buy top of the line and expensive equipment. Only professional users and hardcore gamers need the increased performance , and this group tend to build their own PCs as an issue of both cost and flexibility. The fact is, Apple computers are extremely overpriced and that fact can’t be hidden. Buying Mac is simply not an intelligent choice.
TCs coverage of this campaign continues to skew negative, and it truly amazes me. The issue at hand isn’t Mac vs. Windows, it’s simply an issue of consumer protection. The economy is in shambles due to overspending and foolish materialism. It’s time we as consumers wake up, and make practical choices.
I assume you are writing from your 10 years old computer. If not, you are an hypocrite.
if you are broke, it doesn’t mean every one doesn’t have money…. poor annon!!!!
As you grow up you will learn that the way you make sure you continue to have money is you economize, and don’t blow all your money in one spot;)
I will refer you to a google search about lottery winners;) Notice how they usually end up broke within 5-7 years?
Yesterday, I tried to burn a DVD in my iMac and now it wont eject, it tries but no dice. I barley ever use the drive on this computer.
I have never had this issue with a Windows made PC, there is always that small pin hole on the drive that allow you to manually eject the drive.
I find myself more on the Vista bootcamp side of my iMac these days as I am doing some heavy development testing, simply put, if your doing any real business, gaming or video editing, you use Windows.
This blog crowd gets invited to “Moscone”, gets to sit in a seat and see Steve Jobs and gain this blinding loyalist behavior as you see with the reaction to these ads.
Sony adds Blu-ray n a $900 computer, and Apple wants to remove optical discs all together.
Macs just don’t exist in the world of big business and a warning to you guys looking to deal with big company clients:
Don’t walk into an important business meeting with a Mac because you will come off as some trendy hippy and not someone who’s about money.
Dude!
“…if you’re doing any real business, gaming or video editing, you use Windows”
Why the heck would you say that? The Top video/movie/filmmaking colleges in the US equip their students with Macs.
Some of the top Hollywood movies are edited on a Mac and more and more people are going there (like IronMan and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).
“Macs just don’t exist in the world of big businesses”
Well, I would say Macs don’t exist in the world of old businesses…Ever been in a company that is new Media related? Mac…and btw a big part of the US Education system are using Macs.
Oh yeah and the time of “the trendy hippy” Mac-User is kind of over….
“windows made pc”?
Nuff said about the relevance of this comment.
Excuse me, “Designed for Windows PC” aka 92% of the world’s computer market.
Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves here, this is a Windows world, so much so that Microsoft owns a good piece of Apple and if not for Microsoft, Apple and the Mac would be dead.
When the Apple world was on their knees ready to roll over and die, MS saved you then, so when you look at your Mac, understand you own a piece of Microsoft’s charity.
Search YouTube for: “Macworld Boston 1997-The Microsoft Deal”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxOp5mBY9IY
POW!
William Blanchard — nice survior bias reasoning –
That’s like saying “oh MS only exists b/c IBM didn’t want to get into PC software.”
Give it a rest, companies rise and fall based on how they take advantae of uncertainity.
MS really shouldn’t be worrying about Apple as much as they are, as you say they dominate 92% of the market.
However, it seems MS is busy fighting yesterday’s battle on PCs rather than moving into mobile phones, and other devices.
MS has only managed to get a foothold in the gaming market by spending billions of dollars in a war of mutual destruction against Sony.
Classic FUD, dude. I’m sitting in a Fortune 100 company with one now.
Even Microsoft’s “I’m a PC” ads were made on a Mac.
You know,
Many things are not worth the price, but yet even though they are much more expensive and only that much better, but yet people still buy them. Take clothes for example, I can go buy a nice pair of jeans for 30-40$ (way less if i look for them), but i can also buy a pair of diesel pants or some big brand for 500$ or more, worth the price difference, no? Yet still a little better quality, maybe, probably.
Now look at a mac, if a person can spend 200$ or even 1000$ more with ought really caring about the difference in price then they will go for the higher quality product, even though it is more expensive.
I must also point out that mac computers have a high resale value. I bought a new macbook two years ago for 1200 (education discount) and got a free 200$ ipod nano and got a free 100$ printer.
Now i can sell the ipod and the printer back as I dont need them, for say, 75% of their original value (even though I can probably get more), which gets me 225$ back, bringing down the price of the macbook to 975$.
Now I can sell this macbook for 650$ or maybe even 700$, so i would have payed around 300$ to have an up to date laptop for 2 years, which to me isn’t a bad deal.
This resale value is usually higher than the value of a older PC.
Now I have had great conditions to buy the laptop (Free ipod, 100$ off for education and free printer (always works)).
could it be that the economy is in the toilet? Despite all the hate from TC, these ads are effective because saving $500 is a very big deal at a time where 10% of the US population is on food stamps.
Actually, it’s less than 10% on food stamps. Some of us unemployed don’t (yet) qualify because we have too much savings to wear down first… :(
Bet they don’t buy a Zune either!!!
I’d rather watch movies on a screen “big as a pizza box” than on my ipod touch. Call me rational.
That is the most ridiculous response I’ve seen in a while.
I suppose you’re right if you’re talking about watching at home. But then, you could just watch it on your tv in that case. Doesn’t make much sense.
Just noticed that this laptop comes with 4GB of Ram.
32bit Windows platforms can only use 3.5 of that.
Just a thought.
LOL.
Read Mark’s Russinovich entry on this … http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/07/21/3092070.aspx … just a thought :).
Well, they offer 64 bit OS as an option, so it’s not like consumers are stuck. In addition, if a consumer decides to upgrade to a 64 bit OS down the road, they get to take advantage of that extra ram.
OMG that’s amazing! A TV commercial produced by Microsoft and Sony where the clueless consumer magically decides he would rather buy *gasp* a Sony Vaio running Microsoft Windows? Who woulda guessed?
u mad?
oh… you mean that wasn’t a Best Buy commercial?
Where’s the post on the techcrunch tablet? Are you guys trying to make this look like a “leak” and get more buzz?
@myself – it’s still on crunchgear
Yeah “gaming PC” haha what are you going to do on a mac? i am a massive mac fan, but seriously you couldnt play any good graphic intense game on macs to save yourself
as fair as gaming goes, PC has and will always have the gaming market. there is just no money in developing hardcore games on macs.
and no i am not talking about mobile platforms – obviously the iphone kicks assss in this area.
Guessing you haven’t used a mac in the last two years then.
I can play game on my mac, bootcamp :) COD4 all the time.
Is this an advertisement or an article? What’s going on here?
Even Mac has rarely game software, It is so delicious , once you try Mac you will not move again
I still say your best bet is to buy a PC from an independent dealer and put Ubuntu on it. There needs to be a commercial for that.
Yes… then you’d end up with an inexpensive computer that no normal person can operate or find good software for.
That’ll show em.
Lol, I think your standards very low for *normal*… if you can’t operate Ubuntu / Gnome.., you have zero chance of operating Windows….
I think *normal* people aren’t quiet as stupid as you’d like to think… ;o)
Normal people want options and fact is Ubuntu lacks many software.
Normal people don’t know command line.
I gave a copy of Ubuntu to a night janitor who could barely figure out how to turn her computer on. She has loved it and has not found a single thing she can’t do with it. Never once has she had to use a command line to do anything either.
How many rams does it have though?
I have to say that this is the best comment yet. If in fact Sony does ship Rams with their newer VAIO’s, then I think we Mac fanboys are really missing out ;)
They made a good choice. some Vaio’s are very nice. They want a gaming machine, that would be not Mac. Why is this a bad commercial? PCs are good. Many of them rock. If you want a built in memory card, useful for more games, more applications that you use, likely your choice is a PC.
Sure mac’s are cool But you can buy a lot more PC for 1500, especially online.
The funny thing is (and I own both pc’s and macs) is that you’ll only see or feel about 75% of that performance through windows. It’s such a lame, non-efficient OS, the specs of your hardware are rendered meaningless. And if you did buy a pc, what OS are you going to get? XP? That will be done with once 7 comes into play.
If I absolutely had to buy a computer today, the Mac is a much more appealing buy as it’s OS is able to take full advantage of it’s hardware’s capabilities.
Where do you people come up with these bogus figures? I regularly move very intense datasets around in Maya on Mac, PC and Linux, all on pretty comparable hardware. Assuming all systems are properly configured, performance-wise, Linux wins, Windows gets about 10% below Linux, and OSX gets about 20% below Linux. The main difference being the implementation of the OpenGL graphics driver, which is pretty awful on OSX, since Apple insists on writing it themselves instead of letting the card manufacturer write it.
They are all perfectly usable, but there is absolutely no way you could ever rationally say the Mac somehow has 25% better performance than the PC. On any of the Adobe suite, there is hardly any difference at all on a Mac and PC using comparable hardware, but if I had to I would say the slight edge would go to PC.
There are plenty of reasons people buy Macs, but if you think OSX running on the same hardware as Windows is somehow getting 25% better performance, you are delusional.
What Lee Lloyd said. OSX is a performance whale
Don’t worry though, soon there’ll be nothing more than linux or android-powered desktops on cellphones, and we’ll call laptops ‘big mobiles’
My advice to Macboys once again: stop trying to blame PC users for the absurd amount you paid for your mac
Love watching people buy computers at Best Buy! Buy the warranty! Do it! And, don’t forget to pick up some of those magazine subscriptions.
Yeah, totally unlike the AppleCare upsell you get at Mac stores… or in the Mac sections of Best Buy.
I’ve bought three different Macs over four years from an Apple Store. Never was upsold on AppleCare.
Once you had Mac you never go back.
Actually, I did.
It was being able to buy four computers for the price of one and since unlike most Mac users (apparently), I can install anti-virus software and never think about it again, my machines work very well.
It was being able to find many different companies making products for my computer rather than having to buy everything from a small handful of companies. (BTW, did you realise that ALL of Elgato’s TV hardware is actually made by Hauppague and one or two other *PC* makers? – they just write the software)
Stop lying mac boy
I also did. Mac was sold within a week (thankfully, they have high resale prices). Macs are simple but not customizable enough for ‘powerusers’
Had one. Long story. Among many other problems, it was shipped without a volume knob. Couldn’t adjust the volume without a screwdriver. Under warranty, of course, so I took it to the store I bought it from and they attached a volume knob. And gave me a bill for $174. Apparently, the warranty didn’t cover the volume knob because it was an “aesthetic repair”.
Multiple phone calls to Mac HQ over the next few months, trying to resolve multiple problems. Finally gave up, sold it back to the store I bought it from at a huge loss. Owned PC’s ever since. Much happier!
Volume knob? What mac was that? Apple don’t put volume knobs on the outside of the computers – there are volume controls on the keyboard. Or are you just lying? Muppet.
Before Macs had keyboard controls, they had volume knobs.
I believe that the last mac with a knob may have been the classic and or SE in the 1980’s
“Adding commentary to these things is getting fairly tedious.”
Am I supposed to feel sorry for you or something? What does that even mean? I love how you feel the need to add commentary to each new MS commercial. Great publicity.
The irony is that I don’t think you felt the need to do it with every Apple PC vs. Mac ad. And that’s likely the side you support more (unless I’m mistaken?)…
That’s right. PCs are being discriminated against on a constant basis. It’s like saying “I ‘m a communist”. One thing is for sure, Steve Jobs certainly knows how to use the Force to bend people’s minds
I like PC, not matter the OS, I tried and use Windows and Mac, and my vote goes to LINUX.
Mac is too expensiveee and windows is XP.
But the best if you want to feel good about the use of a computer is Linux ” not for everyone” would try an Ubuntu OS.
This debate gets more irrelevant as the internet becomes the central computing platform (as opposed to the OS). I’m a Mac user, but if I didn’t have a few specialized purposes in mind (I record music, and sensitive audio applications can run into a lot of problems with off-the-shelf PCs) I wouldn’t hesitate to get a $500 Vista laptop. Aside from recording, almost everything I do is either in the browser (including music listening, now that I’m on Lala) or primarily in my iphone (calendars, notes, etc.).
lesson learned: milfs buy pc’s
These commercials are just sad. It’s David and Goliath, David went around saying that his computers work better than Goliath’s, so Goliath is now saying ‘but mine are cheaper!’, missing the point all together. Vista is crap, anyone who says otherwise is either lucky, lying or uses their computer in such a limited fashion, that they haven’t been able to experience how badly it can work.
And as far as saying with a Mac that you’re just paying for a pretty box, sure Mac’s are pretty, but why does almost every PC have to be so ugly? A dozen blinding blue LEDs all over the place, ‘multimedia’ buttons scattered all over the case, etc… They look like they were designed by some Honda boy racer whereas Apples look like they were designed by someone with some aesthetic sense. The only PCs that I could stand to look at for more than a moment tend to be business machines like Thinkpads or Dell Latitudes, but they are merely unoffensive, not pretty for sure.
Oh, and the mom is totally a milf.
Agreed, my favorite part of the ad was that they never bothered to use either the Mac or the PC. Talk about a superficial choice. By the end of the ad the feeling I got was ’sure our products aren’t as nice as Apple’s, but they’re cheaper!’. Whoa, don’t oversell me or anything, Microsoft!
Wow you have low standards for molds. She had no booty and her face was extremely average. I’d take the best buy employee instead or definately lauren.
Microsoft can keep playing these ads but they don’t really work. If you think anybody buys a computer because of commercial you’re crazy. The mac vs. Of ads were hilarious but I seriously doubt that anybody was swayed by them.
Right now apple is dominating the $1000+ market. Peope can say whatever they like but there is an considerable extra cost of ownership that goes into a pc.
The mac is simply has more reliable hardware and software. As a switcher, I have saved a ton of time and money since leaving windows. I’m never going pc again.
Damn iPhone. Milfs, I said milfs. Not molds. Although.. LOL!
You’re an idiot. The Mac has more reliable hardware and software? Put down the bong dude.
For starters, all the hardware inside a Mac is the same as found inside any PC. It’s all made by the same manufacturers around the world, especially since Apple switche to Intel chips.
My gf recently bought a new Macbook against my advice. She’s only had it two months and the optical drive already took a crap. She had to take it to a Mac “genius” (LOL) and get the optical drive replaced. Something on any PC I could’ve done for her for only the cost of a replacement optical drive. But no, on a Mac you’ve got to take it to a “genius” (ROFL) who’s really just some snot-nosed punk because Apple will void your warranty if you even attempt to replace it yourself. And God knows you NEED that warranty with a Mac.
Second, the only software a Mac has for it that you can’t get on a PC is it’s operating system and proprietary Apple programs. Take out the OS, and there are mulitple different applications available for PCs that do what things like iLife do on a Mac.
Third, PLEASE tell me how you quantitatively determined that there is “a considerable extra cost of ownership that goes into a PC.” Yet again, put down the bong. Macs are more expensive than any comparable PC when you compare the hardware specs apples-to-apples. PCs always have been more bang for your buck. There’s a reason iD Software (makers of Doom) switched from Macs to PCs years ago.
I like my iPod and from what I understand the iPhone is not too bad (though all of my end users who bought an iPhone want their BlackBerry’s back, lol). So I’m not an Apple hater. But you Apple fanboys crack me the eff up. Educate yourselves and stop spewing Apple corporate propoganda.
Windows 7 will blow Mac OSX out of the water. The only thing Apple has going for it over Windows or PCs in general is the iPod/iPhone, a slick advertising campaign and they look pretty.
“For starters, all the hardware inside a Mac is the same as found inside any PC. It’s all made by the same manufacturers around the world, especially since Apple switche to Intel chips.”
All hardware is garbage by nature. However, craftsmanship is a factor as well. True, they’re all built in factories, but the design of the product itself matters. Apple’s machines seem sturdier overall.
The statement that all the parts are the same is not entirely true either… For instance, Apple uses Samsung, LG, and Philips LCDs in their laptops. Some other laptop makers use screens from smaller, *possibly* less reliable companies. Unless you have the facts to back up your argument that the parts are all the same…
“Windows 7 will blow Mac OSX out of the water. ”
Don’t make me laugh. I’ve given up on Microsoft. From what I’ve seen, it’s the same as Vista: 43% slower than XP, with twice the hardware requirement (and all for a pretty UI). Meanwhile OS X 10.6 is on the way, with some nice performance and architectural updates.
@Teve
You’re an idiot. I’ve been running Vista at home for two years now, never had a single issue. And I’m a power user. You’re just another typical Apple fanboy who’s drank the kool-aid.
If the only argument in Apple’s defense you can come up with is that Macs are pretty, then you need to STFU.
Supid Apple fanboys. When will you ever learn?
I’m sure you are a ‘power user’ and as such, you’ve accepted all the hoops you have to jump through to get Vista to work as de rigeur. I’ll site a corporate survey that had 40% satisfaction with XP and merely 8% satisfaction with Vista (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9072218), among other surveys showing the dissatisfaction with Vista. I’ll believe Windows 7 is better once I’ve seen it, for now it’s merely Vista with some superficial changes on it.
Sure, Mac hardware is the same as PC hardware, but even in the PC world, not all hardware is made equally. Apple generally uses better quality parts in their machines than their competitors. Sure there are some failures, but you see alot less of them than you do on most PC makers hardware. Surveys of customer satisfaction with Mac hardware prove that people have fewer issues with Macs than PCs (http://www.bit-tech.net/news/bits/2009/02/20/apple-ranked-highest-for-satisfaction/1). BTW: Do you think that your warranty won’t be voided if you attempt a repair on your PC laptop?
As far as the extra cost of owning a PC, AntiVirus apps, spyware apps, backup software, etc… On a Mac I either don’t need these or they’re included (Time Machine). Plus the extra time I had to spend maintaining my Windows machine isn’t free, I spend alot less time being my own IT guy with my Mac.
In all product categories there are better more expensive products and the economical, value for money ones. How is this debate any different? Surely I credit Steve Jobs for making a following out of a product. Apple has invested zillions over the 20 years to build this brand equity.
Question – Does a Mac do the job better than a PC. Consider performance, security, ease of use, choice of softwares, etc.
Answer – I can do all the things I need to do on a PC. So why do I shell out twice as much money for a Mac? Even considering the resale value of Mac, it costs a few hundred dollars more than a PC.
Macs may be more durable but then you will be able to buy another upgraded latest PC for money saved in 3 years.
When we compare products like cars, watches or chocolates, there is always a high end and economical version… only the debate is not so emotional.
Wait! how can you compare the two? It’s like comparing apple’s to oranges (no pun intended).
It’s not about price, it’s about needs and wants.
And so what if its “a bad time to spend more money” because of the economy. If I could not afford what I want, I guess I’m f*ck then. Why throw away money on something you don’t want?
Thank goodness Microsoft don’t make a laptop hey mum! Can I buy this with Linux please?
I may just be a dirty bastard, but the frame you guys grabbed for the pic looks like it came from bang bus.
Thats a great!
“Adding commentary to these things is getting fairly tedious.”
Then stop writing about them. Does TC have to write about every single MS ad that comes out? TC’s anti-MS whining & bitching is what’s BEYOND “fairly” tedious.
And besides… these are likely the best MS ads to come out in years.
Ads that don’t really advertise their own product? Oh, this one had a shot of Vista on one of the notebooks. Wow.
Exactly.
But I guess you have a point… they would be ineffective on people who have never owned a personal computer… or morons.
They forgot to buy the antivirus solution.. he is insecure now.. hopefully he will be hit with a nasty Trojan. He will learn..
Hey Guido,
Don’t worry PC came with all those free software that you don’t need, or FREE (Trial) and you are right on those virus…
yeah…. really nice ads.
but i think the problem isn’t with PCs… its with the OS itself…
sure… i’m a PC but i run linux.. lol..
“Blu-ray!”
Killer app.
Seriously? I don’t think I’ve heard any “average consumer” be excited about Blu-Ray. Most of them still don’t really know what it is…
I wouldn’t buy an Apple either. I’ll take my $500 Dell running Ubuntu, thank you very much.
Have you guys seen the inaccurate apple tax study that Microsoft paid to be written?
http://appleinsider.com/articles/09/04/09/microsoft_pays_for_inaccurate_apple_tax_study.html
Tech Crunch has lost it’s edge. I’ve seen at least three articles about these commercials in the last 10 days or so. I don’t see the revelance.
I read some comments of Mac Lovers and funny thing most of them using Boot camp or VM Fusion for running Windows. If MAC OS so great and you love it sooooo much, why would you run Windows on it? This commercial really good. It shows you that you have more than one choice. The prices of the MAC is ridiculous. Plus add memory and upgrade hard drive is not that cheap.
I use boot camp for gaming. So what? That’s the only thing where the windows actually does well. How much money have you wasted on AV the past few years? And let’s face it that AV’s are almost another form of malware because it is a memory hog.
AVs are a memory hog? My Vista PC with Kasperskey runs just fine. AVG is fine as well, from what I hear.
Moron users like you need to stick to your Macbooks and Starbucks $4 lattes.
My MacBook is a Windows-free zone, thank you. I have an old desktop to run what few things I still need to run on Windows. (E.g. Some games and Adobe Premiere, since I didn’t want to buy a copy for my Mac.)
Firefox, Photoshop, NewsFire, a good text editor, an FTP client, Evernote, a multi-protocol IM client, a word processor, WoW, and a couple OSS first-person-shooters. What more do I really need?
I alway love how in all of these commercials there is always a salesperson shown helping them with the windows laptops explaining the features, but never one with the Macs. I’m sure any apple store employee would be able to explain all the features that Mac has.
So PC’s are cheaper – is that news to celebrate???
People who buy Macs usually are not buying because they want the last iota of speed.
Apple advertises about the quality of life and how their computers make a difference in your life.
People are, in increasing numbers, making that choice over the big box mentality where you endlessly compare specs and are confused over which choice you make.
I get calls from people frequently who are confused about their buying decision because it’s a mind numbing process to sort out the many PC options out there. It’s the big box store with hundreds of different PC’s to choose from than the simple and airy design of Apple’s stores and their websites.
This means that purchasing an Apple is more of a lifestyle decision (how will this device or computer improve my life) and can you make the buying experience better than starting at rows and rows of black boxes that takes days or months to decide?
Both MS and Apple are playing to their strengths but the reason for MS advertising is that they are discovering that more and more people no longer want the big box experience because consumers are perceiving the benefits of the Mac buying and using experience outweighs the risk of switching.
That is why the focus of MS advertising is trying to make the PC buying experience more enjoyable and satisfying rather than Apple’s.
The problem for MS is that the actual buying experience for consumers is anything but enjoyable and simple – it usually is confusing and there always is this sense that maybe there was a better deal somewhere else because they know that they have purchased a commodity.
And that is the one big problem of advertising when the reality is different than the ad – it eventually creates a backlash against your brand.
Phail.
What the eff kind of sales pitch is, “Apple advertises about the quality of life and how their computers make a difference in your life.” ?
PLEASE explain to me how a Mac makes the quality of someone’s life any better than a PC? Are you eff’ing kidding me???
FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.
you must use a PC.
my quality of life r0xors and i love my macs. my mac has dramatically improved my quality of life. and dont even get me started abotu how much the iphone rocks. =)
(i used to be hater…and used to build pcs. now you couldnt pay me to use one.)
Ah, someone who gets it, even if they don’t understand the significance of it. Yes, you are 100% correct, Apple is a lifestyle brand. They are selling an image of who you want to be, not electronics or computers. That is why PCs will never win over people who have already bought into the “Apple experience.” Those people have chosen a certain lifestyle, and Apple is as much a cornerstone of that lifestyle as is Starbucks, BMW and Whole Foods. They are people who have devoted their lives to always spending that little bit extra, to have someone assure them they are buying “the best.”
However, that is not who MS is targeting with these ads. MS is targeting the other 90% of the population. The 90% who can’t turn on their TV without seeing every character in every series using a Mac. The 90% who can’t go to any tech blog without reading endless and effusive praise for every product Apple puts out. The 90% who have either chosen not to, or been unable to, buy into the luxury lifestyle.
Those people are hurting right now, because they are the ones getting laid off, and that is exactly why these ads resonate. For over a decade, popular culture has been pushing the idea that everyone should always spend the most they can possibly afford to spend, on everything they buy, because otherwise they are somehow less of a person. That 90% of the population who has a hard time just making ends meet right now, is happy to have someone tell them that it is ok to shop for value again, and that they don’t always have to go for the luxury option. These ads are aimed at them, and I think the people criticizing these ads the most realize that.
A year ago, being elite and buying “nothing but the best” meant you were “living the dream.” Today it means you are one of those obnoxious, greedy hedge fund assholes who ruined the economy with your big bonuses and exorbitant pay. There is a resurgence of middle class populism in this country, and Apple’s “premium experience” lifestyle branding is on the wrong side of that movement. MS realized that, and deployed ads to take advantage of it. Simple as that.
If I had the money, I would go Mac all the way. I just don’t have the cash to fork up for one and the software.
For the supposed irrelevance of old media, we sure wet our pants over it here.
I don’t like the Mac.
Hahahaha. All the fanboys are foaming at the mouth over these commercials. Working as intended!
The fact that there are 4,000 post threads at macrumors for every ad shows what a sad bunch you are.
I will now be deleting my subscription from this pile of dung that is crunchgear. Engadget owns the hell out of this site.
PC’s, Mac’s, who really cares. Computers are just a fad. Yellow notepads and bic pens are the way to do business.
I’m not really sure why people would find the PC buying process difficult.(Obviously a lot of people don’t given the PC market share)
Yes, there are more choices for PC which is a benefit to anyone serious about getting the most bang for their buck and more importantly, being fit with the right product.
Clearly with these and “Mac versus PC” ads; both Apple and MS are battling over the low hanging fruit. (un-tech-savvy consumers with little desire or time to research their purchase); kids, moms, international students with little computer knowledge but a lot of money to spend on trying to be cool.
Despite what some might say, I think the expandability of Microsoft products will play to their advantage in the future, as people become more familiar with basic computer knowledge at a younger age.
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to realize that you can beef up the RAM in a PC for a fraction of what the same RAM in a MAC would cost.
With just a basic understanding of a few specs and having a good idea of what you want to use your computer for, you can save $1000 using a PC over a MAC.
It always disturbs me when I see people using a $1,7000 MAC to just surf the web.
I am not tech guru but I run heavy audio/video and server apps on a 2 year old $240 Dell Vostro Tower. No upgrades yet. With a little maintenance, my two machines have been able do what I need just as well as all my buddies with $2,000 MACs. Furthermore, the amount of money I save using third party peripherals and the fact that the PC is compatable with almost anything; makes it that much better.
What about virus’s and don’t MACS last longer?
I confident that I can buy my entire setup 4X over before I hit the price of 1 MAC. With an external drive, I don’t sweat it it. Haven’t had any serious problems anyways.
MAC owners just love paying for stuff.
With an internet connection and a PC, the world is practically free and anything is possible.
Sorry Fanboys.
THIS. WIN.
It’s called product justification. Anyone familiar with marketing knows it’s a part of the purchasing process.
MAC evangelists are merely justifying an irrational purchase they made.
There is no rational reason for choosing MAC over PC.
THIS x2. WIN x2.
Sure there is. Macs step out of the way and let me get my @#$% work done.
Agreed. And Exposé rocks. I don’t know how I lived without it before getting a Mac.
I have the VAIO FW-290 they show in this commercial and I LOVE it. I got mine for $1050 around Christmas with 4GB of RAM, Bluray, ATI 3650 direct from Sony.
It’s great looking and really fast. I’m going to spend a couple hundred on a SSD and I think I’ll be set for the next year.
If you’re looking for a 15-17″ notebook I highly recommend it.
I also run multiple PC’s, Linux SAN, and Macs in an HD video editing and compression environment.
The minute that I can stably, and easily run Final Cut Studio on a PC platform, I’m there.
On average, we’ve spent a 40% premium on the Mac hardware, and have had multiple hardware failures both covered under warranty, and not.
Everyone always says “well, just spend the extra $300 for Applecare” to which I say, I’ve already spent that money on supposedly “better” hardware, and in any rate, I don’t have nearly the failure rate numerically on any of my linux or PC hardware platforms.”
I’m sick of paying a lot more to run this single app on a slow OS (and this is on machines running between 4-16GB of RAM, all dual-core).
(PS – if anyone has a pointer to easy articles that DO get FCP running on PC/Hackintoshes, shoot me a link, I’ll give it a shot.)
I’m just waiting for one of the low end car companies to do an ad rubbishing Mercedes for being more expensive.
The only reason to buy a Mercedes is to show you can afford it. It doesn’t get you to work any better than a Toyota.
And my Toyota doesn’t need a special mechanic or expensive parts to fix it.
So a Lexus is the same as a Toyota? Or a better Toyota?
I think the comparaison between mac and pc is not really acurate. There are a lot of differences since they don’t play in the same marketing field.
Mac communication plays mostly on the coolness, on the intuitive forward thinking, on the innovation (they spend much more on R&D).
Most of Pc makers advertise on price and delivering lots of features (blu-ray, chipset speed, hd capacity, so on)
I understand the rivality between macfans and pc fans. –And it must be tough to be a pc fan since it’s not cool at all to be one (ever seen a vaio in a hollywood movie ?)– But mac users and pc users are different since the positionnings of the products don’t play on the same arguments. The users relate thus the arguments that have convinced them to buy (to convince themself they made the right choice).
When I see some comments, I have the impression that some people take it personnaly, like they were attacked in their core personnality when someone’s making criticism about one side or the other.
As consumer, we have to be vigilant not to be blinded by brand loyalty.
But keep on fighting, it is very interesting from a marketing point off view.
Actually, no Apple spends less on R&D than just about every major tech company. It is a commonly known fact, and a Google search will back that up.
a long time pc user i know switch to the mac last year..his ONLY regret is not switching sooner, he said he fell for all the FUD from other pc users regarding the mac..the higher cost of the mac isn’t a problem for him as it actually works and allows you to get work done instead of dealing with the headaches of a windows pc
Yes – quality of life.
When you look at Apple’s ads, they talk about things such as making a movie, downloading an application onto your Phone, not having to deal with frustrating viruses, the simpler buying experience that is bringing in switchers in droves.
Those are quality of life issues.
While most of you on this forum find it easy to deal with or avoid most of these issues without even thinking of it, most of the world does not.
The people who are doing the marketing and making these decisions know a lot more about buying metrics and buying patterns that all of us here – and the data that they are looking is making Microsoft concerned which is why you’re seeing a response that goes all the way up to Steve Ballmer.
And why Apple hasn’t seen fit to respond in kind.
I can customize the heck out of a GM car compared to a BMW, but who is the one with the big market share that is in a world of hurt right now?
it’s clear from the 3 Laptop Hunter commercials so far that the message is ‘buy a PC if you’re cheap’, Or maybe its just ‘if we pay you to act in a commercial and buy a PC, you buy a PC, mkay’.
Apple have no need to respond – these adverts do all that’s necessary to reinforce the ‘Mac is a high-end exclusive product’. Great work for them by CP&B.
Have fun with your brick of a PC! I’ve been PC-free for 5 years now and i’m still going strong with my MacBook Pro!
Additionally, from a developer perspective; It’s so much easier for me to set up my PHP/RoR dev environment and start coding right away on my MacBook Pro than on a PC. I also don’t have to deal with DLL’s and backward directory structure!
They’re getting excited over BluRay on a laptop? Talk about buying into hype. I have a 40″ LCD and I have a tough time telling the difference between an upscaled DVD and BluRay. I can’t even tell the difference until watching on a 65″+ or projector.
If someone wanted to economize, a basic Dell Vostro or Lenovo IdeaPad running Ubuntu would be a better option than anything you could buy at BestBuy. Ubuntu is easy enough for average people to use at this point that its no big deal anymore. About the only thing the average person might miss on Ubuntu is iTMS, but they’d be better off buying music from Amazon.com or WalMart.com anyway. If the kid wants to play games, buy him a game system with the money saved, he’ll get more enjoyment out of that than an anemic laptop.
Microsoft doesn’t have to do this because Apple is a niche player. Microsoft is doing this because Steve Ballmer is pissed at Apple. Microsoft saved Apple’s @@$ when the company was down in 1997. Then Apple turns around and sticks it to ‘em with the I’m a PC ads. Ballmer thinks the PC character is designed to be a parody of Bill Gates and takes it as a personal insult. The result is on the screen above. It’s not nice to bite the hand that feeds you Mr. Jobs.
Please, the $150 million that Microsoft invested in Apple was more of a PR stunt and an appeasement to the DoJ than it was a helping hand to Apple. If Ballmer really wanted to stick it to Apple, he’d kill Office for Mac, which would be a big set back for Apple in just about every market. These ads are just proof that Microsoft is lost, they have a strong server and development tool divisions but Windows on the desktop and Office aren’t growing enough anymore and people are discovering alternatives out there. Instead of improving their products, all they can do is run pathetic marketing campaigns like this. It’s pretty sad to see Microsoft come to this point.
Ahh c’mon! It’s a personal thing…just look at Ballmer’s recent quotes. He’s like French cycling fans: They don’t want you to die, they just want to see you suffer.