Well, it’s a big day for Microsoft! Their first official retail stores are dated and partially located, Gates mentions that Project Natal is coming to Windows, and now it appears that Apple has cried uncle with the Laptop Hunters ads. Actually, it probably depends on who you ask. Microsoft will say that its shopping farces were effective, not just on consumers but on the competition as well. Apple might say that their prices have become more competitive after a recent price drop on certain models, so the ads aren’t accurate any more — if they say anything at all.
As usual, the truth lies somewhere in between. But a little whining from Apple isn’t going to stop Microsoft from running the ads. After all, Apple didn’t stop running its “Twice as fast, half the price” ads after they admitted its claims weren’t “statements of fact.” Why should Microsoft stop running a consumer dog-and-pony show that has them coming out on top?
From the transcript of a presentation at the Worldwide Partner Conference today:
And you know why I know they’re working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey — this is a true story — saying, “Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices.” They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I’ve ever taken in business. (Applause.)
I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, “Is this a joke? Who are you?” Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we’re just going to keep running them and running them and running them.
What the real content of that phone call was, we’ll never know — probably something along the lines of “Your ads aren’t really taking into account pricing changes we’ve made.” I doubt Apple would actually ask Microsoft to stop running the things. But the truth is that the ads, however much we may rail against them as artificial and the choices made in them as unwise, seem to have done Microsoft nothing but good among the not-bloggers crowd.
They can’t run them forever, covering every $50 increment and price point, but as long as they’re effective, why not? The retail store will be a whole new adventure for them (dangerous, too) and they can make some wacky, misleading ads for that come the end of Summer. They’re on a roll I tells you!
[via Ars Technica and Engadget]
Magic! Good to see Apple on the back foot in the PR war (just like the Tech war)! ;-)
They should launch virtual shop on internet. We can first shortlist things on website, and then go to real shop to feal product in real and buy.
We need Apple to stay aroun 10% market share, no more, no less. Otherwise we get deemed a monoply.
We did not Apple PHd students pretending to have business skills and trying to increase marketshare so it was time we crushed them alittle.
We have to be careful not to completely wipe out Apple so that we are not viewed as a monopoly.
Bill, for someone with a degree from Harvard, you sure don’t write very well.
They should bring back the Dell stoner kid. they lost their marketshare without him.
Now that would be a great PC-Mac ad: Dell dude & Ellen Feiss. They would introduce themselves and then be all “I’m really hungry, let’s get some nachos” and leave, proving that winner in all of this feuding is no one.
lmao. first of all, that probably was a prank call. Leave it to M$hit to not screen their calls.
secondly, Apple’s about to report record sales #’s for it’s mac lineups, just from the MBP’s and the new iphone they released a month ago.
Fact of the matter is, anyone with decent sense and knowledge of tech can see through M$hit’s blatant lies. Anyone that want’s to be a filmmaker should be riding the MBP and finalcut express train. Anyone who thinks macs are just about ascetics hasn’t tried the OS. etc etc.
I know a few filmmakers, and while some do use Macs, some don’t. There’s a lot of exclusive functionality on the PC side.
Heck even Microshaft’s own ad companies use Macs. Microshaft even had Macs in their own online adds (The Apple logo was covered up). There’s been many instances of this happening. I believe Microshaft secretly admires and desires Apple – but they come out and admit to this (though they show it by using them in their ads).
I truly believe the laptop hunters ads are very damaging to Microshafts partners and less for Apple. Apple clearly appeals to a different social class (well to do – educated – high disposable income – image conscious). So pricing hasn’t hurt them (take a look at their earnings). Now poor DELL and HP et. al. – they are trying to grow margins and move people up to costlier models – and Microshaft comes out with ads stating – Heck by cheap!!. Ha Ha brilliant.
There’s also a lot of exclusive crap on Microsoft as well :)
I run both… primary is a Mac, backup and testing machine is a PC (because Microsoft can’t build a descent browser either).
I have to completely throw away PC and start fresh every few year. With the Mac, it just works…. and works… and works.
I do have to admit, some of Apple’s policies are a little ridiculous. Like the fact that you have to constantly upgrade your OS or you’re out of date too quickly. I mean, Apple makes Safari 4 for Windows XP, but they wouldn’t let OS 10.3 have any of the fun!
AVID is actually the gold standard for movie editing software in the movie biz. Final Cut Express is nice but the render times take way too long. Using a PC with AVID and a real time rendering card will blow any MBP out of the water. MBP is better for the at home novice editor. Yes many films are edited with Final Cut and it is a great product, but to say you need it to be a film maker is a long stretch. If that were the case AVID would not be the gold standard, and it is.
I’m a video major and every teacher I’ve ever had begs to differ. They don’t say you NEED Final Cut Pro… but they say that Final Cut Pro is THE standard for filmmaking. They all work in the business, so I take their word for it.
You can’t limit your opinion to the MBP, the desktop Macs can take quite a few of the high(est) end video cards and use the same processors as any Wintel machine.
And like Micah, I’ve never seen a Mac anywhere in the film business except for the bean counters office. What I’ve seen is Mac or custom proprietary computers (running Unix based software).
Unless they want to seamlessly edit Red’s 4k video in which case the best (and less expensive!) choice is to edit on a PC running Vegas Pro 9.
I use $ when talking about Microsoft (like M$hit) and claim anybody can see their supposed lies that I never make clear what they are.
This makes me a big boy and shows how mature and educated Apple fans are.
You are an inspiration to us all.
proof: http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/21807/
M$hit? Really? Is that all you have? Considering that EVERY SINGLE MAC is made with standard, ordinary components, is it accurate to state that the so called ‘Apple Tax’ is actually the cost of the
M$hit? Really? Is that all you have? Considering that EVERY SINGLE MAC is made with standard, ordinary components, is it accurate to state that the so called ‘Apple Tax’ is actually the cost of the operating system, complete with a shiny, pretty metal box?
At least the Ipod and Iphone were original ideas.
Enjoy that one percent market share, cause it’s never going to grow beyond that, so long as there are working people who like to exchange their dollar for something of value and utility, not faddish manufactured obsolescence and status pandering bourgeois shinyness.
ascetics? aesthetics maybe?
I can’t wait to visit the store.
And finally nice to see some humorous advertining from MS. I enjoyed it for once
What about the Seinfeld ads?
The less said, the better.
first time Microsoft get in apple’s skin. lol!
First time?
You haven’t seen Pirates of Silicon Valley have you?
So it’s okay for Apple to run ads that rag on Microsoft and their sh*tty software, etc. but when the tables are turned they cry foul?
They didn’t do anything that any of us know of. Microsoft has been know to lie before (Internet Explorer). so the fact that every windows user is rejoicing over a rumor is pathetic.
Most rumors about Apple are wrong anyway ;-)
“Microsoft has been know to lie before”
You mean like just about ANYTHING Apple says in their ads?
Even though I am a total Apple fanboy, whats fair is fair. Apple has been poking fun at MS for years now.
But, one of those laptop hunters commercials was very inaccurate as the person buying purchased a machine because it had 2 GB more of memory … neglecting to point out that it was *SLOWER* machine all over. Slower CPU, slower memory and less resolution. But oh … I wanted a widescreen … *cough*
*shrug* I think it was a bad move for Apple to complain to MS. If anything, they should have made another Mac vs PC commercial that pointed out the specs of the machines. Focus on the software, thats the strong point of Apple.
I don’t know, I think if they go on straight specs, it’s really easy for people to see the Apple tax. I mean, the amount they charge on top of a video card for an upgrade… the cost of their extra RAM… it’s really pretty easy to point out, I’m surprised Microsoft hasn’t done it more explicitly.
But yeah, don’t get me started on the choices made by the “hunters,” even if HP has gotten better in the last couple years.
Fair enough, but I think Apple needs to go back on the offensive pointing out their strong points.
Well engineered software, that not only looks damn good but runs damn good.
What strong points?
Have you ever seen an ad where Apple even mention OSX by name? They had their way deriding Windows and Windows users which ironically happen to be the majority of their customers factoring iPod/iPhone.
Running a Novelty OS on top of couple of SKU’s and then bleating superiority doesn’t change the facts that other platforms including *nix are just as and even more capable.
OS X is Unix.
Apple cannot do that, because apple is first and foremost a hardware company, not software. if it was software, they would allow mac clones to exist, now it is simpler to run a mac clone then ever (BSD after all) but apple would not allow it in any shape or form.
…and the software tax to be able to run windows on your mac.
But I have been tuning out the MS commercials for a while since they are pure fluff. Bring back Bill and lets watch him be the dork that we wish we were.
Almost every one of those cheaper machines has cheaper components, Centrino instead of Duo processors, Intel integrated graphics instead of discrete chipsets, and so on.
But Apple should really do an ad with PC standing there with his “saved” cash, and Mac asking him if he’s paid his yearly antivirus subscription fees yet…
are you sure about that? I’m not saying you’re absolutely wrong, but are you positive. Because I think that most of the computers do have duo core and not centrino. Put down your apple and look at PC’s every once in a while, they can have quality components. Just because it’s not apple doesn’t automatically mean it’s shit.
Yep, my annual Virus subscription is $0 (Avast Home)
As for Core 2 Duo take a look at the ASUS range, packed with features, rock-solid and extremely competitive pricing.
I dont use anti-virus programs, but occasionally i’ll run the eset online scan for free. But i also only travel to about 10 websites. Unless i really need to look something up. So my PC and Laptop and Media center are virus free and run nice and fast.
I do like my pc’s, but i do like apples gadgets. there airport extreme is bad ass. Hopefully Microsoft will come out with some better gadgets besides the zune, remember when they had routers those things were complete crap
If i’m not mistaken, there is no “Centrino” processor; Centrino refers to the configuration and mobile functionality of the laptop, i.e. Intel chipset, Core Duo or Core 2 Duo, Intel wireless card, etc. This would explain why there is no Centrino CPU on desktops.
You do understand that a Mac is A pc?? The exact same components go into each one. The only controlling thing between them is the OS. For example I have seen the best video cards from nvidia not supported in Mac os. A Mac PC built with the same hardware as the PC will run no faster than the PC unless the OS code is optimized for the hardware its running on. (whereas a Windows PC the OS is coded to run on mutiple platforms and difficult to Optimize for them all) Now allow MS to not only build the OS but Design it around hardware of there selection, and then we shall see……. Of course then Mac would complain about the monopoly.
oh yeah?! Well, microsoft still makes crap for software :D ;)
I’m a recent Mac convert, and while I love their HW, Apple has a long way to go with their software. It simply feels clunky and outdated compared with other modern OSes (mostly Linux and, yes, Windows)
I have NO idea what you mean that OS X is “clunkier” than any Windows OS… if you’re new to OS X, give yourself a little time to un-learn all the extra run-around BS that has come to seem normal after (I’m assuming) years of running Windows.
The “I’m assuming” part makes me wonder if you’ve used non-OS X systems. I don’t necessarily think OS X is clunky (I’m writing this on my MBP), but if you’re not versed in multiple OS’s, how can you make the claim in either direction?
I’m well versed in both. XP and Vista love the run around. There’s a simple rule of web design. No more than 5 clicks to get somewhere or accomplish something. While OS’s aren’t websites, the rule still applies. People want to be able to do something in less than 5 clicks. XP and Vista both violate this law with some of the most mundane and simple, but important tasks. Meanwhile, OSX is fluid and simple and COMPLETELY non-clunky. The only thing that’s grown out of control is the itunes store, along with itunes. It needs to be cleaned out and simplified.
What the heck are you using on Windows that takes you more than 5 clicks to start using?
The only thing Apple wants them to do is update the prices in the commercials… Don’t see how it’s a big deal for Microsoft…
The commercials were more like “man that mac is expensive,” not “I see the MacBook Pro starts at $1699″ or whatever. It’s all approximate and well within the bounds of basic advertising license.
Some of the commercials make specific claims, for instance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APQv8JTKM9A
In which Sheila tells us the best Apple under $2000 only has 2GB of RAM. Three Apple laptops under $2000 come with 4GB of RAM. These are the sorts of things legal depts. love to get their panties in a twist over.
Sheila makes specific claims… ;)
Then Apple needs to update THEIR commercials too, acting like the PC constantly blue screens…. or comes with no software….. this isn’t Windows 98 anymore.
Bloat? You want to talk about bloat? ifuckingTunes!
The clever thing about these ads is that they totally invert the human/mechanical dichotomy that Apple was going for in the PC/Mac campaign–the PC, in the Laptop Hunters ads, are the diverse, rational, hip HUMAN humans, whereas the Macs, instead of the cool, laid-back Justin Long are reduced to expensive pieces of metal sitting stupidly expensive, much like Hobbes in Calvin and Hobbes. The anthropomorphism is completely undone, and the PC stereotype is soundly defeated as non-businesspeople choose and proclaim themselves to be PCs. The Apple PC/Mac ads become transformed into conveyors of grotesque, and, unfortunately for Apple, dismissible, stereotypes.
As much as those ads piss me off, they’re a brilliant retort.
Agreed. and the stereotype continues at the Genius Bar, my wife brought in her overheating power charger and was met by a pimply 15 yr old with a real shoulder-shrugger… i guess she wasn’t cool enough? Thanks for the new charger apple, but we can do without the ‘tude
See I’ve never understood, that if an Apple is so easy why do they need a “Genius” anything to show you how do do things.
If they can dish it out they should be able to take it. Whinny crapple.
Apple wins. Microsoft is basically saying, “if you want the cheapest computer, but something running windows. If you want the best OS, stay with Apple. I haven’t seen any slowdown in Apple sales.
If you are looking for either Cheapest Computer or the most expensive computer, windows will work on it and even on Mac too, so basically the ads are not promoting Microsoft as much as they are promoting the value for money concept, and the huge spectrum of PC computers you are selecting from, not the very limited options of Apple machines
Just keep your head in the sand singing lalala crapple fanboy. By the time you lift it up you’ll look around and wonder wth happened.
Hey Mike M . . . .
you are so clever . . . wow . . . head in the sand crapple fanboy . . . nice . . . and yet my apple stock keeps going up. How hard can it be to understand that you can buy a Kia for less than a BMW, but they are BOTH represent good values to the market they serve? Why wouldn’t you want to have a choice when you go shopping? Do you also hate people who drive a certain kind of car because it is not the kind YOU drive? Sheeezzz . . . maybe you need a sports team to root for.
so the fact that you have stock in Apple means that you Do have your head in the sand, because regardless of the competition’s successes and strong points you wil refute them and pull for Apple blindly because you have stock. And Apple will continue to control you.
Go Diamondbacks (that’s my sports team)
“How hard can it be to understand that you can buy a Kia for less than a BMW, but they are BOTH represent good values to the market they serve?”
And is the BMW made with all KIA parts but has the BMW logo slapped on it and a higher price?
Apple computers use all the same parts as PCs. Ram, cpu, 3d hardware, harddrives, all of it. Yet they cost many times more. Why? Because Apple brainwashed you into thinking they are somehow superior.
Hiel Steve!
nice to see a non-apple-fanboy post on tc. :) Apple, windows, who cares. You want windoze to run fast, roll your own with winlite. You want that sexy plastic mac shell, spend some dough. Just stop whining about it
Devin is the designated Microsoft fanboy. They needed to balance MG Siegler.
Just because Devin likes Microsoft doesn’t make him a fanboy. I’m glad that someone in the tech world isn’t trendy and shallow.
“Just because Devin likes Microsoft doesn’t make him a fanboy.”
Yet every time someone says anything remotly good about apple they are called fanboys?
“Apple will continue to control you.”
Really? just cause he has Apple stock he is controlled by them?
Anyway anyone that uses the word “fanboy” for describing anyone using any particular OS has their “head in the sand” about what two different OS’s mean. Nothing. Its just competition between businesses.
Ah yes. Anyone who likes Apple is a trendy and shallow, but Microsoft fans are perfectly rational about everything.
Pot, meet kettle!
I love it! Finally, Apple is beat at their own game. Their ads were not exactly honest and true and many were out right mean in their nature.
Apple is forgetting that a company like Microsoft does not go away so fast and does not give up its market share that fast either without putting up a fight. And Microsoft can fight. They have both the determination and the cash to do it. Microsoft’s strategies are always long term and marketing is just another one of those.
Go Microsoft!
disclaimer – I used a MBP 17″ to write this post. I am not a Microsoft FanBoy nor am I an Apple FanBoy.
lmao… a company like M$… you mean the type that steals IP and gets away with it on a technicality. that abuses its monopoly repeatedly to hold down 3rd party apps. that produces semi-functional software and hardware with obvious and innate quality issues. ah yes, that company.
Apple’s business strategies, partnership abuse, and quality issues are well-documented as well. They’re just like any other tech company in that respect, but the Apple tax gives them leeway to raise the bar a little.
Want to talk about monopolistic practices and holding back 3rd party apps? Okay, here are a few:
1. Safari can not use any other search engine other than Google. You have to use a 3rd party tool (which breaks with every release of Safari) to change that functionality. Why? You have been able to change the default search provider in IE for the last 5 years.
2. OS/X can only be installed on specific Apple hardware? Why? We all know that it can run just fine on other PCs when the software is hacked to think that the Apple Tax Chip is installed on the motherboard.
3. iPhone SDK is locked and does not allow developers to create any application that will potentially compete with Apple. None is more apparent than their Camera API which is purposely slower than the API that the default camera app uses. Examples like that are all over the API. Windows Mobile’s API has been open for the last 7 years and Microsoft does not prevent developers from creating any type of application that they want to produce.
The list goes on and on. Apple is absolutely no different than what MS was 20 years ago. The only thing is that MS changed whereas Apple has decided that their products are so cool that they can charge the Apple Tax and do whatever they want.
I, for one, hope that the DOJ will catch up to Apple just like they did MS.
“you mean the type that steals IP and gets away with it on a technicality. that abuses its monopoly repeatedly to hold down 3rd party apps. that produces semi-functional software and hardware with obvious and innate quality issues. ah yes, that company.”
You must be talking about Google right? :P
I rest my case!
Ignore them apple. Let’s go back to those people or anyone in a year and ask how things are going with paper weight, choking from viruses cheap computer. And how much they have spent on antivirus. How the support is going.
Didn’t Dell try this cheap route? How is that working out for them?
Can any of you windows guys read this over that loud fan in your pc?
Written by 15 year pc user turned macfanboy from his iPhone.
you just becomed an “iDiot”
Becomed…
Obviously Englishidiot…
That’s funny Jason, I’ve been using a PC all my life and have never had an issue with viruses nor have I spent any money on anti-virus. Oh, and my fan isn’t loud.
Just because you don’t know what the hell you’re doing doesn’t mean PC’s suck. That’s like saying “This bicycle is better than a motorcycle because I can’t figure out how to use a motorcycle properly.”
You should put the specs of you PC up as I would like to see first hand what quiet no virus windows based pc your using.
I build my own PCs, and quiet fans and power supplies are plentiful. In fact the only time I get bothered by noise is when I’m using my MBP in a quiet place. I too have never had a virus problem, and I don’t even use an antivirus program.
Fuck apple and fuck microsoft. is all about jollicloud lol
Apple does things like this all the time, its not that someone finally got under their skin, Apple is a very restrictive company.
I think Donald Trump should take a class taught by Bill Gates.
HAHAHA Apple is scared from microsoft because they were showing how overpriced is MACS! serve them right
But Macs aren’t overpriced the same way that Prada handbags or Vertu cell phones aren’t overpriced either. Vanity has cost — Apple fanboys are not buying Apple because it’s any more functional or better than anything else.
No we are. When I start up my MAC it doesn’t take 5 minutes. My MAC apps crash about one time a month versus two times a day. When I develop Rails apps starting my server and running tests doesn’t take 5 minutes each time. when I hook up my new printers, cameras, etc… it works I don’t need to install, reinstall drivers, update drivers….
I would like to see the video continue after the windows buyer goes home and tries getting all his hardware connected and setup and get all the AOL Dialup shit off.
I can go on if you would like?
“No we are. When I start up my MAC it doesn’t take 5 minutes. My MAC apps crash about one time a month versus two times a day. When I develop Rails apps starting my server and running tests doesn’t take 5 minutes each time. when I hook up my new printers, cameras, etc… it works I don’t need to install, reinstall drivers, update drivers….”
Then you have no idea how to use your computer.
My Windows systems take less time to startup than my Mac Mini. My mac actually crashes more often than Windows (which is very rare in and of itself) etc etc.
Please do go on, I would love to see you make a further fool of yourself proving only idiots who couldn’t use a computer if their life depended on it would prefer a Mac.
wow. what’s the spec’s for your old pc then?
i’ve been a pc user all my life, but i use macs and pcs at school and i actually work teaching kids how to use the programs on macbooks…my pc doesn’t EVER take 5 mintues to load. i have never bought an anti-virus. i don’t have crashes. i don’t have slowdowns. i know how to fix things if something happen, because i teach myself about how what i need to do to keep my pc in tip top shape…and with the macbooks we need to do all these updates, which is annoying because it takes time away from when we’re working with the kids, but aside from that although yeah it’s different, it’s not that hard to reorient yourself with os x system. uhm about the designs, well macs are obviously sleeker and have a definitive aesthetic, which wouldn’t be hard for pc’s to adopt, and some of the companies have recognized that the way their products looks/works need to attract the consumer because most regular people (like me really) don’t care about how things work as long as it looks nice and works well, but some people like me actually care about what is inside their computers. i just got my pc rebuilt with old parts from our old pc we had for 13 years, which would still work, but we took some of the old parts of the hardrive, got some new things and created a great mashed up pc that doesn’t have the problems you listed. i am learning to be dilligent in keeping my pc safe and have become a virus killer…which i think is all good about learning and progressing. i have nothing against macs or pcs, but i don’t buy the arguments. microsoft can run this ad because apple has been doing basically the same thing for years so all is fair. i just learned from reading the above comments that i can run os x on my pc with a crack…which i didn’t know about but i will find out.
Microsoft should keep making these ads as long as they include that lady from the last ad.
EXACTLY what I was thinking!!!! i almost pitched a tent during a commercial….!
The MacPro I would choose would cost me $2,183.00.
A more powerful PC w/ all of the software I would want would be less than $1,200.00.
There’s no comparison other than the “look at me, I have a mac and that’s supposed to make me cool” part.
If you’re going to list prices, you’re going to have to list model numbers as well or no one’s going to take you seriously.
Unless of course he builds them himself.
Another thing that you cannot do with Apple.
“…seem to have done Microsoft nothing but good among the not-bloggers crowd.”
Not-bloggers crowd. I like that. Tough to swallow for many, but it is the most important and largest crowd of all.
No kidding, I have to do reality checks all the time. TC, CG and other tech blogs are an insider culture and it’s easy to snipe at mainstream and consumer culture while missing the point.
I bought my first laptop brand new for $500 (in a retail store no less!). Even after upgrading my hard drive and ram the total money spent on it was still less than any apple laptop. So unless apple can sell a new laptop for $500 they have no right to complain.
Can you tell us your setup?
it’s a compaq presario v5000 with an amd sempron 3000+
it originally had a 40 gb hard drive and 512 mb of ram. upgraded it to 160 gb hard drive and 2 gb of ram.
I did roughly the same, bought an HP laptop, paid ~600 for it (around 20 months ago), upgraded the RAM and it worked fine… for about three months.
Then it started failing because of Vista (for instance every time I used IE7, or PPT or Word) and after 15 years using Windows I gave up. Not because I couldn’t fix it, but because I was tired of fixing it and using registry cleaners and crappy bloatware software, and reinstalling windows every 10 months because of Windows Rot.
I was a former .Net developer who switched to a Mac. Not because it was cooler, but because I was convinced the OS would work better and faster. I’ve now had my MBP for about a year and a half and it’s just as fast as the day I bought it. It fails very rarely and I couldn’t be happier.
“Then it started failing because of Vista”
So its ok to talk about MS failures but not Apple’s?
MACOS9 wasn’t exactly the best written piece of software, and Windows 7 already creams MACOSX.
And the Windows 7 commercials has not started yet, the whining will really begin.
” And so we’re just going to keep running them and running them and running them.”
MG, there is your “3″ again!
So Apple is complaining that M$ is exposing their PCs for what they are: polished turds.
The Apple laptops are a little better, but still not worth the price premium.
I think this is great. I want all my competitors to start using PC’s for everything!
Wow. These articles are the best way of seeing how so many people are so gullible and will believe anything on the net. Hahahaha. Sure Apple and Legal has a history of calling competitors asking them to stop it. Uh yeah, riiight.
I guess you have insider information about the protocol of Apple’s legal department? No? Well then I guess you have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.
Right and you do. So I guess your statement is just as relevant to me as it is to you. LOL…
apple = overpriced, overhyped toys for the highly insecure
interesting. i am a business man and not a techie however, i have tried most platforms. The Mac wins hands down. the learning curve is 80% less with a Mac. it was the first PC that you could take out of the box and write a word doc without hardly having to read the manual. also, you forget that Windows 95 was designed to compete with the OSX. no windows OS can compare especially with Snow Leopard.
For your purposes, a Mac may definitely be the right choice due to its ease of use. However, I personally get frustrated when Apple fanboys go crazy about how “Macs are better than PC’s”. The reality is that if you know how to use a PC, it’s so much more powerful than a Mac. I made a comparison above of a Mac to a bicycle and a PC to a motorcycle. Sure, the bike might be easier to figure out and may be more reliable, but if you can learn how to use the motorcycle properly, there’s just so much more potential.
Nick,
You are a loser.
Who cares if someone likes a Mac better than a PC. Isn’t it all personal preference? If they choose to brag that their Mac is better than YOUR PC…SO BE IT!
Your belief in the PC should be enough for YOU. So kid…forget about it and move on. Your done.
Hey everyone apparently Nick likes motorcylces.
“you forget that Windows 95 was designed to compete with the OSX”
That shows amazing fore-thought on Microsoft’s part about 6 years in fact.
Whaaat?! Windows 95 came out in 1995, it was competing with System 6!
“you forget that Windows 95 was designed to compete with the OSX”
Really? Windows 95 was designed to compete with an OS that wasn’t released until several years later? Wow, I didn’t know Microsoft had a Time Machine (pun intended).
“no windows OS can compare especially with Snow Leopard.
You haven’t seen Windows 7 have you?
And I mean actually used it for any decent amount of time, not read about it on a random blog or tried it for 5 minutes at a kiosk.
If the marketing works, then perhaps that is all that matters, but the unfairness of the comparison always bothers me.
Saying a 3.0 GHz Windows machine is better than a 2.0 GHz Mac is about as valid as saying a 3.0 GHz Intel chip is better than a 2.0 GHz AMD chip.
Sure the numbers are the same but the comparison is meaningless.
The comparisons might not be completely on par, but they’re not meaningless. A 3.0 GHz Windows is most likely better than a 400 MHz Mac. A larger difference, but the concept is still the same. Anyway, I think a lot of the things said in the Apple Mac vs. PC ads are unfair also.
Interesting, this, because my g/f has a 3.0 GHz HP running XP Media Center Edition, while my machine is a ten-year-old G4-400 running OS X 10.3.9. We’ve customised that copy of XP so that it’s less prone to crashing and other traditional MS nonsense – never, ever using IE is a good start – but the old Mac is capable of matching the PC in performance in a surprising number of cases. And it starts WAY faster.
They both have their uses, and I have experience on both platforms going back to the days of DOS 1.0, but my personal choice is Apples (has been since 1981). And the g/f says that when the HP finally gives up the ghost a Mac might be taking its place…
Your Bullshit is showing since when does the Xp for the G4 Processor is the same Xp for x86 Processor?
You geeks are misinterpreting this. Apple just wanted to see Microsoft make more puke ads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB9fhjnJcB0
Microsoft should destroy Apple. Finally MS hitting back against Apple.
Destroy? Good one. Look everything in life starts with the cool kids. That cool car…early adopter. That cool chick early adopter. Those cool cloths early adopter. You don’t destroy or set trends by aiming for the middle crowds or the laggards. See Ford, GM, Dell, etc… for examples. Microsoft won’t destroy crap.
Plus, Microsoft is about to lose the browser war, their OS is rev is drying up, they are trying to earn rev from search more an more.
They are trying to be everything to everyone and we all know where that gets you.
Keep running the ads Microsoft…you keep targeting the middle.
Ha ha ha ha ha, “cool kids”
The kind who stay popular for a few years at most and then are forgotten, taking dead-end jobs so they don’t remain homeless?
“cool kids” have popularity for being different, popularity that quickly fades when the difference has become mundane and something new has become different.
You seriously need help if you want to buy an Apple product because you think it makes you look cool.
You cut the quote one sentence too early.
“Those are completely unscripted commercials.”
That statement belies the lie to the tale.
Why do you think the ads are misleading? Are you denying that Macs are more expensive than PCs, or are you quibbling that the exact prices in the commercials are somehow off?
I use both – and i just don’t get why people have such a set against both camps. Some things I prefer Windows for – Software Development and Visual Studio are second to none, but for ease of email, photos, videos and home footage, I’ll take the Mac any day.
They both co-exist fine.
Im not an apple hater, but their hardware is plain and simply ridiculously overpriced.
Like I said, Im not an apply hater. I’ve got a 160gb ipod and ive bought stuff off itunes. Thats all great. But their computer hardware is ridiculously priced.
I thought the same thing until I bought one. I will never go back… you get what you pay for.
Do yo really think that if Apple was on par with windows we would pay the high price even for vanity? Some might but most people won’t.
My last PC lasted about 3 years and then had to be tossed. I am going on year 3 with my MBP and it will easily last me another 2 or 3 years.
Funny, I bought one and went “meh” and stayed with Windows.
Funny how there’s so many of these people bleating left and right “I bought one and never went back”, and EVERY SINGLE ONE of these people clearly did not know how to use their PC. Constantly claiming they got infections, it stopped working, ran sow, etc, which anybody with an ounce of skill in using a PC would know how to avoid.
Still going strong with my Sony Vaio I picked up in 2003 doing lots video, audio, photo, blogging, writing…
In the end, it’s the consumer who wins. They can keep on with their battle.
MACs are overpriced and people buy because the have the elegance and exclusive product line that Microsoft does not.
That is why they release technology for 3 years ago now and brand it as super new, I mean, if you can get me excited about a 3.2 MP camera on IPhone 3Gs, and I bought a Sony Erricson early last year with a 5.2 and now Nokia has reached 8MP already…that is good strategy but still a bit ridiculous
Of course you could say the same thing about Nokia still using resistive display instead of capacitive which are far more sensitive and vastly superior as a result.
So that’s really not a good argument against Apple. Apple uses a lower MP camera (look up “megapixel myth once) and Nokia uses lower inferior displays. You could pick other things to compare in the same way (Mobile OSX vs Symbian comes to mine).
High megapixels demands quality optics or else the megapixels are merely wasted (along with storage for those megapixels), but “quality optics” and “thin” do not go together. Apple has produced a slim, easily pocketable phone with built-in camera that has as many megapixels as can reasonably be utilized. The 3GS was configured with more megapixels than the original iPhone because of the new autofocus lens.
Macs are considered overpriced by all except those who choose to buy them.
You trade money for convenience, true and simple. More convenience you want, the more it’s going to cost you.
Macs are overpriced if you look purely at the hardware but it’s paid its dues back to me in time not spent maintaining the system unlike the countless hours I used to spend tinkering with Windows and building PCs and doing the same for my less knowledgeable friends.
Now, if OS X would legally run on generic intel hardware you bet I’d be an OS X user and not a Mac user. I have zero loyalty to Apple and I take great pains to ensure all my data is cross platform compatible so I can take it wherever the next great thing may take me. I just want to use the best, simplest, tools that I can afford. Today, that is a Mac. Ten years ago it was Windows2000 Pro on some Dell. Twenty years ago it was probably an Amiga500. Thirty years ago an Atari800. Forty years ago I didn’t exist.
The os goes for about $130 or so retail, Mac systems have the same hardware as PCs, so logically the only thing that should be inflating the price is the OS, yet they cost far far more than $130 compared to a similar PC.
Where is this extra convenience I am supposedly paying for? It can’t be in the hardware.
That is true, convenience always has a price. So for those of us who can swing either way and care about functionality, invest in a Mac Book Pro and install Microsoft Windows on it. I think that solves everything…
That is what I am running in my company Africa 24 (http://a24media.com) as IT Personel, it works because i just not care because of cross-platform ability…
“invest in a Mac Book Pro and install Microsoft Windows on it. I think that solves everything…”
That’s nothing but a waste of money.
People buy Mac systems for the OS, not the hardware, because its the same damn hardware. Buying a Mac then using it just for Windows is like buying an iPhone just to use a calculator App you downloaded for it.
What your blog leaves out is that KT also showed a slide that showed how he went into last Sunday’s sales circulars (noting that he still has Retail in his blood) and pulled prices for the latest MacBook and Windows-based laptops with comparable hardware. The MacBook was $1,199 and the laptops were both under $700.
The point he was making is this: while Apple may disagree with the ads, any consumer would come to the same conclusion every day by looking at what Apple sells their products for.
Thanks for adding that, I think it’s probably true too.
It’s unfortunate when people get fooled into ads like this. They end up buying junk. I’ve known several people who initially want a mac and end up trying to save a buck on a cheap windows laptop. They have ended up regretting it and buying a mac later. I think it’s a good learning experience for people and I think it’s a huge part of why Apple has been able to be as successful as they have been lately.
I’ve always found those commercials to be very ironic as they are more adds for HP and Gateway laptops and there is really no mention of the operating system. To me those adds are an admission from M$ that OS X kicked Vistas ass
Exactly. This is Microsoft making it up to the hardware manufacturers for Vista. Trying to hold on until Windows 7 comes out in hopes of not losing so much market share.
Their is gap appearing in our society and its getting wider and wider and this Windows vs. MAC issue is just an example. The college educated are turning to MAC and those not are turning to Windows. Believe I read on TC that 40% or more of college students choose MAC’s (may not have that figure correct). This will increase more and more.
When was the last time you bought an HP or Gateway with OS X on it?
When was the last time Microsoft built a laptop?
I think you’re missing the point: the more non-mac computers Microsoft sells, the more copies of Windows they sell. They have the option of touting Windows OR the computers Windows comes on.
As for the ads, it’s come down to literally a competition on price? Price is only part of the story, and frankly the part that is least significant and first forgotten when buying technology you have to work with for the next year.
The MS ads show someone doing the equivalent of a ’speed-date’ to find a machine: ten minutes of store-based discovery and evaluation. If anyone really falls for that story, they deserve what they end up with.
What about the rest of the story? What happens when these folks get that crappy box home? Is it REALLY exactly what they wanted? Is their experience really better than the experience of opening a Mac and starting to work right out of the box? I don’t believe it.
Sorry Greg, but you can’t argue against the hordes with Walmart mentalities. I mean, why would ANYONE shop at a store other than Walmart, right? There surely can’t be anything worth mentioning other than price. 8 hour battery life on a non-crippled machine? Well that’s just rivially unimportant!
I’m a PC user, BTW.
I use to be PC but the bloated OS of MS really annoying. yeah, i maybe paying cheap price for a PC laptop or desktop but considering security issue all the time with the PC , i think i will stay with my new MAC.
Nat
http://www.loopcity.net/
My g/f and I love the ‘I’m a Mac’ ads, but the ‘Laptop Hunter’ ones we found cold and forgettable – and if they’re unscripted they must have looked pretty hard to find people who would say just what they wanted to say, and wasted a lot of videotape.
If this was an attempt to counter Apple’s advertising I would say it’s failed miserably. Apple (and their advertising company) may be the only large corporation right now that has learned the lesson Volkswagen taught us back in the 60s about how to get your message across to your market so they’ll _remember_…
Is that why Apple of all people are sweating over these ads?
How do you know that Apple is “sweating” over these ads? Oh, that’s right… the guy from Microsoft says so… and obviously he would have no reason make up or exaggerate something like this… right.
I have watched the ads and I spent a lot of time working retail computer sales and I can tell you that yes, that is how many people buy computers. As unwise and dumb as geeks may perceive it they are an accurate portrayal of 99% of computer buyers out there.
Ask almost anyone about which ads they remember the most and majority of people (Pc and mac users) will tell you Macs.
All the PC ads are doing is hurting MS partners, Dell, HP, etc. These ads are saying, these brands of computers are cheap. At the same time, the average consumer who doesn’t know jack shit about computers will look at this ad and go buy one of these computers just because it was so cheap. The other day my uncle went to a Best Buy and saw a netbook for really cheap and asked me why I spend over a $900 on my imac when I could get a “computer” for 300.
That’s who these ads are targeting and it might be working for them. Too bad for Dell and HP, cuz MS is slowly destroying their image.
http://ziggytek.com/
What? Didn’t use a pic of the hot red head Lauren? for shame….
Power to the techi!!!
Hilarious “debate” going on here. Makes me laugh.
For the record, I own both — but never found the MBP to start fast at all (I am running with the G4), and Windows never starts fast after the first month of use and poor 3rd party programs get installed.
One must remember that MS made its name and money by selling volume, not by charging high prices. Apple does not take this approach at all and is successful too — but not on the same scale.
MS does produce some excellent tech (Zune, Visual Studio, Windows 7) but does produce some crap too from time to time (too many to list — but my favorite was “Bob”).
The only commercial that ever “bothered me” was the recent one Apple put out for their iPhone 3Gs. The “cut and paste” one. That one was truly playing to the “tech-impaired” and “Apple is cool no matter what” crowd. Notice the “sequences shortened” disclaimers there in the ad? Pretty sad when you have to have disclaimers in an ad where you brag about a feature that has been out for at least 4 years.
Finally, I can get an HP Laptop, pretty much loaded for $699 today. Not the best, but what 95% of the people buying today need. Apple can’t touch that offer.
http://shop.bjs.com/viewproduct.htm?productId=73538204&sc_cid=EE20090716:15
ed.
I love the Apple quote in the headline, for which no evidence is presented in the story. That’s just more quality reporting by “TwitterCrunch”!
The original “quote” was a paraphrase, and I’m paraphrasing the paraphrase. And for the record, I don’t like Twitter.
Isn’t all opinions? Jeans at Banana Republic fit better, to me, than Old Navy jeans. I pay for what fits _me_ best.
If you like Apple/OS X that is what you get, if you like Windows that is what you get. So after reading this, I just read the same thing over and over again.
And to me the battle is more Mac vs . OS X is proprietary, so? Im writing this comment on a Macbook Pro using ubuntu..
Personally I do not like Microsoft operating systems, but that’s because they don’t fit me. But I would not recommend my dad (retired CFO, Day trader) to buy a Mac because of how much he lives in Microsoft Office and because of what he likes. I know macs run Office just fine, I use it. But the point is, he is happy with his PC.
I just never understand all the arguing back and forth. If Ubuntu could run Adobe products (for the love make it happen Adobe), I would, most likely, use Ubuntu full time.
So it’s really a moot point, when you get down to it, they all do the same thing. Just do it different ways.
I would call this poor journalism.
You stepped on my foot in high school, and I retaliated by pushing you into the mud and standing on your head. Might not be true, but I said it so therefore it is fact.
Do you have a transcript of the conversation? Or a recording? Do you SERIOUSLY think that any legal advisory team with any sense would make this call? REALLY?
I think Microsoft got what they wanted out of this, the ads aren’t doing as well as they hopped, so maybe creating a story about Apple getting worried about it will give them the buzz they needed. Well that worked, everyone on the planet are re-tweeting this IMO ignorance.
In the interest of truth in advertising, Microsoft is Feeling compelled to pull the ads and they’re attempting to squeeze some more juice out of them with the unsubstantiated innuendo. And the money grubbing media just *lurvs* the story.
Considering the size this story has grown to, wouldn’t you expect a retraction or explanation by one party or another by now if it weren’t at least partially true?