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New Apple Campaign Target PC Flaws
sodul writes"Apple just started a new campaign to emphasize the advantages of Mac versus a regular tasteless PC. The ads represent a young cool looking man (Mac) and a white collar in his 40's (not cool, PC).
In one of the ads the PC repeat itself several times because it had to reboot. In an other one (and maybe the most aggressive of all) PC is sick because of a virus, while Mac is healthy.
You can watch the new spots on Apple's site "
Pretty much all hate campaigns I've seen against another product just didn't work out. Logically, I'd also think that showing people how good your product is (rather than how bad the other product is) has a much more positive effect. But really, I'm not an expert on commercials. Anybody who can point me to some hate campaigns by major companies that seem(ed) to be effective?
now it all makes sense why MSN was running the other day with a story about how macs are not secure and will cause you to get viruses etc... they must have got wind of this early. Its a shame I'll never get to see these adds on TV though, the Advertising Standards Agency wouldn't let them air, they recently blocked a mac advert because it said that the CPU's job in a PC was boring... : S... I wasn't aware that CPU's could really get bored
*''I can't believe it's not a hyperlink.''
Do you own an Intel Mac? Seems like lots of people who make the PC==Mac argument don't own an Intel Mac. I'm not attacking you, I'm just wondering. I ordered a MBP yesterday (can't wait till it gets here!) so I'm not going to comment on the hardware yet. I know that my iMac G5 is *much* better constructed than any PC I've owned (or built for that matter). Just because two computers share the same chipset, does that really make them equal? For my part, the jury is still out.
This sig kills fascists.
"In one of the ads the PC repeat itself several times because it had to reboot."
... PC is sick because of a virus, while Mac is healthy."
"In an other one
Is the submitter actually a robot manufactured by Apple to demonstrate what happens when you make a language engine out of MS Office's grammar checker?
Just seems to be a challenge to the virus writers. I expect it won't be long now.
"Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
modern Mac's are a bog standard Personal Computer (that comes with a nice box & even nicer software)
The "dumb" ones are those that hold on to the notion that the worth of a computer is solely in its hardware. That "even nicer software" is what seperates the two - the consumer on average doesn't really care much about how well the hardware can perform, he/she just cares what he/she can do with the computer (other than overclock it, give it shiny lights, or add four of those latest extreme ultra super graphics cards for $500 each).
I'm a recent Mac switcher, *love* my new iMac. These ads are funny, but Apple should be honest.
This "restart" ad is false advertising -- Windows XP is an extremely stable platform (unless Apple is referring to people who are still using Windows 98 and Windows ME -- but I don't think so).
The entire campaign smacks of Apple's vintage "lemmings" ad which didn't work because it offended their IBM using audience. This new campaign is flat out calling PC users fat dorks. The potential switcher I know are tech savvy cool users, and could potentially be offended by this portrayal.
Apple should spend more time making it easier to switch -- like including a "start menu" equivalent, using the defacto standard "ctrl-c & ctrl-v" type shortcut keys, better windows-style support for right-click instead of always having to use ctrl-click to get a pop-up menu, real windows-style "uninstall" functionality.
I love my Mac, but getting my wife comfortable with the little Mac-isms was like giving her a new car that had the gas and brake pedals backwards.
Drop the contempt for your audience, Apple, and make your computer a more seamless experience for potential switchers.
boxlight
Sorry to say this I'm more impressed with Microsoft telling me they're offering me options ("Where do you want to go today") than I'm impressed with Apple telling me that Microsoft doesn't offer options.
I'm not going to be one of the "I hate Windows so much that I'll..." people who are willing to jump in with both feet to another platform (and a credit card in hand).
Give me a reason to buy Apple, not a reason to leave Windows.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Hate campaigns don't work? Well look at Microsoft's current campaign, they aren't criticizing their competitors, they are criticising you. You're a dinosaur. It's been running for quite a while so I guess they think it's effective. Unfortunately I think in the longer term it could backfire, as seen for instance in a recent cartoon in the Economist portraying MS as a dinosaur.
Apple doesn't aim to market to people who know what they are doing with a PC (I use the term in its original context, Personal Computer, without any bias to one OS or another). They are aiming for the less tech-savvy user, and hoping to create the (not entirely incorrect) impression that Mac's are easier to use than pretty much any other OS based machine on the market.
Apple has had NetBoot and Network Install since at least 10.2 Server (Possibly earlier, I wasn't playing with the server side till 10.2). I didn't get to play with it extensivly and at that time it wasn't a completly agravation free solution. But it has alot of promise especially if they have improved it since I looked at it.
Seems like lots of people who make the PC==Mac argument don't own an Intel Mac.
It seems to me like lots of people who make the PC==Mac argument know what PC stands for & have been using the term PC to describe Macs through Apple's motorolla, ppc and intel days.
Have a look at these old Apple Manuals/Advertisments and you will see that Apple has been calling their products Personal Computers since day one.
It is only the post 1992 Mac Fanboy crowd that started differentiating - and quite frankly, I'm dissapointed that Apple is starting to join in.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
I think you're absolutely correct about Apples marketshare in homes. Most of the hardcore Unix/Linux guys I know and have worked with over the last 20 years or so have switched to Apple gear in the last 5 years. I realize that my experience is limited to geeks, but in many companies geeks influence the descisions that less knowlegeable peers make. Careful geek-watching can inform one about future trends in computing.
So from where I'm standing, it looks like Unix geeks are switching to OS X on Apple hardware for home use. At work, in a surprising turn of events, we're looking at buying a bunch of Apple's Xserve gear to build our SAN. Don't know if it'll happen, but the fact that it's being considered is pretty darn exciting.
This sig kills fascists.
In addition to NetInstall, you can create an image of a hard disk, and use Disk Utility or asr (on the command line) to clone that image to another drive. That's how we set up machines here - one image each for Account Service, Creative and Studio, each with custom applications and settings. Our setup time is approximately 30 minutes with this process.
Ever notice how Macheads never comb their hair? It must be like buying a Volkswagen.
I cried real tears when Li Mu Bai died.
To 'Ghost' a disk to another, just use Carbon Copy Cloner (http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html). It will make an exact bootable copy of your hard disk with all applications and settings. It can even make a disk image out of it so you can put it on the network and install from there. It even has an option to synchronize one disk to another.
I use Carbon Copy Cloner to backup my entire desktop and laptop drives to an external hard drive. This works very well and if something happens, I can simply boot from the external drive and everything is exactly as I had it on the other disk. I've tested it a few times and everything worked exactly as expected. So, the ghosting software you talk about is very easy to do on Macs, unless I am missing some other aspect of what you want to do.
Or, you could use rsync (installed by default) to sync two computers over the network. I use this to sync various things on my laptop and desktop.
I think the point about using PC here is that they can make negative comments about Windows - without actually saying Windows. They don't have to sully themselves by directly disparaging Microsoft.
Point out that a Mac is a Personal Computer if you want (it is true & I agree with you). But Joe 6-pack knows that a Mac is not a PC - a Mac is Mac and a PC is Windows. In fact he may not even know what PC stands for...
They know that in vernacular English (rather than pedantic geekspeak), "PC" means "a computer running Windows". (Most non-dumb geeks are at least aware of this fact.)
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
Does Apple think a mac is a supercomputer?
c .phtml
At least in the past they did: http://www.architosh.com/news/1999-08/0831-supper
Here's 14 reasons to buy a Mac:
http://www.apple.com/getamac/
One definite reason would be that you can either run OS X or Windows or Linux - that seems like a lot more choice than only being able to run Windows.
It's semantics. "PC" in this context means IBM PC compatible. You know, I know it, and everyone reading this knows it. Pretending to be naive about it accomplishes nothing.
English is easier said than done.
In terms of using the Restore feature of Disk Utility, it works the same way. Of course, you have to build the image on an Intel machine, but you can pretty much use any PPC or Intel Mac to clone any PPC or Intel Mac. We use Target Disk Mode to do it here.
Haven't tried NetInstall because we're too busy to get the server working, but I've heard that it works for Intel Macs as well.
I'm starting to seriously question your credentials, man.
The two cases where a mac user uses the term PC are:
1) Disparagingly, as in a comparison to Macs
2) Defensively, when claiming that Macs are PCs, since PC stands for Personal Computer.
It's in Chapter 1 of How to Be an Irritating Fanboy, page 17.
It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
Certainly, as a Linux user and programmer, OS/X has nothing for me at all.
Indeed, the Mac offers none of the sense of accomplishment that comes from chasing down drivers, configuring your kernel, tweaking your system to show your Aw3s0m3 1337 Linux mastery.
As a Mac user and developer, I just have to be satisfied with a reliable system that's got amazing development facilities like Cocoa and Quartz Composer.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
The wrongheadedness of that MS campaign is spectacular, isn't it? You can tell what they were thinking; basically the idea was to goad us into paying for upgrades to systems and app suites for which people aren't ponying up their upgrade fees. MS needs businesses, especially, to stay on that treadmill.
Talk about insulting their audience, though. That campaign is almost up there with the RIAA folks and their "our consumers are thieves" mindset. MS even does the RIAA one better -- because the point is that we're dinosaurs who are using Microsoft's old products. They trash us, and they trash their own software!
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
I think when the PC guy freezes, they shoul hit the Mac guy with a big spinning beachball!
Seriously, put a Mac and a, um, Dell in front of 1000 people and ask them to point to the PC. The only one who'd say, "Well, technically,..." is wearing a pocket protector, has a serious case of nasal drip, and has distinct opinions on whether Kirk or Picard is the better captain.
Geek speak != common speech. Get used to it.
Another one bites the dust
Your advice (don't get first versions of new hardware) is sound, but I don't hear any kind of whine from my MacBook. I got my MacBook Pro last week, and so far, I'm extremely happy with it. The only thing slightly annoying is that some applications have crashed on me once or twice, probably because they're fresh ports to the Intel chip.
Just seems to be a challenge to the virus writers. I expect it won't be long now.
That's what people said about various things Apple and users did last year, and the year before that. Still waiting....
The thing is, virus writers are mostly not in it for the bravado now. It's a business, trying to scrape as many details or get as many zombie systems as possible. An Apple "gauntlet" means nothing.
The funny thing is, just like most software is on Windows because people are too set in thier ways to learn OS X programming, so to are virus writers pretty comfortable with what they can do on Windows and don't want to really do much extra work. So macs are proteced by an inertia that should keep them pretty safe long after some arbitrarily large threshold of marketshare is reached.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz
Just thought I had to add this... The irony makes me chuckle. Not more than 5 minutes after a dual display hiccup (my 3 past Mac laptops have performed this flawlessly but this thing can't figure it out) which forced me to restart my work forced WinBlows laptop. So I restart, hit slashdot, and check out the link to Apple's new commercials - and what do ya know!? Internet Explorer encountered some problem after watching 3 or 4 of them and crashed the system. Gotta love those restart breaks! If I had a Mac at work I might have to sit at my desk and get some work done.
Yes, I do think that's in Apple's advantage. But they should say "windows" rather then "PC", so they don't look like retards.
Apple is marketing to the general public - the people who use "PC" to mean a "computer using Windows" and "Mac" to mean "a Macintosh" or "Apple computer."
They're using informal language because the people they're targeting know exactly what they mean when they say "PC" - their audience knows that the "Windows" is implied.
They don't look like retards - no more than someone who says "Kleenex" when they really just mean "tissue" or "Band-Aid" when they really just mean "a little sticky bandage." "PC" means "a computer using Windows" to the vast majority of the people who use that term. Get used to it.
Since I can't tell them apart, I treat all ACs as the same person.
What do you call an intel Mac running windows?
Unfortunate.
Just to clear things up, which Linux GUI are you comparing to? KDE and GNOME are nowhere near OS X for appearance or stability, XFCE is uglier and has fewer features, and I can't imagine you're talking about any of the *boxes.
(post written from an Intel iMac which is more stable, easier to use, less buggy and faster than any of the Linux boxes I've had over the years)
That's not true, Apple and others used the generic term personal computer for years before IBM came out with their "PC".
In retrospect it was a huge mistake for IBM because they were using a brandname that they could not trademark, which only assisted with the product becoming genericized.
Whenever I hear the word 'Innovation', I reach for my pistol.
People, people!
To the ones complaining that "PC" is not "a machine running Windows", please note that no Linux (or *BSD, or Solaris x86 or, or...) using geek/nerd/unsanitary person is ever going to call a Intel-based computer running the said operating system a "PC". It's a "Linux box". The cooler ones use the plural "Boxen"
You know it's true, now focus on bashing either Apple or Microsoft, or maybe Dell or some big PC manufacturer, I don't know.
(It's [trying to be] funny, laugh)
Vista is peeping around the corner...
Yes, and every time and peeps around the corner it seems to have fewer and fewer promised features. By the time it is finally released it will probably just be WindowsXP with some OS X inspired window dressing, "are you sure" boxes for every operation (someone at MS is convinced that makes things more secure), and of course the real reason for Vista's existance: DRM. Tada! An OS built around a single feature that nobody wants. Although I guess there are some people out there who believe that their computer is capable of doing too much and does not limit them enough.
Finkployd
Well, to be fair, the Mac is a PC.
Thus, it would be logical that all of the PC guy's behaviour in the ad applies to a Mac, too. This actually seems to be the case, though in less significant amounts than in a pure PC.
Need for an occasional reboot? Check.
Malware? Check (Well, attempts do count. And CNET articles.)
iTunes, clock, calculator? Yup.
Networking glitches? Sure.
Rave reviews? Hmm... I'm sure Vista will get some.
I'd say the Mac is a PC. Because he's younger and chooses to wear contact lenses, you can't tell, but in 15 years or so...
J
Logically, I'd also think that showing people how good your product is (rather than how bad the other product is) has a much more positive effect.
What if your strength is that you don't do something horrible? What if your strength is that you do something better than a competitor, and you'd like to show how much better you are? What if failures are rare for both products, but you want to show yourself as better? Isn't it fair in that case to contrast your success against your competitor's failure?
If you're selling fluorescent lights, and you want to contrast the short life and high power consumption of incandescent lighting against your product, is that bad?
If your cell phone service doesn't drop calls and lets you communicate clearly, isn't it better to show your competitors failing at this rather than trying to show an entire month of not failing?
If your product cleans stains effectively, isn't it fair to compare it against "the leading brand" to show how much better it is?
I see no difference between the above commercials and what Apple is doing. However, I think it's a little like calling the Titanic "Unsinkable" before its maiden voyage to brag about how virus-free Macs are. That kind of hubris is definitely going to bite Apple when the platform reaches that critical mass of interest + talent especially now that much more common x86 assembler experience can be leveraged by malware writers against the Mac now.
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
Way to convince me, Apple
14. Awesome out of the box.
The same could be said about any well-made PC.
I generally on the anti-wintel basher side, but I've set up Dells, Gateways, IBMs, and a iMacs, and damn, iMacs are freakin' slick.
I agree with all yof our responses except this one. I have yet to see a PC that even comes close to the OOBox experience you get with a Mac. The $$$ Apple spends on packaging details and aesthetics is money well spent, IMHO.
https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and I get stuck doing all the boring jobs.
"22 astronauts were born in Ohio. What is it about your state that makes people want to flee the Earth?" Stephen Colbert
Just to play devils advocate here, reviews have been coming around showing as much as a 30% speed increase for common tasks if you install Windows on your Intel mac.
With a 30% speed increase during my normal daily use, I could probably afford a little downtime for spyware or viruses now and then.
I'm pretty baffled as to what Apple is doing, it seems like their marketing people and business strategy are not inline. Everything their doing points to lowering dependence on MacOSX, yet they continue to throw out marketing slogans saying PC's and windows suck.
I hate to tell you this Apple, but the accepted definition of a PC nowadays is a machine that is IBM PC Compatible, which of course your x86 intel macs are. Your marketing spin is starting to get old... First you told us PowerPC was the only way, and x86 was crap, then you decided to use x86 becuase it was cheaper/cooler/faster. Next you told us MacOS was the only way to make the x86 Intel CPU's work well, then you released a tool so we could all install windows and see it run much faster than MacOS. What's next?
Big ones, small ones, some as big as yer 'ead!
Give 'em a twist, a flick o' the wrist...
I just bought a new Intel Imac, loaded it with 2 gigs of RAM. This is the 2 gigahertz version. Here are some of the things that I noticed: 1. When browsing my MP3 collection on my buffalo 1 terrabyte NAS (using SMB I guess), it would take 20 seconds for the window to show all the file names. This takes about 3 seconds on my 2.8 Gigahertz Intel HP Computer running Windows XP. Both computers were wired to a 1 gig netgear switch. 2. When opening firefox for the first time, it takes the mac 8 seconds to load. The PC loads it in 3 seconds. Not from cache, this is first load. 3. Trying to view CNN.com videos still doesnt work, no matter which browser I use. I have the correct plug-ins. It just says connecting (this is on the same LAN where my Windows XP machine loads the videos without any problems). 4. Spooling to my printer takes twice as long for the same PDF on the Mac as compared to my PC. 5. When I bought Microsoft Office for Mac, it came with Virtual PC. I was excited that I could get a VM session of windows in my mac, however I was quickly disapointed when I read it would not work on an Intel Mac. Money down the drain since MS doesnt have a roadmap on releasing this software, and once opened it was not returnable. 6. The system kept losing its blue tooth mouse. I eventually replaced it with a wired mouse since I like the scroll thingy better. 7. The Mac went to sleep many times, and would not wake up when I pressed the keyboard or moved the mouse. When I changed the mouse to a wired one, I could then wake the system up. 8. There is a new security update at least once every 2-3 days. Each update requires a reboot. Each major software install requires a reboot as well. I thought we were moving away from this? 9. Entourage email client would crash the mac all the time. I blame that on Microsoft, however, I am not impressed how one app can cause the entire system to freeze. When I called Apple, they said it was a connectivity issue. 10. When you insert a DVD into the MAC it takes 21 seconds for anything to happen (system to recognize there is something in the DVD drive). It takes 9 seconds using my Windows XP and Pioneer DVD recorder (this recorder is maybe 1 year old) Overall I find myself doing more on my Windows XP machine. I go to the Mac to manage my pictures and music on Itunes, however, daily operations, like newsgroups reading, writing up papers, browsing, I go back to the PC.
Intelligent Design
Yeah, saying 'Windows is shit' while at they same proudly announcing 'Hey, you can run Windows now too!' would soung a little weird, wouldn't it?
Your sig would actually has 4 different values:
00
01
10
11
So, it should read as such:
There are 1 types of people in this world, those who can count in binary and those who can't.
You just established yourself as one of the ones who can't.
10 = zero in the "ones" plus one the "twos" column. In base-10, you would write that as "2".
1 in binary is the same as it is in base-10 or hex. It's 1. You can't have "one types."
You also made an enormously stupid fencepost error.
You don't assign one item as "0" when counting how many things you have. Even if you do say something like "the apples in this basket are numbered 0, 1, 2, 3, and 4", you still have FIVE apples in your basket.
Also, where do you get 11 from??? 11 is more than 10. He said 10 types of people. Counting them would be done thus:
1.
10.
Done.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Well, in addition to the numbers game, FedEx actually does reliably ship overnight, while the USPS Express mail occasionally takes longer.
Likewise, Macs do have fewer virus problems, better default-config security, superior media authoring software (for free and pre-installed, no less!) and tend to be considerably more reliable and more robust.
Now, Windows has gradually gotten better, as has the USPS, but neither has closed the gap, nor have their earned back their reputations just yet.
So really, it's FedEx and Apple: 1, USPS and Windows: -1.
And just like that, a "hate" campaign makes a lot of sense.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
And let's not forget the history: It was Apple who came up with Cmd-z, x, c, v. Windows started out with that Shift-Ins, Shift-Del stuff. It's Windows that was trying to be more like the Mac in the first place when they finally changed their shortcuts.
Also, Cmd has been the traditional shortcut key on Macs for a long time, since the days of Apple II, when it was the Apple key, so there's a long history there. In fact, the Control key didn't even exist on Apple keyboards until years later.
This Year is the year for:
- Linux on the desktop
- open-source Java
- Mac viruses
- Windows Vista
- Duke Nukem Forever
(And it's been This Year for 5 years now.)
This is anecdotal, but this "XP is stable now" is something I'm not buying. Here goes:
I have four boxes here in my office, a six-month-old, high-end Dell Windows box, my Powerbook, a Dell 2800 running VMware ESX Server, and a Dell 2800 running Ubuntu (crazy, I know, but the 2800 was what was available).
Windows XP may have eliminated the BSOD that we all love to mock, but "stable" it isn't, IME.
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
The Hipness Threshold
That might have been an inspiration, but since programs weren't automatically added to the Apple menu, it didn't have the same function. You didn't "start" from the Apple Menu, you start from the disk icon.
Start Menu was more of cleaned-up version of CDE Drawers IMO.
Whenever I hear the word 'Innovation', I reach for my pistol.
What the picture does scream is hardworking father and lazy son who still lives with his parent unemployed and useless.
If this is the image Apple wants then good luck.
Further into the site you get asked the question "Wich mac are you". Hmmm. Well lets expand, wich computer am I? A dell (cheap crap), a powerbook (expensive, tastefull, useless), a mac mini (expensive, underspecced).
None of the above. Me, I am a gray. HAL ain't got nothing on me baby.
Just sell a good product. Don't try to sell me a fucking lifestyle. I swear everytime I am just about to buy a hip product I see that ad and realise that if I am seen with it people think I want to have the image portrayed in the ad. Ewh.
Can't I own a mini mac because it is small, silent and nice without being an useless artsy guy sponging of his dad?
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
Or where you making some sort of statement and I missed it entirely? ;-)
"terrorism" and "pedophilia" are the root passwords to the Constitution
How many nerds does it take to count to two in binary? 10
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.