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Microsoft Uses "I'm a PC" Character In New Ads
arcticstoat writes to tell us that in the wake of their largely unsuccessful Jerry Seinfeld ad campaign Microsoft is setting their sights directly on recent Apple ads by featuring the "I'm a PC" character in their new advertising campaign. "He then follows this with another phrase, such as 'and I've been made into a stereotype' before the advert shifts to a range of people performing a diverse assortment of jobs, all of which also say they're a PC. Among those featured are astronaut Bernard Harris, as well as religious author Deepak Chopra and 'Desperate Housewives' actress Eva Longoria. The ad also features a wide range of anonymous people, including a shark diver, a teacher and a guy with a beard."
I saw the new ad for the first time last night.
Man, it's HORRIBLE. The ads try to play on the fact that Windows has the biggest desktop market share by showing a diverse group of people in diverse situations admitting to "being PCs". While the characters try to come off as being "cheeky and cute", they just end up looking like ditzy, ignorant, darwin-award candidates In short ad is somewhat condescending. It's typical Microsoft Strategy -- copy others(Mac ads) and turn out a second-rate imitation.
Yes, ol' Bill is in the ad, albeit briefly, but they should have echewed Bill and kept Seinfeld in(just to say "I'm a PC", at least) as a cameo! I'm still mad at Bill for the last commercial, in which he said nothing except, "I have a lot of money and now I'm going to wiggle my ass in your face, nyah nyah". If Bill wants to be a celebrity then he can just "leak" a homemade sex tape like the others do.
Sold.
Ads can at times be entertaining, but they are definitely not intended as entertainment.
The eternal struggle of good vs. evil begins within one's self.
Macs are PCs.
They're even the same damn processors now, you can run Windows on Macs and you can run OSX on, uh, not-Macs.
The most disgusting thing is the chauvinism from BOTH sides, the other operating systems don't exist, and if you're running a PC it must be running Microsoft Something. If you're running a Mac it must be running OS X.
False advertising is illegal, why isn't massively disseminating misinformation?
"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"
If that quack uses Windows then I'm going to hug my Linux box when I get home.
I saw the ad yesterday - they played the ad in my area during My Name is Earl on NBC.
Seems to say that while Apple is hyping their coolness, we're still getting a lot of things done for a lot of real people.
I'm a big tall mofo.
...and I'll never understand people in marketing.
Yeah, I feed the trolls. Can't help myself. Sorry.
...but I run Linux.
The new ad is saying that PC users are a diverse cross-section of humanity, while Mac-users are stuck-up racist white people. Of course, they are.
It's a lie! The guy with the beard has to be running Linux.
To use the failed Seinfeld commercials in thiers.
There are no loopholes. It's either legal or it's not.
Is it a wise beard, guy?
Prediction: Apple, in what is becoming a war of "Who can make the most annoying ad" hires carrottop to do their next series.
Microsoft responds with bill gates simply walking on camera, then making "the most annoying sound in the world" for 2 minutes straight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cVlTeIATBs)
Okay, you had me up until that point, but this campaign is as doomed as the previous. We all know which operating system guys with beards use.
Oh, yeah, it's not easy to pad these out to 120 characters.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
"David Webster, Microsoft general manager of brand and marketing strategy, says Microsoft had "to take back the PC brand and tell the truth about it." referring to Microsoft's latest ad that hits back at the Apple commercials. Like -- they own the PC brand now? OK -- We can admire someone who stands up for himself succinctly when picked on. Apple will never be able to use the "I'm a PC" line again now. However, in this ad Microsoft tries to appropriate the commons with a sinister attempt to hijack the PC. They want to confuse general public into thinking -- if it doesn't have Windows, it's not a PC. Is there an appropriate way to inform the public that the PC is an open platform that can run many other operating systems?
People are not Personal Computers. People use personal computers.
Have these people subsumed into the MS-Borg, and they really are now PCs?
I think its a clever stab at the mac Commercials and i think its way better than the Seinfeld commercials they were going with. It Highlights that People who use PCs are a wide variety of types of users and are not all middle aged accountants.
They always arrive late to the party, but when you can buy small countries and outlast everyone else, does it matter if you are late as long as you show?
In theory it also lets you learn from others mistakes.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I think they went a little overboard by including the guy with the beard. That shit is nuts.
just buy vista. it doesnt matter if you use it or not. i cant stand anymore of this "im a..." bullshit. Someone at least tag this with a "pleasestop"??
Good people go to bed earlier.
This wasn't a spoof, but an honest banner ad at ign.com this morning that linked back to MS campaign site.
MS advert
Yeah - Amigas! heh ;D
does that include linux users? Does that also include the fact Macs are technically PCs, personal computers and on the x86 architecture?
Given that Microsoft is parodying the Mac vs. PC ads, this is on topic, right?
Best Mac vs. PC parody ever.
Computers suck.
I'm a PC
Now Microsoft is copying advertising concepts from Apple? At least there's consistency
How long until we see Bill doing product announcements wearing a black turtleneck, jeans, and tennis shoes?
And no, I'm not an Apple fanboy. I have a WinXP desktop, a Linux desktop, and a Mac OS X laptop on my desk at home. The two desktops get used regularly. I last booted the OS X box 2 months ago. The work Mac runs iTunes and Safari, which only goes to Gmail and is a synergy client to my work Linux box.
Windows has had a natural monopoly on desktop apps like forever.
Of course PCs have been getting the job done(and gaming to boot) forever with the good-old 2003 and XP which are fine operating systems.
It seems Apple has never really been more than a few points of a threat. The real threat is that MS has provided no compelling reason to upgrade to Vista, and these ads don't change that.
Spend your money to make Vista (or son of Vista) what you promised in the beginning.
Back in the day, before the rise of Linux, I remember reading analysts who said that the entire history of the retail computer industry consisted of everyone imitating Apple. Windows 95 was the biggest example, but there have been others. This is one.
Oh, I should be clear -- the reason they don't catch more flak for this imitation is that they don't do all that good a job at it. I haven't seen the ad yet, but I suspect this is also consistent.
What if I do the same thing, and I do get different results?
Considering the years it took them to implement a rudimentary firewall into Windows, I'm surprised that they're going with the "Live without Walls" slogan.
But, putting that aside, these ads are much, much better than the Seinfeld ones.
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/437054
After seeing all of the mac ads, and mac ad parodies, ones with or without linux, ones that try to paint the PC-guy as being really cool, this is the only one I've ever really liked, and probably the truest one, too.
I find it amazing the extent that Microsoft is screwing up at the moment.
Hey Apple marketing guys, Microsoft is doing your work for you!
This one is for free:
Justin Long: I'm a Mac.
John Hodgman and large crowd, together: And I'm a PC.
Justin Long [sincerely]: Hey guys, nice to meet you! There's so many of you! And you look like cool guys!
[John Hodgman looks smug]
Justin Long: I'd really like to hang out with you guys. [face lights up with idea]. Hey, would you like so see some of the new products we're working on?
[Lots of enthusiastic noise and nots - everyone follows Justin as he exits stage right. John Hodgman desperately tries to stop people. Final sequence - John Hodgman on his own, looking sorry for himself and a bit confused.]
Comment removed based on user account deletion
"Vista's slow, it's fat, my software doesn't work, I can't get drivers, the User Access Control's a pain in the ass and my network grinds to a crawl when I play an mp3! What do you call that?"
"... The Aristocrats!"
http://rocknerd.co.uk
Prevalent Clunker
Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
My father was in advertising, and he always spoke, as if it were a rule, that you NEVER respond to criticism in an advertisement, only assert your strengths. The fact that Microsoft feels cornered like this speaks volumes. While they're still the 800lb gorilla, they perceive Apple as a real threat now.
The announcement that Mac ads involving "I am a Mac, I am a PC" infringe Microsoft's patent US PTO 123456789, but Apple would be welcome to sign an indemnification deal that allows Microsoft to sell coupons to TV watchers to watch Mac ads.
They were exactly what MS needed - some humanization. They were sly. Some people here didn't seem to get or like them (well, they hated them for the most part) - but they made sense. They were the kind of ads you put out when you're winning, which, make no mistake, MS is.
This new ad is just sad, they seem like a desperate response. The kind of commercial you do when you're losing. That's not the vibe they need.
Let's not stir that bag of worms...
In Windows, you don't have any practical walls, firewalls, that is.
Just remember, with Microsoft, simply because there are no walls doesn't mean you aren't behind locked Gates.
Please don't support sites like the referenced CustomPC that use Vibrant's obtrusive hover pop-ups, until Vibrant returns the ability for end-users to opt-out of their obnoxious ads.
I love how you are doing the advertising for Apple now!!! Like Microsoft is really making people love them with those ads that really don't say anything about their OS.
Oddly enough dive computer interface software used to ONLY be available on Windows. Just two years ago there was absolutely nothing available on the Mac, which is the ultimate reason I ultimately purchased VMWare Fusion. Today there are several companies making new dive computers with Mac-compatible interface software.
So they found one diver using Windows, but from what I've seen the Mac bug is biting a lot of my diving friends to the point where there's finally a recognized market for dive software that runs on Macs.
After years working on Windows & OSX I have found they both fail, both have their quirks, both are imperfect.
PCs are cheaper, Macs are prettier
Take your pick
People are people
He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
This is just lame. The apple's ads are sometimes funny, this is really horrible. Microsoft, try being more creative. You copied the OS, now you copy ads.
One of the biggest comments about the "I'm a mac" ads is that they are snobby and condescending. People relate more to "PC" than to "Mac". Many people see "Mac" as an elitist. I am betting that someone at Microsoft's advertising company saw the articles about it and created this campaign. It is a positive campaign where "PC" is made in to the everyman, someone just like the viewer.
Everyone who is thinking this is "also-ran" or "johnny come lately" is missing the forest for the trees. This campaign is a very good idea and uses the negative perception of the "I'm a mac" ads against Apple.
There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
It's a Freudian Astroturf!
2 days ago, I was posting how I thought Vista sucks (see here. Then I was accused of having a religious stance against Microsoft - which I thought was ironic considering I don't own a Mac, haven't owned a Linux system for about 12 years (Slackware 3.1 was the last distribution I used if I remember correctly) and work all day every day on Microsoft products.
So now I say I like Microsoft's commercial and now I'm astro-turfing for Microsoft.
Gotta love the Slashdot crowd.
I'm a big tall mofo.
osama bin laden?
ted kaczynski?
santa claus?
steven spielberg?
oh, oh, i know!
steve wozniak!
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
The new ad campaign isn't any better, and is considerably less entertaining.
They are trying to make Mac (or possibly other OS) users out to be elitist, while promoting the PC as the everyman's computer, or "The Computer of the People".
The problem is- most everyday-ordinary people, like those in depicted their ads, can't even get Vista to run on their computers. They face expensive upgrades or buying a new PC, which they probably can't afford. Many have spent YEARS just trying to get XP to work consistantly and have spent lots of time and money protecting themselves from malware.
I'm an IT manager. While we have kept Vista off our corporate desktops, we have to support outside sales staff and their home computers. Several have "upgraded" or bought new computers with Vista pre-installed. It's been a disaster. My help desk staff spends almost all of their time trying to help Vista users. Meanwhile- we started rolling out Macs to some of our internal staff- NO ISSUES! We even gave one to our biggest (for 10+ years) "ID10T" staff members, who seems to attract computer problems like a magnet. He loves it, and hasn't had ANY problems in the three months he's been using it.
I've been using Ubuntu or 2+ years, although I also have a couple of Macs and an (unused) XP machine. I almost got Ubuntu on some of our desktops, except they screwed the pooch with gvfs/nautilus and SMB authentication with Hardy. :( Even with this fault- it works a lot better (faster, more reliable) than Vista on the same hardware.
I actually used to be a fan of Microsoft. NT certainly made configuring and managing a corporate network easier than Netware. But it, and pretty much everything Microsoft has turned out since Windows first came to being, had one big flaw. Microsoft seems more concerned with making things "pretty", than making them functional, reliable, and secure. That is what they need to do to REALLY win people back.
Wow. Deepak Chopra and Eva Longoria? Sounds about right for a Microsoft ad. Just the right amount of famous-ness to seem cool to your average "lowest-common-denominator" audience, but mediocre enough for probably anyone here on /. to be like "Uh, wow, so they just grabbed whatever recognizable figure they could get?" ...
Maybe I'm biased, but I mean, when Apple used the likeness of significant figures in the past for their "Think Different" campaign, they had photos of like, Gandhi, John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Picasso, etc.. Not that Apple could get those people as actors in their commercials (so it's not the most fair comparison), but my general feeling about these new ads is that they're just throwing together some ads with some famous people to get peoples' attention. Whereas, well, people today still remember the "Think Different" thing from Apple. Microsoft is wasting their time if they're going to try to play Apple's game, in my opinion..
In the Apple ads, the actors portrayed the computers, not their users. It wasn't saying that PC users are overweight, balding old farts in suits, but that PC's themselves are that boring.
I use a Mac (as well as a Windows box), but I would no sooner say, "I'm a Mac" than I would, "I'm a Pepper."
Lemmings are silly; dinosaurs are extinct.
How many "every day people" dive with sharks or have been to outer space?
I would wager a lot of every day people have dived with sharks, but that's kind of beside the point. I actually said "real people" which has a significantly different meaning to me.
You don't use people lounging around in their underwear eating a block of cheese on their couch as someone to look up to. But there are plenty of real people that do incredibly interesting things. And a lot of them use PCs.
I'm a big tall mofo.
Gates once saved Apple from bankruptcy.
Makes you wonder how "cool" Apple really is to turn around and bite the hand that fed it.
I KNEW it!!
These are as annoying as those stupid "I AM" ads that Lotus used to run. Remember them? They had guys holding up "I AM" signs like this to try and convince you that Lotus R5 was the bridge everyone else was jumping off.
Who the hell actually liked Lotus R5? Anyone? Anyone?
Who in the hell actually likes Windows? I mean, enough to identify themselves with it?
"Hi I'm a PC, and I'm really defensive about it..."
Disclaimer: I'm a heavy Linux user. I tend to just viscerally hate MS' OSes.
The purpose of John Hodgman was not to "stereotype" PC users. The purpose was to provide a boring image of PCs themselves through the comedy of John Hodgman. The idea was that the more artistic nature of Macs should appeal to users of all walks of life.
Well, that was their intent. But in the end, I find John's carrecter more likeable. All mis-adventure that happens to him are funny, but in the end he tends to generate empathy. He looks like a caracter who is generally unlucky. He's not peculiarly snug. He ends up being likeable, partly because he comes as the underdog.
On the other side there's the "mac" character which too much radiate a "I'm so cool, I'm so hip !" style which makes him unnerving. After the few first couple of ads, I mostly only want to punch him in the face.
I think by having a comedy actor impersonate the PC in a humorous way backfired at least with some viewers like me. They should have gone with a pompous condescending bastard kind of character.
Microsoft obviously didn't get that. Mark my words: These ads will preach to the choir (the people who already hate the Mac commercials) but will do nothing to asuage those commericals.
Well on the other hand :
They aren't as awful as the previous ads. The Bill Gates series mentioned yesterday were the dumbest thing I've ever seen (what the hell are they trying to say ? seems just random snips taken out of some brainless trash-tv reality show)
The "Wow series" wasn't any brilliant either. In fact, it almost backfired : trying to present Vista as latest "world wonder" just sounds arrogant, and with all these stupid people staying O-faced in front of their machine it just begs that someone edits the video and puts a system explosion (a _litteral_ explosion) as a metaphor for this crappy software. Oh so exploitable.
Or maybe I'm just allergic to any ad that make outrageous claims that their product is the coolest.
This latest ads, are kind of cute. They don't try to pretend microsoft's product are the panacea. Just metaphorically show that its simply something everybody ends up using.
(For the ad. For the reality of computing platforms I find this is bullshit. Anyway the currently most pervasive platform are ARM chips running embed OS - among which Linux happens to gain market share - "I'm a ARM running Symbian or Linux and I'm even in your phone, your TV and your washing machine" even if unpractically too long would have been way much more realistic and the only really relevant platform for the following couple years. But's my technical opinion. The ads look nice per se).
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
Especially the parts about the different "suits" one wears, and the vast differences between "offices". I would really love it if my office could be the ocean like the activist's, but I'll settle for taking my laptop to the beach during lunch.
I'm a PC.
The point's been made before, but the Mac vs. PC ads, especially the UK ones (Mitchell and Webb was not good casting) make PC look like some lovable nerd who's just trying to get by (Crashy Time Calmomile) in spite of his problems, something mildy-but-not-terminally frustrated PC users can relate to. Mac spends literally all of his ad time either highlighting PC's flaws or saying how great he is. The PC is the everyman, while Mac is this rather aloof thing which sounds great but won't shut up about how great it is. That PC gets to set up all the humour and Mac is the straight man just reinforces it. I'm not sure that MS really want to fight that pair of stereotypes too strongly. If they emphasise that PCs are these boxes used by all these amazingly varied special people, they may wind up telling people that Mac is for the everyman, which is exactly what Apple seems to have failed at on their desktop line.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
Apple's argument: Switch to Macs because they don't have the problems Windows PCs have.
Microsoft's argument: Stay with Windows PCs because everybody uses them.
Apple as teenager: But I'm smarter!
Microsoft as teenager: Who cares! I'm more popular!
It's advertising as high school drama.
As a slashdot reader, I do not believe that I am the intended target of these ads. Therefore I'm not going to pass judgment so much as critque them. For starters I laughed at the first few "I'm a Mac" commercials and have yet to laugh at any of the PC commercials. I have to question the wisdom of using celebrities. The minute i see a spice girl in your commercial, I instantly wonder how much she's being paid and that starts me wondering how much all the other people in your commercial are being paid. This highlights an important distinction between the Apple and Microsoft commercials. Apple's commercials are about their products. The supposed superiority of Apple's products are emphasized in a humorous way. The Microsoft commercials are about who Microsoft can pay to say how good their products are. Microsoft never addresses the issues raised in Apple's commercials.
We willna be fooled again!
I don't care what you're selling. If you have John Hodgman, you're doing something right.
Title says it all.
When information is power, privacy is freedom.
Valleywag and those who agreed with it missed the boat. The Seinfeld ads weren't pulled because they failed. They were pulled because they did their job - getting people to talk about Microsoft - and that phase of the campaign was over.
No, this isn't just Microsoft's spin on things. As has been noted, I'm included in the campaign. My participation began a month ago, well before the first Seinfeld/Gates commercial aired.
Disinfect the GNU General Public Virus!
There actually was a very funny Gates/Seinfeld short.
I always took Apple adds as trying to give the view of the change is good. The "switcher" adds and the "I'm a Mac" seemed, to me at least, to drive the message there's something better. The grass is greener in Mac pastures.
The new MS adds seem to be driving affirmation of your current choice or what you have. In other words, it is OK to like your PC and Windows because everyone is using it.
Just my perspective on it all.
I love the sound of distortion in the morning -- webcommando
Where's this innovation Microsoft is always whining about?
It's nice to see that this time around, Microsoft's advertising people remembered to have a bunch of people astroturf on Slashdot about how great the new ads are.
Tired of FB/Google censorship? Visit UNCENSORED!
From TFA: "Mr. Gates and Mr. Jobs announced that Microsoft would inject more than $150 million into Apple and take other steps to guarantee Apple's near-term survival."
From reality, this was a face-saving way for Bill Gates to close a legal settlement between Microsoft and Apple. More details:
Once again, Microsoft takes someone else's idea and runs with it. I'll bet their advertising agency referred to this as "innovation".
I'll bet the commercials aren't any good until the third release, either.
Weaselmancer
rediculous.
The guy in the shark cage is holding a sign that says "I'm a PC - I'm a little scared."
Truer words...
Nice cover story there, AstroBoy! Way to go, TurfSmurf!
He is on his main box, probably a custom built *NIX box.
His other PC running Windows is there to catalog viruses and spyware.
I think its a well made commercial that does a good job for Microsoft as a brand. I do have a few issues with its message though:
1) No real mention of any products or features or why windows is better, except for maybe the "Life without walls" tag at the end.
2) The "life without walls" tag sounds great, but its not quite true, since Windows and MS is all about making a walled garden the size of the whole planet. I guess if you are inside the garden, then there are no walls. I reminds me of MS's original "Making it easier" ads back in the early 90s that didn't mention that they were the ones who also made it so hard to start with.
3) It establishes the PC as the "everyman". I'm all for egalitarianism, and I can understand how many may think of the Mac as elitist, so this is a perfect counter to that. But combine this with point 1, and its also implying that the masses shouldn't ask for better, and should have some pride in being part of the status quo.
While I'm no fan of Apple's products, I think that the "if computers were people" premise of their adds as original and somewhat amusing. OTOH, Microsoft's "people are their computers" premise is just plain scary.
Could someone please tell me what the hell that had ANYTHING to do with Microsoft, Windows, or computers in general? Ooh, I know, let's videotape as many random, diverse people as possible and have them say "I'm a PC". That'll show users that we really understand why our products suck.
DNA -- National Dyslexic Association
I take it the new microsoft ad is a stab at someone else's ad, but I haven't seen the other ad, so the Microsoft ad makes no sense to me.
It's a bunch of people claiming they are a computer. I don't get it.
A work that expires before its copyright never enters the public domain and thus enjoys eternal copyright protection.
ffs. Where's the bloke hammering his keyboard and spitting at the screen over the OS cock up which lost all his work? Last night I didn't so much as get a blue screen, It just went black. (oh yes, Arrr!!!)
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
Apple is a hardware company first, Microsoft is a software company first.
Microsoft couldn't give a rats ass if you run Windows on a Mac based computer or hardware from HP, IBM or self built.
If Apple really wanted to push Mac OSX they would open it up to any piece of hardware, they only have a good OS to drive sales of their hardware.
Apple's advertising is kind of odd since it bashes 'PC' when in reality they are bashing Microsoft Windows and not PCs.
I'm not sure why MS would respond to the PC side of things, why not show the inside of a Mac and be like 'wow', the Mac IS a pc - now let's put Windows on it so you can work at home...
Instead of a link to some story blathering on about the ad, how about the fucking ad?
http://imapc.lifewithoutwalls.com/
There, was that so hard? Honestly.
I'm a PC and I'm still in my mom's basement. But it seems I now fit in with the "cool, sexy, and professional" crowd. Alright! Please. But I guess it's better than the darth showclown commericals.
I use a Mac (as well as a Windows box), but I would no sooner say, "I'm a Mac" than I would, "I'm a Pepper."
But wouldn't you like to be a pepper too?
All sheep (PC Users) have a tendency to congregate close to other members of a flock, although this behavior varies with breed.
Farmers (Stores) exploit this behavior to keep sheep together on unfenced pastures and to move them more easily. Shepherds (Sales people) may also use sheepdogs (Corporate types) in this effort, whose highly bred herding ability can assist in moving flocks.
Sheep are also extremely food-oriented (Windows only software), and association of humans (Sales people) with regular feeding often results in sheep soliciting people for food.
Those who are moving sheep may exploit this behavior by leading sheep with buckets of feed, rather than forcing their movements with herding.
Modified from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep#Behavior_and_intelligence
It's pretty amazing how that ad manages to be elitist and egalitarian at the same time, thanks to the relative ubiquity of Windows PCs -- all these interesting people run windows and you do too!
Vista is still a heap of "throw everything at a window and see what sticks", but it's a good ad.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
...advertisement. I liked the Seinfeld ads and I like these even more. Despite owning a Mac for it's hardware (I have Vista on it) I've never been a fan of Apple's image and how they market themselves. It just so happened that I couldn't get 8 cores cheaper anywhere else.
This ad really sums up the PC world for me...it's not just a trendy looking peripheral that you can tote around to various Starbucks to appear young and hip. Like Linux, it's used by a wide variety of individuals and professionals for an equally wide range of tasks...one of which is NOT looking hip and cool! ;)
My two cents
I do.
I run Linux.
Goodbye Slashdot. You've changed.
The "PC guy" uses (ta-da) an Apple iPhone.
(Picture in the link below. Article is in Norwegian tho)
http://www.itavisen.no/sak/787188/PC-mannen_bruker_iPhone/
Why is Microsofts ad campaign considered news worthy? do we have nothing better to talk about.. well I'm posting so i guess not
"I'm a PC and I turn #2* into energy!"
I dunno, it just seems so appropriate for the Microsoft Ad.
*#2 = shit.
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
Eva Longoria is ON my PC.
I was waiting for the counter-programming to those ludicrous and annoying commercials of Apples to come out. Some people may have liked them, but I found them offensive. Here's a clue Apple, you don't get ahead by making fun of people. You just appear like a bully. I don't buy from bullies.
This ad reminds me of the Linux ads http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwL0G9wK8j4 that had all these successful people teaching Linux the kid.
I'm a Linux.
Apple's ads are successful in large part because Vista is mediocre, but in lieu of fixing the software MS is attempting to shore up the brand by beefing up its image. In this ad, Microsoft decided to do what they've done in the past so well: They embraced the "I'm a PC" Meme, and they're extending it. They are reframing Apple's message. They are repurposing "I'm a PC" to tell their story. They are even using Apple's own ad wording to base a claim on the brand "PC". I think they overthought this "I'm a PC" countermeme, there may be something underneath what we see holding the idea together, but I don't think the presentation carries it off. The message is simple and...fuzzy.
To be perfectly clear... Windows is the pig.
HP has been running ads for a couple of years now that are the best counter to Apples ads yet. The ads show all the creative ways well known people are using their (HP/Windows) computers. They are eyecatching, inventive, stylish and cool. I've always found the Apple ads to be fairly lame, though I can't deny the fact that they seem to have worked fairly well for Apple. I always thought Apple should have been the one with ads like HP's. I guess this is why I don't work in advertising.
John Hodgman's character in the Mac ads is a representation of an actual PC *not* a representation of a PC user as the Microsoft ad wrongly implies. Apparently the entire executive staff of the worlds largest software and the staff of one of the most highly paid ad agencies were unable to understand the basic premise of one of the most popular ad campaigns running today.
George Constanza should be the I'm a PC guy.
One thing's for sure: We've come a long way from the days when the IBM PC was represented by Charlie Chaplin [..] The original IBM PC was a remarkable invention
WTF? The original IBM PC came out four or so years after the genuinely revolutionary Apple II (arguably the first mainstream, non-hobbyist personal computer), by which time it was clear that the microcomputer was important and here to stay.
It was built almost entirely from off-the-shelf parts, and ran a fairly unremarkable CP/M workalike, if not ripoff- QDOS (soon to be PC-DOS/MS-DOS)- that Bill Gates acquired the rights to. It was an almost guaranteed success because IBM was the safe choice in corporate America and no-one ever got fired for buying their stuff- but that says nothing about the machine itself.
What was revolutionary was that its very genericness allowed people to clone it, and MS's willingness to license the OS to those people created a competitive market that drove prices down, making it more favourable and driving it to become the standard it is today.
But I doubt that was originally by design- certainly not IBM's- and the original PC certainly wasn't the remarkable machine you seem to think it is.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
Justin Long: I'm a PC. ...
John Hodgman: Wait, no I'm the PC.
Justin Long: Well, we're the same now.
John Hodgman: I'm a little bit country.
Justin Long:
Given that it was all over the news, just a couple weeks ago, that an ISS computer was infected with a virus - was it a good idea to have an astronaut saying "I'm a PC" right now?
I can see the Apple ad now... (cue music)
---------
PC: (Walks on stage, smiling and humming)
Mac: PC! You're in a good mood today, what's up?
PC: Oh I just learned that an astronaut uses me! That's really cool.
Mac: That's great! Where'd you hear about that?
PC: Oh I was reading the paper this morning, and saw that a computer on the International Space Station got infected with a virus! That tells me there are good old PC users up there!
Mac: (Quizzical look at the camera)
(Fade to black)
#DeleteChrome
Minix...FTW!
Imagination drew in bold strokes, instantly serving hopes and fears, while knowledge advanced by slow increments...
I agree, these seem defensive--and the big takeaway is that Apple is seen as a real threat. It certainly won't stop people from being tempted to try out Apple. Also, Hodgeman is really funny. So it makes them seem a little humorless. Rather than complaining about the PC stereotype, they should have probably played up the Mac as a useless hipster.
This would be a good time to bring in Novell's Linux girl. Novell needs to produce new episodes of those ads
Is it me or does it seem like MS has copied two Apple campaigns and rolled them into one. Remember the "Switch" campaign where Apple showed you real Mac users. Now Apple has a "Get a Mac" ads with "I'm a PC" MS rolled them into one with this new campaign. Has MS just run out of ideas?
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
The mac commercial was disseminating false information when they are clearly talking macOS vs windowsOS then all of a sudden claim their 16% market share of laptops for students makes them the number one laptop choice by college students. I am guessing their saying the Mac book air out sell the Dell Latitude (or whatever the top volume models are), but it is a flat out distortion when dell alone sells 50% more laptops than all of apple, to college students.
Especially their are true (non-misleading) statements that would have sounded just as good. But using the term PC to refer to windows machines (then making it very clear later) when 94% of PC's (start out) as windows machines, seams to pass truth bar for me.
So you're a pissy person...
and you have a beard...
you don't like tweed...
you wear a headband...
you wear a suit...
you wear three rings on your fingers...
but you're just a pissy person.
So what, PC?
You're still a sucker. (*)
(*) For spending way too much cash on a tech firm that creates problems and then sells you the solution. Vista is the ultimate proof Microsoft sucks. For real.
Main difference between the BSD license and the GPL license: one is from California and the other is from Massachusetts
No way! That guy with the beard uses LINUX! LIES! LIES! LIES!
I think the ad was pretty good... much better than the Seinfeld ones, anyway.
Talk about damning with faint praise....
Why, without your clothes, you're naked, Miss Dudley!
We know Bill is mad about the Get a Mac ads. For one thing, these ads keep remembering people precisely what MS (and every PC maker) is trying to make them forget, that Vista has tons of problems.
The Get a Mac ads is a comedy about two computers chit-chatting and one is always getting itself into trouble. With each new commercial, we know that PC is going to get into trouble, and you keep watching because you are curious to know *how* he will get there.
With the new MS ads, there is a subtle difference at the begining: "Hello, I am a PC and I have been made into a stereotype" and then it shows people resisting that stereotype. Suddently it is not just two computers doing a comedy, but real people defending their identity. The tone is very assertive and they are not laughing. It's like they say: "I am busy working, doing important stuff, just don't laugh at me".
With these new ads, Microsoft is trying to change people's perception of the Mac + PC duo. Suddenly, this is not about two computers, this about real people. And if Apple is making fun at the PC, it is making fun at real people doing their work.
And Apple keep laughing at the PC, they will comes out as insensitive and arrogant. Brilliant!
who is selling the Eva Longoria PC and how much does it cost? Actually, nevermind the cost, just tell me where I can buy one.
Murphey's fighting Occam, and we're in the stands.
especially when he's standing above your mom as she lays in the pit waiting for him to shit on her breasts so It can put the lotion on its skin or it'll get the hose. I personally like to stick a micro-flashlite inside my penis hole so I can point from darkness at your mom as I shat on her that one day you were conceived.
Not to say that the Seinfeld one was bad but I like the new ad as well... Cool one!
If Eva Longoria runs Windows rather than another OS, that means some geek has a much better chance of rooting her box!
Yes, I am ashamed of myself for typing that, in case you were wondering.
Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
I saw this ad last night, and my first reaction was to wish that someone spliced in a clip saying "I'm a PC, and I run Linux!".
Obviously Apple can't say "Windows" for legal reasons, but do both companies have to conflate hardware architecture with operating system, especially since Macs have had all PC components for a few years now?
Then I noticed the new slogan for Windows: Life Without Walls. Did anyone in Redmond think about this? It's absurd:
Either MS has finally admitted to Windows' continual flaws and are trying to sell them as advantages, or they have no idea what the possible negative meanings of that slogan are.
.... anyone yet in this thread make the obligatory comment,.....
"Imagine a Beowulf cluster of Eva Longorias!!!!1!!!eleventy!!!"
There. I feel a little stupider now, but it had to be done.
Way to go Microsoft!
link
If you don't know what AltaVista is (was), get off my lawn.
Attached to story "Windows Home Server Corrupts Files": http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/27/1457240
My post: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=399904&cid=21831664
Yes. I'm shameless.
Novell did it first and took on both Microsoft and Apple. Linux has free stuff and that Mac and PCs can run Linux and then others made Linux annoying.
Linux evolves PCs and Macs cannot.
But all of the cool people use AROS instead of Linux, Windows Vista, or Mac OSX. :)
Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
5150?
Is that kind of like the chip that recreates itself into modern computing like a hardware-based virtual machine, and then when you confront said hardware it just ignores you, and insults you for ever marrying it to the motherboard, then it goes after your small beard and testicles, and gets leniency on traffic tickets, and gets to walk in the bypass line at the DMV and chain stores as being "disabled" yet is the only fucking instruction-set you are allowed to use rather than the modern RISC design underneath it?
The cores are coming with me, bitch! If I see you or that new FPU you're clocking with then I'm taking the beige tower with me as well!
cunt. Tis a stubble ruff as sandpaper on the deck. Shavin' is a losing task, and it grows thicker and stimulates the more shavin' done. Just let her grow a quarter-horse's inch of it so we dont get the clasp!
A much *much* better idea than the Sienfeld commercials. Although I see an obvious subversion possibility. Run a commercial that looks just like it (fair's fair) and have people saying "I'm a PC" while trying to recover from various PC-related issues. Like "I'm a PC" CRASH "I'm a PC" in chinese with subtitles, bluescreen on the Olympic dome "I'm a PC" push the button BONK sound -- error push button BONK push button repeatedly BONK BONK BONK "I'm a PC" Fred and Ethel looking at the TV, it's a black screen, Fred asks Ethel "What the heck is HDCP?" Ethel says "I dunno, Fred." "I'm a PC" a geek for hire babbling incomprehensibly while he's swapping cards around. "I'm a PC" a bored kid repeatedly pressing "Yes" to security popups. "I'm a PC" an elderly woman plugs in a USB scanner, gets BoDeep BeDoop "hardware not recognized". Pulls cable out, plugs it in BoDeep BeDoop. Cable out, cable in BoDeep BeDoop. "I'm a PC" Mom opens IE and suddenly the screen is covered with porn popups.
The possibilities are endless. You could make a whole series of commercials.
Caveat: Mac geeks embarrass me, and I think Macs are way overpriced. I have an elderly G4 so my daughter can do her art school homework. But I have to admit, it's never crashed. Not once. Ever.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
As an advertising professional myself, for as much as the general public thinks or says they know about how advertising works, they're completely clueless.
Of course the Mac and PC commercials were talking more about the specific boxes. It's ignorant to think otherwise. They were talking about users just as much as the OS.
You want to be seen as this guy? Use a PC. This guy? Use a Mac. That is the inherent idea of the commercials.
The MS commercial does a really good job taking control of the conversation again, which is to say, that it isn't just that guy that uses a PC, but a huge swath of incredibly interesting people as well.
It isn't as clever, or as funny as the Mac commercials, but it does it's job, and does it well, without attacking back...which is important.
Mac attacks PC
PC says "that's not how I see it, and neither do these people"
I think this campaign took a lot of balls and succeeds on all fronts.
"So Microsoft can't just bring the "I'm a PC" character out to defend himself, because that just reinforces the negative message. "I am not a boring nerd!" ** yawn **. They have to bring out the "I am a Mac" guy out and make him look like a total ass. Make him a pretentious airhead who spends all his time talking about how cool he is while "I am a PC" is quietly getting the job done."
"The ad would be better just showing all the cool things you can do with a Windows PC, which is the point. They still need a hook, but it couldn't be hard to come up with a better one than, "You probably think I'm boring, but I'm not as boring as you think.""
Mac: hey PC, check out my shiny new iPod Nano... IT'S CURVED OMG!!!1 ...
PC: Uh, yeah, that's great... I'm actually kind of busy, you know, working. It's that thing that makes me able to buy stuff for myself, not just have my parents or anonymous internet strangers who only know me through my webcam show buy them for me.
Mac:
PC: Yeah, I just went there.
Mac: Hey PC, what's up.
PC: Oh, not much I'm just helping to set up a home file and print server.
Mac: You know, a mac genius could do that for you, plus set up a wireless network, transfer your files, update your system, bathe your cat...
PC: Yeah, probably, but so could any of the millions of people out there working as travelling PC techs... and they charge less.
Mac: That sounds like an awful lot of work PC, wouldn't it just be easier to have us do it all for you?
PC: yeah, let me just drive 6 hours to the nearest Apple store so I can pay triple for all the parts and set something up. You just hold your breath and wait for me.
Mac: Hey PC, I've heard that vista blows goats.
PC: Yeah, I guess. Whatever.
Mac: what? No gripe? No Argument? what's wrong?
PC: STFU, you're getting me fragged you twat. I don't give a shit if you don't play video games, just go away.
Mac: How's it going PC?
PC: Friggin' sweet!
Mac: Hey... you're not PC...
PC: Of course I am, I just decided to go for a new look, how do you like the makeover?
Mac: Well the sweater and Birkenstocks are pretty cool, but I'm not sure how I like the beard...
PC: Hey, different strokes you know... that's what this is all about anyway, I went Linux!
Mac: Isn't that, like, hard?
PC: Oh, so THAT'S why you have that stupid hair cut...
Mac: Huh?
PC: You must be stuck in 1996.
Maybe MS won't do that last one, but they probably should do the others.
Try not to take me more seriously than I take myself.
Does Microsoft really want to play that game? Apple probably likes people to consider the Mac a Mac and not a PC but one mention of it and where's Microsoft's ad?
What is even more interesting is the little laptops and the full size desktops and laptops getting Linux installed. Are the "a PC" too?
And really, don't people know from experience that "being a PC" means all that fun virus, crashing updates, and rebooting stuff? Who's proud of being forced to deal with that?
LoB
"Anyone who stands out in the middle of a road looks like roadkill to me." --Linus
This is just screaming for an Ubuntu ad:
Hello, I'm a PC, and I've been set free.
[sheds clothes, or sheds skin, or sheds large chain that leads up to a barred window]
People start handing him useful things for free.
A network appears and spreads out to a community.
The network is followed to another person who says.
[... maybe a few jumps here]
"I study genes"
Someone else puts a gene modeling program into another network location and it comes to the gene person.
"and I have been set free"
[...[
"I have a beard" - Jon "maddog" Hall
"and I have been set free."
I'm sure some of the Nelson Mandela Ubuntu explanation could be fit in here.
http://ubuntu.wordpress.com/2006/06/01/the-meaning-of-ubuntu-explained-by-nelson-mandela/
I'm a computer!
Stop all the downloadin'!
This ad is showing the outdated Shuttle cockpit, with mechanical instruments, instead of the current glass cockpit.
How ironic that they are touting yesterday's PC technology with yesterday's cockpit technology.
and I have herpes :0
putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
the guy with the beard secretly uses Linux.
I am a PC and I am made of stolen ideas only mutated in a bad way. Apple may wished they thought of this cool I am a PC and I am a Mac commercial, too bad they don't have our patent on it...
You all are doing exactly what the commercial was intended to do. get you talking. I'm a pc, i think its great, and i know mac people who actually say "I'm a mac" so you cant tell me that just because there portraying the system it self not the people, does not mean that people are not seeing them as people, yes mac stereotyped windows. To all who are complaining that ms is saying that windows is the only os for pc the mac commercials did it first "I'm a mac and I'm a pc" hum, yah. OK and finally you use what ever system works for you, i am a software developer and i use windows, my room mate is an artist he uses mac, a friend of my is a musician he uses windows. its seriously up to personal choice. if you want to play games other then made by blizzard you will still need a pc.
I think these commercials are brillant. Apple has done a great job of stereotyping PCs are boring, business people and made Macs are young, hip people (just look at the way the characters dress).
So MSFT does the same thing..and traps Mac. By saying that all of these people (writers, hot chicks in France, teachers, shark divers etc) are PCs, they are also saying that Mac is ONLY what they say they are: young, smart-assed kids.
The only thing that MSFT hasn't really done is drive me to look for the next commercial. The Mac commercials are essentially franchises, and people wait for the next episode. The PC one? Not so much - they aren't addictive.
The vast majority of people -- and yes, creative people -- use PCs.
Apparently they couldn't find any of those creative PC people to do the ad:
Microsoft's 'I'm a PC' ad images made on Macs.
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you
I asked Dr. Google. He won't tell me. He talks about Linux, Windows, and some weird kinky stuff called BSD...but no where can I find this new operating system called PC...and yet so many people are using it! I want to be in, people. Let me in.
It stinks of M$ thats for sure, whenever something great a new comes out, copy it....this one they are trying to show they are copying Apple, a la M$ but they failed badly...sorry M$ you suck
Calm down. I was just being tactful. In 1981, I probably would have bought an Atari 800 versus an IBM, but I can understand why corporations would have preferred the IBM since it ran faster with more memory (especially important for accounting). In 1981 IBM PC was a respectable machine, even though I would not have bought one for myself.
The Apple II was also a decent computer, but Atari had the #1 console at that time, and I'm a gamer so that's why I would have bought Atari instead of Apple. The Atari had somewhere around 64 color variations, 4 sprites, and a primitive noise generator (all-important for a decent game of Missile Command). If I had waited until 1982, then I would have bought the Commodore 64 (more sprites and music-quality sound).
Bringing this back to the present:
Today's PCs are boring compared to the multitude of choices we had back in the 80s. Back then companies were willing to innovate and try new things. Nowadays only Apple still continues that tradition (example:iPod) where Microsoft does not.
The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
I don't think that would be understood very well. When I started my company 4 years ago, I made it all Mac, having experienced the inefficiency of my previous employer's PC-based business first hand.
I'm not married to Apple. I'll switch to Linux if need be, but it would take more than a $300 M ad campaign to make me consider a switch to Windows.
Bert
... Vista ads say "hey dumbass, you are too stupid to understand this is actually a good OS" ... Seinfeld ads say "get with us: old dude and irrelevant 80's comedian" ... New I'm a PC ads say "Apple knows how to make commercials, we'll just copy them"
sigs are for losers (except to point out that sigs are for losers)
I like how neither Microsoft nor Apple talk about games in their commercials. Well, we know why Apple doesn't mention it... ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiAgrrwL_mk . But seeing as how it's really the only thing Windows is good for, I don't know why Microsoft doesn't even mention it. ( http://www.xbox.com/en-US/ ) Nope, no idea whatsoever.
I use Windows... like a two dollar wh.. why don't I just go ahead and not finish that sentence.
It also helped that IBM decided to publish the specs, making it an open architecture, so that anybody who wanted could design expansion cards for it, like sound cards, internal modems, better graphics cards and so on. This Open Source approach meant that there was a large supply of third-party after-market hardware for people to upgrade their computers. Apple, OTOH, kept to the closed architecture approach, so that the only source for upgrades was Apple. This meant that there was a smaller variety and everything cost more. As most people are looking to get the most bang for their buck, the PC soon cornered the lion's share of the home computer market and has never let go.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
You're kidding, right? I find it unbelievable that Microsoft were so stupid as to feel compelled to acknowledge the existence of a series of ads by a rival. The Apple ads have proven to be very popular, and Microsoft has only called attention to them again, and worst of all, in a "Me Too!" fashion, merely reinforcing the popular perception that Redmond doesn't have an original idea all their own. It says something about how insecure Microsoft feels about their own brand, that they're reduced to playing defense. And make no mistake, when a company their size starts playing defense, it's sending the message to the public that they believe that they're being hurt by their rival.
This is something that's always baffled me: in what way are the Apple ads "arrogant and condescending"? I've even heard Justin Long's "Mac" characterized as such, yet in all the commercials, he's nothing but friendly and considerate. This has always sounded like sour-grapes to me; everyone I've spoken with about the ads (almost all of them XP users) find them amusing, and have said that they like both characters. When asked specifically about the tone of the ads, no one has mentioned any negative message; when asked in particular if they found the ads or the Mac character arrogant or condescending in any way, or if there was any undertone of meanness, they all said no. In fact, many of them told me that the ads portrayed their experiences with Windows PC's fairly accurately.
As opposed to the sweetness and light of Microsoft? Now you're sounded like an angry Windows fanboy.
Ya know this might be good news for Apple.. Everyone has seen their ad's before and they are old news but Microsoft trashing on them (and getting the concept wrong in the progress) just made the old ad's popular again.. now we have to wait for Apple's response.
Bringing liberty to the masses. - http://freetalklive.com/
I think that it would improve MS's ad if they had dogdick in there. Absolutely. I am quite certain that it would help Windows improve sales to their core group of customers who peruse the net at night.
I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
Anyone else notice Charisma Carpenter (AKA Cordelia from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel) in the commercial? If my PC looked like her, I might be more excited about using it.
and a guy with a beard
Oh. *That* guy.
...with Ubuntu on it...
If you quote this signature there'll be 72 copies of Windows ME waiting for you in Heaven.
Your points about the other machines were interesting, but somewhat tangential and irrelevant to what we were discussing. (As a former Atari 800XL owner though, I'd say that the 8-bit computers were in the same ballpark as the C64 at least, and in certain respects were more advanced- though the C64 undoubtedly had a better sound chip. Not that the 800's was bad).
Today's PCs are boring compared to the multitude of choices we had back in the 80s. Back then companies were willing to innovate and try new things.
Yes, but the innovative PCs (in the generic sense) back then were those like the Commodore Amiga- not IBM's!
Nowadays only Apple still continues that tradition (example:iPod) where Microsoft does not.
The iPod isn't a PC, although- anticipating your possible response- I accept that as, in effect, a specialised computer, it's worthy of consideration. Nevertheless, Apple didn't even invent the first consumer-oriented MP3 player, they simply improved the design and- importantly- released the iPod just when technology was making a worthwhile MP3 player affordable.
:)
By worthwhile I mean that, circa 1997/98, MP3 players were available, but only had something like 32MB of memory (one album's worth), and slow serial/parallel connections that apparently took the better part of an hour to fill. Their only real benefit over even a cheap cassette Walkman would be random access- but since they could hold so little, you weren't even likely to want to skip any of the few songs that you could take with you.
In other words, Apple released the iPod just when the technology had improved enough to make possible an MP3 player that offered the real benefits that we take for granted today instead of being forced (by low capacity) into being just a poor substitute for a cheap cassette player. But I'm getting away from the point myself here
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
I believe that Apple also invented interracial anal gangbangs. So nothing new from your mom either.
Their "innovative" most ass-sucking ads in the universe flopped. So they don't try again. They quit trying. They just completely copy another company's creative idea. Microsoft has not done a single thing right since releasing Vista, and they continue to dig their graves with these incredibly stupid and insulting ad campaigns. I certainly have been alienated in the sense that I now know Microsoft as a company has no fucking clue how real people think, or how they use computers. They seriously should grab 5 random people off the street to replace their giant marketing department that has its giant head up its ass.
better != good
With one-liners like that, you should become a consultant.
But apart from that, the expression doesn't express what it should. "better != good"... If that were false, then there would be no point in having different words for "better" and "good", because they'd be equal.
It's like when people use comparison operators where they don't belong: "Naruto > Inu Yasha" - that's totally meaningless because the things being compared don't exist on some scale where there is a clear-cut relationship like that. It's some facet of those two things that's really being compared... Does the expression mean the show is better? That it's longer? That the character is more powerful? That his golf score is higher? Worst kind of linguistic laziness IMO, and a terrible misuse of formal notation.
Bow-ties are cool.
Wow - something in Slashdot that has provoked me to post for the first time in weeks...
I hate Windows. Can't stand it. Haven't used it in four years apart from when I have to at work, it's got to the stage where somebody asks my advice on "computers" and I just have to tell them that I can't do Windows anymore, I'm too out of the loop.
That said, I hated the "I'm a Mac/I'm a PC" ads too, mostly because a Mac IS a PC. So is a Linux desktop, and a Solaris, and a BSD, and a Commadore 64, and my much maligned Atari ST with the single sided double density disk drive.
So frankly, MS (I'm going to avoid the $ because for once I'm in agreement) have struck gold here. The public need to understand the difference between hardware and OS. The more the waters are muddied by advertising the better, because then papers will start printing "What is a PC...really?" articles.
Please consider this account deleted, I just can't be bothered with the spam anymore.
They should hire the PC guy from the Apple commercials and show him doing fun things. I think the PC guy work for the Daily Show on Comedy Central now.
his mom is lusting after the biggest boners in the world: things that dump enough cum they can fill a swimming pool and feed a nation of pirate hookers for 40 days and 40 nights, and still leave enough to coat the continent of Texas 1-inch.
Found this today. Apparently metadata from images which appear to be single frames from the commercial, that were posted by Microsoft showed that the commercial was made in Adobe CS3 on a Mac
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/09/19/microsofts-im-a-pc-ads-created-on-macs/
What does Windows need an ad campaign for anyway? Is Microsoft afraid that their huge and practically unchallenged marketshare isn't big enough?
Slashdot: News for people who enjoy Microsoft advertisements. Stuff you could see on TV instead.
>>>the PC soon cornered the lion's share of the home computer market
I'm not sure "soon" is the appropriate moniker. Even though the IBM PC was introduced in 1981, it was still not the number one computer system. The Atari 400/800 was dominant during the early 80s, followed by the Commodore 64 in 1983, 84, 85, and 86. The C=64 went on to sell 30 million units (equal to the number of Atari 2600 and Nintendo ES game consoles sold during that same era), and became virtually a home appliance for most people.
The PC and clones did not take-over the top slot until 1987.
The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
Seriously when was the last time they had to advertise? I don't remember if ever. Why is this going on? Is Vista not selling well and they think tossing some bills into the fire will make things better? Did it take them this long to figure out their business model is not working? Almost everyone in America who would want a computer has one, and they are not into buying new one every 18 months. Why would they want a new OS?
It actually made the commercial less "blah" and more "baa".
Fixed it for you~
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
"And still, there remains that one thing that PC users can do that Mac users can't: shut the fuck up "
oh really?
I need this fixed, the computer froze again, I ahve a virus, I need a driver..they go on and on.
The GP said anything, and last time I checked that meant anything.
That said, those features are important to the average user, just like being able to get at the engine is important to drivers, even if they never open the hood.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
>>>I didn't say it was particularly awful machine, I said that it wasn't particularly revolutionary.
Well if you're going to take that debating tactic, I will use the same tactic: I never said the IBM PC was revolutionary. You've setup a strawman argument, rather than address what I actually said in my original post. (I used the word "remarkable" meaning worthy of notice in 1981, not revolutionary.) :-)
>>>Yes, but the innovative PCs (in the generic sense) back then were those like the Commodore Amiga- not IBM's!
No shit sherlock. ;-) I agree 100%. But once again, I direct you to my original post: I never called the 1981 PC a revolution. Please read more carefully. Thank you.
I looked-up the history of MP3 players. You're right: iPod wasn't the first but it was pretty early. If wikipedia is accurate, iPod was only the second to use a hard drive, and the first to use a 1.8" nanodrive to achieve a pocket-sized form factor. Apple did have an advantage with its loyal Macintosh base.
The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
I take it as akin to the AT&T commercials of 30 years ago. The commercials weren't made to convince you to buy the AT&T service, since you had no choice. But to make you feel good about with your lack of choice.
I like it.
Maybe its the Microsoft fan in me, but I like these a lot more than the Seinfeld ads, which made no god damn sense.
And at least Im not left screaming at my TV like the apple ones.
"Oh you can use the newest version of Office? You mean the same god damn version as PC users except with the updates already installed? GOOD FOR YOU!"
...Is obviously "a linux" running WINE
I'm a PC and a Linux. The Ad is excellent and its refreshing to see that Microsoft doesn't need to rely on negativity to sell its product. Keep 'em coming Microsoft.
the camera then needs to zoom back, revealing grips, stage hands, cameraman, assistants, props people etc. who all turn to the camera and say "and i'm linux."
Yep, 1987. Zelda on the low end, and games just to complex to run well on a C64 on the high end. Commodore couldn't compete with both Nintendo and the DOS machines. They needed to get the Amiga price down into the C64 range, but couldn't. So all those people who bought all those C64's as essentially 2600 replacement game machines, thanks to the crash of 83-84, but couldn't afford an Amiga or DOS machine, jumped right to the NES.
That's because Apple were the ones playing defense for the better part of 20 years, against a much larger, far more powerful rival. Where were you for the drama? Only since the introduction of the iPod have Apple managed to impinge on the consciousness of the public at large, and their confidence has recovered to the point of cockiness. It's really strange that Microsoft has voluntarily assumed the role of the underdog, especially since they remain a much larger company than Apple, and have far greater revenue. By overtly reacting to Apple's ads, much less acknowledging that they even exist, Microsoft is publicly admitting that they sting; they are admitting that a much smaller competitor is hurting them. For a rapacious, all-conquering monolith of Microsoft's reputation, this is tantamount to an admission of fear. Microsoft desperately need to rehabilitate their image, but this ad campaign is precisely the wrong way to go about it. By reacting to the Apple ads they're allowing Jobs & Co. to dictate the shape of the conflict. They should be steadfastly ignoring them and forging their own message; instead they're signaling that they have nothing to offer but feeble attempts at spin.
There was a time when Microsoft was one of the most feared corporations on the planet, but recently the aura of invincibility has worn thin. People used to talk about them in tones of hushed awe, but now they're like the doddering old grandparent who smells faintly of urine.
If Commodore had replaced the Motorola 68000 with a MOS 65xxx CPU, they could have got the chips essentially for free, and reduced the Amiga's selling price to around $500. That's just slightly more than how much a C64 cost in 1987 ($200), and it's likely Amiga would have sold like gangbusters to people desiring an advanced machine.
Unfortunately Commodore had lost Jack Tramel, who recognized the value of using a self-built computer chips.
The government is not your daddy. Its purpose is not to raid middle-class neighbors' wallets and give it to you.
Oh well, shows lack of originality on MS's part. Will one of the "PC's" be a slow moving cripple in a wheelchair, unable to do to the simplest things?
"We are Ubuntu"
It had to be said.
-schim
The PC guy is a stereotype?!11 Wow, whoever would have thought?
I don't like the new MS adds on that basis alone -- no shit the guy in the commercial is a stereotype. Did anyone ever believe any differently? He's supposed to be a stereotype, and so is the Mac guy. That's why there are just the two of them representing a large number of people. Pointing out that the PC guy is a stereotype is like pointing out that Homer Simpson is a stereotype -- it's besides the point.
Mac heads are apt to say they are proud to own Macs. Now MSFT is "taking back the PC brand" and having people say they ARE "a PC?" So MSFT is saying they OWN you - and I guess that is true - 90% of you are owned by MSFT.
If MSFT has any real guts or genius they'd have the ad that shows people say "I'm a Vista." Let's see Deepak volunteer on that one. I'm sure he fully approved of the Mojave deception experiment.
Anyone notice Stallman reprising his monkeyboy antics on the I'm a PC site?
I couldn't find a way to link to the video directly, but he's on the leftmost column, second from the top.
Cameron is a Terminator.
A HOT Terminator.
Richard Steven Hack - This sig is TOO GODDAMN SHORT TO DO ANYTHING USEFUL WITH! MORONS!
You don't make your purchasing decisions based on buzzwords and slick ads. You aren't their target anyway.
Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
According to the TIFF metadata, the new ads were made on a Mac! After this was revealed, Microsoft has attempted to scrub the metadata from the files.
This just keeps getting better and better. Note to Microsoft: when you're in a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging.
I'm a PC
oh %deity please no, not that. I'll admit it; I like porn. I'll even go so far as to say I can enjoy a diverse range of porn, but celebrity porn, IMHO is the lowest of the low. The idea of B.G. naked, mumbling inane "dirty talk" while clumsily fumbling around in a low light and hence low-rez video would have to be the least erotic "sex tape" I'll ever see in my life.
Sheesh... stop throwing about stupid accusations about "debating tactics". I might have disagreed with you, but I was at least trying to discuss the topic at hand in good faith, not to win a bloody debate.
"Strawman" implies that I was intentionally misrepresenting what you said- I wasn't. I apologise if you feel this was the case, but it ultimately doesn't change what I had to say- I don't feel that the PC was "remarkable" either for the reasons I already gave above.
"Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
The slogan in the corner of the commercial, "Windows Vista -- Life Without Walls"... what use is Windows when there are no walls?
It's effective advertisement, it's lively and it's as good as it could have been expected from the marketing guys. It did feel like an ad though and that bugs me, the Seinfeld one was strange and weird, but they will be remembered a lot more than the PC guy ones.
I'm writing this from my MacBookPro... :P
I can't believe this, they really do what I told them to...
http://algorithman.de/storage/new_vista_ad.jpg
poorly imitating Apples ads, just like they poorly imitated Apples operating systems...
The MAFIAA is a bunch of mindless jerks who will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes
Something as awful as "I'm a PC" wouldn't make it here in Sweden. Well, it might have 20, 30 years ago. But as a contemporary ad, it is just ridiculous!
At least the Seinfield ads were amusing. Clearly their purpose was to be ads about nothing, just as the Seinfield show was a show about nothing. It was the only thing I ever felt the least bit excited about from MS.
"I'M Linux" http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wAbBDMWKOpc
Doesn't everyone like pc guy better anyway? Plus who cares?
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/09/19/microsofts-im-a-pc-ads-created-on-macs/
Instead of MSFT. I like Steve Jobs trying to increase my wealth as a shareholder.
Slashdot "libertarians": Small government for me, big government for those I disagree with. -1, I disagree with you