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Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

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131–140 of 167 posts

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#131
post #56
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This confuses me-- what does Apple spend on advertising? It's surely enormous.

Apple invests in advertising. There is a difference.

Apparently I should have spelled out the difference. Apple sees more than a dollar back from every dollar it invests into advertising. Microsoft will have a very tough time tracing back more than $200 million in revenue to this ad campaign.

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Mac ads have had pc's reputation on the ropes in the collective unconscious." Do you mean Microsoft? If so, it sure as hell hasn't scratched the business world. It's only knicked the consumer world a couple percentage points. I'd reconsider your position. Further, this is kind of old and becoming a nonissue in today's world. With the migration towards non-platform-specific consumer usage of systems (ie. internet) I…

There's a lot more to it than just "Apple is just a gimmick..." OS X is unix and unix is the real rising star here. Apple just had the good sense to catch a ride on the bandwagon of that rising star and the competence to do a very good job of it. Apple's market share is still small but it's been growing steadily for years. Today's rate-of-change is tomorrow's level.

Apple won't catch on with business because why the hell would you pay for Apple when you could just get *nix? It's their own grave, but hey, if they're happy making consumer crap, be my guest.

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#133
post #3

Brilliant. I love the look on Macs face when he swoops the ad money towards fixing vista and PC swoops it toward advertising. This is like boxing. Mac ads have had pc's reputation on the ropes in the collective unconscious. All the sudden, after getting beat on barely throwing a punch, PC comes out swinging. Even lands a blow on macs chin, shakes him up a bit. But before PC can land another punch, this uppercut takes…

"Mac ads have had pc's reputation on the ropes in the collective unconscious." Do you mean Microsoft? If so, it sure as hell hasn't scratched the business world. It's only knicked the consumer world a couple percentage points. I'd reconsider your position. Further, this is kind of old and becoming a nonissue in today's world. With the migration towards non-platform-specific consumer usage of systems (ie. internet) I…

Go to a college and look at all the kids. They're using macs. That means, in the future, the people who make decisions will lean more towards mac.

I don't at all think that mac's polish is a gimmick. We know that using 2 monitors increases productivity. This is a general case of the fact that how you connect to your computer directly alters how your brain has to work in order to use the computer. It seems to me that a better user interface and a more clean design are important ways to decrease the cognitive friction with the computer. You know those little logos they put on pc laptops palmrests? Each of those, just by being in your visual field, causes a cascade of preconscious neurological activity as your brain triggers all the things it associates with the logos. Thus, just by sitting down to work in that environment, your are decreasing the brain power you can spend working. The superior mac UI generates much less cognitive friction, allowing me to focus more of my cognitive processes to thinking about what I'm working on. You may think this is a gimmick, I think it's essential to being maximally productive.

It's like the band velvet underground. Sure, there were more popular bands, but fans of velvet underground largely created later progress in subsequent waves of musical progress.

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#134
post #4
post #3

Brilliant. I love the look on Macs face when he swoops the ad money towards fixing vista and PC swoops it toward advertising. This is like boxing. Mac ads have had pc's reputation on the ropes in the collective unconscious. All the sudden, after getting beat on barely throwing a punch, PC comes out swinging. Even lands a blow on macs chin, shakes him up a bit. But before PC can land another punch, this uppercut takes…

Actually, I'm thinking: wow, I voluntarily watched an advertisement for a geek sports rivalry. Go gray! No, go blue! Let's talk about this at the watercooler and pretend we share something to care about in our vapid, disposable lives!

Sports is the wrong metaphor.

It's more like being in a science class and watching an argument between a creationist and a real scientist.

"Evolution is good. Things should evolve and get better and we shouldn't be afraid of it."

"I did not come from a monkey. God made the Supermall 6,000 years ago, and it's always bad when things change, which means I'm afraid of anything ever getting better. Can I have that banana?"

Motoko: "Yawn. It's like watching sports."

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#135
post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Apple is trying to target users of Vista, just people that are considering moving off XP.

Why can't it be they're targeting both?

Anyone that has already decided to use Vista is unlikely to change their mind because of the Mac ads. IMHO someone considering an upgrade to Vista is much more likely to be influenced.

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#136
Reminds me of the escalating bumper sticker wars between the Jesus fish stickers and the Darwin fish (with legs) stickers... recently I've started seeing "Jesus fish eating a Darwin fish" stickers. I'm still waiting for "Darwin fish eating a Jesus fish eating a Darwin fish".

I can't wait to see Microsoft's meta-meta-response.

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#137
post #25
post #20

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I am sure not a full-time Mac evangelist (I use Linux myself), but have you tried to use a Mac for a month or so? I was perfectly happy with Windows (XP then) when I decided to check the greener grass on the other side of the fence (Red Hat, first, then Debian, then Ubuntu) and I never thought about going back. Linux is so much more refined under the hood that more than compensates for the lack of software in several…

...and I had to use a Mac at work for 12 months and hated every minute of it. For every person with a convert story to the Mac, there's another person who is quite happy to stick with Windows. I'm not sure why so many people consider the prospect so crazy.

I use a PC and I don't really have any pain that I can think of-- but maybe I'm just used to it. Ya know, one of these days I'd love to compare RescueTime data for the aggregate Windows population and the aggregate Mac population (to see if one works harder, futzes with their OS more, etc.).

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#138
post #89
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never used a Mac Mini, so I don't know how slow it is, though I'd guess that it's not in the same league as Apple's higher-end products. Out of curiosity, what makes Front Row worse than the Media Center? I rarely use Front Row, but I'd like to know what Vista Media Center does better. The dock absolutely is better than the task bar. The TB is cluttered - why do I need a box for every open window when I can just…

I'm not going to get in a back-and-forth with you about what I hate about Macs. The point is that there are a LOT of people out there that absolutely can't stand Macs. As a matter of fact, besides me and my wife EVERY single person in my office hates them (most of us are programmers and YES, we've actually used them before).

I use a lot of computers but I don't have that strong feelings about them. What's your point? That you know people who hate Macs? Good for you. I do prefer Linux for work, but I know many people who love Macs and even the ones who don't use them respect Macs as well finished computers with a polished OS. Remember: OSX is kind of Nextstep 5.0 and I can respect that as much as I do respect, say, Solaris, AIX and HP-UX.

You may think there is a huge number of people who can't stand Macs, but I assure you it's a very localized phenomena you are observing. Most certainly you are keeping the wrong company. Do they also install neon lights under their cars?

Classy...

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#139
These ads are getting more and more lame. As a fulltime programmer and xp and vista user - I never felt the need to use macs but for their unix base and cool design. Considered buying one recently but settled for a vista pc with much better configuration at half the price. It has been running great for me with not a single issue in past 6 months. For any need of unix system, I run ubuntu or freebsd vmware appliances on my vista.

If apple cannot convince a frugal programmer like me who would love to own a mac - I do not know how even these ads can help them much in the general pc market. I think they will remain limited only to folks who really appreciate their commitment to design and would pay so much extra just for that.

Re: Apple responds to "I'm a PC"

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I liked it. It isn't mean at all. It's lighthearted and funny but it does address something I've thought about before. Perhaps Vista isn't as bad as most people think but it certainly does have problems. Instead earnestly promising to address any real issues Microsoft announced a $300m ad campaign to deal with it. MS could have earned a lot more credibility and respect by admitting to perhaps even a small sampling of…

What parts of Vista need to be fixed?

Compatibility. Nothing draws me to Windows other than the programs I NEED to run on it for work. For me, Solidworks 2007 is needed. It doesn't run on Vista/Linux/Mac, but it does run on XP. So I will never upgrade until we upgrade Solidworks versions (unlikely), or Microsoft or the vendor fixes compatibility issues (unlikely). If you want to talk about day to day use, Windows is far inferior.
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