The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal • Hacker News Board

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#51

Post by rpedroso » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:28 AM UTC

kenjackson wrote: post #34

zmmmmm wrote: post #17

Has there ever been such a low ball PR campaign by such a large company? It's seriously hard to think of any major company that's come out with such sleazy tactics as this against a direct competitor. Can you ever imagine Google or Apple running direct to consumer ads referring to Microsoft as "Microshaft" or some other slogan? Even on Reddit, things such as "M$" usually result in a torrent of down votes. It's a fasc…

Apple had a whole TV campaign with Justin Long mocking Microsoft. It was pretty successful I recall.

I tend to agree with you, but there are some differences:

A) Most of the "Mac vs PC" ads focused on showcasing ways Apple products were superior to Microsoft ones [1]. This isn't universally true though [2]. Regardless, that strategy is better than showing people break dance with your tablets.

B) The "Scroogled" campaign has a different, more aggressive tone to it. The whimsical background music in the Apple ads don't come across as forcefully as the term "Scroogled" does. I suspect this tone is more off-putting.

[1] See some of the ads here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5z0Ia5jDt4 [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DWLyrljLDk

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#52

Post by _delirium » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:30 AM UTC

cjensen wrote: post #48

_delirium wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It didn't use a silly name for their competitor, but Apple's "I'm a PC" ads are one recent example of pointed negative advertising targeting a specific competitor (and using kind of silly stereotyping of "PC users" to do so): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfv6Ah_MVJU

The "PC" in those adds was not a user. It was the computer. Those ads don't make fun of or otherwise characterize PC users in any way shape or form.

I know that's what they were officially personifying, but I interpreted them as having a PC vs. Mac user undertone. TV ads generally aim for that kind of implication, trying to make people identify with the kinds of people who own X versus the kinds of people who own Y (see also: beer ads).

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#53

Post by Bhel » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:33 AM UTC

This is quite common in markets where there are only two or three competitors: instead of focusing on showing why your product is good, you simply bash the competition.

Pepsi vs Coca-Cola is a great example. Elections in countries with only two parties is another perfect example of this.

It's been happening for a while and it will continue, since it yields results:

The ones educated enough limit themselves to a "sigh. seriously?" and keep on using what they know it's best for them.

Then there's the target market: the ignorant masses, who will fall to these strategies, prove them useful and validate them as good marketing strategies.

The funny thing here is that there's a similiar thread every 24 hours and people always react like this is something new, and like the company in turn is super evil for doing it.

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#54

Post by recuter » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:34 AM UTC

teraflop wrote: post #49

recuter wrote: post #13

Just a heads up: Google is basically subsidizing Chromebooks at this point. An Acer C720 costs as much as a Kindle and is very close to some sort of price floor ($199), yet it comes with $120 worth of Drive storage (100GB @ $5 x 24 months) and some other stuff. You can blow away ChromeOS and use these as a regular PC laptop. 1/5 the price of an 11" Macbook Air yet comparable in many ways. I feel like they are giving…

> 1/5 the price of an 11" Macbook Air yet comparable in many ways. Comparable in some ways, yeah, but from the specs, it looks to me like there are more differences than similarities: the C270 is a bit thicker and heavier, the CPU is way slower, you get 16GB of storage instead of 128GB, 2GB of RAM instead of 4GB, the display is lackluster (according to reviews), the camera is lower resolution, there's no keyboard bac…

You actually get 4GB of RAM on the $249 model and it takes an SD card (11" air doesn't). It is ever so slightly thicker and heavier, yes; 0.75 inches – 2.76 lbs/1.25kg vs 0.68 inches - 2.38lbs/1.08 kg.

Close enough you couldn't tell them apart in a backpack. Certainly not as well built and precious but then again you can treat it like a disposable Kindle, throw it around, even if you destroy 4 you're still ahead.

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#55

Post by notacoward » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:34 AM UTC

They just don't Get It. I'm typing this on a Chromebook right now - the 14" HP one. It's cheap, it's light, it's pleasant to use. That's the value prop. Microsoft claims you can get the same with Windows, so the very first thing I did was check the specs and reviews for the models they tout. Are they really that comparable?

* Approximately same price, same screen size and resolution, same processor and memory.

* Four pounds vs. three. Oops, not so light any more.

* Battery life (according to reviews) is around three hours, vs. this Chromebook going all day.

* Typical Windows suspend/resume times, vs. true instant-on for the Chromebook. It's actually disconcerting to have everything right there before I've even sat back on the sofa.

* Typical Windows upgrade/maintenance cycle (and malware), vs. no worries on the Chromebook.

I have other laptops that I use when I need to do more serious work. One of them even runs Windows, though mostly as a host for a Linux VM. But at this price point there's nothing running Windows that can match the overall Chromebook experience. Until there is, sleazy marketing stunts like this only make it obvious that they're desperate.

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#56

Post by Bhel » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:37 AM UTC

amaks wrote: post #9

"The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don't mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don't think of original ideas, and they don't bring much culture into their products." Steve Jobs

I wouldn't quote Jobs in scenarios like this, given that he pulled a pretty similar thing with the whole Flash thing: a misinformation campaing with the sole purpose of attacking the competition with fallacies and sketchy arguments.

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#57

Post by hankcharles » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:39 AM UTC

I got to Scroogled.com and thought it was some anti-google site cobbled together by a cranky blogger out looking for some corporate interest representing 'the man' to pick on. I can't believe it was assembled by the marketing department of one of the most recognizable brands in the world.

I think the actual ad is at least a bit clever, but this 'scroogled!' catchword and in particular this absurd website they came up with just makes the whole thing nauseating.

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#58

Post by shaneofalltrad » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:46 AM UTC

rpedroso wrote: post #51

kenjackson wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apple had a whole TV campaign with Justin Long mocking Microsoft. It was pretty successful I recall.

I tend to agree with you, but there are some differences: A) Most of the "Mac vs PC" ads focused on showcasing ways Apple products were superior to Microsoft ones [1]. This isn't universally true though [2]. Regardless, that strategy is better than showing people break dance with your tablets. B) The "Scroogled" campaign has a different, more aggressive tone to it. The whimsical background music in the Apple ads don'…

What about the "Internet Exploder"(that term is true). Microsoft has taken it's fare share of insulting and I don't believe calling things "Scroogled" made by Google are far from the truth. It is funny because it is true, they are using some great coding, marketing and anything else under the sun to screw us or at least the competition (we as consumers will pay soon enough). We all know this. They have great products, but that is NOT a typical laptop, it is a glorified Search Engine. I personally have insulted Microsoft products a lot in my time, but you have to admit, they are getting scroogled by many of these hyped up minimalist products, that do not offer half of what a PC, MAC or *nix (Ubuntu/Mint) can give you.

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#59

Post by nl » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:50 AM UTC

This is going to backfire.

All it will take is one Kickstarter campaign to fund an anti-Microsoft ad (and isn't that a tempting target), and a site to aggregate all the entries. The media will do the rest..

I'd bet they would get professional entries from major advertising houses, just because of the media exposure it would be bound to get.

Re: The World Famous staff on Chromebook: No deal

#60

Post by jpgvm » Wed, Nov 27, 2013, 4:52 AM UTC

gkoberger wrote: post #8

I'm pretty sure the Scroogled campaign is really just brilliant marketing orchestrated by Google to make Microsoft look bad.

I was kinda sad when I did a whois and found that it actually was on the Microsoft nameservers [1]. Really expected better out of Redmond.. shame on them.

[1] http://reports.internic.net/cgi/whois?whois_nic=scroogled.co...