I actually agree with that to an extent, which is why I pointed it out in my last post. Why in God's name is MS so damn scared of Apple?
And if they aren't, why keep going after a company who, by all estimation, isn't even making a dent in your business?
It's just odd.
Uh, you have noticed that Steve Ballmer is not quite sane, right? Seriously, every time I see or hear him, I get this feeling that his grip on reality is a bit tenuous.
Because I've wondered the same thing myself. But this is the same company that's been paranoid about Linux!
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XBox 360 S, 16GB iPhone 4S, iPod Classic 160 GB, Dell Inspiron Mini 1018; Macs: Mac Mini 2.4 GHz 6 GB RAM; Macbook 2.0 GHz 3 GB RAM; MacBook Air 11", 24" Cinema Display
I actually agree with that to an extent, which is why I pointed it out in my last post. Why in God's name is MS so damn scared of Apple?
I don't really think they are directly going after Apple, but they needed a comparison to make the point that PC's are a "good value." I don't really think this will eat into any of the Apple real market. True BMW buyers are likely to stay BMW buyers, even if Ford points out that the Fusion is a heck of a good car at a relatively low price point. A bad economy will hurt both Ford and BMW. An ad like that may convince an "I-got-it-because-I-could-but-really-don't-give-a-hoot" BMW driver who would have stuck it out a few more years with their 3 year-old bimmer to take the plunge and buy something new. It just reminds them that there are alternatives that may be affordable NOW and that they aren't all that terrible.
Honestly, if you think about it, they are acknowledging Apple's superiority. Take it as flattery.
I don't really think they are directly going after Apple, but they needed a comparison to make the point that PC's are a "good value."
Is it, though? I mean, it's a good price, but price != value, and some would argue that any low-end laptop is a bad idea to begin with no matter who makes it and what OS it runs. I don't know; it just seems like MS is intentionally muddying the waters here when it comes to the price / value proposition. I guess if you're uninformed enough to shop for anything solely based on price, you get what you deserve.
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
What's kind of funny is that I am probably NOT in Apple's demographic. 57 year old who has been working in IT for almost 25 years with MS products and whose living depends on using MS products. But I always wanted a Mac and WAS put off by price. It wasn't until the Mac mini came out that I made the move and have been hooked ever since. And as I've said previously, it wasn't the machine so much that won me over as the OS. It helped that my son is an avid Mac fan who bought his first Mac 2 years before I bought mine and who "evangelised" me, but the fact that I could buy a Mac for $500 (the price of the original G4 mini) got me in the door.
Believe me, for someone who hasn't experienced OS X, price can really be an issue. That's why I think the Mini is the greatest Mac ever made - not because it's such a great computer (although it is), but because the entry price point is low enough to get in the door and then get hooked. I stay with the mini because it's cheap enough for me to pay cash for and offers all the power I need in a machine. (Of course, after buying a 24-inch Cinema Display, it probably would have made more sense to just buy a 24-inch iMac in the first place!).
Most folks don't even know what the difference is between a Mac and a PC - they just look at the dollar signs.
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XBox 360 S, 16GB iPhone 4S, iPod Classic 160 GB, Dell Inspiron Mini 1018; Macs: Mac Mini 2.4 GHz 6 GB RAM; Macbook 2.0 GHz 3 GB RAM; MacBook Air 11", 24" Cinema Display
So by your standards, a Hyundai is a better value than a Bentley because it's cheaper.
Hyundai actually makes pretty good, reliable cars. They probably are a better value, actually.
If somebody is giving me $1000 to buy a computer, and I will not buy one any other way, I'm personally buying a MacBook. (I don't want a 17" screen but, even if I did, I'd just do without. And, as you point out, that's a pretty pathetic notebook anyway.)
But I imagine that there are a number if people who use Windows now, maybe tempted by a Mac, who are thinking it might be better to save a few hundred dollars now rather than pay more.
That's the demo that Microsoft has been losing in market share to Apple over the last few years. This will not convince a Mac user (like me) to switch (back) to Windows. But it may stop bleeding market share. So I think that it might end up a pretty effective message right now, in this economy.
Here's where Microsoft should start worrying, though: they are being squeezed into the middle of the premium hunting, "cool" Mac buying crowd and the money saving, Netbook crowd. I think when Windows 7 adds its licensing fee to Netbooks the makers may just start going to go with license-free Linux rather than Windows. Microsoft may find themselves fighting to hold on to market share on both the high end (there will always be people who can afford premium brands) and on the low end (where people, who seek the best value possible, may be willing to switch to Linux Netbooks). I guess we'll see. (It would be unbelievably interesting if Apple wrote an iTunes client for Linux Netbooks, actually. That might be the one thing keeping ordinary, no-technical people from switching to Linux.)
The online version of the ad has a direct link to the model in question; it's a HP Pavilion dv7-1245dx. It comes with an AMD Turion X2 RM-72 processor, 4GB of memory, 320GB hard drive, ATI Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics, DVD burner, and the all-important 17-inch WXGA+ (1,440 x 900) screen. I wanted to check this system out so I asked PCMag's laptop lead analyst, Cisco Cheng, if we have a HP Pavilion dv7 on the shelf somewhere. He said "DV7? That's an old laptop."
What is Microsoft getting at?
If Microsoft's point is to stick it to Apple and claim that there's only one Mac laptop for under $1,000 and it's got a small 13-inch screen, they're absolutely correct. You can't walk out of an Apple Store with (any) laptop for under $1,000 after tax. Certainly you can't walk out of an Apple Store with a 17-inch laptop for under $1,000. Apple's 17-inch MacBook Pro is a professional product for people like pro photographers and videographers and is marketed and priced as such.
So should the Mac faithful get in a tizzy over this imagined slight? Nope. Apple's strategy has never been about taking a majority of market share over Windows. It's been about increasing profit margins ever since the second coming of Steve, when they cleaned out all the "cheap" Macs they were selling at Sears. At the prices Apple charges for Macs (and iPods, and iPhones), Apple is making a healthy profit margin on every product they sell (and they still sell a lot). Apple's control over its ecosystem, innovation, and design are its hallmarks, not its cheap prices.
My point is that you can't compare a luxury brand / item to a run-of-the-mill pedestrian item and say "Look how overpriced the more expensive item is." Of course it is. You also get a hell of a lot more.
Oh..., I wasn't aware that Macs were luxury items. Probably should put a tax on them. I always thought Mac users were elitist snobs, but in reality it appears that it is just that elitist snobs are who buy Macs, and Rolexes and Louis Vitton handbags Just kiddin'
I find it interesting how people argue value. If you want to expose the great value of the Mac, why not just get Billie Mays to shout, "a $5,000 VALUE". That's what sets it isn't it?
There is a lot involved in value, but IMHO, a good deal needs to be, does it do what I need it to do. If I need to dig a hole in the backyard, I can get a $20 shovel at Home Depot, or I could commission a team of artisans to make me a gold plated one with a hand turned hickory handle from old growth New England forests. Bet the latter costs more, and bet it really has no more 'value' to me. Might to someone else, though.
PCs are of course more complex than shovels. I mean Personal Computer, which includes Windows based. Linux, Apple and whatever else is out there. The value proposition has a lot of parts; size, weight, performance, reliability, stamina (longevity), and of course, cost, among others. While there are clearly aspects of any value proposition that Apple comes out ahead on, there are others that Windows based machines come out on top. Cost tends to favor Windows, even though the Mac OS is free. Yea it is, it comes free on every Mac. Windows PC makers have to license Windows from MS and add that to the price.
So, I submit that value is in the eyes of the beholder, and this young lady, member of SAG that she is, valued actually getting the 17" screen, at a price she could afford, more than not getting a clearly superior 17" MAC.
Just the humble ramblings of a disenfranchised Apple II User Group President
I wouldn't take this personally. We all know that Macs are a "better value", but not all consumers are really thinking about that kind of value. Microsoft and it's ad agency know that. They're playing to consumer's fears about prices. Consumers will buy that which has the lowest price tag.
As to the "I'm not cool enough to own a Mac", really, I don't understand the uproar. It's a mindless comment that people throw out all the time without thinking about it. The ad agency, if they didn't prompt her, were not above using it. If anything else, rather than being offended, ya'll should take on a superior air and be glad she's not a Mac user.
Look at the prices. My laptop died. About the same time, my old G3 600Mhz iBook died as well, so I can't even fall back on that for surfing and email. The base model MacBook is $999.99. Throw in tax and AppleCare and now we're over $1250. I know the thing will last 4 years or more in most cases. On the other end, the Acer Aspire One is at Wal-Mart for $298. Throw in a 2 year warranty and it's still under $400. Sure, getting 2 years out of it would be a stretch, but sometimes you have to look at the price end, which is pretty much what my wife is doing. Even if I could prove that by spending the money on the MacBook, I wouldn't need a new laptop for 10 years, that doesn't balance out the family budget and keep us on track to our goals. If I get a laptop, it's probably coming from Wal-Mart and it'll be obsolete in the next 2 years, if it lasts that long.
Sometimes that's the way that is. I'll agree with you that the Macs are probably a better value with a better TCO, but that doesn't put them any closer to my ability to fit one in the family budget yet.
Or I'm too cool to own one...
If they feature me on that program, I would promise not to diss Apple. Actually, I'd be a putz and set my budget at $3000 and make them buy me a MacBook Pro. Anybody know how to get me on that marketing study?
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I think this ad, and its response, point out a few things:
1. Microsoft sees Apple as the real deal, in terms of competition.
2. Microsoft is targeting young people who know nothing about computers, and who cannot and will not be bothered to care, by focusing on price as the main factor. This is exactly what they need to do. I expect we will see altogether different strategies in upcoming ads, targeting other demographics.
3. It's awkward to see Microsoft advertising on behalf of the many manufacturers who run the Windows OS. I mean, why choose HP? What about Dell, or Asus, Toshiba etc..? And also on behalf of Best Buy, who sells so many different laptops.
4. As a Mac person, I cannot even imagine how difficult it would be to navigate through purchasing a PC laptop right now. There are way too many on the market, sold by way too many stores, and online. Checking for specifications, and reviews, and viewing them in store, versus taking a chance by buying on line. I think there was a shot in the video that shows Lauren spinning around, presumably edited in to imply this 'wonderful' amount of options she has.
I know that many in the PC world would say, "Yes! This is choice!!" And that is why the PC world is better. Actually, I disagree so strongly I have a visceral reaction to the very idea that this level of choice is superior. It is not better. It is CONFUSING. Unnecessary confusion over comparison shopping is one of the key reasons that finally sends PC shoppers into an Apple store, from my personal experience.
5. In the end, we have to remember she was given $1000 to spend by a marketing company that would have only allowed her $800 had she stated a 13 inch screen was acceptable.
6. Microsoft is positioning itself as not cool. Ouch. Talk about a self-imposed dress down. I could write the next Get a Mac ad right this instant.
Quite honestly, I am not sure why some people are getting all upset over the ad... Apple has been attacking Windows over the last few year, presenting their side of the story with all these Mac vs. PC ads. Almost all of the Windows users I talked to has taken it in good humor.
Now that Microsoft is hitting back, I see all these Mac fanboys start throwing fits and cry.
IF Macs are truly better than PCs, then don't worry, the product will speak for itself. If a lot of it was just Apple marketing, then I would be worried.
A few weeks ago, I did by my first Mac, the new Mac Mini, and I have been pleasantly surprised. I can see the value in the product, and it was a very nicely executed computer. But reading this thread, it just reinforces my beliefs, that I don't hate Macs, just arrogant Mac users.
P.S.: Member of the abandoned Apple II user community...
Value?
Just kiddin'
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