"A series of Microsoft ads are aimed at budget consumers worried about price tags, further perpetuating the pricey Mac myth. Associated Press reports the ads were shot by recruited unwitting subjects by posing as a market research firm studying laptop purchasing decisions. It picked 10 people who answered a call for volunteers on Craigslist and other websites and sent them out with a camera crew and budgets ranging from $US700 to $US 2,000. If they found a computer that fit their criteria, they could keep it. In the first 60-second ad, a red-haired recent college grad named Lauren is on the hunt for a speedy laptop with a 17-inch screen and a “comfortable” keyboard, all for less than $1000. She strides into an Apple store; then, the scene jumps to her walking out empty-handed, telling the camera that the only laptop in her price range has a 13-inch screen. Back in the car, she sighs and says, “I’m just not cool enough to be a Mac person.”"
It isn't that you're not "cool enough," Lauren. It's that you're not smart enough.
Just because two laptops have 17 inch screens doesn't make them comparable.
The laptop above in all its Bronze / Chrome glory is the piece of crap she decided on. Doesn't the AMD Turion just scream speed? I think it does. Doesn't that flat laptop style keyboard just seem so totally different than all the flat laptop keyboards out there? But hey; disregard the fact that it's a total piece of cheap garbage. After all. It's so much cheaper than teh Max0rs! WIN!!!!
But, like most direct comparisons, Microsoft relies on price. After all, if I just want a car with a V6 engine and 17" tires, it doesn't matter what the car is, right? I can get any car with a V6 and 17" tires and it's the same thing! There's no difference whatsoever between a 2009 Chevrolet Impala and a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu, right?
Let's look at the shortcomings of this appropriately colored chrome turd (and for comparison purposes, I'll compare it to the MacBook Pro 17", not the MacBook 13" which, aside from the screen size, still slays the hell out of this thing).
It has an AMD mobile processor, a line of processors not known anywhere for their speed; on the MacBook Pro, you get an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.66. The two aren't even comparable. You're getting ATI's mobile Radeon on the HP, but on Apple's MBP you're getting an nVidia 9400 and an nVidia 9600; a switch you can make to save yourself some serious battery life. And while HP's bronze turd offers up to 8 gigs of RAM, the MacBook Pro's ram is siginificantly faster, and there's a much bigger L2 cache onboard.
The MacBook Pro's "comfy" keyboard is illuminated, meaning those late nights when you're sitting on the couch crying over Grey's Anatomy could be accompanied by some posting to your Blogger blog about how Dr. McDreamy just said something so sweet and your keyboard would be more visible. I'd say that counts as comfy.
The MacBook Pro also comes with an LED backlit screen and a battery that people who own one will tell you gets five to eight hours out of. So not only is it faster, almost half the thickness, and almost a pound and a half lighter, it'll last you longer on a charge and it's a much higher resolution than the 1440 x 900 on the HP (a resolution comparable to my 15" MBP).
Oh yeah, and just to round things out, the HP lacks 802.11n, AV inputs, or Gigabit Ethernet. Nice.
But what if something goes wrong with it?
Figure 2: The image above is that of the power cable to the motherboard of a Wintel machine. Notice the clean cut? Geek Squad's handy work according to Dave Baker who also shared pictures of the severed IDE cable and broken off power connector from the IDE drive inside the case. Is this representative of Geek Squad? You decide.
Well, you can get Apple Care if you want an extended warranty. For a MacBook Pro, 3 years of Apple Care is $349. For the Bronze Bomber, it's $149 for 2 years of Geek Squad support. That's right folks; the Geek Squad. I won't even go into the fearmongering of how AIG is backing that warranty. Just imagine yourself having computer difficulties and having a choice of dealing with the techs on the other end of the Apple Care number or going into Best Buy (which is where they filmed this commercial) and having the Geek Squad look at it. Here's some fun research on the kind of folks that work at Geek Squad. Frankly, I wouldn't be terribly comfortable with them touching my computer.
Let's face reality here for a second. Comparing Apple computers to Windows computers based on stupid things like price or screen size is often a wasted endeavor. Do people shop strictly on price? Sure they do, but in reality most of those are the same people who think the blue E on the desktop is the Internet and Yahoo! is their ISP because it's their homepage. When you compare a 17" MacBook Pro to the cheapo deluxe bargain-basement HP model, sure the HP comes out on top in terms of price, but what are you going to do with it once you buy it?
Not everyone can afford to drop the $2700 on a MacBook Pro that I'm talking about. I understand that. But comparing computers on price alone is just like comparing cars on price alone. Just because they're both laptops doesn't mean you're getting a comparable piece of equipment.
Oh yeah, and one more thing. Can we stop pretending that Lauren is just some average chick pulled off the street for a random experiment? She's a member of SAG.
Yeah. Real random.
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
In this day and age, for the typical non-gamer user, I'd say you probably can compare the computers on price alone. Here is the list of things most users are doing with their laptops.
- Surfing the internet
- Checking email
- Watching DVDs at the airport
- Maybe using MS Office
- Playing Facebook games
- Using red eye remover on their digital pics
Considering I was able to buy a $300 Acer laptop that runs Vista (hog that it is) with no delays or slow downs, I'd argue that we truly ARE in an era where price is the difference. All the extra horsepower you get from the Mac is pretty much wasted on your typical consumer. Not to mention the fact that a larger percentage of users are already familiar with Windows - learning a new OS isn't as easy as one might think - no matter HOW well designed Mac is.
And yes, you get a much nicer piece of hardware overall, but there is a reason why economy cars sell well and Jaguars are a luxury market.
So in the long run, I think Apple really does have something to worry about with these new ads. MS is finally pointing out the obvious in an economy where every dollar counts:
"If you can do everything you need to for $300 - why would you spend $1000?"
DISCLAIMER: Again, I'm not arguing against the quality of Apple or their products - I'm suggesting that the point MS is making is a valid one.
DISCLAIMER: Again, I'm not arguing against the quality of Apple or their products - I'm suggesting that the point MS is making is a valid one.
Is it really?
So by your standards, a Hyundai is a better value than a Bentley because it's cheaper.
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.
I've noticed we rarely see this kind of articles / posts / ads about Sony VAIO computers which are so ridiculously overpriced they're almost in the range of usury.
There's no doubt that Windows PCs can be had for significantly less than Macs; Windows PCs are mass-produced commodity items sold in every big box store in the world, but it would've been nice to see them at least compare similarly spec'ed machines or compete in the real world, not the fake disparate comparison world they created.
And yes, I know it's advertising, but this is not the first time MS has played fast and loose with the facts, and it's definitely not the first time this stupid argument has come up. It's just odd to see Microsoft adopting it for their own, now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ilium Software
"If you can do everything you need to for $300 - why would you spend $1000?"
Hey, I can do everything I need to do on a $400 phone, so why buy a computer at all, right? Computers are a waste of money. Phones FTW!
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
I kind of have to agree with Ilium on this one, at least for the average computer user. I have been using Macs for going on 4 years now and am way more than satisfied, but at times I think of getting a cheap PC just because...
Ultimately though, for me what makes the whole Mac experience so wonderful and why I keep buying Macs (I'm on my 4th mini in as many years) is OS X and Mac software. The Mac vs. PC ads did a lot to emphasize the difference between OS X and Vista. I absolutely LOVE OS X. I have never had to deal with all the vagaries of software problems under OS X that I did with WIndows from Win 3.1 to Vista. OS X is a large part of why Macs "just work". And OS X is why I never buy that cheap PC - because I'd have to deal with Windows and I'd just rather not. And the programs I use on OS X are better to me than their equivalents in Windows. As far as I'm concerned, the user experience of OS X is superior to any other OS experience I've ever had (and I've run the gamut from Amiga OS to OS/2 to various *nix systems as well as almost all flavours of Windows), and that is what makes me more than willing to pay the premium for Macs. And although I've never used any flavour of Hackintosh, I suspect the experience on such a machine is not quite the same as using OS X on Apple hardware.
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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
And yes, I know it's advertising, but this is not the first time MS has played fast and loose with the facts, and it's definitely not the first time this stupid argument has come up. It's just odd to see Microsoft adopting it for their own, now.
And Apple didn't with their Mac vs. PC ads? Of course they did (although with much better and funnier ads than anything MS has come out with). I take ALL advertising with a box of salt - but like I said, at least the Apple ads were funny. (My all time favourite is the Pep Rally one - I still bust a gut every time I view it).
This one with Lauren is at least a cut above what MS usually produces. But let's face it - if you're committed to PCs then Apple's ads aren't going to sway you nor vice-versa.
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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
And Apple didn't with their Mac vs. PC ads? Of course they did (although with much better and funnier ads than anything MS has come out with). I take ALL advertising with a box of salt - but like I said, at least the Apple ads were funny. (My all time favourite is the Pep Rally one - I still bust a gut every time I view it).
This one with Lauren is at least a cut above what MS usually produces. But let's face it - if you're committed to PCs then Apple's ads are going to sway you and vice-versa.
For two years we've heard nothing but fist pumping outrage at the Get a Mac ads, not for their truthiness, but for their unbelievable audacity in attacking Microsoft. Now, yet again, MS is ripping into Apple (a company with significantly smaller market share; says something about where their priorities are, doesn't it?) by selling HP computers and NOT their own OS.
If that's the sign of a company that has it's crap together, then I'll eat my hat.
And yeah I know; I'm not the target demo for this ad, but who is then?
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
[QUOTE=Vincent Ferrari;704957]So by your standards, a Hyundai is a better value than a Bentley because it's cheaper.[\QUOTE]
Really, it is more like a Hyundai Genesis vs. a Mercedes S class (deliberately not compared to the E class since they would be too similar). Both are pretty darned nice and do everything you need (and pretty well). No doubt the Mercedes is nicer in almost every way. Your budget may even allow for the Mercedes if you stretch it. But perhaps you'd rather travel to Europe for two weeks every summer for the life of the car rather than spend the extra 60+% for a car that you really won't appreciate on a day-to-day basis.
Quote:
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.
Yes, YOU get a lot more. Most don't because they won't use or appreciate it.
This is an old and tired debate. MS even acknowledges (even if a bit tongue-in-cheek) that Apple is cooler (and thus presumably better). They are just reminding folks that there are cheap computers to be had that will "do the deed" for the average consumer.
That said, I don't really think that the ad is necessary. Real-life sales figures are showing that average consumers realize all of this without the reminder.
That said, I don't really think that the ad is necessary. Real-life sales figures are showing that average consumers realize all of this without the reminder.
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.
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Current Apple Stuff: 24" iMac, iPhone 4, AppleTV (original), 4gb Shuffle, 64gb iPad 2.
Microsoft Plays The Too-Expensive Lie. Again.
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