Apple posts effective response to Laptop Hunters ads

I guess we'll just have to wait and see how Windows 7 actually turns out.

Bravo!

"Do they simply prattle on about the same, increasingly out of date complaints? " Obviously they will, they have for years.

shark I think we can assume that those iCabal member's "reviews" were already written years ago and they just need to pull one out of the file and fill in the blanks.

It's a funny one. So are Paul et al now admitting that Windows up to 7 *WAS* inferior to OSX? Despite arguing the contrary for the past 5 years?

Paul: Apple really hasn't changed the conversation; they have replied, but they they're still on the exact same message they've been on for the last four years. Both companies are doing just what good advertising is supposed to do: to push their particular value proposition. (For those not familiar with basic marketing concepts, a value prop is, essentially, why-you-should-buy-my stuff-and-not the-other-guy's-in-four-words-or-less.) Microsoft's value prop, as embodied in the recent ads, is: Price, Options, Choice. Apple's stated value prop is: Stability, Security, Support. You don't have to be buying what either of them are selling, but that's what's going on here. If fanboys on either side of the great divide get their panties in a bunch over any of these ads, it doesn't really matter, because they're not talking to you anyway,

"What will Apple do when Windows 7 ships? I mean, it's smaller, faster, and better than Vista. It approaches Mac-like elegant and design. It's just a better OS. Do they simply prattle on about the same, increasingly out of date complaints? Or is there something new to say about PCs that's relevant in the Windows 7 era?" You should probably leave that side until Win7 is on sale. Whilst it will probably sell better than Vista, and will be better received in general, it's coming at a very bad time: financial screwiness, not very long after a previous version of Windows (which in retrospect, is extremely similar to Win7) - it boils down to why the consumer should both. What more does it do? Not enough to warrant another £150+ I don't think, which is where Apple will dip in its oar again (cheaper upgrades + one size fits all rather than [n] editions)

"This is based on hard data (objective surveys), not anecdotes like Paul's wife's experience." And we all know that Mac users have a higher level of integrity than PC users. Objective surveys of Mac users have confirmed those facts. Even when Mac users respond to surveys about problems with products they've never owned, like Dell PCs, they're being truthful, because they've heard stories of an acquaintance of a distant relative who has had problems with his Dell PC.

"Apple, in response, is changing the conversation, because they have to." No, they're not. They're specifically addressing the fact that "choice" is a myth if you can't choose what you want (as WebGuy put it, "Stability, Security, Support"). "Obviously they will, they have for years." No need to change the conversation if you're right. Having said that, Apple is doing a great job with the ads Paul failed to mention in putting forth a value proposition when it comes to support. Clearly that's something the "PC" Ecosystem can't touch (unless you pay the "Waethorn Tax" for system cleanup/reinstall on a periodic basis). "However, Apple is trying to make it look like it is Apple vs Microsoft" Microsoft is never mentioned. Not once.

@ webguy3000 Good post, they say you learn something new every day. @ vincentw56 I've been spraying deodorant under my arms for years and still haven't been chased down the road by 100's of women lusting after my body, and my partner wakes every morning with the same amount of wrinkles as she had the night before, since when have ads been about telling the truth? @mikegalos Mike as a geek, do you not have a large cache of family and friends who see you as doctor PC and Windows guru? Because I do, I've been a Mac user for 6-7 years now, and every week I fix someone's Windows problem, the point I'm trying to make is, are they really no longer valid points in the average Joe's Windows daily life? because just like Paul I have anecdotal evidence to the contrary, what about you?

I guess the word I was looking for was"snotty" and not "pesky".

Microsoft advertising and naming Apple in them is the best thing to happen to Apple's business. You always punch up, never down. If you punch down, it elevates your opponent. and I think they way they're doing it will be a twofer for apple. it gets their name out there as a premium name. The more you tell people that smoking is bad for them, the more they'll want to smoke. They aspire to it, just like getting a BMW instead of a Camry. It will be the case here.

@sharky47 User: "How do I get my Windows desktop to display on the projector?" You just made my point ! "That's actually a true story, by the way", so is mine.

Let's not count the chickens before they are hatched. Microsoft controls the OS but the computers that it runs on are produced, sold, and marketed, but an entirely different group of people. I think that it's too early to rule out them installing crap-ware, or under deliver on machine specs, or make all Windows 7 PC a garish shade of blue. Not to mention Price, Microsoft hasn't issues a price list for the Windows 7. If I have to pay another $260.00 to upgrade from Vista Ultimate, I may head over to he Apple store again myself.

Sorry, but to be good at your job, you have to like what you're doing. In my personal opinion, IT admins who manage Windows PC and hate Windows usually suck at their job. But don't tell them that, because they don't know it.

"Apple, in response, is changing the conversation" Really? You have never before heard an Apple ad state that PC's "are prone to errors, crashes and malware"???

@shark You dont have to love everything you do about your job. I am sure there are some garbage collectors that dont like what they do but they are good at it. I like some MS products allot, and cant stand others. Does that make me a bad "system admin"? Especially when I go into Microsoft forums and see other "Sys admins" complaining about the exact same things. I guess we all suck?

@Sharky47 Way to go mate attack the messenger not the message, I am a Windows user, I am a geek, I supplied Microsoft with feed back on Vista and I'm doing the same with Windows 7, I prefer OS X to Windows or Linux, I used to build and overclock PC's, but now days I just like to use OS X and just have Windows around, well just because I'm geeky I guess. So I'll ask you the same question, do you not find yourself fixing Windows problems for your non-geek friends and family? and if so how is it that these Apple ads don't relate to their day to day Windows usage? because at the end of the day it's these people that the ads are aimed at and not people like you and me. BTW I never said I knew it all or I'm some kind of guru, it was a just a throw-a-way term to make a point, but you knew that, didn't you?

notawindowsuser "I am a Windows user" Can't make up your mind?

@Mike Not a windows user comes from the old days over on Wininfo, it was just a bit of fun at the time, you had to take side over there, it was a free for all. I made my mind up the day it took 10 min to boot my PC and send an invoice one morning when I was late getting out the door, but that's another story. "Yes, including some who are Mac users." me too, but that not what I asked, I asked how is Apple using, "increasingly out of date complaints" when you and I spend our time fixing non-geeky users PC's of the said complaints, week in, week out?

notawindowsuserwhoactuallyisawindowsuser Actually, I find I spend VERY little time supporting PCs running Windows. Apple ads hope that you'll draw false inferences from their "message" Are Windows PCs full of errors? No more than Macs Are Windows PCs full of crashes? No more than Macs Are Windows PCs full of malware? Not on the ones I've seen. Apple hopes that by saying negatives about Windows you'll infer that the negative isn't true about Macs even when it's just as true if not moreso. Of course, this damages the entire industry. It's the same as when the GOP attacks the Democrats for growth in government. They hope that people draw the false inference that GOP administrations shrink government when, of course, the facts are that US government has consistantly grown more under every GOP administration in the last 50 years than under any Democratic administration in the same period. It's a nasty trick that counts on ignorance. And, personally, I hold anyone using ignorance as an advantage to be nurtured accountable for the damage be it the GOP or Apple.

"Are Windows PCs full of malware? Not on the ones I've seen." But being fair to Apple, how many Macs do you see with malware on them (at all)? Or more to the point - how much malware in the wild targets Macs? I've seen zilch, other than the trojan that requires an admin password to install. The audience know that whilst not _every_ PC has malware, a lot do (and most consumers have probably experienced it too). On the other hand, Macs have no notable malware 'flare ups' in recent history. Regardless of the reasons behind that, it's true. It's twisting the truth somewhat, but no more than MS does - or any other company does when advertising.

"Are Windows PCs full of malware? Not on the ones I've seen" "mikegalos" lives in a magic land where PCs run free without any nasty viruses, spyware, trojans, or any form of malware threaten their blissful existence. In the event that one comes near, "waethorn" is at the gate with his $150 reinstall program to zap them out of existence before they're allowed into the closed community where they roam free forevermore. Y'all can go to bed now. I've told you your fairy tale for the evening.

bettieblu Wow, so the definition of "full of malware" is "one story of a malware infested PC they had to fix" By that same standard of "one case defines all cases" then all Macs are horribly unreliable and need to go into the shop for hardware repairs every few months based on the case I cited earlier. Are you sure you really want to play by those rules?

Damn, that's funny. I posed that these ads were effective and got this, "@shark "Effective because a self-confessed Microsoft hater likes them?" No, I guess they're effective, because.....they're effective, unless Paul has become a Microsoft hater. Not to say that they're "true" or "accurate" anymore than the ones from Microsoft, but they are funny and they are effective. It's just stupid for Microsoft to get into this with Apple over Windows vs. Mac. It's stupid because Microsoft is the gorilla with 90+% marketshare arguing with a company that is 30 times smaller in marketshare. Just dumb, especially when they've been suckered into a dialogue that highlights the other guys product. Another thread discussed all the money that Apple supposedly spends on product placement. Don't you guys get that Microsoft is giving Apple free product placement in Microsoft ads? They've been sucker-punched and don't even realize it. Now, the Zune ad makes slightly more sense, because: 1. They at least mention their product, the Zune. 2. Microsoft has nothing to lose, because in the Zune instance they're the ones with the 3% marketshare. But this dueling ad campaign with the Mac/PC tagline is stupid and they should just walk away from it. Paul almost gets it right at the end, "Which brings up an interesting point. What will Apple do when Windows 7 ships? I mean, it's smaller, faster, and better than Vista. It approaches Mac-like elegant and design. It's just a better OS." The question is what will MICROSOFT do when Windows 7 ships? If it has all those great improvements and it almost as good as a Mac, then the smart advertising strategy would to.....talk about your own product instead of setting yourself up as the cheap 2nd choice compared to Apple. Longhorn needed a reset, in fact it apparently needed two of them to get to Windows 7. Time to hit the reset on these ads. They're not just unhelpful for Microsoft, they're actually counterproductive for them.