Apple Turns Off the Bile, Sells Macs For What They Are

I agree. THere are good points that will sell MAcs and it will be refreshing to see Apple sell them on those points.

I do wonder, though...how will the extreme Mac user community that frequents this site and others that write about this react. I think that I know...

--tayme

Paul, you're taking the "I'm a Mac" ads far too seriously. Lighten up. The ads were were clever and cute, and got attention. They were good ads. And it's not just me saying that. I believe that that series of ads won some advertising awards because of their creativity and quality. Microsoft tried to do the same sort of "clever and cute" approach with their "Bill and Jerry" ads. The first one seemed so-so to me, but I was really starting to warm up to the pair in their second ad. I think that that could have gone on to be a great award-winning ad series as well. Too bad Microsoft got cold feet and discontinued that series, and replaced it with the following series called..... Hmm. Actually, I don't remember too much about the Microsoft ads that followed the "Bill and Jerry" ads. They were kind of forgettable.

Apple has never been about bleeding edge hardware, except for the processors on the Mac Pro line.  (Yes, they're not bleeding edge right now, but they usually are the first ones to run the latest Intel server chip when it is available.)  Instead, Apple is about making all the pieces work together as well as possible.

As for one OS being better than the other, that's really just a matter of opinion.  Someone used to Windows will like Windows 7 better than OS X.  There's nothing wrong with that.  I personally like Windows 7 better than XP.  I don't prefer it over OS X, nor do I really prefer OS X over 7.  They both do the job just fine.  I will soon be (finally) using 7 for work.  I use OS X for personal stuff.  Neither one is really any better than the other.  There are things one can do that the other can't, so I use the one that fits the need at that moment.

The only true statement there is that Macs don't get PC viruses. The rest are all suspect - A PC runs Windows (and OS X) and Office, is compatible with all my stuff (including games), gets the latest technology, and I'm sure Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, et. al have won some dubious customer support awards. Lackluster list but at least it's better than bashing Windows and Microsoft for things that were fixed years ago.

Apple blew it? Huh?

They doubled their sales and their marketshare. They now have the same marketcap as Microsoft, tied for the 2nd most valuable company in the USA.

Mac sales grew faster, often much faster, than the overall PC market in something like 15 of the last 17 quarters. They still are outgrowing the market 39% growth vs. 28% in the last quarter.

This is blowing it?

Apple doesn't have Dell's PC marketshare and probably never will. Which company would you rather be running? If Apple wanted marketshare, they have the cash in hand to BUY Dell outright.

The Mac is positioned as a brand; every other PC is nothing but a price point.

It's time to repeat what Jobs said, "We have to let go of a few things here. We have to let go of the notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose."

Apple won. Microsoft didn't lose.

It may just be me, but didn't Apple used to refer to them as "viruses," not "PC viruses"? Could Apple be admitting that their software isn't as secure as they like to hype, especially considering how many times they've been first to be 'owned' at the hacking contests?

Either way, I still can't stand Apple for one reason: I'm poor. I grew up in a lower middle income family, and the largest point to be made is that we didn't make the money to plunk down on an Apple computer, and I don't have the money as a college student for one either.

Also, they have a link about "It's Compatible" on top of this section. So, it's compatible with the version of Office I own for Windows, and the Zune software, and all the games I use? Oh wait, it isn't, unless I purchase a Windows license and Boot Camp it.

...and you can run Windows on a Mac!

Malware and AV protection have come a long way. Ppl are web surfing and careful about opening spam email more these days. While viruses are not a thing of the past, even the average Joe user is much more savvy and protected making them less of a threat. Heck, all of my colleges are very savvy about keeping their Windows computer protected.

I still wonder if those that did buy Macs, made the purchase because of the iTunes ecosystem, as Paul has suggested in the past. I guess that's what you all were calling the halo effect. It's sometimes true. But these guys have money to spend. If you want a cheap laptop to carry around, but not replace your desktop, most will still buy the bargain Windows laptop and stay protected. It's cost vs risk, and risk is losing due to better protection.

"If I were running Apple, I would milk the Macintosh for all it's worth — and get busy on the next great thing. The PC wars are over. Done. Microsoft won a long time ago."

Except that isn't what happened at all. The "Mac" he's referring to there is the original Mac OS. The Mac, and the iPhone and iPad all run OS X, a BSD Unix derivative that has no relationship to the "Mac" of 1996.

Apple didn't "milk" the Mac; they totally reinvented it, and created the foundations for all the success that followed with iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

Apple's "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ad campaign was successful on several levels. It raised awareness to the Macintosh brand, it helped to sell more Macs, and it thoroughly pissed off the core Microsoft fan base. I remember the Windows Weekly episode where Paul and Leo got into an argument (not just a heated discussion) over Apple's advertising. It was the only time I've heard Paul and Leo act that way.

Much has been said about Apple only selling computers because of the ads, nothing to do with the reasons outlined in the new Why You'll Love Mac campaign. Contrary to scarper's comment that Apple resorted to making fun of Windows 95, my favorite ad was the Vista security ad. In a jab at UAC (which was annoying at first), John Hodgman was force to replay with "Cancel or Allow" to everything that was said. The spot ended with "You're coming to a sad realization..." And whether it was the ads or the product, the Macintosh certainly has a more influential position in the marketplace today.

I think rr0de74@live.com is wrong when he says Apple missed an opportunity. Apple took full advantage of the golden opportunity it had between 2004 and the day Windows 7 was released. In 2004 HP was outselling Apple better than 7 to 1, Dell was outselling Apple better than 8 to 1. Today, HP has fallen to a 5 to 1 ratio, and Dell is less than a 4 to 1 ratio. The Macintosh has had better year over year growth than the PC industry is every quarter but one since Q2 2005. This is based on IDC Global shipment data.

I'm also going to disagree with chuckb84 when he said, "Apple won. Microsoft didn't lose." Microsoft didn't lose any money, but they are less relevant as a technology leader and innovator. And they certainly didn't gain anywhere near as much as Apple. While the Mac vs. PC debate was going on, Apple reinvented itself as a mobile device maker. The whole smartphone revolution caught Microsoft off guard, just like the Internet caught Microsoft off guard. iPhone OS and Android are making significant gains on Symbian and Blackberry. Microsoft is hoping to get a version 1 product out late this year. And then there is the iPad.

In 2004, Apple relied on the Macintosh for the majority of its revenue. Microsoft had a market capitalization of about $200 billion, Apple's was insignificant. Today, Apple and Microsoft are neck and neck with a market capitalization of over $200 billion. Apple gets less than a third of its income from the Macintosh, the iPhone has become the cash cow. And Apple has yet to report any financial data that includes iPad sales. Microsoft has been skating to the puck, Apple has been skating to where the puck is going to be.

I have to agree with Paul's general theme. The old commercials went from funny to annoying to outright lying through their teeth. I stopped buying Apple products probably subconsciously because they pissed me off with their misleading commercials.

Actually my new 13inch MacBook Pro runs Windows 7 and Server 2008 R2 beautifully, so in fact its a great PC.