Hey, Apple and Steve Jobs, Really, What's With The Deceptive Advertising?

>>the same parts inside that mine has but at more than TWICE the price << Example please... >>the comment has nothing to do with Paul's article itself<< Your bias is showing.

OT I turned my Multimeter to DC when I was testing a hot AC 120v circuit. It sparked and now reads inaccurately. I hate to seem stupid, but did I fry the cheap POS?

>> I'm a PC user << Hey, me too. >> I like the iPhone and own an iPod (two, if I include the Shuffle << Me too! See, we're more alike than different.

Well, for those telling me and other to get off the "Microsoft" Kool Aid, this is a sobering reality for those punch drunk by the Apple distortion field. Just like a great article in Newsweek which the man known as the Fake Steve Jobs, the now infamous Daniel Lyons writes "One Bad Apple. Apple is looking like what Microsoft was 10 years ago—a Bigfoot that squeezes smaller competitors." In the way Microsoft a few years ago was in full denial of the unfair monopolistic practices it was doing, Apple has copied old Microsoft here down to the blueprints. Instead of pushing AT&T to fix their networks, threating them with breech of contract to honor their 3G committments, Apple's taking consumer's money and running. Even PC World did an article about the iPhone lackluster data speeds, on average about 300 kbps. My slowest speeds on my DSL are a little over twice as fast as the American iPhone 3G on AT&T. Yet the response from the Mac crowd, Microsoft users need to put down the Kool Aid. Microsoft is no different. We are the ones who need to think different. It makes me laugh. Right now the butt of the joke is Apple, while Microsoft today is coming off smelling like roses. The new Hyper V servers work great, Vista is steadily improving in stability, Windows Seven is on track, the latest platforms such as Live Mesh have gotten positive reviews, and amazing outside the box programs like World Wide Telescope. I just think some of our more hardcore Apple users and the company are in denial, just as Microsoft and its fans were 10 years ago. If they aren't careful, they just might end up in an Anti-trust suit or several class action suit. This has not been a good year for Apple. Even the sales this quarter are off by 40 percent from the previous quarter, because the economy is finally catching up to Apple. The lawsuits on the iPhone 3G are mounting. Yet where's the conscience? Where is Steve Jobs? He's acting much like the President right now. We're in crisis and yet no leadership. Steve Jobs until recently has done an amazing job with Apple. Right now, he needs to step up and get his company back on track. If the path continues, history will repeat itself and Jobs could end up being history again.

>>a great article in Newsweek which the man known as the Fake Steve Jobs, the now infamous Daniel Lyons writes "One Bad Apple. Apple is looking like what Microsoft was 10 years ago—a Bigfoot that squeezes smaller competitors."<< That article was widely panned as inaccurate and unreasonable.

>>your handpicked group of writers<< Nope...I just went to news.google.com and typed 'microsoft'. >>People want to be inspired<< So why didn't MS release ads that would do that? All these ads do is speak to the choir. I use a PC, and so does my grandmother. Is it such a big deal that some african kids, an environmentalist and an Astronaut do too?

Last post before I really go: Mike, he is cherry picking writers. I just ran a search for Microsoft on news.google.com and there are several positive comments.

>>there are several positive comments<< I wonder why he didn't post them...

So here are the article titles of the top 4 at Google News for MS at the time I did the search: -------- Microsoft is pushing Seinfeld away too soon New Microsoft ads: powerful blow against Apple or vague populist message? New Microsoft Apple Attack Ads: Not Funny Microsoft Launches Plan B, Er, Phase Two ---------- After that you can click any of the following: Slashdot - Computerworld - all 284 news articles NOT cherrypicked. More than the ads are being talked about in the news about Microsoft. See for yourself.

Wow, big susprise. The tech press,And Mac using "journalist ", hates MS's ads. Didnt see that coming. I was so sure that they would actually be impartial and actual do honest work. Nope, they gotta hone their street creed by posting the same cliched "M$ just isnt cool" screed.

And here is a response from a reader to one of those smarmy, admitted Mac hack tech writers, which I think says it all. "Here we have again another round table of pundits, beating their chests, pissing on the bushes, claiming to the world how their ideal of the way things are is right. Guess what folks, WE ARE NOT THE ONES TO DECIDED THIS! We are not invited to this show. We are the ones outside looking in. Oh we can say we know better what is best for the consumer, reality is we dont, however the consumer is going to be the one who decides. MS sees that and is sending these ads to that audience. So really guys lets just sit back, shutup and watch the show. Because really we dont matter. The consumer does. "

In the interest of fairness, I just came across this one: >>Despite these mild critiques, the general reaction here at Ars and the web at large has been positive. We had originally feared that Microsoft's attempt to shoot back at Apple would come off as childish and an open acknowledgment to the world that the company's reputation was stuffy, but we found ourselves pleasantly surprised. The ads are pretty feel-good and even make you chuckle in a couple of places. And one thing we can all agree on is that they are a lot better (and more interesting) than those Seinfeld ads. >> Not sure what web at large they are surfing, but hey... http://arstechnica.com/journals/microsoft.ars/2008/09/19/microsofts-im-a...

Or, as one pundit put it: -------------- Sorry Apple freaks, but the new Microsoft "I'm a PC" advertisements are awesome, and the first one offers a wonderful comparison with the smug, arrogant, and inaccurate Apple "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads. I mean, which one are you buying? The one where the Mac and PC can be identified solely by silly stereotypes, or the one where the PC market is a rich tapestry of diversity, where people get work done, play, and live their lives online? I love that Microsoft has finally, if belatedly, taken the discussion back and put it where it belongs: In a human center, where Apple's nagging disappears off into the distance where it belongs. Yeah, we get it, Apple. You're better than us. Great. Now get out of the way. One billion people have spoken. And we use Windows. Deal with it.

All ads are deceptive. I am surprised how many people even watch them?? I even watch the Super bowl ads on the internet post Super bowl. During breaks in the Super bowl its get another beer time. I am PC.....that runs Ubuntu:) Is Microsoft selling computers now??? I am PC means any Personal Computer really not matter the OS.

"I'm a PC. Created on a Mac" http://bit.ly/4qjvPB

One billion people have spoken? One billion people have been fed McDonald's quality operating systems for too long. A nice line though. Sort of like the old; "Eat shit. One trillion files can't be wrong." I guess that's adequate when talking about Windows too.

Ever notice how discussing technology with a Mac fanatic is like going out to dinner with a vegan?

"I'm not vegan, although I'm vegetarian and I don't care what you eat as long as you don't force me to eat meat." I'm not saying the comment was addressed to me; I just had to get it out of the way.

"Mike 1 Billion minus the person that used a Mac to create the ad, or the irony." Kinda like one of the reasons to switch to a Mac is that it runs Windows.

Or, from Steve Clayton's Geek in Disguise blog at http://blogs.msdn.com/stevecla01/archive/2008/09/20/i-wanted-to-be-a-mac... --------------------------- The realisation just hit me. I grew up with the PC and whilst the Mac has a cool, elite allure and maybe I longed to be part of that “club” it’s just not me. It’s like putting on a Commes de Garcons suit every day. Sure it may make me feel good and even look a bit cooler but I’m not comfortable in it. It’s not who I am. This post may not make any sense to anyone but me but this advertising campaign I think is genius. It liberates the the PC users who were maybe wondering if they were the odd ones out and encourages them to celebrate their differences and their connections. You may say it’s sad that we need an ad campaign to help us do that but to be honest, I don’t care. Who was I kidding? I’m comfortable being a PC.

You, mac people are extremely annoying. You look to me as detronized borgs. lol

Mac people are annoying. Do you not read MG's posts!! He even has a go at vegans, people who are too weak to fight back....

"It's supposed to be a bunch of people out in the real world, spontaneously declaring their affection for PCs. But now that we know they were paid, it seems less like a grassroots uprising and more like a paid PR army. They may be fighting a stereotype, but they're fighting it on behalf of a massive corporation" And I suppose those people that appeared in the Mac ads just happen to show up and volunteer at Apple to tell their stories of their wonderful Apple experiences? I cant believe that this is actually from an article that a person was PAID to write!

After reading the blog posting @ the L.A. Times, I was so appalled at just the awful writing that I had to respond. The stuff in quotes is actually the writings of someone PAID to do this: "The people cast in the ad are all bona fide PC users, in other words. And fair enough that they were "compensated for their time." Still, if you're trying to show how the company embraces normal people, the staginess of it all seems off base. It's supposed to be a bunch of people out in the real world, spontaneously declaring their affection for PCs. But now that we know they were paid, it seems less like a grassroots uprising and more like a paid PR army. They may be fighting a stereotype, but they're fighting it on behalf of a massive corporation." That is the most idiotic thing I seen all week! Are you trying to go after these ads because...GASP.... Microsoft actually paid people for their time? If they hated Microsoft so much, like apparently the writer of this story, then they would have say no, and told them to shove it. But despite the fervent hopes of mac users, they didnt. They gave their time, and got paid. Can you imagine is Microsoft didnt pay them? Then this hack would have been complaining about how Microsoft just used these poor people and couldn't even sport them a nickel. "Except nobody is watching them so far, at least on YouTube. By my calculation, there are fewer than 10,000 views today for all the copies of the ad that are on the site. There are fewer than 100 comments. Love him or hate him, Seinfeld may have been the draw with the first two. Those ads were both closing in on a 1 million views when they'd been on YouTube as long as "Pride" has now been." I cant believe you are actually employed by a real newspaper. DO YOU NOT KNOW HOW MANY COPIES OF THIS AD ARE FLOATING AROUND INDEPENDENT OF ONE CLIP ON ONE SITE?! And you base yet another silly comment on ONE video, posted on YouTube?

Go Klingons!