LOL! Apple demanded that Microsoft stop advertising PC price advantage over Macs

Truth hurts doesn't it Apple! I would think Apple would have better judgement than allow that...it just reinforces to MS that the campaign if the most successful in their history of promoting Windows in recent history! As a marketing professional, that call represents the most powerful, positive, market research confirmation money can't buy!

my first post should be "just wonderful how apple does not care about the accuracy of their own ads but do about Microsoft's." ugh

If Steve Jobs had made a statement this outrageous during a WWDC keynote, half the internet would mobilize to debunk it. But since a Microsoft flack said it, it's taken at face value? Two truth-bending cutthroat competitors, but only one faces strict scrutiny? I just want to make sure I have the ground rules figured out here.

We build custom computers. A lot of them. Workstations, notebooks in three sizes with numerous configuration options, gaming systems, media centric systems, compute clusters for rendering and CAD/engineering firms and servers. Each is sold as a turn-key service - where down to the pixel, the machines are personalized and set up for immediate use within designed and we assess, equally well managed business and personal networks. Down to hand dressing the edges on labels and the alignment of every fastener, we pay attention to quality. We depend entirely upon delivering and sustaining the very best possible computing experience - so we totally get the lifestyle angle Apple executes on and I mention all the above simply to establish a base from which to offer my observations. Apple does not produce a better product than is possible for less money on the PC platform running Windows. Apple does not support their computers as well as the marketing suggests. The notion that Apple Macintosh computers are akin to high end cars is ridiculous. Their internal components are widely available and most often not as good as what many system builders use every day. The chassis may be considered to be better than some PC's but the chassis are delivered at a very high price relative to what is done with PC's. Apple's advertising, though clever and often times funny, is not accurate. Apple's OS X is not technically superior to Windows Vista, or Windows 7. It is not nearly as secure - though and depending upon how it is used, it may be safer to use for certain types of online users. We have repaired quite a few Mac computers for family members from among our customers. We've done so when Apple would not unless a great deal of money had been spent. We've taken all but two models down to bare metal and fixed them. They appear to be fragile, they tend to run hot and in many ways, they are very poorly designed. In the context of thermal loss, I regard their designs as being naive at best. I do respect Apple for what they try to do. I respect anyone who designs and builds anything - it is very hard to do and one has to "own" every issue. I do not appreciate the way Apple presents itself in the market. It isn't humble and it does not seem to me to focus on the user as the user really is - but rather how Apple seems to want the user to be. The PC embraces all people - regardless of their interests and or technical ability. The PC is open and has served as an enabler for millions of people - even tiny business owners like myself - who in the context of the larger market matters not at all - but to those we serve, we matter a great deal each and every day. Apple does not seem to understand that at all - nor do they seem to respect that at all. Apple seems that it will never be able to serve the business market well, because it has no understanding of what it is to sit down and listen to another person's dreams and then commit to helping make them a reality. Finally, it is dang sad when those that profess to be so "different" and "unique" exercise that uniqueness by acting like everyone else and insisting that all others should as well. The PC, as it has always been, is about the individual - individual freedom and right of choice as attended by personal responsibility for the outcome (good or bad). You know.... the way the country used to be...

Assuming even part of what Kevin Turner said is true, that Apple called them, its for an obvious reason. In this Laptop Hunters video, they show a MacBook Pro at $1999: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysbi5v_p7Q4 That product now costs $1699, a very significant 15% price reduction. This ad continuing to run would be the very definition of false advertising: http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/False+Advertising

I'm all for making fun of apple, however I find this story hard to beleive.

You can get a 13.3” Macbook for $1,199 from that retailer," he said. "Guess what? [From] that same retailer, you can get a PC with more RAM, a bigger hard drive, and almost a three-inch bigger screen for $649. This is...the Apple Tax." Say what ?? If I am in the market for a 13" laptop I dont want a heavy ol 15.4" that defeats the purpase. Nonetheless good MSFT spin!! hehe

Sounds legit to me. The thing I don't like about the Apple commercials is that they stretch the truth, and stretch it a lot. Microsoft, on the other hand, seems to be portraying the truth. I have not seen all of the 'laptop hunters', so I don't exactly know, but from what I've seen they been accurate. I do have a question though, is Apple's legal department within their right to make MS stop the commercials? The commercials were produced before the price drop, but they still report inaccurate information for the times. (Let's say MS shows these same commercials one year from now and Apple drops their prices $300 more dollars. Can MS still show the commercials?)

scottbakertemp: It is not hard to believe... You'll be surprised silly things that company does!!! We often falsely think that business is serious but, don't forget that in companies ,there is humans involved... And where humans involved, silly things occurs...

mcwilliams132: LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL So funny LOLO

Okay, murdoc, let me take my example further. MS created these commercials before the price drop and paid for six months worth of TV broadcasting advertisement with various networks. Are they obligated to pull all of the commercials they made and paid for before Apple's price drop?

@de Silentio I am not a lawyer, but I think if Apple wanted to they could sue and get a court to order Microsoft to pull the ads immediately or run corrective ads. Microsoft of course would have known that, they bore the risk of running ads with clearly identified characteristics of a competitor's product that could change at any time.

@waethorn HAHAHAHAHAHA, that was so funny. Please, keep them coming. Let me help you. Yup, considering how beautiful a cheap PC is, the MacBook Pro is just gross! LOL! ROFL!

Okay, I don't see any fals advertising. The commercial has Lauren reading from a best buy price sticker that is accurate. She is reporting accurate information. Now, if it was a person sitting in front of a white background saying "Mac's cost $2,000", that is different. Why? Because it isn't reporting any information, it is stating a claim. Good move, Microsoft.

Wow, so apple decided to drop their prices, they are still considerable more expensive then your average non apple laptop. Maybe Microsoft could do a similar add on high end workstations, as the Mac pro is rediculously high priced, maybe apple could drop it by say 600 USD ?

lketchum says: "Apple seems that it will never be able to serve the business market well, because it has no understanding of what it is to sit down and listen to another person's dreams and then commit to helping make them a reality." Never a truer word spoken. This has been Apple's problem since it's inception. It's Apple's way, or it's the highway. It's the single biggest difference in approach between Apple and Microsoft. Where Microsoft offers tailored solutions, Apple simply says "put up or shut up." Such abrasive arrogance is an epic failure in the commercial sector, where bottom lines, security and customised solutions rule the roost. It is really a no-brainer as to why Bill Gates is the world's richest man, yet Steve is sulking in a corner about Bill having no taste. News flash for Steve - everyone has different taste.

And even my Apple's product are "cheaper" now, they are still only "cheaper" compared to the products previous prices, not cheaper compared to PCs.

@techfan - exactly right. If Kevin Turner's story is even remotely true, then one can only be amazed at the stunning hypocrisy of Apple. They've been running some of the most misleading ads in the history of advertising, yet they are harassing Microsoft about truth. Apple can hardly claim to be a bastion of truth and honesty.

murdocdv want a computer more than twice of the regular prices just because the computer box can serve as desk decoration... Choose a computer that is twice the price, have very limited software available just because it is cute... it is a kind of .... Silly choice, isn't it??? lololol

@Waethorn - I agree. What's interesting, in terms of marketing prowess, is that Apple has managed to convince millions of people to pay these egregious prices. Apple fans try to justify their purchase by comparing it to buying a high-end luxury vehicle from Mercedes or BMW. Leaving aside the inherent flaws in comparing two dissimilar industries, the fact of the matter is that under the sexy aluminium chassis, there are industry-standard parts, from the RAM to the graphics to the hard disks. The prowess of a BMW is not just skin deep - it's engineering under the hood is far superior to most average car makers. This cannot be said with Apple machines - they can only be differentiated on design, which despite the attractiveness, is certainly not worth double the asking price of an equivalently specced machine.

"Apple fans try to justify their purchase by comparing it to buying a high-end luxury vehicle from Mercedes or BMW. Leaving aside the inherent flaws in comparing two dissimilar industries, the fact of the matter is that under the sexy aluminium chassis, there are industry-standard parts, from the RAM to the graphics to the hard disks." Considering that ASUS builds MacBooks, I'd rather take the Lambourghini over the Beemer.

murdocdv, wake up. Price is not a characteristic of the product. Price is price. Indeed, same products may be offered at different prices from different resellers, so you would not be able to use price as the standard as it varies for the same product.

@RobertC It's really not that hard to understand. The ingredient Apple has that no one else does with all their products has been and always will be their software. If you don't value their software, and that produced for their platforms by 3rd parties, you don't buy Apple products. There are plenty of people with various needs that everyone doesn't need to own a Mac/PC/Chrome OS box (just planning ahead).

@waethorn @de Silentio asked a question, I gave my best answer. As for the Apple ads being the same as getting the price wrong, again not a lawyer, but this is a easily verifiable fact of the product. Last time I took a pass through the Apple ads, statements about PCs are about experiences that you can easily find any number of people to say those PC experiences happened to them. If Apple said "Windows XP doesn't include a firewall, Macs do", that would be an obvious lie. Saying PCs crash, or get viruses, etc, well

@ibarskiy Again, not a lawyer, but price is a characteristic to me. Again, that is the most important characteristic of the products in the laptop hunter ads. I would actually say price is Characteristic Prime for the target audience of the laptop hunter ads.