What's with Apple's commercials?

[artdutra04]

Why do people get so touchy about their computer operating system, to the point of flame wars?

Really, whether you use Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, or whatever doesn't make that much difference to anyone else except you.

Who cares if someone else spends $2000 on a computer that you think you can build for $600. Why is it that this causes flame wars, but you'll never see flame wars for people who buy a BMW or Audi instead of a Toyota or Ford? If your only measure of a car is its cost, then BMW or Audi are obviously a lot more expensive for something that gets you from point A to B (and would therefore be "dumb" or "too expensive" or earn comments like "my $500 car can do that").

But obviously different people look for different things from their cars, just as different people look for different things from their OS. Some people like reliability. Some like cheap cost. Some like gaming. Some like video editing. Some like running servers. For different reasons, they will choose different OSes; whether its OSX or Windows or whatever. Sometimes they use multiple OSes, to get the best benefits of all of them, while trying to avoid their shortcomings.

That being said, right now post is being written from my iMac in OSX. It could also have come from my iMac in Vista, or my laptop in XP. There's no way you can tell. But the post came through, right?


Getting back to the topic of this thread, which was Apple's advertising, I'd say that it honestly doesn't matter. Who cares what Apple puts in their commercials? If you don't like it, change the channel. But at the end of the day, those ads get stuck in everyone's heads. Whether you like Macs or not, you remember those commercials. Like the Geico ones with the cavemen, or the animated Esurance ones, or the Bud-Wei-Ser frogs from back in the day, you don't forget a good commercial. And that's the point of effective marketing.

If you really want my two cents on marketing, here it is:

• Apple - While their "I'm a Mac..." ads have done great in the branding department, I don't think they do OSX justice. And its getting kind of old. Really, just take a screen capture of average people using the computer for normal things (like some mom sending photos of her kids to the grandparents, or someone else taking their video from their digital camera, editing it, and posting to Youtube), and film the people's reactions and the product would sell like hot cakes. For bonus points, first show people who would typically be the ones to call Geek Squad and show them how easy it is to use Macs, as that's the most likely target audience that would switch. Remember: Apple is a company dedicated to average people and creative professionals.
• Microsoft - Has usually had a lot of dumb commercials over the years, with the exception of their most recent "I'm a PC" one. Great counter to Apple's ads, though it does nothing to prove anything about the actual OS. Then again, Microsoft is by far the dominate market share leader, and its OS sells itself. The only Microsoft marketing that I see as useful is for things like Exchange, Sharepoint, or Server 2008, or similar things. Remember: Microsoft is usually a lot more dedicated to companies and professional corporate users, and is traditionally at its best with working with software for those priorities (read: Office, Exchange, Sharepoint, etc).

My Mac:
Congrats on buying a Mac. Would you please type in your personal information so I can send it to the Jobs mothership in orbit? Please? No? I won't let you use your computer until you do. Oh, and you want a .Mac account right? It'll only be another $60 a year for some trivial services. Oh, but they're integrated into your operating system, so they're exciting! Didn't want that with your OS? Well, I'll just plop little menu entries in various places to remind you. But you are going to sign up with iTunes, right? No? But you're missing out on all the great features, like the way I lock up---erm, liberate---your music! You can even get album art if you sign up! Just choose Visa, Mastercard, or Discover.

Windows isn't any different; they still ask for your name at install, they still bundle Live Services, Internet Explorer, and Windows Media Player so far deep into the OS that its practically impossible to extricate, they still siphon off personal info whenever they can, and they still try to sell you things like 60 trials of MS Office. (Ever notice how Office seems to know your personal info when being inserted into documents?)

For that matter, Google isn't much different either. Have Gmail? Use Google Search a lot? Watch a lot of YouTube videos? I bet they have gigabytes of information on you.