So far I have found too many Mac vs PC wars out there. Many Mac advocates appear to bash the add based on it’s passive aggressive attack on Mac rather than advertising the Microsoft brand or its products. In response many PC advocates talk about the hardware itself, saying that the Apple hardware is far more expensive. Apple is competitively priced for what you are purchasing, but how competitive depends greatly on the timing of your purchase because Apple doesn’t really change their prices as much as they periodically change what you get for your money. Anyone can verify this now that Macs are using Intel CPUs and taking advantage of OEM suppliers on things like graphics cards that typical PC manufacturers use; just make sure you’re looking at every level of detail such as the quality of the display (not just its size), the controller type on the hard drive, and the quality of the memory (rarely ever stated in an ad or in specifications). So yes if you don’t want or can’t afford the Cadillac or Lexus, purchase the Civic instead… just don’t expect it to drive or ride the same. Also realize that those that are purchasing PC hardware (which doesn’t run Mac OS) are generally running Microsoft operating systems because it has been generally easier to use and more compatible than alternatives and due to a long history of its usage in the industry (widely believed to be cause by Microsoft’s early business practices).

Interestingly enough the explanation of why Mac hardware prices appear to be more expensive than other PCs is rather significant in how Apple has approached a number of issues regarding hardware production and sales. First, the company has greatly limited the variety of their production lines which allows them to focus more of their resources on other tasks such as quality. Secondly, the company has reduced their exposure to incompatibility with third party products by providing as many features as possible in every level of their product lines. Third, relatively high quality components reduces the probability that an obscure error/failure will occur in them, limiting the association between Apple hardware and hardware failures. Finally, they have attempted to stabilize their revenue stream and increase the predictability of their market demand by keeping a fixed price per unit, which is rather important in allowing the company to continue producing hardware in a consistent manner.

The points mentioned above provide much of the backbone early in Apple’s buy a Mac campaign. However, more recently Apple’s ads have shifted into attacking Windows Vista. Really, Apple could have been a little more magnanimous, but every release of a Microsoft operating system has been fraught with bugs, incompatibility, and wasted resources in relearning how to do things compared to the previous release… dating back to their Quick and Dirty Operating System (AKA MS-DOS). While Microsoft still holds much of the operating system market, it’s not a stretch to say that their new advertisement campaigns demonstrate that they’re not making their expected revenue in Vista sales. The likely reason is that most of the operating system seems to have been re-written, which kept their expenses high and the product’s cost high. This also means that there is significant proprietary code that hasn’t really been exercised and the combinations of system configurations that Microsoft would have to test in order to achieve significant quality assurance is astronomical. As a result, the operating system is commonly associated with system crashes and incompatibility issues. However this I’m a PC campaign doesn’t even come close to addressing that issue.

It is not difficult to surmise that Microsoft used its market dominance to offload much of it’s quality assurance testing to hardware manufacturers. One such mechanism for doing this is the little Microsoft sticker affixed to major PC and peripheral manufacturer’s hardware for which a manufacturer must perform a certain level of compatibility testing (among many other things). The problem with this type of mechanism is that it is highly dependent on the expectation that the sticker will mean something in terms of the manufacturer’s unit sales. As one of these manufacturers that just spent a lot of resources perusing Vista compatibility, suppose sales are drastically under the expectations set by images fed through correspondence with Microsoft representatives and expenses are not being met. Suppose there are numerous companies around the world in this situation, perhaps even competitors, complaining to Microsoft. If this were true, it seems that Microsoft would find it necessary to elevate the image and sales of PCs, otherwise their clout in future development would be tarnished to the point that any major future release would be insurmountable.

Now imagine you’re Microsoft and you’re trying to repair relationships with these companies. Clearly you cannot bank entirely on your own image, as you’re having troubles with your own image. Clearly you cannot advocate any particular vendor over another. And clearly you cannot just provide funds to individual companies as there would be no cohesive campaign and funds alone would not resolve the problem. Microsoft found one avenue and took it. The fact that they took on the I’m a Mac and I’m a PC campaign merely demonstrates that they’re blind to the fact that we’re in an economic crisis. They don’t understand that the first people to stop purchasing computers are the ones looking to extend their already weak dollar and likely wouldn’t be purchasing a Mac. They don’t understand that companies are reducing their expenses and re-utilizing their existing computers. All this just makes Microsoft seem desperate because the demographics that have filled their pockets for so many years can’t support them now. Finally the vagueness in who they are addressing and the message they’re sending the I’m a PC campaign makes it very weak and appear purely argumentative. Perhaps Microsoft is trying to go after the Mac’s market share, but you would think they would do it with an actual product rather than saying, “I am bigger than you and can squash you like grape.”

Proof? See that game you just bought? It says PC on the side of it, right? It’s said PC for as long as any of us can remember.

The fact that you think Macs are only nowadays PCs just goes to show how completely out of things your comment is. Macs have always been PCs. Microsoft forced a false dichotomy by associating PCs with Windows.

I run OSX on one computer out of 17 between home and work. I tried using it for a while but it offers me nothing that I don’t already have and sits idle 95-99% of the time. I got an iPhone and liked it enough that I considered buying a Mac Pro for my next PC. After trying out the OS for a while I see it is nothing special worth paying the premium for (and if it was I wouldn’t have a problem paying it). But don’t mind this bit of third-party perspective. You can all get back to your circle-jerk and assuming that everything Apple makes is always at least a little bit better than the alternative.

(I’m a pc)

Marketing is NOT advertisements and advertisements are NOT only to get new customers. Marketing is a strategy and advertisements are made for publicity. (And in case you can’t figure it out yourself, marketing INCLUDES advertisements and advertisements may turn a viewer into a prospect client).

And btw, why don’t you send them you CV and also attach this comment? I bet they’ll offer you a job.

Where is the product’s (that is: Windows) innovative feature that will make it stand out from the competition? And what version of windows that is? Vista or XP(2001 software, if i’m not wrong)? Personally, even though I liked the aero look of vista I never (finally) enjoyed using them. They were too confusing, too heavy and really not straight-to-the-point.

On the other hand, MS OFfice (2007) really is beyond competition (at least for now). They could advertise *this* and build their marketing strategy *upon* their product. It’s completely stupid to try to promote a brand without a product! It’s also completely stupid (or I could say desperate?) to try to promote a product that people doesn’t like (at least a big percentage of them) and they have proven this!

Rebuild the product, make people like it and THEN take back the lost market from Apple (or whatever vendor that is).

I have to respectfully disagree with your post. MS’s biggest problem IS their brand, NOT their products. Their products, although far from perfect, are beyond good and very competitive. The criticism that were laid on PC’s in “Mac vs PC” primarily stem from “cheap” PC’s, tech-wary users, and third-party (driver) blunders. Mac is trying to convince us that their “grass is so much greener”, but is it really? Not every PC is a tired gray box, and many, many people happen to love their PC’s (including your’s truly).

It seems to me that it has become entirely too “cool” and “trendy” nowadays to dis’ Microsoft and its products. “The big guy” is always fair game, of course, but it’s getting pretty extreme. You can say almost anything negative about Microsoft and you hardly need to prove it anymore. So I am glad that Microsoft is trying to make people like the brand again, it is probably the best possible place to invest the money.

Cheers!
Aaron

http://cultofmac.com/microsofts-im-a-pc-ads-made-on-a-mac/2971

Doggone Dell keyboard I have at work! My Apple keyboard at home spells better…

As each ad opens, the two utter their famous tag lines, “Hi, I’m a PC!” and “Hi, I’m a Mac!”

Notice that neither one says anything about an operating system there. But that is the whole purpose of the ad, to promote Mac OS X, because the Mac guy usually says something about how cool OS X is and what it can do, and the PC guy responds with some form of frustration over having to run Windows. Yeah, sometimes the order is reversed, and sometimes, they leave out the OS X name as an explicit mention, but the PC guy is ALWAYS expressing some form of frustration over how he is either stymied or frustrated or otherwise held back by Windows – or is frustrated by the Mac OS’ growing popularity or ease of use. The ad mainly is intended to emphasize the fact that the Mac OS runs on Apple hardware, and Windows runs on generic equipment, which explains their issues and problems. Hence the identification of the two actors with equipment, not Operating Systems.

In the new Microsoft ads, they NEVER mention Vista, and the “common folk” depicted never mention it either. They utter that famous tag line, “I’m a PC”, but do not align themselves with Vista or Windows at all. I think that is a mistake. Their ads bring up the image of the Mac ads by using Apple’s line, which has already been evoked through the imitation of the Hodgeman character! It is an axiom of advertising that the #1 never mentions the #2, because to do so lends credibility to #2’s claims and makes #1 look desperate. Microsoft should be building the Vista brand, not generic PCs, and should certainly not be allowing their target audience to think about Apple!

And they don’t even make PCs…

The truth is that I expected something more offensive and less cool (wanna-be) – then we could grab some popcorn and enjoy the show :)

Now, what’s next – Canonical’s response with another series of ads which will say “I’m cool” too? Nahhh… Linux is liberal, Windows is classic and Mac is innovative. And that’s why I use them all – each tool for the right job ;)

My 2 cents