...not cheering. "Please take me away from these unsavvy, uninformed parents!"
These ads just get more and more laughable. "Uh, like we want like uh a big screen with like - uh photo sharing, uh and like hot pink, and uh does my hair look okay?"

Apple OSX
Lack of virus
Lack of stupid pop up balloons
Lack of constant need to babysit the os

PRICELESS

Actually, this is going to come back to bite Microsoft. As soon as Chrome OS is out there which offers web surfing and basic functionality for free, MS loses the value war (actually, they've lost it already with Linux, but Linux doesn't have the PR that Google does). So, people who buy based on nothing but price will be buying Chrome systems rather than an equivalent Windows system.

Don't get me wrong, I think Chrome is a lousy idea and can't picture ever using it, but if your entire life is wrapped up with "I'll buy the cheapest thing" like the people MS puts in these ads, MS is no longer the best choice.

-- Because you can check your email, surf the web, and -- look at some pictures for $600 or for $1000.Then buy -- a netbook running linux for $250. You could argue the linux browser may have some concessions, but they you could argue the windows machine made concessions to get the price down too. If you want the cheapest machine, you don't need microsoft.

I thought Microsoft had given up on this strategy?

"It met our expections....." Boy are they ever going to rue those words.... LOL :-) Yet they are quite correct.

PS. for $599 you can get a mac mini and for 100 you can get a 20 inch screen (on sale). Upgrade to a 24 inch screen. And its portable and meets all of their expections except crappy OS and tons of spyware and viruses. :-)

Just a thought.
en

There's an interesting (if tangential) point in there about the amount of RAM and disk space that most Apple systems ship with. I'm not talking about what they can be upgraded to handle, but what the default config comes with... Apple has always struck me as unnecessarily stingy in those two departments when offering a little extra wouldn't cost them much and would make a better case for value. I nearly always find myself ordering upgrades from 3rd parties (because cheaper) after having just coughed up $1,500 or more to Apple.

Anyone notice how their ad campaigns are sort of like their products? Rambling, too much information to make a point, always taking a defensive position. And how the apple ads (which, I'm not afraid to admit, are what got me to switch to apple) are simple, to the point, and clever?

For 20 years I was a dedicated Windows user. And a total tech geek, cobbling together my own PCs, etc. Then one day, after seeing several of those "I'm a Mac" ads, I started checking out a Macbook Pro at Best Buy. I bought it, thinking I'd play with it for a couple weeks, see what all the fuss was about, be able to definitely dismiss the notion of ever wanting or needing a Mac, and then return it or sell it. Yeah, right. After about a WEEK of using that Macbook, all I could think was this: 'WAS I JUST AN IDIOT 20 YEARS? " I mean, the years of fighting, crashing, loading drivers, troubleshooting, friggin' ugly boxes, nasty bloated laptops loaded with crappy software... GONE. Three years later, I have bought 2 Pros, 2 Airs, a Unibody Macbook, a Mini, 3 iphones, 3 iPods -- it's like a crack addiction! (I'm not necessarily proud of this by the way -- in fact, I'm sort of appalled that I've become such an easy target for them!) And it's not like I'm rich either. But I'm almost always able to sell the previous model for like 80-90% of its original value in order to upgrade!

In some ways I feel like some sort of cult member -- powerless to stop buying! But -- and I say this as someone who mocked Macs and Mac users for 20 years -- there is just NO comparison. So well-built, relatively problem-free, and the service from the Apple store is incredible. Yeah, it's an arrogant company, they operate with more secrecy and stealth than the Pentagon, but they design absolutely beautiful, FUNCTIONAL, intuitive products.

So yeah, you can save a couple hundred dollars and get a lousy looking, bloated plastic notebook filled with crapware, "trial software", virus protection, and stickers adhered to every visible surface, and a power supply the size of a boat anchor. But the productivity gain with something that works (and is lightweight, fast, and visually appealing) is priceless.

And having just re-read my previous post, I realize that my post was actually MORE rambling than those idiotic Microsoft ads. Yikes!

"Look!...it comes with Windows Photo Gallery!" That one was the best...

They're obviously being 'coached' what to buy....after all, why is it an HP that is bought nearly every time?

You are all missing the underlying point of this commercial.....the only way for someone to buy a PC/Vista notebook is if it's FREE!!!

I'll take a free PC notebook....buying one is another story.

I'm waiting for the follow-up to show up on YouTube...


"Hun, what does 'Your Norton subscription has expired!' mean? It says we need to pay $60 or we're going to be vulnerable."

"Sweetheart, it keeps saying 'This program has stopped responding'."

"Baby, do you know why does this thing take longer to shut off than to turn on?"

"Look!...it comes with Windows Photo Gallery!" That one was the best...

They're obviously being 'coached' what to buy....after all, why is it an HP that is bought nearly every time?

You are all missing the underlying point of this commercial.....the only way for someone to buy a PC/Vista notebook is if it's FREE!!!

I'll take a free PC notebook....buying one is another story.

I'm waiting for the follow-up to show up on YouTube...


"Hun, what does 'Your Norton subscription has expired!' mean? It says we need to pay $60 or we're going to be vulnerable."

"Sweetheart, it keeps saying 'This program has stopped responding'."

"Baby, do you know why does this thing take longer to shut off than to turn on?"

Why they h*** does the kid have a bib on the whole time? Do Windows laptops come with mashed peas at $700?

I would LOVE to see someone do a 6 month follow-up documentary of all the customers from these ads.
Fast forward 6-months to little baby Jamie pounding the cheap plastic HP with a Fisher Price hammer because Matt and Olivia barely use it anymore since the Photo Gallery is a mess to organize, the space bar broke and only 8-inches of the screen still works.

Chris2519,

Your experience with Macs is what i've seen happen to a lot of my hard core PC friends. But don't exaggerate. OSX has only been this awesome for 5 years or so. Before that, macs had some major OS issues.

The original OSX wasn't very fast on g3s and g4s, it wasn't until the switch to intel, that the whole line finally got fast and the software had matured to the level of refinement it holds now.

These commercials make me sick to my stomach. You feel so bad for these poor people. They think they're getting something cool, but in reality, they're buying a huge headache. Even just on longevity, they lose. That laptop they bought might last 2-3 years, in my expericence apple laptops last 5.

Six siblings in my immediate family. Three of them now use Macs, because I refused to help clean up their PeeCees anymore. I promised to help them with any Mac issues.

Haven't received many calls since, except thanking me for getting them off clunky old Windows. Go ahead and buy a PC, whatever....

Chris2519,

Your experience with Macs is what i've seen happen to a lot of my hard core PC friends. But don't exaggerate. OSX has only been this awesome for 5 years or so. Before that, macs had some major OS issues.

The original OSX wasn't very fast on g3s and g4s, it wasn't until the switch to intel, that the whole line finally got fast and the software had matured to the level of refinement it holds now.

These commercials make me sick to my stomach. You feel so bad for these poor people. They think they're getting something cool, but in reality, they're buying a huge headache. Even just on longevity, they lose. That laptop they bought might last 2-3 years, in my expericence apple laptops last 5.

This commercial is a total bribery. "I'll give you $700 if you can fine a laptop that costs $700"... I mean how would anyone refuse this offer?

For such stupid ads, they do bring out a lot of commenting by the Mac crowd.


PS. for $599 you can get a mac mini and for 100 you can get a 20 inch screen (on sale). Upgrade to a 24 inch screen. And its portable and meets all of their expections except crappy OS and tons of spyware and viruses. :-)

A mini and 20" monitor is "portable"? Right. It is so easy to just take it out onto the deck to do some work. And bringing it into bed is a snap!

based on the b****** he bought his woman I'd say they can afford a couple hundred dollars more for the nice macbook! :)

Actually, this is going to come back to bite Microsoft. As soon as Chrome OS is out there which offers web surfing and basic functionality for free, MS loses the value war

Seriously people. Have you never heard of Linux? There have been many an OS out there, free of charge, that offers basic functionality. And yet, Google decides to mold their own, and suddenly its GO time?

Ooh it comes with photo gallery. Uh yea, but what about a program for music, email, chat, video editing, playing video, calendar, webpage creation, music creation, taking your own pictures like photo booth.
Yup, that's right, you have to buy the rest of the software you need. So there goes your savings right out the window. Oh and don't forget you will need to buy anti-virus software, anti-spam software, add removal software. More money wasted so now that cheap HP is now $1500.00 when you could have gotten the Macbook with a better processor and added ram and still saved money because you don't need all that anti-software on a Mac.
Let the truth be known!

Microsoft, write me a check! When it clears the bank, I'll go shopping! I'll even make my own video, and put onon YouTube. Totally objective!

I love that microsoft is buying people computers just to get their product out there. How desperate can you get!

Anyone notice how they bring out the baby, and let's not forget they also bring out the multiracial couple. So, double stabbing.

Bringing out the baby is like photo op for politicians. Hmm...where did Microsoft learn that trick from? LOL

To be fair, if they can find a computer for $700 that fits their needs, that's fine, go get that computer. Apple doesn't fulfill all segments of the computer market. Of course not! But it's not there to do so either.

So, if we put on our critical thinking caps a bit longer, we can see that this ad really is quite ineffective in trying to poke holes at Apple. Apple isn't out there to produce "just working" computers. They want to provide computers that aesthetically, and functionally work and with elegance. That's usually Apple's priority. Apple could probably make a $700 computer (out of plastic, not aluminium unibody stuff) with those criteria in mind but then again they are not out there to fulfill all segments of the computer market.

Anyone notice how they bring out the baby, and let's not forget they also bring out the multiracial couple. So, double stabbing.

Bringing out the baby is like photo op for politicians. Hmm...where did Microsoft learn that trick from? LOL

To be fair, if they can find a computer for $700 that fits their needs, that's fine, go get that computer. Apple doesn't fulfill all segments of the computer market. Of course not! But it's not there to do so either.

So, if we put on our critical thinking caps a bit longer, we can see that this ad really is quite ineffective in trying to poke holes at Apple. Apple isn't out there to produce "just working" computers. They want to provide computers that aesthetically, and functionally work and with elegance. That's usually Apple's priority. Apple could probably make a $700 computer (out of plastic, not aluminium unibody stuff) with those criteria in mind but then again they are not out there to fulfill all segments of the computer market.

I love that microsoft is buying people computers just to get their product out there. How desperate can you get!

In response to the first post that asked why North Americans equate cost with value, I think it has to do with the predominance of an economic theory in North America. There are two aspects to this economic theory in North America:

1. Supply and demand. When there is demand, increase in supply occurs. This is an oft repeated economic theory which by now is held by many North Americans (actually, I would say just United States Americans) as truth. But of course, it isn't. Economics isn't that simple. There are many other ways that the market can be worked upon by suppliers. It's not a consumer market out there, but because Americans like to believe in the myth that individual desire directly affect market (this is an off shoot of individualism) then the like to believe in that theory.

2. Belief that "you get what you paid for". Not always the case, of course. Is an SUV or Hummer a better value than a small Toyota Corolla or Honda Insight necessarily? Well, value isn't determined just by cost alone. It's determined by what it is that you value. Yes, the SUV can climb rocks and the Insight can't. But, I don't need a car that climbs rocks. (By the way, I don't even need a car. I don't own or use one). This is very obvious when attention is drawn to this, but Americans often forget and when they do, they engage in long diatribes about "cost is directly related to value".

Ooh it comes with photo gallery. Uh yea, but what about a program for music, email, chat, video editing, playing video, calendar, webpage creation, music creation, taking your own pictures like photo booth.

Let's see. It comes with Windows Media Player, MS Messenger, MS Mail, Movie Maker, WMP again, Calendar, nothing, nothing, and who the h*** uses photo booth?

So all that is missing is a web page designer (seriously? Who does web pages these days. It's all about Facebook and Twitter, don't you know) and a music maker. And there's so many people out there who just can't wait to make music with their computer.

Oh, but that ruins most of your argument. Well, OS X comes with Chess! And Disk Utility! They're going to have to pay to repair disk permissions on that HP!

Yup, that's right, you have to buy the rest of the software you need.

Need? I didn't realize one "needed" software to make music?

Oh and don't forget you will need to buy anti-virus software, anti-spam software, add removal software.

Let's see, get AVG-Free. There's your anti-virus. Why does one need anti-spam software, actually? Most ISPs already filter. I personally get maybe three spams a week (see, even the spammers don't want to talk to me).

And you only need ad-removal software if you decide to download or install software from unknown entities. Never use it myself.

OMG yeh good choice guys .. mmm it looks big, it looks sturdy ... that must be the best choice IDIOTS. These adds are insulting to peoples intelligence.

Microsoft can't compete by comparing their c*** OS to OSX so there using insulting sales tactics to get people to choose cheap PC's and so by default buy Windows.

But I do give them credit for thinking outside the box and finding a selling tactic that works

PCs outsell Macs by more than 10 to 1.

Macs are great computers, but very, very few people think they are great enough to justify the inflated cost, and for many, Apple simply does NOT make a product that meets their requirements.

At the end of the day, computers are merely appliances. I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between Photoshop or MS Word documents produced on a PC or a Mac. Certainly there are variables in usability between the two operating systems, but again, very very few people find these differences compelling enough to justify the inflated cost of a Mac.

Over 10 to 1. Though they may seem awkward at times for Mac users, apparently PCs are the clear choice, it's not even close.

This obviously is something the Apple Fan Boi simply can't get over.

please Diablo, don't you know that car analogies were banned on this board in 1989, so STOP IT!

kid really liked the Windows PCs. He probably just pooped in his pants when he saw the Windows logo.

I do enjoy watching this ads. They're funny and really don't mean very much. Microsoft will still sell as many PCs equipped with Windows whether the commercials are there or not. These people are not idiots. They just believe they are getting more for their money when it comes to the hardware.

Consider them uninformed about the requirements of computer ownership. Besides, the cost of raising that kid probably left them with pennies in their pockets.

If they really did go for an older model HP then they wouldn't have minded going for an Apple refurb would they? 2.0GHZ MacBook 2GB RAM 120 GB -- only $750. Sheesh have they heard of teh Intarwebz?http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB881LL/A?mco=MjE0NDk5Mw

Give MS a hand for hitting a nice note, whether truly factual or not (as could be argued w/ Apple's "I'm a Mac" ads).

Apple on needs to respond by making parody ads showing similar people like these getting home w/ their new computers...and trying to get them to work!!

A co-worker just bought a new HP desktop about 2 weeks ago; something he struggled to afford as being the sole bread-winner and a family of 6. So price was paramount. However, it took him 5 days before he could get the computer to work properly (they had issues with disappearing screens on logouts/user switches). HP support eventually had him scrub the entire drive and start from scratch on a fresh install...it worked. Still, that's 5 days until he could actually START to use the computer...who knows what lies ahead.

Bottom line may be the bottom line, but the worth of a computer is not in the purchase of it...it's in being able to use the damn thing!

I'll bet that since almost all of these ads end up with the customer buying an HP laptop, that HP is somehow involved in these ads.

HP is very much favored by Microsoft internally (most MS workstations and servers are HP), and I'm sure HP is paying most of the bill on these ads.

maybe Apple should offer a computer with a screen bigger than 13" for under $1000.

Do all people really need DDR3, the latest chip, 1066 MHZ bus - no, no and no. Lot of people would be happier just getting an OSX machine for less.

Sorry, Macs are great and all but Apple should supply more low-end options. Think the $500 laptop that companies hand out to every employee. Not everyone is a graphic designer who needs the top end machine.