Structaural
in Chatsubo
I like Brooker, that was funny.
Both Microsoft and Apple are wankers. But I like their kit (well I like Intel's kit).
Both Microsoft and Apple are wankers. But I like their kit (well I like Intel's kit).
I Hate Macs
- Thread starter mack
- Start date
Structaural
in Chatsubo
jæd said:Isn't that a blog-post...? And the actual article appears at http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/4156/53/ and if thats any indication of tech-writing in Oz, I'm glad I'm a pomme...!
He's got a point though, the ads do preach to the converted and alienate prospective buyers who, I think, are quiet happy to not be Nathan Barleys.
cybertect
It's grim up north (London)
sleaterkinney said:Bull, do you honestly think that people buy apple because of technical reasons?
Our HR manager, who also does our in-house training on MS Office apps, did.
She arrived in our office (where we have about 45 Macs) and told me straight 'I hate Macs'. It took a bit of persuasion to get past her requests for a Windows machine.
18 months later, she'd got so pissed off with her Packard Bell at home crashing and being infested with spyware ("I'm going to throw it in the Thames") that she bought a Mac Mini at the beginning of October and hasn't looked back. She's pleased as punch with it.
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
Ooh. "Apple's ad campaign is smug and shit". Welcome to six months ago, Charlie, perhaps we could get something about "wazzzaaaaaap" next, or spell Microsoft "Micro$oft". Oh, yeah, and "one-button mouse" - fuck me, my sides are splitting, never heard that before. 
He can do a lot better than that.
He can do a lot better than that.
sleaterkinney
Well-Known Member
Apple is a brand, the same as Starbucks or Gap. People buy into it because they are hoping that the things the brand tries to stand for will rub off on them. Do you really need this explained to you?GarfieldLeChat said:
Structaural
in Chatsubo
GarfieldLeChat
fucking awesome but wrong
no i want you to explain what ascpets you think will rub off on potential consumers by this brand awareness you made the defintition formed from sound bite so justify it...sleaterkinney said:
well, indeed. I dont parade my mac about the streets showing off my 'lifestyle choice', nor am i one of those militant mac fans who will defend their chosen brand to the death. i like my computer because it does everything i need it to do, with the minimum of fuss and hassle.Crispy said:
i also like charlie brooker, easily one of the best newspaper columnists working today. that article was great, even if - by Brooker's own admission - it featured "sweeping generalisations". Brooker is far better at writing entertaining rants than making thoughtful, considered critiques.
one thing though, the whole 'only one button' thing? im using apple's current 'mighty mouse', its been out for nearly two years now, and features a right and left click under its shell, plus two side buttons, and 360 degrees scroll ball, which by my reckoning is at least as many as the average PC mouse. that was all really, let the endless PC v MAC debate (pt94) continue...
teqniq
DisMembered
That's a funny article
Now as already stated elsewhere I use all three os's (Windows Linux and, erm OSX86). All three have their merits and disadvantages:
Windows: pro: big choice of software con:virri and malware and latterly with Vista DRM.
Linux: pro: free, big choice of software, great for security - especially on the 'net con:not easy to get to grips with for the average user though this is changing.
OSX or OSX86: (the one I'm using as I don't own a Mac) pro: Very easy for the complete novice to master, security on a par with or close to Linux. con:limited software choice - this has already been touched upon re: games (though I am not a gamer); my personal gripe is iTunes - a truly dreadful piece of software (and a lack of a suitable alternative - I happen to like Winamp on windows) which royally screwed up my mp3 collection (cue sniggers from mac users - yes I didn't know about the option to uncheck 'let iTunes manage your music collection').
I realise I have just personally assessed the os's on their own whereas for most people the choice of a mac involves buying the hardware - something I would not be prepared to do due to their high price in comparison to pc's - this also touches on freedom of choice imo as with pc's there's a plethora of hardware to choose from.
E2A the whole 'lifestyle' thing that that Apple use as a marketing strategy is a bit naff imo too.
Now as already stated elsewhere I use all three os's (Windows Linux and, erm OSX86). All three have their merits and disadvantages:
Windows: pro: big choice of software con:virri and malware and latterly with Vista DRM.
Linux: pro: free, big choice of software, great for security - especially on the 'net con:not easy to get to grips with for the average user though this is changing.
OSX or OSX86: (the one I'm using as I don't own a Mac) pro: Very easy for the complete novice to master, security on a par with or close to Linux. con:limited software choice - this has already been touched upon re: games (though I am not a gamer); my personal gripe is iTunes - a truly dreadful piece of software (and a lack of a suitable alternative - I happen to like Winamp on windows) which royally screwed up my mp3 collection (cue sniggers from mac users - yes I didn't know about the option to uncheck 'let iTunes manage your music collection').
I realise I have just personally assessed the os's on their own whereas for most people the choice of a mac involves buying the hardware - something I would not be prepared to do due to their high price in comparison to pc's - this also touches on freedom of choice imo as with pc's there's a plethora of hardware to choose from.
E2A the whole 'lifestyle' thing that that Apple use as a marketing strategy is a bit naff imo too.
sleaterkinney
Well-Known Member
They do this by associating Apple with non-conformist, hip people, like the think different campaign that someone mentioned. In the recent ad they are pushing the message that old, useless people in bad clothes buy pcs, whereas the cool dudes buy macs. I'm surprised you can't see through it - or maybe you've been brainwashed.GarfieldLeChat said:
It's down to the individual consumer and seeing as most people do buy shit that they think will 'make them look cooler' to other people - exactly the same as when some nobber buys a ferrari not for the car but for the asthetics and the fact that it might make them pull more fit lasses and get that promotion they have been after since fuck knows when.
Apple market their products to the younger generation of buyers - ie bright colours and silouhettes dancing round to some funky music for the iPod most people instantly think 'yeah that looks cool I'm gonna get one of those' as well as the iPod now being some sort of status symbol because everyone has one. Playground tactics.
So... for most people, they will get a mac purely for the way it looks instead of what it was designed to do.
Apple market their products to the younger generation of buyers - ie bright colours and silouhettes dancing round to some funky music for the iPod most people instantly think 'yeah that looks cool I'm gonna get one of those' as well as the iPod now being some sort of status symbol because everyone has one. Playground tactics.
So... for most people, they will get a mac purely for the way it looks instead of what it was designed to do.
sleaterkinney
Well-Known Member
Why do you think they use it in their marketing though?.Crispy said:
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
See, everybody says that people buy Macs just because they look nice, but I've yet to meet a single person for whom this is the case. In fact they have almost always spent ages worrying about compatibility, asking people things, doing research etc.
Maybe this is because I rarely meet people who have the spare cash to just buy computers because they look good. I don't know who you lot are talking to.
Maybe this is because I rarely meet people who have the spare cash to just buy computers because they look good. I don't know who you lot are talking to.
teqniq
DisMembered
See now, that don't get me but there again I'm a bit of a scruffy sodtribal_princess said:
. I like my computers to look industrial - I have a rackmount in my living room, I suppose you could say that's my own lifestyle choice.E2A I just realised my rackmount's tucked cosily into an Ikea computer desk, is this industrial chic?
GarfieldLeChat
fucking awesome but wrong
the answer surely is in the question...sleaterkinney said:
doy ou actualyl understand the modner world and the termyou are usign marketing... at all?
in order to increase their markety share of a product the easiest wayt o tdo this and achive lognevigty in an aging populace is to appeal to a younger market. those who are used to pcs aren't going to puc a mac for all the obvious reasons. but those who are growing up will... especailly if they can use bootcamp or dual boot into windows because they will buy it to keep up with the joneses which is what mac are counting on. there is also the concpet that brand identiy is continuous through all lines it isn't good brand identity to chop and change and diltue this ... again all of these things are with in their marketing...
all adverts are ascribed to a particular lifestyle and aimed at lifestyle choices i see no reason to say mac is more annoying that any other adverts, but people do. so why is this? Class prejudice to inverse snobbery is my guess...
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
I hang around with all sorts. (Geeks would be the most likely people to shell out a grand for a computer just for the hell of it if they had the money, come to think of it, though it probably wouldn't be for the looks.) I just don't know anyone who spends that sort of money on something just based on whether it goes with their shelves.tribal_princess said:
editor
hiraethified
Really? Honestly?FridgeMagnet said:
You'd better tell their marketing department that because they seem to think that the good looks of Mac products are one of their greatest promotional strengths. And in my experience, it's been a big influence on people I know who have bought Apple stuff.
FridgeMagnet said:
People who don't give a shit about anything other than looking good would be most likely to shell out on a fancy computer, after all they aren't going to actually use the thing, it's a status symbol for some hmm... ugly grey box or a nice sleek expensive looking thing... I wonder... just like those who buy the fuck off LCD tv's where the pic quality is actually quite shit, but it looks good sitting in the corner of their room.
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
Yes, honestly. I have never met a person who bought a Mac just because it was pretty. I have never even heard of an example second-hand. I'm sure there are some people who do, but they're obviously way outside of my social circle, even once removed.editor said:
I suppose there's a slight influence, in that people prefer things which are well designed and nice to look at - why else do manufacturers bother? - but the number of people for whom this is the primary factor when spending a grand or so on anything which isn't primarily for decoration anyway is pretty miniscule IME. I like the look of Macs and OS X but it's just icing.
FridgeMagnet
Administrator
Sure, I expect there are some people who do just go out and say "I want the prettiest computer, don't care what it does", though I don't know any. No way are they the majority of Mac purchasers though. Just because something looks nice and people appreciate it looking nice doesn't mean that they bought it just because it looks nice.tribal_princess said:
I'd say the number one reason IME for people buying Macs is that they've had some sort of catastrophic virus attack or hardware fault or Windows error on a machine that is getting a bit old anyway. They've heard people talking about Macs and how they're reliable and don't get viruses, they ask around, people answer their questions about compatibility, they think it over, then they go out and buy one. "You know, this beige PC doesn't match my white leather sofa" is not one I've heard.
GarfieldLeChat
fucking awesome but wrong
i don't know anyone who'd send a grand on a home computer for it's looks either... and those of the peopel i know who'd spend a grand on shoes and the like certainly wouldn't spend that kind of money on a computer because they couldn't see the vaule in it... none of the people i know would see a computer as a lifestyle choice...FridgeMagnet said:
as i said the mareting point of it is to increase brand awareness and to place the conept with in younger heads that macs = cool = must haves to carve a niche market in the younger generation who it's appealing too...
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