Zaine summarizes my feelings about the ads extremely well. The ads are not directed (they could think they are, but they're wrong) towards hardware and/or software enthusiasts, but to all name-brand PC buyers who, although they're the majority, would probably pass on the ads.
I didn't touch a Mac too many times, let alone tinkering with it, but this is exactly the public towards they're directed. That, and enterprises, since they also buy pre-assembled PCs in bulk, they never assemble one directly. Why? Because they exactly suit their needs, all the preloaded software you really use, and without the hassle of normal PCs, including the increased security due to the low market impact.
That's not saying they couldn't be used by enthusiasts, but you'd had to be more of a DIY type than a power user to really alter something at hardware level. Things change with software, it's true the number of good programs is significantly lower, but they have some great things, like a file manager I once came across, but I forgot the name of it. Or Quicksilver, the FARR killer
. Or the Aqua version of VideoLAN, much better than its wxWidgets counterpart (yeech) in terms of interface design.
Have in mind that the great problem with many Mac users is they're great fanboys, and those ads are also directed to them, as a token of appreciation (or as a another medium of brainwashing...) from their beloved leaders
. Sure they giggle with them, and comment 'til the end of time, just as it happened with the famous pot smoker girl of the 1999 ads (I think), which became almost a legend, just because she didn't catch much sleep... Every public statement on big companies is always something "political" directed to their hardcore supporters, even if the majority of the company's working force doesn't adhere to these ideas. Microsoft's "open source communism" is just the same. Sometimes I wonder if those big guys are directed by lawyers and zealots, instead of people...
Yet another field in which the Mac could have a great advantage are notebooks. Notebooks, despite the struggle to replace normal computers, are notebooks after all, designed to go everywhere (almost) and give you most of the functionality of a big PC. After all, I don't care if I could play Crysis in a notebook or not, I probably can't do it on the desktop anyway... And since almost every notebook sold is a pre-assembled type, I yet have to see a Franken-one, the Mac is perfect for this task. If I really need a notebook someday, I would probably buy a PowerBook or similar, some of my friends at the university have one, and they're really cool, much better than the Dells and Vaios used by the teachers
on another note, Apple still relies on Microsoft to produce Office suites for the Mac..
I've been told that Mac Office is way better than Windows version. And what happened to Apple's "Office" offering?
It seems like they should just come out with an ad that asks "Are you an idiot that doesn't care what is inside the computer as long as it is pretty and performs all the basics?" and get it over with.
Well, it can't be denied that Apple products are pretty and some of them have a great design. I'm not saying that PCs are ugly (well, mine sure it is
), but we have to give some credit to the guys. Also, the quality of the components is at least decent, and some of the high-end Macs have some interesting technology (water cooling and almost no noise)
Last meeting their was even a debate about whether a meember going to minister in remote North Western Australia should keep her Mac or get a Windows based machine. (Only computer discussion I have ever heard where the ability of a machine to withstand dust ingress was debated).
Heh, I didn't know that these "PC vs. Mac" talks reached the church. In Spain I think they're still discussing the possible "evil" nature of the Internet.
P.S.: Any machine, even those with no air intake, will get lots of dust. Except, of course, a Linux based one, probably a bright mind already coded an add-on for Emacs to automatically clean it
I recognise, and smile ruefully to myself when I do, this exact same behviour in myself! I'm *supposed* to be more productive when I'm sitting in front of a computer but instead I wile away hours and days of my time "tweaking" it to address perceived deficiencies (...)
Who was the member who said his computer was using him for something, and not the other way around? LOL
