Comments on: Microsoft’s anti-Mac pricing campaign takes to the web

By: enzos

enzos — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 12:08:52 +0000

It’s a gamble for M$. Think about it: for the ad to be successful it has to influence more than nine out of ten buyers that cheap is more important than quality, otherwise the ad will increase Mac sales (at 10% of market) by drawing attention to the platform. I could imagine two out three or even four out of five Americans thinking like the ranga (cheapskates) – but not nine out of ten!

By: PXT

PXT — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 20:23:48 +0000

One thing the ad’s images did get right is that the Mac has reached its user desktop while the PC is still starting up !

By: beetle

beetle — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:05:51 +0000

Does anyone have a direct link to the ad with a live “Spin Again” button? NY Times seems to have dropped it, and I cannot find it on the µ$ site…

By: osp

osp — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 07:34:41 +0000

Hello Daniel,

wonderful comment :-)
Isn’t it great, Microsoft positions itself at the very low cost market segment. Microsoft doesn’t associate itself with quality. At least they are honest. That leaves a lot of potential switchers for Apple.

By: qka

qka — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 18:21:37 +0000

“Macs … also offer personalized support in Apple’s retail stores, which is free to those who don’t mind standing around waiting for an available genius”

Or are smart enough to go on the web an make an appointment. I never go to the Apple Store expecting to just walk in and talk to a genius.

By: dpaterso

dpaterso — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:07:51 +0000

GNU/Linux deserves more than a sentence in this discussion. It seems Microsoft is making an argument that favours something like Ubuntu OS which I believe is a perfectly satisfactory computing experience for many who have never heard of it.

By: iDarbert

iDarbert — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:56:41 +0000

This ad targets the typical mentality of the average consumer.
Most people don’t care about the quality of their purchases or the TCO, they believe that if they spend less to make the purchase it’s a better deal, and if they are able to the specs.

As for the ad itself, I don’t think it does anything; while Apple ads somehow try to break popular beliefs about the Mac (believe it or not some people still think there is no Microsfot Office for Mac – but that’s nothing: somebody actually asked me if my Mac was able to display jpegs) Microsoft ads seem to focus on telling people what they already know: Macs are more expensive.

The ad fails in so many ways it’s not even funny: for example nowhere in the campaign is the message that Macs are overpriced (which is what many people believe), it’s just stated that they are more expensive.
One could say it’s a clever way to exploit the current state of the economy but I think it’s more of a miss.

Another problem with the compaign is that while the phrase “I’m not cool enough to be a Mac person” (a actress is not cool enough, seriously?) the campaign is also implying that Macs are cool.

By: adamk359

adamk359 — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:02:34 +0000

This pretty much sums up my beliefs about the two OS’s. The more bloated and useless Windows becomes, the more expensive it is. OS X, on the other hand, remains at the same price every time and evolves and brings in new technologies rather than Microsoft’s way of creating hackneyed solutions to problems plaguing Windows for ages and labeling them as new technologies. OS X and Macs come with simple, useful “lifestyle” software unlike Windows that ships with half-baked software solutions that try to do the same things.

Lots of Windows fanboys have said that with Macs you have to upgrade every time they come out with a new model and that costs big bucks. The so-called “Apple Tax”. It’s just not true though. I can keep my mid-2007 second gen MacBook and just upgrade the software till my MacBook is no longer supported…and I have a feeling that will be many years from now. With Windows it’s almost the exact opposite. You bought a cheap Windows PC with XP a few years ago…but it’s not exactly guaranteed to be able to run Vista. It may run Windows 7 due to code/bloat slimming, but even that has steep requirements to get the full “experience”. The truth is is that the real tax is coming from Microsoft. It’s like a promotion though: Build a cheap PC and get a bloated, useless operating system for $300! Plays games too! Woot!

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Sat, 28 Mar 2009 01:41:11 +0000

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By: PXT

PXT — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 23:16:46 +0000

People that perceive the value of Macs will not be affected by this advertising. Furthermore, Apple benefits by people becoming curious about Macs, which this Microsoft ad inadvertently achieves for them.