He says he wants power, as one of his three attributes, and he twice looks at a netbook. There’s not a single netbook that would promote “power” as one of its attributes. Any “technically savvy” geek would know that.

And why is he even mentioning this “little camera”, since every laptop has a “little camera” now? Isn’t he “technically savvy”?

And, where is his antivirus software that he HAS to buy? Isn’t he “technically savvy”?

People I know who have never been mac people now have mac books. People that bagged macs in school in the 90s. The tide is turning.

And as the business owners toy with iPhones and macs at home, whilst they aren’t likely to swap out their office PCs with Macs I think Linux will play a part.

In otherwords, Apple takes the consumer from windows, an Linux takes the general workstation from windows. Microsoft can’t compete with free.

First off, no Microsoft, Apple fans are not lashing out in anger. We’re laughing at the horrible job these ads are doing to help you sell PCs bundled with Windows. We’re laughing at the fact that you have to basically deceive the average user into believing what they are getting is the best you can get for less money. Here’s an example of a comment from a BusinessWeek.com article on the same “Giampaolo” ad:

“You’re way wrong about the 17″ Pavilion. I’m an ordinary (75 year old) computer user since the 1970s. I just bought a Pavillion DV7, at just under $700 and it is the best I’ve ever used. I wanted an AMD processor. The salesman told me that’s the best you can get. I did not face the usual startup problems. Just took it on a 10-day vacation to California and it worked exceedingly well. I’ve never had another laptop that didn’t balk and sputter trying to connect with other wired or wireles systems. It is all I could possibly want in a computer (I write books and newspaper editorials). The Microsoft lady shopper got it right.”

A tech savvy guy (or gal) does not go into a store and ask for opinions. They buy direct from the manufacturer and customize. If Giampaolo were as tech savvy as he says he is, but had no chance to go online to purchase the computer, he’d simply ask the salesman what they had in stock for “x” brand laptops with “y” type specs and get out of there. What does he need with the salesperson after that? The salesman is sitting there going through all kinds of different laptops…meaning Giampaolo has no clue what he wants. He really wants recommendations…and the salesperson is all too happy to oblige. The man in the quote above from the BusinessWeek article is exactly the same: claims to be tech savvy (maybe he was back in the 70s but some things have changed) but then buys an HP based on the fact that the salesperson basically said it was the best money could buy. Personally, I have no idea how good AMD processors are, but Intel’s processors seem to be ending up in a lot more computers than AMDs processors. Others commented on how the AMD was far from the best this guy could have gotten.

This is all stuff Microsoft is hoping for: Ignorance is bliss and settle for Windows. I cannot stress this enough. Microsoft does not see fit to even bother trying to tout the advantages of Windows anymore…they just hope you’ll settle for a cheap PC with Vista on it and dispose of it in a couple years for another that will have Windows 7 on it. This is probably the only way Microsoft can actually make money with Windows anymore: Advertise the OEM’s computers for them and make money from the licenses.

The strangest part of all of this is that Microsoft and apparently even Crispin Porter + Bogusky are acting like Apple fans are all up in a tizzy over these ads because they suggest that Apple products are just about wow factor and aesthetics rather than actual computing power. The problem with this logic is: We’re not upset. We’re easily ripping these ads and their claims to shreds. These ads do not worry me, and I highly doubt they worry Apple. This is Microsoft’s hail Mary last ditch effort to regain some people who have switched or to keep those who plan to switch as well as the XP users who are too scared to even think about upgrading to Vista/7.

There seem to be a lot of people out there who say “wow, you Apple guys sure do seem offended about all this”. Who are these people? Microsoft-hired blog trolls? Then Microsoft says “yes, we can feel the hatred coursing through your veins” (Ballmer kind of looks like a portly Emperor Palpatine if you ask me) and “this is exactly what we were hoping for”…as if trying to do a Jedi mind trick (to continue the Star Wars theme) on us waving their hands in our faces as if it will magically sway us into feeling enraged about all this. I have not seen any Apple user get enraged over this. Usually they just explain how the ads fail and go on their way. What Microsoft is really doing is performing the Jedi mind trick on the average consumers hoping they’ll look more at their pocket books rather than at the specs.

Sorry for the novel-sized post. I’m just getting a kick out of all of this.

Of course, Dan has some valid points – just because something looks like a good value doesn’t mean it actually is. The guy wanted portability, battery life, and power, yet he picked an HP that was larger and heavier than the MacBook, and had shorter battery life and slower RAM. It wasn’t like the MacBook was double the price or anything – the difference was $300, and both machines were within his $1500 limit. So if you actually look at what he got, it doesn’t really add up.

Yes That’s what I think they are pointing for. More inches is better… but not always!

Here are the screen resolutions of her HP, and the Macbook/MBP.
HP resolution–1440×900,
MacBook 13 resolution–1280 by 800,
MacBookPro 15 & 17 inch–1440 by 900 and less

The MacBook’s screen resolution is 80% of the HP’s screen res.

Watch this. It’s a new MegaHertz Myth…

from Alaska in the early morning sun

I think these ads are trying to remove choice from computer buyers by saying, “Remember: You have NO CHOICE. You MUST buy the cheapest computer you can find!” and hoping it sticks.

I think it will work to some extent… But the thing is, even in a bad economy, some people still DON’T buy solely on what’s cheapest. Not everyone buys the cheapest car, and they still wouldn’t even if a manufacturer insisted that they “must.” And not everyone buys the cheapest computer.

But it’s MS’s hope that they can get people into the “you have no choice but to buy the cheapest damn thing you can put your hands on.”

We’ll see how it goes. I think that for some people who don’t know any better — or for parents buying computers for their kids at college — it very well might work. It’s the best thing Microsoft has come up with yet to get consumers to move away from the mac.

Sometimes interesting info. comes to light in the shallow end.. e.g. I didn’t know, before I looked him up, that the world’s first computer was named after a favorite of my father’s generation, “Heath Robinson”; which is no reason subsequent computers should look like his famous inventions http://forums.appleinsider.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=97052 comment 24.

-Enz