I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

The adds are doing one thing - Making Apple Look Great

The guys at Chiat/Day must be laughing their asses off at this.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Nothing, but nothing beats the "I'm a PC, I'm a Mac" commercials.
I think it has been the cause of more people migrating to Mac than
anything else, that is except, Windows Vista.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

I like the responses. It always cracks me up how defensive Windows users get about the Mac ads.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Those commercials make me glad I don't have any TV reception at home. The only time I've seen them was while watching a football game at the local Hooters. After watching the first one, I decided that whenever one came on, I'd just avert my gaze over to one of the waitresses. Worked great .

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

I have learned something over the past 20 months of being a
Mac owner....

If you thought the format war (HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray) was bad,
you haven't seen anything when it comes to talking PC vs. MAC.

I have gotten into some real dirty words with friends over which
computer is better -- so much so that it almost destroyed a friendship.
Personally, I am very defensive when it comes to people badmouthing
Macs and it's apparent that there are people like me on the PC side.

Be careful who you tout the virtues of MAC or PC to.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

I used to be that way (on the Mac side), until OSX came out. Then I went to a PC with XP on it. OSX took away the user-friendliness that Macs were known for. I had used macs for 10 yrs., and loved them. You had to totally relearn the OS, with OSX. People that took the time to learn it, ended up liking it. I probably would too. But I wasn't ready to spend that kind of time with it.

Pre OSX..........more user-friendly, easier to troubleshoot problems, easier to find stuff, etc.
OSX changed some keyboard shortcuts. Before OSX, probably 90% of problems could be fixed by trashing the prefs, of what was troubling you. There was nowhere within 55-60 miles to take in for repairs, but never really needed to. I was always able to fix any problems that came up, which were very few.

We still have a blueberry iMac. I turned it on, a few days ago, for the first time in four years, and looked in some folders and on the hard drive. Some good old memories still on there. It's slow as molasses in February though. At the time we bought it, it was very fast. It has OS 8.6 on it. The startup chime and mac smiley face was good to hear and see again.

I know people love OSX (it IS pretty to look at). Especially those that started out with it, and don't know what was before. I'm sorry, but I don't.

BTW.........
On the PC side, I don't like Vista either. I won't have anything to do with it until I absolutely have no choice. Like OSX, it's pretty to look at, but that's all.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Interesting - X didn't really feel different to me. My start was Sys7. The 8-9 days were cool, and yes a pref trash was an easy fix (not to mention dragging darn near the whole system to a new drive and boot)

Some of the old tricks work now.

I agree, the current Leo is bubble gum, but the Apple core is still there.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

My wife started with OS 6, at her job, doing yellow page ads. The first mac we bought for home was a Performa 575 with OS 7.1 on it. It had 5 mb of ram (4mb on mobo, and 1 mb simm). We bought 16 mb simm to upgrade it to 20mb. The 16mb was $600. I did the free upgrade to OS 7.5, and used that for years. The upgrade to OS 8.0 wasn't free. We bought a scsi scanner that came with the full version of the newest Photoshop (v3.5). Back then, a lot of the scanners came with free Photoshop. They quit doing that not long after we bought ours.

When we bought the iMac, we networked the two computers together. We could drag files from one to the other. It was very handy at the time. We bought Illustrator also. We had and used Photoshop and Illustrator on the Performa at one time. Remember, this computer only had 20mb of ram, and a 250mb hard drive. It did great!

We took a night course at local community college, in Photoshop, to upgrade our skills. We both have associate degrees in commercial art, but we learned old school methods (cut and paste, and actual drawing). No computer use at all in school, when getting degrees (early 70s). My wife is still doing that kind of work (yellowpage ads), 27 years later. She's pretty good with Photoshop now...........
I've forgotten everything I learned about it.

Anyway, just a little history of my (our) Mac use.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Dave, you just brought back some fun memories for me!

Please tell me you weren't an Intelli-boy!

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Ironic/coincidental: I've been in Seattle the last few days, and a few days ago, I saw a bunch of geeky Microsofties walking around the Pike Place Market, wearing MS-labelled windbreakers, and one had a "I'm a PC" sticker (like those tour group things) stuck on like a name-tag...

Later that evening I saw a newsreel piece saying that MS had had a big rally at the stadium to launch the new ad campaign.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Dave,

Very interesting article.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

As someone who has been on Mac since OS 1.0 (March of 1984, on a single 400K floppy) and switched to OS X with OS X public beta, I never understood the classic Mac OS fans -- OS X is way more stable and powerful. The only thing I miss from classic Mac OS is creating a boot disk with a simple disk to disk Finder copy. It's too bad you need to fiddle or use a third party utility to accomplish that now. OS X lets you configure keyboard shortcuts, so if you miss something from 9 so badly, just make X behave like 9.

As for the MS adds: MS might want to consider spending their $300 million on fixing Windows instead of trying to sell the same broken mess. But John Gruber certainly said it well -- when you're in a hole, stop digging.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

anyone see the latest ad commercial?

a unch of people are given computers to use.
later they arr told that they have been using laptops with win vista
installed, and all the people are shocked at how easy the laptops were to use
and they had no idea they were using windows vista.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Tony,

Have not seen that commercial but why, based on your
description of it, does it sound totally scripted?

I have seen the new commercial where all these people proclaim
"I'm a PC," and you know what?....I don't get it. At least Mac goes
right to the core and lets its viewers know what they are all about.
This commercial I have no idea what they are trying to prove other
than the fact that so many different kinds of people use a PC.

Yeah? So what? That makes you better?

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

I think the point is to show that people can still do whatever they need to do on a PC (which apprently is the new term for Wintel-based computers) and that Apple products aren't better just because "I'm a Mac" tells us so.

And it's not. In fact, Apple is starting to turn into what Microsoft was in the late 90s. They are becoming control freaks of their own products and stifling competition within their own market (see a current lawsuit about MacOS being tied to Apple hardware for nor reason other than to be able to sell the hardware and the recent rejections of certain apps in their iPhone Apps store as a pair of examples).

It's starting to look more and more like Windows is becoming the middle ground somewhere between FOSS vs. closed and controlled systems.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

I don't know if that ad is scripted, i think they just found people
who were living without modern technology or something.
These people were saying how easy it was to use or somesuch.
My father has a laptop with vista and i have to go over there neary weakly to help him figure something out.
sometimes i can't figure it out because
I'm so used to the macbook for the last 2 years.

from what i've seen using his laptop, i'm very thankful i got out of
PC just before vista came out.


I've seen the "i'm a pc" commercial too.
i like the commercial but it isn't anything that would sway me
back to the pc side.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

My favorite Apple commercial of all time - Tanks
Funny - there was truth in the script. At the time the spec was still
in the books as a no export rating by law. No one took it seriously,
but a nice tidbit for Apple to use in the moment.

The great theme from What Movie? I forget

YouTube - Apple PowerMac G4 Commercial - Super Computer (Tanks)

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

I am surprised nobody else heard this as the news is now
a couple days old....

This past week a Microsoft executive admitted that those PC
commercials were put together on a MAC.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Ron, and I don't mean to offend, but the articles about the PC commercials being made on a mac just come off as ignorant. You get the idea that they must think Gates and Co. must have made the commercials themselves in their spare time.

It's professional advertising, it was made with the toolsets of whomever Microsoft hired to do the ad campaign.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

So true. I remember being on the receiving end of the trait you admit here not too long ago. You were civil but there was no mistaking your position. To be fair, I also must admit I was not current on the capabilities of the Mac platform, and my post did contain some factual errors. I briefly questioned whether PC users were really welcome on HTF after that exchange.

I don't understand why people need to believe their platform is inherently superior to another. This is subjective thinking at best, and as DaveF alluded, I try to avoid such conversations, since they generally degenerate into pointless attacks. I can say for a fact that the PC is [currently] the best choice for me. But I am not at all bothered that others choose the Mac. I've even recommended it to some.

I absolutely love the latest Microsoft adds. Although the Gates/Seinfeld adds were typical misses reminiscent of IBM's horrible add history, I thought the current adds were a perfect response to Apples [admittedly successful and well-done] campaign.

Be gentle...

John

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

John,

I do hope that I was civil towards you.

I have gotten into a lot of heated conversations with people
over Mac vs. PC, but have tried to be respectful towards their
opinions in the process.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

You most certainly were.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

My beef in the PC/Mac arguments is that from my experience the PC users are arguing from a point of ignorance in that they've never used OSX nor kept current with what it has to offer etc. Its far from perfect but using both daily I greatly prefer OS X.

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Touche! I admit that this describes me. My memories of the Mac are from long ago experiences, but even then I didn't argue the overall merit of one vs the other, as I think they both have their advantages. I'll be the first to say, I don't prefer PC's because of their ease of use. For me it's the openness of the platform and the techie in me.

John

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Gotta hate the new PC ads. Just. Plain. Bad.

So, that said... I gotta get in on the side-discussion going on here.

I bought my very first Mac in May. I'm a voice-actor, and I wanted to be working on the same platform as the studios. That was my primary purpose for wanting a Mac.

Now, keep something in mind here. I'm a long-time PC user. My first PC was a Tandy computer, running DOS and Windows 3.1. (That was MY first computer. I worked and played on Apple IIs, IBM PCs and PCjrs and Commodore PETs. Even a wonderful old TRS-80 with a tape-drive and dual floppies! OoOOoOO the power!)

I remember losing my mind with excitement getting a 300 baud modem. Not to mention a 20MB hard drive. ("Twenty MEGABYTES? I'll NEVER use all that ROOM!") From those early days, I spent many years as a PC tech, sys-admin and network admin.

(Note: I've never been one of these folks that defended PCs against Macs, and got all hot and heavy over which machine is better. The different machines both have their advantages and places.)

So... back to my first Mac. (An iMac, to be precise) It took me a bit to get used to OSX, but I gotta say, I LOVE this machine. It's stable, reliable, powerful and even great looking. Plus I can run Windows and it's programs if I really need to... what more could I ask for? (Plus the fact that since May, I've had to reboot my machine... twice? As opposed to near-daily?)

I've since become a fan of all things Mac. I have a new iPhone, and I must admit I'm contemplating an AppleTV, and an Airbook for my wife. I still use my PC laptop, but only as an Internet/Email machine from my living room.

So... in a nutshell, this ol' PC nut is a total convert. Sure, I still see where PCs have their place, but it's unlikely I'll ever go back.

(Oh, and Calgary just had it's very first Apple store open a few weeks ago. Holy crap, is that place DANGEROUS.)

Re: I'm a Microsoft and I can't create an ad campaign

Tony,

Welcome to the Mac family. Your impressions of your iMac does
not surprise me. None of us here are likely to ever go back to a PC.