New Get a Mac Ads

[phobic99]

Hence, I am seriously considering switching back once Windows 7 comes out. I have been testdriving it a little bit on the MacBook ironically. So once I need new hardware, assuming Windows 7 is as good as I hope it will be (and have already experienced), I intend to keep my hardware options wide open. What is the point of having multiple operating systems on a machine when you can do everything you want on just one OS?

I'm sort of in your boat as well. I really, really love my Macbook Pro (13") but I've been playing with Windows 7 quite a bit and you know... it's not bad at all. I actually like it quite a bit. Have you been looking at any particular models/brands of Windows-based PCs? Curious as to what you think because I really love the build quality of my Macbook and I'm not sure if there are any PC manufacturers that come close except may Sony but bleh on them.

 

[hiimamac]

If you're having him change passwords on websites, he should absolutely not do it from the infected PC.

Do it from a trusted system. A Mac perhaps...

After that, again, on a trusted system, download malwarebytes from malwarebytes.org, burn it to a CD, not a usb drive, and install it. That should clear up the majority of nastiness which should then let a traditional antivirus scanner have a shot at cleaning up the remnants.

Unplug the network connection until this has all been done.

More like, have the person use Safari or Firefox, especially for banking - even I am a bit leery when changing passwords, (not so much as I am if I am doing banking), and that's on a machine that is clean.

FWIW, Free zonelabs (mac version is little snitch) to prevent apps from phoning home and Avast for the PC, does a really good job at catching anything remotely looking like a virus. I know a few people that have been infected and these are the moms and pops that don't know any better, yet I have never seen a system that compromised their system. 9 times out of 10 it was a cookie tracker seeing where the user was going, no control virus. Most of the high end viruses have the .exe extension and you have to run it, and these days even grandpa knows not to do that as Vista and newer, tell them not to and normally kill it off before they can do any damage.

 

[justflie]

I would have normally said that Apple needs to stop harping on the virus thing as it's getting old. However, a friend of mine who just switched to a Mac recently asked me about virus protection for OS X. Most people still don't understand that, as of now at least, viruses are a non-issue on the Mac. Maybe they need to keep pushing it through advertising until people finally get that. The geeks know the situation but, sadly, the geeks have not yet inherited the Earth.

 

[Fastshutter]

If you didn't like them why did you go ahead and bought two of them (MacBook and iMac)?! Rational person would by one Mac. Use it for a while and if he likes it by another one or keep using it.

One for me, one for the wife. She is much happier with her Dell laptop over the macbook.

 

[BongoBanger]

No, they haven't. The Laptop Hunter ads were a complete failure. They seemed to help Apple sell MORE Macs! And they've also helped to a) lock MS out of the Premium end of the market and b) confine them amost entirely to the bottom-end. They certainly didn't help MS' image, which is now even more synonymous with bargain-bin trashiness. Yuck!

Actually that's not the case. They made Apple drop their US prices which increased their sales. In countries like the UK where prices remained static sales decreased.

As for the premium market, bear in mind the 90% is retail only. Most premium OEM laptops - Vaio's aside - are online orders.

 

[*LTD*]

These commercials still do not address the claim that Apple is overpriced.

Judging by Apple's numbers, record Mac sales in the middle of recession, they don't have to.

Apple's recent success, despite MS' efforts to curtail it, has proven that the "overpriced" claim is total bunk. Apple ignores it. Apple's main user base is ignoring it. There's no reason to waste time thinking about it.

 

[MattG]

Like maybe- the merits of thier OWN PRODUCTS????????

Exactly...the "I'm a Mac..." ads are cute, but that's about it. Apple needs to make people understand why their computers may cost more money, and why it's worth it. Microsoft has an entire campaign largely dedicated to making people understand that you can find a Microsoft-based laptop for under $700 (or whatever). Notice that there isn't much in those ads about how good the user experience is. Those ads are all about money! Apple needs to make people understand that they're unwilling to compromise on price if it means making a sub-par product, and that for spending a few extra bucks on a Mac, you'll be getting a better user experience.

 

[*LTD*]

Actually that's not the case. They made Apple drop their US prices which increased their sales. In countries like the UK where prices remained static sales decreased.

As for the premium market, bear in mind the 90% is retail only. Most premium OEM laptops - Vaio's aside - are online orders.

I'm really sure it was MS' intention to help Apple sell MORE Macs, whiule at the same tim turning out a lousy quarter themselves.

Yes, the Laptop Losers ads were incerdibly successful . . . for Apple.

 

[KingYaba]

Those ads were stupid.

 

[kernkraft]

I'm not a PC, I'm not a Mac, I'm not even a computer. I'm an actual human being.

Just two things...

1. Please, somebody punch that annoying Mac guy in those ads! Please! In the middle of his face, if possible.

2. I forgot the other one. Anyway, please, punch that man! It annoys the living soul out of me. I never wanted to punch anybody. Not even those fat, middle-aged men who I regularly see in cafes 'working' on their white plastic Macs and pretending that they are typing something important or doing something creative. Coooooool!

 

[hashholly]

Exactly...the "I'm a Mac..." ads are cute, but that's about it. Apple needs to make people understand why their computers may cost more money, and why it's worth it. Microsoft has an entire campaign largely dedicated to making people understand that you can find a Microsoft-based laptop for under $700 (or whatever). Notice that there isn't much in those ads about how good the user experience is. Those ads are all about money! Apple needs to make people understand that they're unwilling to compromise on price if it means making a sub-par product, and that for spending a few extra bucks on a Mac, you'll be getting a better user experience.

Apple needs to do nothing. They sell a product at a premium price, during a recession and are making a killing, seem's to me their commercials are doing just fine.

 

[bretm]

A driver a third party company makes, end user goes to install the driver but they installed the incorrect one. However, with Windows 7... pretty much all of that work is done for you unless you're using some old device that almost no one uses. All of my devices worked out of the box without shuffling around to find drivers.

Wow! Just like osx 10.1 like 8 years ago. Novel idea MS!

 

[Lershac]

macs bad for the economy, they must be stopped!

I am an IT consultant. Macs must be banned. They are simply bad for the economy!

With a typical windows installation, Servers, workstations, desktop pcs, there are all kinds of revenue streams to tap. See when you do the initial installation, there is the hardware, the software, the initial installation and configuration... This is all the same initially as with a comparable Mac installation, except the up front Mac price tag is higher. Not that much higher, but higher.

But with PCs, there is the ongoing revenue stream from coming in to clean up the spyware and viruses, the antivirus subcriptions, the backup maintenance, in general alot of ongoing maintenance. $$$ in an ongoing lovely neverending revenue stream! An IT businessmans dream!

But in my Mac installations, I install, configure, train... and then I hardly ever get to go back and bill outrageous sums to clean up messes created by the executives surfing porn, or the executives kids installing spyware-ridden games on the weekend, or users installing every toolbar known to God and not having any viewing room on their browser! On the mac installations, all I ever get is a little training revenue when they want to learn something new! How am I ever supposed to make a living here?

Macs should be banned because they are so much cheaper for business in the long run. PERIOD!

 

[rwilliams]

I used to love these commercials, but it's time to take this horse out back and shoot it.

 

[*LTD*]

Exactly...the "I'm a Mac..." ads are cute, but that's about it. Apple needs to make people understand why their computers may cost more money, and why it's worth it. M

I think people already know why, and have known for a long time. It's common knowledge.

 

[iSamurai]

I wish they would do something more special than the usual old "PCs have got tonnes of viruses and it crashes"... I think there's more than just that to get people using apple computers. I'm sick of these PC virus ads. come on...

 

[alent1234]

Wow! Just like osx 10.1 like 8 years ago. Novel idea MS!

now just try to upgrade something on an imac other than RAM. i'm on my second graphics card and might buy a third before i upgrade the motherboard and CPU

 

[BongoBanger]

I'm really sure it was MS' intention to help Apple sell MORE Macs, whiule at the same tim turning out a lousy quarter themselves.

Yes, the Laptop Losers ads were incerdibly successful . . . for Apple.

You didn't read the part about Mac sales decreasing in regions where the price cut didn't take effect did you?

Although I doubt this has much to do with the Laptop Hunters ads to be honest.

I hope you don't think I'm a vicious fanboy, nor do I want to start a flamewar here, but... I think you are way overlooking some of the biggest advantages of Mac OS X over Windows (and don't even try contradicting me on this one), which are maintenance, troubleshooting and a myriad of minute details that make all the difference.

I'm sorry but there's so much wrong with your post it's difficult to know where to begin with. You may want to familiarise yourself with the process of installing and booting from a USB stick for a start.

I am an IT consultant. Macs must be banned. They are simply bad for the economy!

Actually from the incredibly naive content of your post you quite clearly aren't.

 

[JohnDoe98]

Name one please. I'm very interested. I'd like to see the payload myself.

http://antivirus.about.com/od/macintoshresource/Macintosh_Viruses_and_Mac_Virus_Resources.htm

 

[bretm]

Just two things...

1. Please, somebody punch that annoying Mac guy in those ads! Please! In the middle of his face, if possible.

2. I forgot the other one. Anyway, please, punch that man! It annoys the living soul out of me. I never wanted to punch anybody. Not even those fat, middle-aged men who I regularly see in cafes 'working' on their white plastic Macs and pretending that they are typing something important or doing something creative. Coooooool!

Are you doing anything important or creative with your mac? I'm guessing the difference is those "middle aged" men are. I don't know how old you are, but I look at younger kids with an expensive laptop and think- wth does that kid need with that? They certainly don't need it for facebook and I know they're not using for work!

And I wouldve gotten away with it too if it weren't for those meddling kids!

 

[brendon2020]

i still hate these ads, they are clever though.

 

[kernkraft]

Are you doing anything important or creative with your mac? I'm guessing the difference is those "middle aged" men are. I don't know how old you are, but I look at younger kids with an expensive laptop and think- wth does that kid need with that? They certainly don't need it for facebook and I know they're not using for work!

And I wouldve gotten away with it too if it weren't for those meddling kids!

Please, note - the emphasis is on the word 'pretending'.

By the way, I'm 32. I haven't got any problems with my parents' generation. In fact, I really feel for the PC guy in the ad. I am also sure that these ads made Apple look even more pretentious. People like the underdog and maybe not for everybody but surely, for many, Apple made the PC guy likable.

 

[niuniu]

Old hat. They need specifics and to hit those specifics home. People might think, 'Oh great less trouble, less viruses, I'll go and look at the Apple site' - then they get hit with big price tags and it all goes out the window. Best stick with the cheaper, seemingly more high specced PC and use some anti-virus.

When you see a price tag, you got to have some idea of worth to attach to it, or else it's just a shiny toy for rich people. Which as most of us know, really isn't case.

 

[autrefois]

Every time one of these "Get a Mac" ads comes out, some people complain that Apple has been running them for too long.

Maybe it's time for Apple to release a Snow "Get a Mac" upgrade with under-the-hood improvements to tide people over until a new ad campaign is released??

 

[dejo]

Maybe it's time for Apple to release a Snow "Get a Mac" upgrade with under-the-hood improvements to tide people over until a new ad campaign is released?

Maybe an ad where an actual snow leopard plays nice with the Mac but eats the PC's lunch...