I'm A Dumbass

But the general appeal of the Mac is that it is simply less of a hassle to use. Be it gui or peripherals or whatever. The commercials bring that across as far as I can tell. Does the average Joe care about the Terminal or BSD or Quartz? Hell no.

These adverts have been bothering me too. I don't personally use OS X on a regular basis, but one of my co-workers in my office does because she's our Graphics person. It has problems all the time, and crashes once a month or so. Me, I'm stuck on a piece of junk 300mhz PC with Win98, and have relatively few problems. And on XP Pro at home I've had maybe two problems (of my own making, mind you) in the past however months. As for the GUI, I notice little difference in ease-of-use… I'd have to say, if these people in the ads had so much trouble with Windows, they shouldn't have been able to pick up Mac any quicker.

I HATE those commercials to much that i dont even wanna watch TechTv when they come on. There are MANY MANY things i hate about the mac. Lets face it, PC's rule the world and Mac is not going to be able to take over. There prices are off the wall. An anyone who owns a Mac is missing out. The ammount of software that you can use on a mac is MUCH less than you can on a PC because no one makes mac stuff. Also, the software that does come out for the Mac and the PC is usually slower on the mac because its optimized for the PC. Also, mac is usually two years behind, and we have proof of that. Remember the 'blue screen of death' commercial? Well that was almost two years ago before xp came out. There is no more blue screen of death. I can think of so many problems with the mac. Do you own a mac? do you want to upgrade it? Well you probably cant. Some models are sealed shut and others have those weird screws that you have to get special tools for. Also, what hardware is compatable with the mac?

Those who look for truth in advertising are doomed to failure.
I don't think we'll ever see an ad for any product that is fully honest.
“Hey, we are pretty much the same as our competition, except we're Unix based and cost more…” ^_^
Actually, that would be pretty funny.

I think the ads are funny.

They are real folks, who simply want to go home and use a computer, not build or fix it because they build or fix computers at work. What's hard about that?

amen to that! I use and iMac at work and a PC at home. Honestly, I think a PC is easier and better at crunching data. (Besides the fact that I HATE one button mice.)
But this debate has been going on forever!

It's smart for Apple to attack the PC, but they'll get nowhere until they do the two things they've almost NEVER done dating back to the “spin a pretty apple-colored iMac while Dr. Ian Malcolm drools over it in voiceover” spots of a few years back:
1.) Show how you can use the computer, and that it's not intimidating to a longtime Windows user
2.) Show that this pretty, expensive-looking machine isn't that expensive by showing the price
A guy standing outside a store trading moves with the new iMac is cute, and they do show the price for once, but it still doesn't give a PC user reason to switch. The new ads can't even show a machine, much less a price.
No one wastes more money on ads than Apple.

The dissing goes two ways:
One button - Pshaw! I want my right click.
Apple = Damn dirty hippy machine

I completely agree, I've been ranting to my friends that those spots are DRIVING ME UP THE WALL!!!! I've been a PC gal since Dad bought the first family computer back when I was in 5th grade (late 80's). But school has always had Mac. The people in those commercials apparently need “Click here dummy!” instructions. As for the blue screen of death… I don't remember the last time I had one of those. The only time I have issues is if I've left my laptop on for too long or I do something stupid.
And I demand big things of my 'puter (Sony Vaio laptop). I regularly run 2 (or more) large graphics programs, plus explorer, and probably IE at the same time. Never have a problem. Of course saying that it'll probably crash the next time I do, Murphy's law and all that.
I think I've rambled long enuf! But I just had to contribute my two cents to the debate.

Well, I can't agree with most of you. I work in IT at Colgate University, and I have to work with both Macs and PCs on an hourly basis. I got started in the field by building PCs for my friends and family, so I've been a PC addict for a decade. About a year ago, I got a PowerBook in a trade, and since that time, I've switched over completely. Macs are NOT overpriced. I can buy a decent Mac for the same price it costs me to build a PC. OS X is a dream, I've been running for it for 2 months without restarting… try doing that with XP! Believe me, I have. Win2K, possibly close, but that isn't OS X's competition.
Anyway, that's been my experience. For me the Mac just works better, especially after coming home from a long hard day of dealing with broken PCs.

I just bought an iBook 700mhz 12″ combo drive, 640mb, 20 gig HD. I'm a long time windows user. I got tired of Microshaft shoveling it's @*&% down my throat. I've only been using OSX for 20 minutes now and I've figured out most of it already. It's so easy! And it has UNIX in it. It also has OS9 in it. Came with a lot of applications (all the necessary backup CD's) I could never get this much software and operating systems all at once with a windows machine. Microsoft had it's chance with me……it's over Bill. Divorce papers are in the mail.

Back in the early 90's I had purchased an LCII with OS 7, I had it for about 3 years when Windows 3.1 came out. I remember how excited my friends showed me how advance this graphical system was. Of course Mac snob that I was I say “It's not a MAC, hell it's not even GEOS”, to a usual reply of “but it run DOS and DOS has tons of programs”. So now it's 2002, and it still goes on. BTW remember the Atari ST vs Amiga? Or the Atari 800 vs. vic20 later c64? Remember GEOS ran almost all of these systems?

This is hard. I've been a Windows user since I got into computing. I never liked Macs one bit — probably because I went with the what people negatively said about Macs, much like some of you here are.
It's hard for long-time Windows users to not to hate Macs, and it's hard to long-time Mac users to not hate Windows. It's just the way it goes, and nobody really understands why.
I'll agree that Macs (especially now with OS X) are easy to connect peripherals with. If it supports 'em, plug 'em in and use 'em.
As for the 'one button' mice comment above, if you don't want a one button mouse for your Mac, go out and buy a two buttoned one. It's not like the mouse is glued to the computer. You CAN use other mice.
For Jason, if your co-workers had better computers, OS X wouldn't crash. I've been using my iBook with OS X since October 2001, and it's never crashed on me. That's right… you heard me. Never.
I'll agree with Peter Stork and the rest of you guys, Apple does need better advertisements/commercials. Some are alright. I think Apple's approach is to suck people in (with the genie effect ;) by entertainment. The commercials are fun, but you don't learn anything about the machine. Most of the time it's some animations mixed with a group of people doing things, or sometimes a computer sitting all alone with “White Room” playing, while the camera moves around the computer. Apple does need to reach out better and show people how it works, like they do on their website. OS X's section of their site is perfect, and explains how everything works right there. If Apple could only put that briefly into segments of commercials, people would wonder.
About the software, check it out. Apple.com shows you that there is TONS of software available for OS X. Why for OS X? Because it's great! UNIX developers can now finally consider moving their products to the Mac.
As with the blue screen of death, that's dead itself. However, I used to get it all the time. Windows 98 was mean to me.
I'm still a Windows user, don't get me wrong. I use XP primarily. Although, it's very nice to run off with my iBook in an area where no PC has gone before and just play around and play around. I love OS X, nothing will change that. XP is alright too, but Microsoft never really did anything dramatic to change their Operating Systems. If you don't want me moving to a Mac, Bill, you're going to have to get your team together to make something we've never thought of… and make it amazing. OS X is amazing — nobody expected it. :)

*edit* the comment about Microsoft not making Operating Systems dramatically different, I'm talking about Windows 95 and up. Look at the amount of years it's been practically the same.

MAC is a joke. To gain more software compatibility, they moved to a linux based core. Even that they did poorly. In a CNet article, the father of linux said that Mac made every mistake he knew of in creating OSX and some new ones. That hardware is proprietary and overpriced. As far as the stability of linux/OSX, that like with Windows depends on what your running. I use both operating systems and compared to Win2K/XP, the Mandrake and Red Hat installs I have are more complicated to support, install and have applications that crash more often. If you were to compare just the operating systems, stability would not be an issue. Security and expandability are another issue. The security and program updates for linux outnumber those for Microsoft by a factor of 5 to 1 and this doesn't include the various flavors of UNIX and Cisco boxes out there.
As far as the converted users go, they are either lying or so incompetent that they shouldn't be allowed near a computer, or sharp objects for that matter. Lets dissect the one I saw last night. This Aaron who is a “Windows LAN Administrator”. First of all, note he is not an MCSE, MCP or more appropriately, MCSA. He states that he's been doing this for 5 years (since 1997). What was he administrating? Windows 95/98? He also states that “keeping all of those Windows machines running is a constant struggle”. I administer a mixed network that has about 160 Windows systems ranging from 95 to 2K pro. This does not include all of the servers which are also for the most part Windows based. The most problems I have are caused by third-party software. Suffice it to say if you have to constantly struggle to keep your systems working, I would choose a different profession.
Read some of the other “stories” (i.e. fairy tales, made-up, not real). One lady had the appearance of the machine as the first thing that is better on the Mac, not functionality, price or ease of use. Another lady has been using a PC for 20 years for work (since1982. Can any of you remember the system you were using in 1982?). She states how easy it is to use her Mac like viewing a Yoga DVD. I wonder how wonderful it was for the first users of OSX when they found out that minor things like DVDs, CDRW and the multimedia item that Mac is “famous” for were not even supported.
I hope these people like paying $2,000+ for a new system when it is time to upgrade while all I and all non-Mac users have to do is buy a new processor and/or memory. And lets not forget the amount of Apple that is owned by Microsoft. On the Apple site, they also praise how well applications like Office do on the OSX. Funny. When Mac “embraced” the open software world of linux, they attacked Microsoft for being proprietary( if that's not the kettle calling the pot black). Why hasn't Apple pushed for or supported the idea of using Open Office or Star Office on their systems? Compatibility issues or simply the fact that there is no profit in it.

I've used both in a lifetime of miscellaneous computing and I wanted a G3 sooooooo badly … but the price never came down to where I could afford one. I do think the ads are a little humorous - and what's up with that one-button mouse? I need 5 buttons to take care of an average day's work. ^.^
You can't fault Apple for trying. Though it's gonna take much more than a commercial to get more people to make the switch.
My $.02

I have to agree. Why must any company have to attack another in that way? If you're better, show WHY you're better!

I don't really like them either, but it appears to be a natural extension of their marketing strategy. When the iMac first appeared, the main target audience was “online newbies” and focused on simplicity, etc…
The company then focused on keeping the existing Mac users they had through innovations, cool new products and of strong support from the major applications providers.
It seems they've done this well and now need to tap into the market that already has a PC and is ready for a change.
Hope it works.

Thomas, It's actually based on BSD's version of UNIX (based on NEXT and so on). Robert the reason is because in a perfect world the best product wins. Besides, this ain't new. I loved the “big Brother” commercial against IBM.

Robert, think about it… in order to gain customers/consumers you need competition. How do you gain competition with companies like this? Exactly my point.

http://www.theregus.com/content/39/25261.html
Here's a snip about the folks in the ads:
“Here in unforgiving relief are a collection of scarred, terrified refugees from life - for whom the computer is alternately a punishment surrogate, a child substitute or a masturbation object. They're framed in high contrast and against a white background, perhaps an unconscious homage to Persona - with characters in states of psychological extremes.”

Hey……this came off of lickmysweaty.com/truth 5 minutes (literally!) before he had to shut the site down because of apple.
http://www.nitrogencomputers.com/patrick.wmv
(as you can see i'm hosting it on my server. i ain't gonna take it down.)
It's a parody for one of those dumbass apple commercials. really funny..
/e

Few points. One look at the RC5 stats. My duel 1 Gig G4 does about 4 times the fastest PC. Period. About the ad's… Are you folks drunk? Ok they are annoying, as opposed to I don't know, hmm “dude your getting a Dell” yea there is one for a start. And how does aliens plugging in a Pentium 27 and getting all these graphics show the chip is worth a damn?
Are Macs upgradeable? Heck yea, I replaced my 9500 I bought 4 years ago that started out as 120 MHz 604 yet when replaced it was a 450 MHz G4. My new duel 1 Gig will need no upgrading for 2-3 years. Compare that to your pc. Yes they cost more, but I have never had to reformat my HD. All my apps always work. I plug something in and it works or it doesnÂ’t. Period. It does not take my computer down till it gets back from the shop. You pay for better parts that all match, I do not use brake shoes that I can buy cheap over the internet cause I do not want them to fail why buy a no name CDR? Not to mention I can burn DVDÂ’s.. straight out of the box.
It is about time Apple started to show people that a computer can be your friend and partner, not something you kick everyday. Why do you think apple fans are so devoted, we LOVE our Macs, Do you love your Dell? If not switch. If your company is PC only then find one that isnÂ’t or change them.

Ha ha ha. You really have to admire the gall of a Macolyte playing the upgrade card. Your dual will need no upgrading for two years because Motorola will take two years to get the Gwhatever any clocked any higher that is if their semiconductor division lasts that long. I love that your computer is your partner because it indicates that Steve Jobs is not your only love interest. Way to lead a balanced lifestyle there saddo. Your post is the funniest thing I have seen on the Web today including NTK who generally take the Friday crown. Well done.

I'll chime in a bit late:
I don't like, particularly, the new Apple commercials. But the idea, aside from being so overly cute, is a good one. The problem with the Macintosh is that it is stereotyped to be used by sandel wearing hippie liberals with a dead tree smell about them (even though it was used at the Republican convention), geeks, or followers of Wicca––or that it is only for professional designers and that it doesn't have games at all. It's none of those, it's a great system that shouldn't have any potential taboo associated with it. Whatever you may think of the commercials the website has everything a Windows user needs to know to jump ship.
Of course the perspective is skewed and in-depth low-down on the truly amazing things about OS X are ommited, but these people that Apple is targeting could care less about the way the Unix base allows better sandwhiching with the hardware. All they want is pizzaz. Anyone who cares about those kind of things already owns a Mac.

I am also offended that this is C:\PIRILLO.EXE; it would probably crash. Try .app or just drop the cornyness.

I liek how the iMacz have the vvery pretty colours and the smiliey face on teh screeeeeeen! LOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!11111
^ ^
\_/
Macs are fun to play around with for a white, but they just get boring after a while, and things. Whatever, I like my PC because I BUILT IT. When I can build a Mac for a good price, I might consider it. I doubt Apple will ever allow other companies to make “ram” and “motherboards” that aren't severly regulated, owned by Apple, and cost outrageous amounts of money compared to the open-ended format of the PC.
Maybe those acid trips Jobs had really damaged the “realism” and “logical thinking” departments in his mind… (that was a very low hit, so I'll correct it by saying Bill Gates is a bad driver, blah blah blah, and he smells.)

i have to very much disagree with you
the layout of it makes more since than a windows does
for example when searching in os x all you have to do is type in a word or phrase and you instantly have everything there right in front of you broke down in categories and everything
while with windows you have to type it in and then select pretty much which folder you think that it is in then you have to dig through all the searches

so in my opinion i think that os x is much better
17″ macbook pro
2.6 Ghz processor
4 GBs ram
leopard
with bootcamp vista ultimate