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Jul 02, 09 - 06:36 pm Comment from: Mac Daddy

...more chairs being thrown in Redmond.

More crap thrown into Redmond. Start your photocopiers.

Really, MDN, do you need to reduce yourselves to name-calling? Greaseballs? Please.

Take the high road.

I can't overstate the importance of Apple continuing to stress quality and continue to improve their machines - even if it is over hyped tweaks. Any slippage and all these cheaper choices will gain traction.

Steve's standard for staying ahead and gaining ground is part of what is at risk when we worry what it will be like without him.

you obviously haven't read this site before. MDN never takes the high road.

Jul 02, 09 - 07:23 pm Comment from: alansky

"Cheap, shortsighted ignoramuses" just about covers it!

@Name-calling?

The knee-jerkers are only pissed about MDN's use of "greaseballs" (With strikethru, no less) because it is so deliciously true.

Sometimes the truth hurts, but in this case, it sure is funny, too!

"Filmmaker" my royal ass.

Lighten up, Francis.

Jul 02, 09 - 07:34 pm Comment from: Jubei

Microass should air that puke ad to get Internet Imploder 8 some attention.

Jul 02, 09 - 07:39 pm Comment from: Macjammer

Okay about filmmakers, which I am one and I am on the Apple platform...

I just made a quick product comparison between Apple's Final Cut Studio 2 and Sony's Vegas Pro 9.

Firstly price and by the way I'm in the UK, so let's go with UK Pound Sterling.

FCS £831 all in and no Blue-Ray support, which is getting to be an issue, yes I can get Blue-Ray with Adobe's Toast on the OSX platform, but I'm just looking at 2 different video editing packages here with built in features.

Vegas from* £569.19. Has Blue-Ray and supports Red One as standard, for FCS Red provide the quicktime conversion software for content from their camera, I know this I have access to a Red One Camera!

My comparison is tricky and certainly not exacting as both video editing packages differ in delivery for feature set provision. Vegas Pro has only 2 applications in one and hence my * as to get more functionality in Vegas you have to buy more applications to add what already comes with FCS.

Both offer 5.1 mixing on the audio side. DirectX really for me isn't a professional audio format, its for gaming to be honest. Of course no DirectX on OSX. It is included with Vegas Pro 9. And in FCS you get far greater audio format support along with greater ability to control the audio, let alone Logic Pro as really the only other extra paid for additional app for FCS.

On price alone you get more from FCS as so much is included, more than just DVD authoring, which both Vegas and FCS offer. And to get similar/same I noticed that you will pay more overall for Vegas to get what is already in the box in FCS.

That factor is pretty endemic on the Windows platform in that most applications seem cheaper until you find that you end up paying more over the longer-term than under OSX.

@Name-calling?


Your new here obviously.

Jul 02, 09 - 07:59 pm Comment from: ken1w

As I've posted many times over the months (and even years), all Apple needs to get that second 10% in U.S. PC market share is consideration. Ten+ years ago, when Apple was the truly "beleaguered," hardly anyone (except the Apple-faithful) even considered getting a Mac; a Mac was simply NOT on the list of possible choices.

Then the iMac happened. And then iPod. And then Mac OS X. And then the Intel transition. And then iPhone. (And Windows Vista helped too.) "Getting a Mac" became a serious consideration for more and more people during the last ten years, which explains the corresponding gain in market share. If a long-time Windows user actually walks into an Apple Store to fairly consider a Mac, a good percentage will get a Mac.

The "Laptop Hunter" ads have not hurt Apple at all. In fact, they depict supposedly "real" customers, who are all (in every commercial) actively considering getting a Mac. They are just telling the remaining Windows users that they should also consider getting a Mac, and then reject that choice because Macs are too stylish and cool. Only, most people actually like stylish and cool.

So Apple should be thanking Microsoft for free advertising and for reminding Windows users to consider getting a Mac, before yet again buying another generic cheap-ass Windows laptop.

@MacJammer

I no Brits and Yanks speak the same language but I can not understand a single idea that comes from your post. It is muddled with tech jargon and acronyms. Reading your post is like watching paint dry or grass grow. It is a root canal for my eyes. I love the Brits and my fish and chips but for the love of god, spare us another post with Sterling Pounds, FCS, Adobe Post, Red One Camera.

Cheers mate,

RL

no vs. know. I know not the difference.

Jul 02, 09 - 08:30 pm Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

These ads were a joke before Apple dropped their prices. To ken1w's point, customers in these ads were looking for a Mac, then brainwashed by a Best Buy salesperson to buy something on the cheap (actually they were paid off by Microsoft, period).

The Mac ad above says it all - at the end Mac introduces himself as "a Mac" and the customer says "Hi, I'm a Megan". A double slam at MS for that OTHER failed campaign where everyone in the commercial presented themselves as "a PC".

Jul 02, 09 - 08:45 pm Comment from: TheMacAdvocate

I'd argue that Laptop Hunters never really had an impact. When the ads aired, the MacBook and MBP Pro lines had been stagnant since late '08 and the country was in the pit of a recession. There really wasn't any motivation for people who were going to buy a Mac laptop - switchers or natives - to do so. Only one sector of the laptop market was selling: netbooks. If anything, the Hunter ads may have spurred some non-Vista OEM sales, the least profitable for M$. Apple's margins didn't change at all.

Now the MBP family has grown and gotten cheaper. Firewire is back, SD slots are standard and every time a craptop hunter ad airs, I laugh. They've gone from one-note, cherry-picks to flat-out lies on the terms of the liars. Windows 7? Bring it!

I hate those microsoft ads, they are so misleading.

Almost as misleading as the phony pop-up Google ads that Mac Daily News has.

Jul 02, 09 - 09:35 pm Comment from: qka

@cylon

What popup ads? I don't see them.

As has often been mentioned here, there are solutions to that problem. Educate yourself as to what is available.

Jul 02, 09 - 10:21 pm Comment from: Always Right

You Tube - search laptop hunters.

#1.

Homeless Frank.

Jul 02, 09 - 10:22 pm Comment from: Olmecmystic

I mute those M$ ads every time they come on (I'm watching Wimbledon so they're on at every commercial break). They've even gone back to running red-headed "Lauren" again. The commercials are so unrealistic it's pathetic.

A "filmmaker" who flat-out dismisses a Mac for costing too much, when your computer is going to be editing every inch of footage you shoot? What, are you going to go cheap on your camera choice, too? What kind of future Scorcese are you?

Rico Suave' claims he KNOWS computers and knows what he wants, but basically shoots down Macs as being overpriced and overrated? Yeah, right. Every word out of his mouth sounds like Ballmer talking.

And the one with the mom and her son is ridiculous. What KID doesn't want a Mac when it's time to get a computer? Every kid knows what an iPod is because ALL of their friends have them. You put your music on your iPod with a Mac.

Personally, I can't wait till Snow Leopard drops so 64-bit OS X can put the hammer down on Vista SP2/Windoze 7. The new iPods and (hopefully) quad-core iMacs will set the stage for another stellar Christmas season for Apple, and more embarrassment for M$.

Peace.
Olmecmystic

Jul 02, 09 - 11:01 pm Comment from: HotinPlaya

This is the best Laptop Hunters add I have seen

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/cc5fb4a58b/laptop-hunters-brad

Jul 02, 09 - 11:42 pm Comment from: ShelbyMac

Has anyone else noticed the edited Laptop Hunter ad with the redhead? She now refers to the Apple store by name instead of calling it the Mac store. Also she is no longer shown walking in to the store.

Jul 02, 09 - 11:47 pm Comment from: Mr. Reeee

I thought that "filmmaker" was a new synonym for BUM.

Jul 03, 09 - 12:10 am Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

@ Macjammer,

Don't take 'RL's post to heart. Most of us here aren't use to seeing technical stuff like that. And be very careful using the pound symbol; the conservatives might think that '£' is Arabic and report you to Homeland Security. The holy rollers probably see it as something satanic. As for myself, I always thought it looks kinda French. No offense intended.

Jul 03, 09 - 12:17 am Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

@ HotinPlaya,

The 'Jennie' video was better.

Hey macjammer - I'm not Brit, but I did understand every bit of your post. You made some great points, and were definitely over the head of some people... <~hint... RL>

Jul 03, 09 - 01:25 am Comment from: Mr.Fergus

What! Brits on this web site, where's my claymore.

Jul 03, 09 - 02:23 am Comment from: flappo

tell that to jony ive

Jul 03, 09 - 03:36 am Comment from: Follower

@Ripper - MJ's consistent misspelling of "Blu-ray" was definitely over my head. Is it a British thing, like "ye olde Blue-Raye" or something? I hate myself for my American ignorance.

I'm not reading any of the comments until I see the rebuttal by Stevejack...

Jul 03, 09 - 07:51 am Comment from: MizuInOz

Apple innovation is always a winner:

look at this one!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BnLbv6QYcA&NR=1

YOu know you want one!!!

The laptop hunter segments are ridiculous. You get what you pay for. If Best Buy wants to coddle Microsoft, so be it. Apple should pull out of Best Buy, and then put up Apple stores close to where the Best Buy stores are located.

As for the lure of Blu-Ray on the PC laptops, the Blu-ray disc is going to face a short life. All of the HD content is digital content, and the disc is only a holder. Downloads or other methods of digital delivery will far outstrip the ability of the blu-ray disc. I have a feeling that the true reason for the SD slot in the new Apple laptops comes from this reason. Imagine lugging around a few HD movies on an SDHC card.

In a few years after discs are no longer used for movie distribution, Best Buy will be selling TVs, a few PCs, and a few appliances. Best Buy is not positioned all that well to survive down the road. The sales of Apple products are increasing while the PC market is shrinking. The reality is that most of the Best Buy stores are not pushing the Apple products as well as they could, and yet, Apple sales overall are increasing. Apple does not need Best Buy, and as such, Apple should pull out.

Jul 03, 09 - 08:44 am Comment from: almux

Lowering the prices of Mac is a very efficient way to get more marketing impact to very low advertizing costs!
Well done Apple, bracking M$ argues + no millions $ spended into adds is quite a fare operation!!

Jul 03, 09 - 08:46 am Comment from: almux

FAIR operation, not "fare"... sorry!

Right a few facts

Mr Fergus - The Scots are Brits. Indeed Britain couldn't be Britain without them. So I presume you are just a plastic one.

Follower- The Blu-ray logo has in fact 'Blu-ray' shown in that precise way with a dash so unless Sony have got it either now, or in some quaint quasi medieval world, wrong that's the way it should be shown unless you are being understandably lazy.

It really doesn't need much research you know.

As for film makers I have no problem with them on a collective basis, just the ones who work for advertising agencies for a living where the truth becomes purely optional. Funny enough unlike the 'I'm a Pc' ones those particular ads are not reproduced in the uk where that precise problem with the truth would preclude them suspect.

There's no such thing as bad publicity. The laptop hunter ads merely validated Macs as viable alternatives to PC's for the first time. They came after too much of the public already knows that Macs are the machine to own even if they are personally too lazy to switch. Most folks understand the value that Macs represent and these ads made PC's look like computers that you only turn to if you are down on your luck.

Jul 03, 09 - 09:56 am Comment from: TheMacAdvocate

@J.Scott
There is such a thing as bad publicity, but M$ wouldn't know how to use it. They tried to call out a competitor and ended up reinforcing their brand as cool and lust-worthy - basically par for the course in Redmond. Those ads not only broke marketing rule #1 (don't mention your competition), they repeated the message Apple uses in its own advertising!

The second those ads aired, Crispin Porter + Bogusky's office should have imploded. Seriously: you people do this for a living?

Jul 03, 09 - 10:02 am Comment from: Anonymous©

These were ACTORS! They are not real people. They are reading from a script! There's no way they say some of the things they do without prompting, like "I'm a pc".

Having said that, the "filmmaker" ad was a total joke. Final Cut is the most common piece of software used by an entry-level "filmmaker". For her to ignore the software and only look at the hardware in her buying decision is totally nonsensical. The 2GB jibe is also silly, since adding ram is both cheap and easy. It should play no part in a platform buying decision since it's an add-on.

What is rather shocking about the "filmmaker" ad is that they chose a woman who looks more like a man. Heck, Jackson's mom, the one that shrieks, whaaaat, is even more attractive than the "filmmaker and an artist". Did they think her homeliness made her more real?

Jul 03, 09 - 10:33 am Comment from: Zune Tang®

I disagree with MDN's take. Consumers don't want to think of themselves as money-wasting, shortsighted ignoramuses who'll settle for a poor man's Vista. If MAC sheep could get over their pretentiousness and take a good hard comparative look at PC specs maybe they'd realize they could save a lot of money that could be used on all the great Windows software out there. There's way more software for Windows than there is for MAC.

Face it, Microsoft won, MAC lost. Can't you MAC fangirls get over it?

Your potential. Our passion.™

Greaseball! I LOVE it!!!

Jul 03, 09 - 10:51 am Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

Once again the wisdom of Zune Tang comes shining through like a ray of sunlight burning through the fog of ignorance.

It's only logical that if you purchase a $300 Windows netbook you are going to have plenty of cash left over to purchase some of the fine software of companies like Symantec, McAfee, Kaspersky, etc.

@TheMacAdvocate

You are so right! What's amusing to me is that Macs are the computers that most treated with distain out of ignorance just a few years ago. Now it is MS machines that are treated with distain. The BIG DIFFERENCE is that in their case it is NOT out of ignorance but rather familiarity. Time is on Apples side.

Jul 03, 09 - 06:14 pm Comment from: BC Kelly

Ok, got it now


Microsoft is about to launch a whole new campaign

One that is guaranteed to garner a LOT of attention

Doubt it will sell many computers, imho, but sure will make noise



Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, and all the Ships at Sea

Introducing Microsoft's next Global Spokesperson

A public figure sure to fit in nicely with Redmond's plans and personality

A person who symbolizes the excellence we've all come to know and expect from Microsoft

A wonderful American who just became available today

Please give a warm Windows Welcome to ...

Sarah Palin



You Betcha




BC

Jul 03, 09 - 07:03 pm Comment from: Sir Gill Bates

@ BC Kelly,

Will she be able to work that into her busy schedule of campaigning for 2012? I hear she's already picked Mark Sanford as her running mate. What a team. Looks like a GOP comeback in the making.

Jul 03, 09 - 09:56 pm Comment from: BC Kelly

Sir Gill

Yea, sounds like a great plan

Get Balmer to manage the campaign, which should follow the success we've seen with Zune and Vista

"Why wait till 2012 when the Wow Could Start Now"


But may not want to mention Sanford and the word 'come' in the same phrase




BC



p.s.

And what you doing reading up on old MDN stories like this ?