“A complaint against Apple’s claim that its Power Mac G5 was the ‘world’s fastest personal computer’ has been upheld by the UK’s advertising watchdog. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said that the G5 was not the fastest computer ‘in all circumstances for all applications.’ Two other complaints about the G5 ad were rejected. The ruling comes as Apple rolled out a new range of G5 computers,” BBC News reports.
“The ASA said the complaints against the G5 magazine ad came from members of the public in Middlesex and Monmouthshire. There were three objections to the ad; that the machine was ‘the world’s fastest personal computer’ [which was upheld], that it was ‘the first with a 64-bit processor’ [rejected] and that ‘the systems built around the G5 can shatter the 4-gigabyte memory ceiling that limits every other PC on earth’ [rejected],” BBC News reports.
“[The ASA] said that Apple was justified in saying that the G5 had the world’s first 64-bit processor for personal computers… [and] also accepted Apple’s argument that the G5 was the only personal computer that could handle more than 4GB of main memory,” BBC News reports.
Full article here.
First post . . . so what????
Two out of three ain’t bad. And now that the dual-2.5GHz machines have been introduced, the third complaint will fall by the wayside, too.
“…members of the public…” eh? That’s dubious.
2 our of 3 aint bad
“members of the public”
Translation: four employees whose company name has the words “soft” and “micro” but not necessarily in that order.
It’s funny that they draw a line between workstations and Personal computers, when a “workstation” Opteron can be had for less money than a “personal computer” G5.
There are a few computers that come to mind that can also address more than 4 GB of Memory (AMD-64, anyone?).
If there’s anything as bad as politicians, it’s marketing departments.
old news
Are there any watchdog groups out there that will tackle Microsoft whwnever it makes positive claims about Windows stability or security? Apple gets a LOT of attention for supposedly being a bit player in the industry. Microsoft pundits constantly remind us about Apple’s pithy 3% market share, but practically fall down the stairs to tell the world when an OS X “proof of concept” virus or bad ad pop up.
Shabanz: these claims were mad BEFORE the AMD 64 was on the market, thats why the advertising was upheald as well as a real destinction between a workstation and a Personal Computer. Operon are not meant to be baought by an adverage consumer, as they cannot run adverage consumer software, whereas the G5 is and does, giving it workstation power but Personal Computer availability. Apple could have avoided all this with 2 words “One of” but they wanted to cause a stir and had a machine that could back up the Ads. Being fastest in “All application at all times” is really an impossibility in the market (see AMD vs Intel banchmarking)
if it isn’t, then what computer is faster than the G5, show it to us , prove it.
I bet anyone at the UK advertising watchdog, has ever used a G5 or a mac, and thinks that a 3.4 ghz pentium is faster than a -2 ghz G5-.
I want to know how fast a dual xeon workstaton is when you have all the virus and the spyware that practically comes bundled with windows , idiots!.
Correction
“made” not “mad” and “benchmarking” not “banchmarking”
Next up for the ASA – a suit against Mars candy. M&Ms; were actually found to melt in my hand as well as in my mouth.
Excellent Jimbo – took me all the way to the end to get a good chuckle!
WOOF!
WOOF! WOOF!
BAWOOOOOOOOOORRRRR!!!
I would like to press a suit against Qwest and their lame “Spirit of Service” ads. For those of you who have Qwest as their phone carrier, you know what I’m talking about. This old couple is sitting at the dinner table and they get a phone call in the middle of eating, and they actually become overjoyed when they discover it’s a Qwest telemarketer! WTF?!?! Qwest service is so bad they actually have to make these weird fantasy alternate reality commercials to make their employees feel wanted. Where’s the UK Watchdog group for that little pearl of TV nausea?
I’d also like the UK to check out the TV ad where a woman clogs a hole in her boat with a Tampax. Where were the benchmark tests for that?! There’s some seriously nasty and stupid ads out there for all kinds of things– hard to see why Apple’s ads are getting so many people so riled.
Ah, but the ad, and the takedown, get us emotionally, don’t they? In fact, the takedown extends the ads’ reach for free. You can’t erase the claim by negating it — it has taken some mindshare already. Do this four or five times and the mass market will believe the Mac must be the fastest out there.
Buffy…
I think you might want to do a little more homework…the opteron and Amd64 can run every windows/linux 32bit program on the market, and could since day one.
Opteron’s can run the same version of windows as a little shite emachines and can run all the windows versions of photoshop/MX suite/after effecs…you name it. In fact, the only 64bit OS available is linux.
When first introduced, they cost and performed about as much as you would pay for a similarly configured G5 (minus kick ass unix OS), only they came out in the end of April last year. They can physically handle up to 16Gigabytes of Memory on board.
They were marketed as “workstation” products, but there was no cost difference (and certainly no usage difference).
The AMD x86-64 products and the IBM 970’s for that matter are targeted at making the 64bit switch, as both chips can still run 32bit programs and OS’s. The reason why noone has adopted (or until last year) 64bit tech is that you have to replace all your software. Not true with the G5 and Opteron/Athlon 64
http://www.barefeats.com/g5op2.html
My name is Donnie!
What’s up with all this recent English justice Apple bashing? Do we have to cross the pond and kick some butt again?
The way I see it and I live in the UK, is 3 people out of millions complained.
In the UK we have Ad’s for Carlsburg export Beer (brewed in the UK) ! how is that Danish beer “export”? when it’s brewed in Northampton?
We have ADs for Intel Centrino laptops on the top of everest and remote beaches that make our consumers think they get WIFI anywhere.
Nobody complains!!
BTW I Saw a AMD add for AMD 64 that proudly stated “Double the Power -double the processor”
Proof
Yep… pretty dubious indeed. Apple needs to be a bit more cautious (and accurate) in its advertising.
Yep… pretty dubious indeed. Apple needs to be a bit more cautious (and accurate) in its advertising.
Interesting ad Mark Smith.
Shabaz you should look at it, at the bottom of AMDs own ad it states plainly that AMD64 is the “only” 64bit chip for windows, what does that say AMD thinks of obteron
Apple should relaunch the “Worlds Fastest Personal Computer” campaign, but use a scantily clad girl (bikini? Lingerie?) to help advertise the fact. Maybe she’s dressed in leather and got the computer on a leash?
Sure would piss quite a few off. Esp. geeky Microsofties who’d get all woody over it.
> geeky Microsofties who’d get all woody over it
oxymoron!