The following article was originally published on MacDailyNews on April 30, 2003. We found it quite an interesting read, especially knowing what we know (Mac mini) today:
By SteveJack
One thing you can be fairly well assured of when it comes to Apple is that they’ll tend to overreach no matter what they’re doing. Whether it’s eliminating floppy drives in 1998 (or, for that matter, being the first personal computer to introduce the 3.5-inch floppy back in 1984), debuting shaky handwriting recognition too early with the Newton, killing off every CRT display they had, unveiling Mac OS X before their hardware offerings could really handle Aqua’s Quartz windowing system, or their latest overreach, the “Switch” campaign.
Apple’s “Switch” campaign is a collection of television, print, and web ads designed to get “the other 95%” to switch from Windows PCs to Macintosh. Real people like Janie Porche, who explains how her PowerBook “saved Christmas” when her father’s Windows PC failed to import the family’s digital photos. Ellen Feiss, famously bleary-eyed while under the influence of sinus medication, describes how the family PC ate half of the paper she was writing amidst a frantic series of unintelligible “beeps.” Veterinarian Mark Gibson explains how his frustration with Windows reliability drove him to create a Mac network for his practice. Even Windows LAN Administrator Aaron Adams who tells the world, “I deal with Windows all day, and when I’m tired of fighting with that, I come home to a Macintosh that works.” These ads show that Apple is serious about getting people to drop Windows and switch to Mac.
Apple’s website very prominently features a “Switch” section (http://www.apple.com/switch/) with pages and pages of QuickTime ads, emails from switchers, a step-by-step guide for switching from a Windows PC to a Mac, and of course, how to buy. The whole idea is tied into Apple’s growing network of Apple Retail Stores, located in upscale shopping centers throughout the U.S. (http://www.apple.com/retail/). Launched in May 2001, with the slogan, “5% down, 95% to go,” the Apple Stores currently number over 50 stores in 24 U.S. states, with more opening each month.
The concept seems sound; open stores in high-traffic areas, get people inside the clean, museum-like atmosphere, let them touch the sleekly-designed machines, ask questions of a knowledgeable staff, see hundreds of Mac software titles, and show them why a Mac will make their lives easier. After all, it takes a bit longer than a 30-second television ad or a magazine ad to show potential customers why they should want a Mac.
The issue is Apple’s overreaching focus on switching. As usual, Apple shoots for the moon, when they could much more easily hit their target by simply asking people to become “Adders,” not “Switchers.” Why implore computer users to switch, when asking them to add a Mac to their computing arsenal would accomplish exactly the same effect Apple desires; to sell more Macs? Apple’s whole “Switch” concept is basically about getting rid of your Windows PC, moving your files to a new Mac, and how your computing life will be wonderful from there on out.
Unfortunately, Apple seems to disregard the learning curve, however slight, and the very real trepidation that switching to a totally new type of computer entails for the average user. Most people using PC’s are conditioned from Windows itself to be leery of a computer and pretty scared they might “mess it all up.” I call it “The Windows Experience.” Apple, of course, is comprised mainly of Mac users; people who are used to installing shareware and freeware apps with abandon and chucking them in the Trash routinely. Mac users aren’t really scared of computers because Macs rarely have viruses and never suddenly cease all activity to announce they need xyz123q.dll, demand insertion of the original disk that doesn’t exist, or regale them with a beautiful blue screen. Windows users, average people, not geeks, are more scared of their computers than most people, especially Apple’s Mac people, seem to realize.
John and Jane Doe would be much more receptive, I think, to being asked to skip a turn in the endless PC upgrade cycle and add an iBook or iMac to their computing lives instead. People are very cautious with computer purchases, still a relatively high-ticket item, and asking them to abandon their Windows PC cold-turkey is asking a bit too much. Why not encourage people to keep the safety blanket of their PC around, while showing them how easily they can connect it to a Mac, exchange Office documents seamlessly, and learn the Mac at their own pace?
Apple should continue pushing their technology forward with innovative ideas, but ratchet that ambition back to attainable levels when it comes to marketing. Asking people to switch is asking too much. Asking them to add a Mac is not. Once Apple gets them to add that Mac, they’ve won. In a matter of weeks, a month at most, they’ll switch on their own.
SteveJack is a long-time Macintosh user, web designer, multimedia producer and a regular contributor to the MacDailyNews Opinion section.
Isn’t the Mac mini really for switchers not adders?
I have a dell tower, monitor, keyboard and mouse. I detach the tower, throw it in the garbage and replace it with a mac mini. Voila! I’m a switcher.
peecee users are too paranoid to really throw away their peecee boxes completely.
they think “maybe I’ll need my peecee for something down the road. I’ll keep it just in case…”
Ah, but if they add the Mac mini and use a KVM switch to hook it up to the same monitor and keyboard/mouse as their PC would they be adders or switchers? I mean every time they used the Mac after the PC they would have to “switch”, right?
I am working on a desk that has an ancient Compac desktop running Windows 2000 and a new Compac Presario laptop running XP Pro. Both are running a single very expensive piece of industrial software that does not have an equivalent in the Mac world. Neither piece of software works on VPC. I would gladly get rid of both for a single Mac if I could.
The Switch campaign worked.
You are missing the point in that the Switch campaign gave a face to Apple again. Just as “Think Different” was meant mostly to inspire pride and reinstill a can-do attitude among Apple employees after years of demoralizing leadership and lackluster product offerings (Steve Jobs admitted as much), the whole Switch campaign was not really to create mass conversions, but merely to plow the fields.
Talk to ANY Windows user, and 99% of them will know about “Switching”, with a capital “S.” So even if the vast majority of them did not switch to the Mac, it doesn’t matter. Enough did to sustain Apple the last few years, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, the Switch campaign kept Apple in forefront of most people’s minds, whether they loved Apple or hated Apple.
It’s like Dolittle’s raid on Tokyo in WWII. As a practical matter, did it harm the Japanese military? Not even a miniscule amount, in terms of hardware. But did it shock the entire nation of Japan out of their illusion of invincibility? Yes, and the value of that was incalculable to the U.S. war effort, which needed time to regain to catch up after Pearl Harbor revealed how unprepared America was for the War in the Pacific.
The Switch campaign was a broad strategic play, just like Think Different. Don’t dismiss it because you are misinterpreting Apple’s feints.
New Type,
You must have missed the note introducing this article:
“The following article was originally published on MacDailyNews on April 30, 2003.”
The fact that SteveJack wrote this in April 2003 is quite amazing.
I think that the size of the mini is the clearest indication that this is aimed at adders.
Honestly, “adding” is not really practical for a lot of people if it means finding space for 2 computers on the desk. However, with the mini and a KVM switch (I swear, if I don’t see the switches piled up in the Apple Store when the mini comes out, I’m gonna hit someone), you can sit the mini on top of your Dell box and not give up any desk space.
okay I have to stop this now.
a KVM switch won’t work for 90% of the PC’s sold today.
The monitor has a nice adaptor.
the 1990’s style PS/2 plug is still standard. Sure most work with a usb keyboard and mouse, but that is not what is normally installed, and it’s not what you normally get by default.
some x86 computers 2-3 years old still don’t react well to USB keyboards while trying to boot into their bios.
it’s a good bet that a second keyboard and mouse will be nessacary.
“peecee users are too paranoid to really throw away their peecee boxes completely. They think “maybe I’ll need my peecee for something down the road. I’ll keep it just in case…”
I still keep my film camera in the trunk of my car “just in case.” I’ve been all digital for years (I’m a professional photographer) but I can’t seem to let go of my F-100 film camera even though I haven’t used it for years.
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Even though I switched to PhotoShop, I also kept our print enlargers in working order in the back room for over ten years! Just in case.
I wouldn’t blame windows switchers if they kept their PC in the corner of their room, just in case, the towers make good plant stands.
Peter, I see that I jumped the gone. In light of the fact the SteveJack wrote the article almost a year ago, it does seem very prescient. Kudos to SteveJack for the insightful commentary.
Good article – I agree – why both with switch when you can go with add?
I’m a PC user and I will soon be getting a Macmini.
I have NO intention of throwing out my XP PC ever – why?
Like most Mac people say “It does what I want and I have no trouble with it” – seriously – runs like a dream and has been on for months without a hitch.
The problem I have with the “switch” attitude is that it is exclusive – why alienate people for their hardware/software choice when you could be offering friendly advice and information – bring people over to your world the nice way. They may not switch but at the very least they will become aware of what is available.
So Apple is moving on from the ‘Switch’ campaign on to the ‘KVM Switch’ campaign? Brilliant.
I wasn’t aware that ‘modern’ PC’s still shipped with PS/2 keyboards; actually, I am surprised you still get a floppy drive! what do those disks hold, like 1MB of data?
All the more reason to dump that relic taking up square footage under the desk and replace it with a sleek, small and stable Mac mini…
(this post brought to you by the word ‘about’, as in “it’s about time that WinTel users join us in the 21st century!”)
“In light of the fact the SteveJack wrote the article almost a year ago, it does seem very prescient.”
ahem. almost TWO years ago.
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“I have NO intention of throwing out my XP PC ever”
So says the pre-Mac user.
Hahaha.
We’ve all been there.
You can’t get rid of the PC fast enough once you’re properly on Mac, and then you become a PC-hater because you suddenly wonder why you’ve been SCAMMED for all these years by Wintel.
JayKay – all too true.
Mac Mini – the new Trojan Pony. Add now, switch later.
I doubt it – as I said, I’ve had no trouble with my XP PC and I’ve had very little trouble with 2000/NT/98/95 – maybe I’m lucky or maybe I run a tight ship.
I’m not big on sticking with one platform, both for personal and professional use; especially since knowing about Windows, Unix, Linux and Mac OS has allowed me to score some sweet jobs.
If Apple is going to let me have a well priced machine that can run OS X at a more enjoyable rate than the 333HMZ Strawberry iMac I own, then I’m grateful. But Satan will be skating to work before I throwaway this Thermaltake case and all the sweetness inside it.
A common man’s dream come true and thanks a lot to Apple and good luck.
“So even if the vast majority of them did not switch to the Mac, it doesn’t matter. Enough did to sustain Apple the last few years”
ROTFL, yep enough of them switched to drop your market share from 5% to 2.1%(as in cut your share in half). Hell, some Mactards are bragging about the recent increase in share as if it were some great turnaround. You guys climbed from 2.1% to 2.2% which in all fairness is a 5% increase in your users, but still puts you down 56% overall since the “Switch” started, LOLOLOLOLOL
“and then you become a PC-hater because you suddenly wonder why you’ve been SCAMMED for all these years by Wintel.”
What’s the difference? Scammed by wintel(which you can’t even back up) or scammed by Apple(Which I can back up). I’d rather keep getting scammed by wintel than to start getting bent over and scabbed by Jobs and company. The Mac-mini is nothing more than another Apple consumer test to see how really stupid their user nase is. Anyone that thinks the mini is something new that Apple created is a fool. Anyone that thinks a box that costs more than a complete system from Dell is a value is a fool. Anyone that thinks paying more for a box of 3 year old parts than a brand new Dell system is a fool. And if you try to argue that the Dell is large and cumbersome is also a fool because you can get a PC in the same size package as a Mini and you can pack twice the power and features as well as triple the computing speeds into the same size package for $208 bucks less than the finest the mini ha to offer. Any way you slice it, you are a fool if you think the mini is anything more than just more Apple junk sold at an outrageously premium price. The damn thing doesn’t even have DDR support for christs sakes.(Cant wait to see people jump all over that statement so I can educate them in their own house)
Now, care to share how wintel has been scamming us?
“it’s about time that WinTel users join us in the 21st century!”
ROTFLMAO. I’ll bet not a single one of you has considered the fact that WinXP came out before OSX and that OSX couldn’t burn a CD, didn’t work with nearly all printers and cameras, has been patched every bit as much as Windows, gets hacked almost daily, and every single upgrade to OSX has brought more and more functionality that WindowsXP debuted with right out of the box. I love reading the release notes. Over 150 improvements to the OS at EVERY SINGLE upgrade. So what have they made about 600 improvements to the OS since it released? The finder has been “revolutionized” at nearly every release(which means that they never got it right in the first place and kept doing it over and over). Luckily it looks as though you may not have Finder taking center stage this time. LOL, how exciting.
Just to be a sport, I’ll examin Tiger and tell you all you obviously do not know…
I’m an adder. As an advanced Windows user (actually back to DOS), Mac mini finally made me give in and sample the Apple.
Slow news day?
I think the “mini” is just the ticket to get Wintel weenies like me to try their own Mac. PC Magazine states it’s around $700, and all you need are the periperals. Sounds reasonable to me. I also have the same opinion as Gav C: Knowing about other OSs/equipment is a good career booster. (We have about 10 on the job, but most support is outsourced – not a good thing from my perspective as a budding support person.) I have never owned a Mac, but from what I see of the “mini”, I suspect I will soon become a not-so-original sinner, like Mr. Winegarden.
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