New Apple ads make Mac owners look inept, foolish?

**** Mac

and **** Pepsi while I at it

 

Didnt watch the vids. Im assuming its just a bunch of people wearing stupid hats and holding a starbucks cup in one hand and showing you the receipt for the stuff they just bought from the applr store.

 

I can totally see an Apple Genius Bar guy wear that on to the plane.

 

Not really. People arguing this stuff on the internet tend to forget what the mass market, mainstream customer is like. Lots of people out there are (or assume they are) bad with technology no matter what that technology/computer may be. Having actual support is important to them (especially if you are asking them to switch from an OS that, while they already feel they are 'bad' at it, at least they have some familiarity).

This 'omg they are saying XXX are stoopid!' is just fanboy nonsense.


The ads suck IMO. But they are clearly aimed at a target audience.

 

It's good because with closer competition, we can see more innovative updates. Apple isn't going down. I see it as Apple is slowing down allowing an opportunity for competitors to speed up and catch up. Instead of getting 10MP camera on my iChat camera on the iPad, we can start seeing some more innovative features. The last couple of product line updates were just upgrades to me. I'd like new ideas in every next iteration of Apple products.

Instead of "Siri is smarter and knows sports now!" I'd like to see, "introducing Biri: he can get you a beer!"

 

Huh, we have completely different views of the same issue. I agree the last couple of Apple cycles have been marginal upgrades, but I doubt that Job's death will increase the number of innovative things coming out of Cupertino.

Apple wasn't forced by competition to innovate when they came out with market defining products like the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

 

I don't think they are aimed at the correct market though. If people struggle as much as they do with those Macs in those ads, why not just get a PC? They aren't playing to their strengths in these ads. Ironically I think Microsoft did a similar ad campaign with a little girl who was able to use movie maker and photo center to make stuff for her parents. I think that was slightly more effective and it was geared at the right audience. All those ads show me is that you will struggle regardless of what platform you choose. How does that sell the apple name?

 

I agree I think those MS ads were a lot better. But there's a reason they are using a 'genius' in these ads; not just selling the system, but the services as well. Until MS stores get more widespread/successful, getting the support by walking into an Apple store is the other thing they are selling that you can't get by buying a run of the mill HP out of Best Buy.

They are talking to the people who believe they will struggle with anything, and saying, well it's easy to learn and we will be there to help you.

 

They're just marketing to a different segment that will still buy and use their products. It's like how beer commercials target minorities or women.

Is iMovie any better than Windows Movie Maker? Not really, but Apple has decided to advertise these underutilized basic/included features.

Microsoft doesn't. But hey, people are still going to buy more Macs.

 

Apple's product is so horizontally integrated it's ridiculous. They provide > 90% of the computer experience themselves: OS/Software/Support/Retail Presence/phone & tablet integration.

Microsoft struggles because they provide only one successfully.

 

Queue bobrek and Cowboy_Bepop posts in 3, 2, 1.

 

That is very true. I overlooked that a bit. I will admit the Genius Bar is much better at resolving problems than the Geek Squad and other companies of the sort. I still think it makes the presentation rather weak. Steve Jobs never would have let this crap pass through. Apple really needs a new Jobs...

 

What? Have you seen Windows 8/Windows Phone 8/Xbox 360/720 stuff? Having a Windows 8 tablet, windows phone, Xbox, and a windows desktop I can easily affirm that they all integrate beautifully. Dare I say it, the integration is better than a lot of my friend's iPad/Apply TV/iMac setups.

 

No I haven't, which may speak to Microsoft's advertising effort. Windows 8 isn't even out yet.

But you sorta missed my point on service. By Apple being the manufacturer of hardware/software as well as the support, going to the genius bar is a one-stop shop for problem resolution. Microsoft is trying to get there, but I don't think they'll service a Sony/Toshiba/Fujitsu laptop in their new stores. I don't even know if you could take your Xbox 360 into the Microsoft store for support.

 

How am I associated with him? I like Apple products, and I also like Windows products. I have an Android phone. I buy what works best for me - iMac for most of my stuff, Windows laptop for work when I travel.

EDIT: Plus, I don't think I have ever dissed MS products.

 

Windows 8 RTM will be fairly soon (late August) but the betas have been in full swing for months now. As for the Xbox to an MS store, I don't see why they wouldn't help you, they sell Xboxs there as well.

I actually don't like the notion of apple controlling hardware and software. I like the approach MS has taken with Microsoft surface. Microsoft will make tablets and say to other manufacturers beat us if you can. This will overall drive the price lower and end up with better customer service. The problem I ran into with Apple was that if you did not have a particularly good genius bar you were sort of SOL. In Tucson the geniuses were arrogant assholes who really didn't know a damn thing. In Phoenix they were much better, however, I didn't feel like driving to Phoenix just to get some service. Unfortunately this is what apple sets up by not really allowing competition in their own market.

I will admit it has taken a bit of failure for MS to finally learn how to approach these things. Heck, they finally are starting to hire the right people in advertising too. I just wish we still had the Apple that created the first iPhone instead of the Apple who thought Siri was a great idea. Heck, Windows Phone and Android had Siri mimics before Siri even existed. I wish Apple got back to being smart.

 

Honestly, he probably wouldn't have, but I am kind of interested in seeing what Apple does now that they have a different guy in charge. Apple's a large company and there are still a lot of hand picked people there so I think it will interesting to watch what they create without Jobs there to shut down things that might have still been good but weren't allowed for whatever reason.

Oh, it's considerably better than Movie Maker. However, there are plenty of options for the other services (photos, music) that you can find on the Windows side that are just as good or better.

Still, nice to have it all together and integrated (particularly when you throw mobile devices into the mix).

 

They'd help you, but would they service it in-house? A big appeal for me is that Apple does most of their repair work on-site. I don't know if Microsoft's stores will repair Xboxs on-site. That'd be a huge plus for gamers with the RROD but an expensive undertaking for Microsoft.

A closed system has it's upsides and downsides. Price competition is obviously hurt, but ensuring the best possible user experience is greatly augmented. Google has almost no control of android and there are plenty of great android devices and ****ty android devices. Better integration can also lead to things like the MacBook Air being the first laptop with 10+ hour battery life.

Haven't experienced a bad genius bar, but I can imagine that'd be a factor.

Siri and iCloud are admittedly raw features but they both have huge potential. I think it was just shocking how unpolished they were at release.

 

Sorry, didn't mean that you were a troll or anything. For some reason I just remember seeing your name usually when there is an Apple thread.

 

I usually respond in those threads when someone posts something stupid.

With respect to these ads, it seems like they are knocking the 'ease of use' aspect of MACs in favor of promoting their support staff.