Apple And The Mac Faithful.....

[Gator]

Here's a interesting article I found about Apple and it's loyal fanbase:

http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,56575,00.html

[Wickedkitten Veteran]

anyone of those can also apply to the windows faithful

Such is Mac users' derision, Microsoft is commonly referred to as Micro$oft, Microshaft or Micropoop. Bill Gates, of course, is the antichrist.

seen plently of people that use windows on this site refer to them as the same.

Hell you've got people on this board who loathe anything anti ms. Look at what happens whenever mozilla is mentioned and you have who knows how many people that think IE is the poop and sets the standards better than mozilla.

Or the people that get up in arms about linux or lindows. There's zealots everywhere you look. You've got your photoshop over paint shop pro zealots, and your bmw over mercedes zealots, and your chicken burger over cheeseburger zealots as well. To narrow it down to mac users is absurd.

However, having a nice tibook on an airplane is a nice way of getting to meet new people :D Amazing how many just wander on over for a nosy.

[Miran]

All I have to say is that I wasn't a fan of Apple until OS X.. Now I'm saving up for an ibook. Have you ever wondered why people are so enthusiastic and hardcore about certain things (such as Apple)? Perhaps b/c that thing is bloody well worth all the attention. It's just THAT good. :yes:

[JK1150]

anyone of those can also apply to the windows faithful

Such is Mac users' derision, Microsoft is commonly referred to as Micro$oft, Microshaft or Micropoop. Bill Gates, of course, is the antichrist.

seen plently of people that use windows on this site refer to them as the same.

Hell you've got people on this board who loathe anything anti ms. Look at what happens whenever mozilla is mentioned and you have who knows how many people that think IE is the poop and sets the standards better than mozilla.

Or the people that get up in arms about linux or lindows. There's zealots everywhere you look. You've got your photoshop over paint shop pro zealots, and your bmw over mercedes zealots, and your chicken burger over cheeseburger zealots as well. To narrow it down to mac users is absurd.

However, having a nice tibook on an airplane is a nice way of getting to meet new people :D Amazing how many just wander on over for a nosy.

Hah really? i saw this one guy take out a ti powerbook and give his kids two ibooks and they started playing games, which froze (OSX too...) and then he had to help them, then his ti wouldn't boot... ahh macs..

(Btw, in school i had to print using a mac but no matter wut i did it wouldn't let me get on the network, so i couldn't print, when i tried to save (on the local disk) it said insufficient disk space until i saved it as another file name, see, now u know y I have something against macs. That and last year for an engineering class we had imacs which were crap (kept freezing couldn't connect to networks, couldn't even save on the local disk))

[L33T P3N1S]

how unfortunate, maybe it was a sign for you to drop out of school and work at mcdonalds

[Joel]

The more I see the Apple Switch ads, the more Apple annoys me. Not because they're not good for the people who want them. Because Apple is saying, "We made this for you, the common idiot", and Apple fans agree. Let me re-iterate: I could not care less who uses a Mac, I just have a problem with Apple's comparison of an OS that is years old next to their very-new OS.

[Gator]

anyone of those can also apply to the windows faithful

Definitely, there are more than enough hardcore Windows followers, but they don't get quite the same response when they pull out their bulky black laptops on the plane. :p

[Chad]

The more I see the Apple Switch ads, the more Apple annoys me. Not because they're not good for the people who want them. Because Apple is saying, "We made this for you, the common idiot", and Apple fans agree. Let me re-iterate: I could not care less who uses a Mac, I just have a problem with Apple's comparison of an OS that is years old next to their very-new OS.

Do you think it would be a smart idea for Apple to market to those who have just bought winxp or a new computer? Of course not! They market to win98 users because a)it is by far the most common version of windows used b)win98 users are more likely to buy a new computer soon

It's called smart advertising; something most businesses try to do to sell products.

[Joel]

The more I see the Apple Switch ads, the more Apple annoys me. Not because they're not good for the people who want them. Because Apple is saying, "We made this for you, the common idiot", and Apple fans agree. Let me re-iterate: I could not care less who uses a Mac, I just have a problem with Apple's comparison of an OS that is years old next to their very-new OS.

Do you think it would be a smart idea for Apple to market to those who have just bought winxp or a new computer? Of course not! They market to win98 users because a)it is by far the most common version of windows used b)win98 users are more likely to buy a new computer soon

It's called smart advertising; something most businesses try to do to sell products.

Well, I would compare a 2003 Honda to a 2003 Ford, not a 1998 Ford. And their marketing does not explain why the switchers are, for the most part, idiots. Not because they use a Mac, but because some of them seem incapable of tying their shoes every day and living to tell about it. Or maybe they were using shoes from the 1800s and Apple's marketing wants these people to switch to their new shoes. :D

Look, I'm happy that people choose to use whatever they want and that they have a choice. Like I said, I have nothing against Macs. The zeolots single-mindedness is tiresome, but it's not my main problem with Apple, it's the marketing that makes no sense.

[Chad]

The more I see the Apple Switch ads, the more Apple annoys me. Not because they're not good for the people who want them. Because Apple is saying, "We made this for you, the common idiot", and Apple fans agree. Let me re-iterate: I could not care less who uses a Mac, I just have a problem with Apple's comparison of an OS that is years old next to their very-new OS.

Do you think it would be a smart idea for Apple to market to those who have just bought winxp or a new computer? Of course not! They market to win98 users because a)it is by far the most common version of windows used b)win98 users are more likely to buy a new computer soon

It's called smart advertising; something most businesses try to do to sell products.

Well, I would compare a 2003 Honda to a 2003 Ford, not a 1998 Ford. And their marketing does not explain why the switchers are, for the most part, idiots. Not because they use a Mac, but because some of them seem incapable of tying their shoes every day and living to tell about it. Or maybe they were using shoes from the 1800s and Apple's marketing wants these people to switch to their new shoes. :D

Look, I'm happy that people choose to use whatever they want and that they have a choice. Like I said, I have nothing against Macs. The zeolots single-mindedness is tiresome, but it's not my main problem with Apple, it's the marketing that makes no sense.

Car companies rarely compare their car to another in commercials. The auto business is much different than computers.

You have to realize the average person is an idiot when it comes to computers. People here at Neowin definately are not the norm.

[Miran]

People here at Neowin definately are not the norm.

At least not all of them..... :happy:

[sparkleytone]

the car analogies are not only old, but flawed.

i think there is a good deal of anti-m$ feeling with anyone who has been in computing for a little while and actually knows what they are doing. m$ has never really appealed to the computing purists on either side of the fence. ease of use advocates have plenty to whine about, as do the stability crowd.

personally, i choose a mac for near seamless hardware/software integration along with a wonderful OS and bundled apps. there really isnt much i cant do to tweak, fix, mod, etc a windows system, but why should i really have to? i am also quite experienced with linux and use it on a few old machines i have, but XFree leaves much to be desired. when it came time to get a new machine, i chose an iBook, and i will probably choose another mac when that time comes again.

one thing i absolutely love about my mac...a year later, and its faster than the day i got it.

[JK1150]

how unfortunate, maybe it was a sign for you to drop out of school and work at mcdonalds

umm... actually, i didn't have admin access, but i am saying that it still should have just detected the printers and worked, and I would be surprised to see you get into half the college I will get into...

oh and for all those Mac users who are about to curse me off with all your heart just know it was OS 9.2 and I like OSX, but our school's comps only have like 64MB ram, G4's though, but we can't upgrade...

[Joel]

The more I see the Apple Switch ads, the more Apple annoys me. Not because they're not good for the people who want them. Because Apple is saying, "We made this for you, the common idiot", and Apple fans agree. Let me re-iterate: I could not care less who uses a Mac, I just have a problem with Apple's comparison of an OS that is years old next to their very-new OS.

Do you think it would be a smart idea for Apple to market to those who have just bought winxp or a new computer? Of course not! They market to win98 users because a)it is by far the most common version of windows used b)win98 users are more likely to buy a new computer soon

It's called smart advertising; something most businesses try to do to sell products.

Well, I would compare a 2003 Honda to a 2003 Ford, not a 1998 Ford. And their marketing does not explain why the switchers are, for the most part, idiots. Not because they use a Mac, but because some of them seem incapable of tying their shoes every day and living to tell about it. Or maybe they were using shoes from the 1800s and Apple's marketing wants these people to switch to their new shoes. :D

Look, I'm happy that people choose to use whatever they want and that they have a choice. Like I said, I have nothing against Macs. The zeolots single-mindedness is tiresome, but it's not my main problem with Apple, it's the marketing that makes no sense.

Car companies rarely compare their car to another in commercials. The auto business is much different than computers.

You have to realize the average person is an idiot when it comes to computers. People here at Neowin definately are not the norm.

Actually, I have seen many, many car commercials say "Best in its Class". That's a comparison to other cars. People would think that the company was retarded to compare itself to another much earlier model year.

[aaron901]

how unfortunate, maybe it was a sign for you to drop out of school and work at mcdonalds

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Chad]

Actually, I have seen many, many car commercials say "Best in its Class". That's a comparison to other cars. People would think that the company was retarded to compare itself to another much earlier model year.

No that isn't a direct comparison to other cars at all. It has been rated best in class by some publication. They aren't stating any features their car has over the competition, nor do they say they think their cars are better than others. They are stating that some other entity has said that.

Like I said, for advertising, the auto industry is much much different that the computer industry.

[threetonesun]

no that isn't a direct comparison to other cars at all. It has been rated best in class by some publication. They aren't stating any features their car has over the competition, nor do they say they think their cars are better than others. They are stating that some other entity has said that.

Like I said, for advertising, the auto industry is much much different that the computer industry.

um...best in class means someone rated the car higher than all the other cars in its class. That's like saying Windows XP is the best home OS because it beat out OSX and Lindows (add any other desktop OS here).

Essentially best in class means if you had to buy a car, you'd get that one. If you wanted something more specific, then you'd look at the other cars. They most definetely think their cars are better than others.

The big difference between the two industries is that no one really has to look for a different OS...we could all use Windows if we wanted to. On the other hand, not everyone can use a minivan and not everyone can use a sports car.

[the evn show]

The more I see the Apple Switch ads, the more Apple annoys me. Not because they're not good for the people who want them. Because Apple is saying, "We made this for you, the common idiot", and Apple fans agree.

Just expounding on what others have said:

The Apple advertisments you see on TV may be targeted to "the common idiot" but that's not the only group of people buying macintosh products. There's also the *nix users who want 'really cool' hardware to match their 'really cool' OS and don't care about Windows or OS X, they're more interested in battery life, durability and other 'physical' features. There are the first time computer buyers (yes they still exist) who don't know heads or tails about the OS. There are the people who are just fed-up with $299 point-fix upgrades or are generally just sick of windows. There are system admins (i only know of one) who are switching to OS X for reduced TCO and the ease of admin. Then of course there's the xserve which is marketed at anyone EXCEPT the common idiot, and the ipod which is aimed at just about anyone with an eye for good design and a little too much money.

Yes the common idiot can use a mac, and I'm glad. If an idiot can 'get the job done' with a tool then just imagine what a skilled individual can do when they don't have to worry about all the fiddley bits anymore.

I chose the powerbook because I thought it would make an amazing linux box. ~1300x800 res, 5 hours of battery life, and a very stylish case sold me on the intial purchase but the experience I've had with OS X is what has sold me on macs for the short-term future (2 - 3 years). having all my devices (digi-cam, scanner, printer, harddrives, tablet, trackball...) work without installing any drivers was worth the price of admission. The way it interacts with my home network, the ease of install/unistall (drag folder to harddrive to install program, drag folder to trash to uninstall), the slick presentation, I could go on for hours.

The major tasks are pretty much the same on windows and osx, but the details are so well polished in os x that windows looks crude by comparison. every time I see a Wintel box with an os x-style interface I understand how ferrari owners feel when they see a ferio with a cheap fibre glass body kit .

[Wickedkitten Veteran]

btw switch ads aren't aimed at mac users, they are aimed at windows users that cant figure out how to get it to work.

Last night my sister in law was trying to print up some things for college today and she comes upstairs at 12 in the morning:

eve: "something is wrong with the computer, Everytime I try to print something with mozilla the machine turns off"

me: "yeah that happens with that version of mozilla and the printer" (It's a samsung ml-4500)

eve: "well why is mozilla on there then if it doesn't work"

me: "cos it only happens if you try to print something with mozilla and no one prints anything with it anyways" (wasn't about to try to explain standards compliance to her)

eve: "well you should take it off if it doesn't work"

me:(starting to get ****ed off) "Why didn't you just use IE then"

eve: "cos I've already turned the shaging thing off" (and then she stomps back off downstairs)

Just goes to show that no computer is idiot proof. Mind this is the same girl that when mandrake was installed as dual boot, accidentally booted up into linux and was sitting there using it fine until I pointed out she was in linux at which point she panicked.

Using the mac, she's absolutely fine as well except for the fact that now the cube is upstairs in our bedroom and im the only person that uses it bwahahaha

[Chad]

no that isn't a direct comparison to other cars at all.  It has been rated best in class by some publication.  They aren't stating any features their car has over the competition, nor do they say they think their cars are better than others.  They are stating that some other entity has said that.

Like I said, for advertising, the auto industry is much much different that the computer industry.

um...best in class means someone rated the car higher than all the other cars in its class. That's like saying Windows XP is the best home OS because it beat out OSX and Lindows (add any other desktop OS here).

Essentially best in class means if you had to buy a car, you'd get that one. If you wanted something more specific, then you'd look at the other cars. They most definetely think their cars are better than others.

The big difference between the two industries is that no one really has to look for a different OS...we could all use Windows if we wanted to. On the other hand, not everyone can use a minivan and not everyone can use a sports car.

Obviously some of you just don't understand the world of advertising.

I said that someone else rated the car best in class. I never disputed that. However, when Chevy says the S-10 is rated best in class THEY are not saying it's the best, and THEY are not the ones directly comparing an S-10 to a Ranger. Motortrend and other companies do the rating and say what is better. The companies themselves will very rarel (if ever) come out and say "yes our vehicle is better than xxx."

Do you understand yet? Car companies do not directly compare their car and another companys car in commercials. They say all the features and try to bring their car up WITHOUT bringing other cars down.

[Joel]

no that isn't a direct comparison to other cars at all. ?It has been rated best in class by some publication. ?They aren't stating any features their car has over the competition, nor do they say they think their cars are better than others. ?They are stating that some other entity has said that.

Like I said, for advertising, the auto industry is much much different that the computer industry.

um...best in class means someone rated the car higher than all the other cars in its class. That's like saying Windows XP is the best home OS because it beat out OSX and Lindows (add any other desktop OS here).

Essentially best in class means if you had to buy a car, you'd get that one. If you wanted something more specific, then you'd look at the other cars. They most definetely think their cars are better than others.

The big difference between the two industries is that no one really has to look for a different OS...we could all use Windows if we wanted to. On the other hand, not everyone can use a minivan and not everyone can use a sports car.

Obviously some of you just don't understand the world of advertising.

I said that someone else rated the car best in class. I never disputed that. However, when Chevy says the S-10 is rated best in class THEY are not saying it's the best, and THEY are not the ones directly comparing an S-10 to a Ranger. Motortrend and other companies do the rating and say what is better. The companies themselves will very rarel (if ever) come out and say "yes our vehicle is better than xxx."

Do you understand yet? Car companies do not directly compare their car and another companys car in commercials. They say all the features and try to bring their car up WITHOUT bringing other cars down.

I don't know where you live, but they do make specific claims about competitors cars in the ads I see. You say that Motortrend makes the claim about "best". Well, here Apple themselves do it, using ancient info. Apple will not include OS9 anymore (or something along these lines) because it's not stable. Should I compare a Mac with OS9 (most Macs users have not switched to OS X yet) to the fastest, loaded PC running WinXP? Lets compare apples to apples (no pun intended).

@the evn show: I have already said that some people have the knowledge and legitimate need/want/use for a Mac. I hope they love their Macs. Nothing will change the fact that Apple says if a PC is too hard for you, use a Mac. Where Apple gets it right is making sure it works when you use it. Too many OEMs load up WinXP (or any other) with all their crap and then wonder why their customers spend so much time talking to tech support because Windows crashes all the time. If I install a clean version of Windows XP on a machine, it WILL work properly. There is nothing wrong with Windows by itself, it's all the substandard crap software people load up afterwards (or the OEMs load for you). Apple just makes sure that you can't really break it (the OS).

[Wickedkitten Veteran]

I don't know where you live, but they do make specific claims about competitors cars in the ads I see. You say that Motortrend makes the claim about "best". Well, here Apple themselves do it, using ancient info. Apple will not include OS9 anymore (or something along these lines) because it's not stable. Should I compare a Mac with OS9 (most Macs users have not switched to OS X yet) to the fastest, loaded PC running WinXP? Lets compare apples to apples (no pun intended).

actually, the reason apple has declared os9 dead is because its old and they want everyone to use new technology.

Most users have indeed switched from OS9 and if you want to compare a mac with os9 on it to a winxp machine, go ahead. If anything the fact os9 is faster than osx would would give for a better speed comparison

[Joel]

I don't know where you live, but they do make specific claims about competitors cars in the ads I see. You say that Motortrend makes the claim about "best". Well, here Apple themselves do it, using ancient info. Apple will not include OS9 anymore (or something along these lines) because it's not stable. Should I compare a Mac with OS9 (most Macs users have not switched to OS X yet) to the fastest, loaded PC running WinXP? Lets compare apples to apples (no pun intended).

actually, the reason apple has declared os9 dead is because its old and they want everyone to use new technology.

Most users have indeed switched from OS9 and if you want to compare a mac with os9 on it to a winxp machine, go ahead. If anything the fact os9 is faster than osx would would give for a better speed comparison

If OS 9 is old, then Windows 98 is old, also. Again, compare like generations to draw comparisons, not skewed "compare the old to the new".

Just over half of previous Mac owners have switched to OS X, according to a Macworld poll.

[Chad]

I don't know where you live, but they do make specific claims about competitors cars in the ads I see. You say that Motortrend makes the claim about "best". Well, here Apple themselves do it, using ancient info. Apple will not include OS9 anymore (or something along these lines) because it's not stable. Should I compare a Mac with OS9 (most Macs users have not switched to OS X yet) to the fastest, loaded PC running WinXP? Lets compare apples to apples (no pun intended).

actually, the reason apple has declared os9 dead is because its old and they want everyone to use new technology.

Most users have indeed switched from OS9 and if you want to compare a mac with os9 on it to a winxp machine, go ahead. If anything the fact os9 is faster than osx would would give for a better speed comparison

If OS 9 is old, then Windows 98 is old, also. Again, compare like generations to draw comparisons, not skewed "compare the old to the new".

Just over half of previous Mac owners have switched to OS X, according to a Macworld poll.

Still don't get it? Find me a car commercial where the manufacturer directly compares their car to another's, and also says theirs is better.

But promise me you won't go into marketing. You'd never make it.

Why would apple try to lure winxp customers? They have a newer OS, and chances are a newer computer. Now would you say that is a smart marketing move to go after those people?

Or, would it be smarter to go after people useing windows 98? Who probably haven't updated their computer in YEARS, and might be looking for a better alternative than the windows 98 crap?

Now you tell me which is the smarter marketing move.

[Joel]

I don't know where you live, but they do make specific claims about competitors cars in the ads I see. You say that Motortrend makes the claim about "best". Well, here Apple themselves do it, using ancient info. Apple will not include OS9 anymore (or something along these lines) because it's not stable. Should I compare a Mac with OS9 (most Macs users have not switched to OS X yet) to the fastest, loaded PC running WinXP? Lets compare apples to apples (no pun intended).

actually, the reason apple has declared os9 dead is because its old and they want everyone to use new technology.

Most users have indeed switched from OS9 and if you want to compare a mac with os9 on it to a winxp machine, go ahead. If anything the fact os9 is faster than osx would would give for a better speed comparison

If OS 9 is old, then Windows 98 is old, also. Again, compare like generations to draw comparisons, not skewed "compare the old to the new".

Just over half of previous Mac owners have switched to OS X, according to a Macworld poll.

Still don't get it? Find me a car commercial where the manufacturer directly compares their car to another's, and also says theirs is better.

But promise me you won't go into marketing. You'd never make it.

Why would apple try to lure winxp customers? They have a newer OS, and chances are a newer computer. Now would you say that is a smart marketing move to go after those people?

Or, would it be smarter to go after people useing windows 98? Who probably haven't updated their computer in YEARS, and might be looking for a better alternative than the windows 98 crap?

Now you tell me which is the smarter marketing move.

Well, I thought that this could be a normal debate of opinion, but apparently you have to make this personal. I'll make you a deal: I won't go into marketing, and you don't ever try logic. You'd never make it.