Debunking Mac's Self-Created Ad Hype

Thu Jun 29, 2006 3:48PM EDT

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Slate's Seth Stevenson recently posted an intelligent analysis of Apple's inescapable online and offline ad campaign which features two men ("I'm a Mac. And I'm a PC.") encountering anthropomorphized computer issues. The Mac gets through them all with grace, while the PC has nothing but trouble.

Stevenson brilliantly points out why the ads don't work (namely because the guy playing the "Mac" comes across as smug, know-it-all jerk and the "PC" guy is actually quite loveable). But I figured I'd actually look at the technical claims that Apple is making in the pieces. Can an Apple really set you free the way the company claims it can? Let's take a look, point by point. (Follow along with the ads, if you'd like.)

  • Networking is easier on a Mac, as is adding peripherals. The ad begins with the Mac and PC holding hands because, true enough, you can network the two platforms together without difficulty. Then a digital camera (represented by a Japanese woman) joins the network. And it "just works." Never mind that you don't network a camera the way you do a computer (I mean, you can, but few people do), but I'd argue that far more peripherals are compatible with a PC than with a Mac. As well, I've seen countless computers have trouble with Bluetooth connections, even using Mac hardware with a Mac computer. This one's confusing and just plain wrong.
  • Mac's software bundle spanks Windows. Absolutely true. iLife, which comes free on every Mac, is the cat's pajamas. The bundle of junk that comes on most PCs is enough to make you reformat the drive.
  • Macs are easier at creating websites and editing photos. Not really. The software is largely identical on both platforms, and Cnet's recent tests showed that Photoshop is faster on Windows than on MacOS. (There are issues with the current versions of Photoshop and MacOS, but I'm not sure that's relevant.) Editing movies, however, is much better on the Mac.
  • Macs never have to be restarted. Sure they do, but not as often. PCs are indeed more crash-prone, particularly older hardware running newer OSes and applications. Ask anyone trying to run OS X on a 1999-era Mac if they have trouble with it (or if that's even possible) and you'll be comparing apples to apples. Now new PCs may indeed be less stable than new Macs, but modern PCs honestly don't crash constantly and when apps do crash, Windows is much better at recovering without a reboot than it used to be.
  • Macs don't have virus problems. Completely true for now, though the winds of change are upon us as the Mac platform becomes more popular and virus creators become more interested in compromising it. Contrary to popular belief, Macs have had viruses in the past, and new Mac viruses are slowly starting to pop up in the wild. The Mac platform is not inherently bulletproof. Just ask any Unix user who thought he was immune during the 1980s and 1990s.
  • PCs aren't built for "fun" but rather for making pie charts. A rather inane claim, considering the PC has probably 10 times the number of games available for it that the Mac does. (The ad itself actually makes no mention of games but would rather have us believe that podcasts are "fun.") You can't play Half-Life 2, Oblivion, F.E.A.R., or dozens of other titles on the Mac. When titles do trickle to the Mac, it's usually months after the PC and console versions. Mac gamers usually are forced to play World of Warcraft or get a console for gaming. Oddly, every Mac enthusiast I know also has an Xbox, which is a Microsoft product. I'm just sayin', that's strange.
  • You can run Windows on a Mac. Yep. Works pretty well. Costs more to do it, though, as you'll have to buy extra software (including the Windows OS).
  • Setting up your PC takes an eternity, as you have to delete trial software and "downlod new drivers." Depends on the vendor and the PC. Dell and Sony are generally the worst at bundling shovelware on their machines, whereas most vendors' "business" machines come blissfully junk-free. Uninstalling this stuff does take time, as does running all the Microsoft security updates. Generally drivers are largely up to date on new PCs, though video drivers are constantly being upgraded. Unless you're reformatting your hard drive, this process shouldn't take more than an hour, and you can "read the manuals" while that's happening.
  • Walt Mossberg loves Macs. Indeed. I'm not sure that's enough to hang your case on, though. PCs do indeed get rave reviews, not just from the computer press but, yes, from Mossberg as well. I'm sure Mossberg loves ponies, too.
  • PC users don't know how to tie a necktie, and Mac users wear hoodies. Now that's just silly.

So, Apple's claims are about 50-50, which is pretty much par for the advertising world. The ads are clever, sure, but I wouldn't base a buying decision on them. As always, I recommend trying out a Mac in person either at an Apple store or via a helpful friend. Heck, hang around a Starbucks for a few minutes. Those places are crawling with Mac users. Hmmm, now there's an ad I'd like to see.

Comments on Debunking Mac's Self-Created Ad Hype

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  • 1 Posted by ytech_robinraskin on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:58PM EDT Report Abuse

    Ah... but if you compare the in store experience... Great comparison; well said.

  • 2 Posted by thepixelarchitect on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:04PM EDT Report Abuse

    As a user of both macs and PC's for years I have to disagree with a few of the assertions you make Chris. It is absolutely easier for asomeone like my mom to build a website using a mac than it is for her to do the same on a PC. My mom would NEVER even attempt to use photoshop, so that assertion seems geared towards non casual users. And it is always been my experience that networking devices is a better experience for a mac user. plug in a camera, and not only does it recognize the device, it will open iPhoto and ask if you want to import the pictures. Plug in the camera to a pc and you have mounted a drive. Now explain to my mom how a camera is a drive, and you'll be all set! Now I do agree that the tone of the ads misses the mark a bit, in that mac users do suffer somewhat from an air of insufferable superiority (I am guilty of this), but overall I think the ads are better than 50-50 on their assertions

  • 3 Posted by byxba on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:15PM EDT Report Abuse

    The primary problem with this column, and Stevenson's breakdown of the ads, is it assumes that the ad is intended to make you want to you out and buy a Mac. These ads are focused more on creating an awareness in the mind of the customer base that is thinking about a new computer purchse or simply to change attitudes about the Apple brand (outside of the iPod).

  • 4 Posted by robertncole on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:45PM EDT Report Abuse

    Let me comment on a couple points: Networking is easier on a Mac, as is adding peripherals. --Sure, there are loads more peripherals that are available for Windows, although this is entirely due to a lack of drivers. However, most of these peripherals are niche devices, not things like digital cameras. Apple was poking fun at the fact that quite a few cameras that don't use disk emulation mode but require a proprietary protocol to talk (at least the mainstream ones, like Kodak and such) all just work on the mac, but you have to install the software on Windows. So yes, this is a valid point. Macs are easier at creating websites and editing photos --They are not talking about Photoshop here, or Dreamweaver. They're talking out of the box, and out of the box Macs ship with iWeb, a web site creation tool, and many tools needed for photo editing, although none as powerful as Photoshop. On a PC, you have Notepad and Paint. So yes, it IS easier on the mac. Macs never have to be restarted. --Specifically about the 1999 era mac and comparison. I personally have a 1998 era original iMac DV 400MHz machine, with upgraded RAM (1GB) and a bigger hard drive (just for kicks). This machine is running OS X 10.4.6, and running it WELL. In fact, the only time it gets rebooted is for system updates, which is 1-2 times a month at most. I think the last uptime for it though was something like 45 days, and it was only shut down because we moved it (I skipped some updates).

  • 5 Posted by pero69 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    "Networking is easier on a Mac, as is adding peripherals" While it is easy networking both of them, I think that your statement about more devices working for the PC is slighyly off target. I think the commercials are trying to say that it's EASIER to add devices to the mac. I would say that's true because 99% of the time, you will NOT have to install drivers. Granted, the PC does have WAY more compatible devices, but if the device is meant to work on a mac, you probably won't have to install any drivers. "Macs are easier at creating websites and editing photos." I think i have to agree with this one. Have you ever seen/tried iWeb? I think for your "average user", iWeb is as easy as creating a website is going to get. "considering the PC has probably 10 times the number of games available for it that the Mac does" Now, however, the mac has all of them available. I think the commercials may be doing a bit better than 50-50.

  • 6 Posted by pero69 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    looks like somebody posted the same responses I did just as I started typing mine :( aah well... you're a genius robertncole. with much better timing than myself. :)

  • 7 Posted by gconeen on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:07PM EDT Report Abuse

    The one about networking, and the camera, is about Mac's universal binary. Japanese (or any other foreign product) are able to communicate with American macs. It's not about domestic-to-domestic product, it's international-to-domestic product usage.

  • 8 Posted by kendall_gelner on Fri Jun 30, 2006 12:02AM EDT Report Abuse

    "Networking is easier on a Mac, as is adding peripherals" Note this is not just networking, but any communications with external devices. Have you never run into issues with cameras connecting to XP directly using PTP? That really does seem to work better on a Mac. Also frankly I've had an easier time with USB storage devices on a Mac than on XP. In fact (to diverge from networking) I had one external drive that XP decided to mangle a bit and would no longer write to... but all of the XP drive repair tools hung trying to fiix the directory. On my Mac it took about a minute for Disk Utility to fix the slightly mangled directory structure. "Mac's software bundle spanks Windows.... Macs are easier at creating websites and editing photos. Not really. " Wait, you just said the bundle was much better than Windows for working with photos and....! I mean lets say you get a computer at Christmas, which one is going to be up and making a website or editing photos that day? Furthermore I would say that most people really do not need the vast application that is Photoshop, probably not even Elements. Picassa is good and free but you need to load it apart from getting the computer and it does not have as tight integration with things like .Mac for truly simple web publishing. Yes you can argue that you can load a lot of software on Windows. But I could counter argue there is some software you cannot load on Windows today like Lightroom or Aperture that really offers something valuable (yes Windows will have Lightroom - eventually). "Macs don't have virus problems. Completely true, though the winds of change are upon us as the Mac platform becomes more popular". That statement is incorrect. Here's why. The winds of change have been blowing for about four years now, over the course of those four years over fifteen million Macs have been sold. Fifteen million macs is not an appealing target either for profit or just for fun? Furthermore, with the shift to Intel the counter has been reset - let's say you are a virus writer targeting a buffer overflow. Well which platform are you going to target? You only get one shot and there are not "universal" buffer overflow attacks. Are you going to target the ffteen+ millions macs around today that no-one yet has decided to target (if so, why have you changed your mind)? Or the far smaller numerically Intel Mac population? "You can run Windows on a Mac. Yep. Works pretty well. Costs more to do it, though." Not really when you look at what you get with Macbooks. What other WIndows laptops gives you as easy access to replace the internal HD? That can save a lot right there as many users get larger HD's with laptops. "Walt Mossberg loves Macs. Indeed. I'm not sure that's enough to hang your case on, though. PCs do indeed get rave reviews, not just from the computer press but, yes, from Mossberg as well. I'm sure Mossberg loves ponies, too." Hey - OMG! Ponies! Don't diss ponies man.

  • 9 Posted by vettebliss on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:34PM EDT Report Abuse

    For those saying Networking is easier on a Mac tell that to my neighbor who still cant connect to his Treo650. It finds the phone but cant connect to it and he doesnt have any security pieces in place.

  • 10 Posted by kasei1234 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:47PM EDT Report Abuse

    Photoshop is faster on a PC, but only because Photoshop for Mac has to run through Rosetta. Something you conveniently left out. This will change with CS 3.

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