Apple Asks Microsoft to 'Quit Running Those Laptop Hunters Ads' 34 comments
-
Font Size:
-
Print
- TweetThis
By Devin Coldewey
Well, it’s a big day for Microsoft! Their first official retail stores are dated and partially located, Gates mentions that Project Natal is coming to Windows, and now it appears that Apple (AAPL) has cried uncle with the Laptop Hunters ads. Actually, it probably depends on who you ask. Microsoft will say that its shopping farces were effective, not just on consumers but on the competition as well. Apple might say that their prices have become more competitive after a recent price drop on certain models, so the ads aren’t accurate any more — if they say anything at all.
As usual, the truth lies somewhere in between. But a little whining from Apple isn’t going to stop Microsoft (MSFT) from running the ads. After all, Apple didn’t stop running its “Twice as fast, half the price” ads after they admitted its claims weren’t “statements of fact.” Why should Microsoft stop running a consumer dog-and-pony show that has them coming out on top?
From the transcript of a presentation at the Worldwide Partner Conference today:
And you know why I know they’re working? Because two weeks ago we got a call from the Apple legal department saying, hey — this is a true story — saying, “Hey, you need to stop running those ads, we lowered our prices.” They took like $100 off or something. It was the greatest single phone call in the history that I’ve ever taken in business. (Applause.)
I did cartwheels down the hallway. At first I said, “Is this a joke? Who are you?” Not understanding what an opportunity. And so we’re just going to keep running them and running them and running them.
What the real content of that phone call was, we’ll never know — probably something along the lines of “Your ads aren’t really taking into account pricing changes we’ve made.” I doubt Apple would actually ask Microsoft to stop running the things. But the truth is that the ads, however much we may rail against them as artificial and the choices made in them as unwise, seem to have done Microsoft nothing but good among the not-bloggers crowd.
They can’t run them forever, covering every $50 increment and price point, but as long as they’re effective, why not? The retail store will be a whole new adventure for them (dangerous, too) and they can make some wacky, misleading ads for that come the end of Summer. They’re on a roll I tells you!
[via Ars Technica and Engadget]
Related Articles
|
-
The Seeking Alpha 100
See allThe top 100 stock
market authors
selected for publication
Seeking Alpha 100 » -
Fastest Climbers
Authors with the largestSee all
increase in followers
in the last 7 days
Fastest Climbers » -
Top Commenters
Top commenters,See all
as ranked by their peers
Top Commenters » -
Top Instabloggers
The 100 most active
Instabloggers.-
1
David Fry
-
2
TraderMark
-
3
Don Dion
-
4
Cliff Wachtel
-
5
Mike Havrilla
Top Instabloggers » -
1
-
Top StockTalkers
TopSee all
StockTalkers.
Top StockTalkers »
This article has 34 comments:
It can be seen by reading all the adjectives and adverbs used to describe Microsoft versus the adjectives and adverbs used to describe Apple.
Well actually I think most would prefer a good cheap one.
Well actually I think most would prefer a good cheap one.
The "I'm a PC" ads point out the narrowness of the Apple commercial's viewpoint.
It just made good press for both, and Microsoft was in the middle of fighting their anti-competive case, so it looked good for them too.
On Jul 16 12:14 PM DJP200 wrote:
> Simply amazing how these respondents continually gush over the Apple
> brand––me thinks someone stole the cookies from these Girl Scouts.
> But my gosh, PC hardware with its essential open hardware architecture
> has been primarily responsible for the real growth in SOHO solutions.
> And while I’m no Microsoft fan regarding predatory, unethical, and
> frequent illegal business practices—their product has made a leading
> and very significant difference in IT. If Apple should again find
> itself near under in financial difficulty, the chances are good the
> some Microsoft millions would be made available at friendly rates.
Folks get a life...it's just a computer :-)
I own several devices Apple as well as Dell, Palm etc. I like Macbooks...but I am not sure I would pay $2K for a device which has the same technology half life as a $700 unit.
On Jul 16 12:42 PM Joe K wrote:
> I own a mac and a pc. Let's just say that the pc is far more stable
> running vista then the mac will ever be even with all the updates.
> Also, the mac lacks competition in 3rd party software, and is far
> behind my pc in regards to speed, memory, etc. My pc has 6 gb ram,
> 2 terabytes of raided drive space, an enormous case, and an quad
> core processor overclocked to 3 ghz all for under $1000 including
> os, and input devices. Mac will never be able to compete on price/performance,
> only on eye candy. I use my mac exclusively for one software package,
> Logic Studio.
Since the intro of the Mac, I have grown to consider Apple to be the more advanced and better software and (esp. in the days when they made all their own peripherals,) the best in hardware, hands down. However, I had to use DOS (and later Windows) for my work.
Just before I retired in 2002, I switched to Apple and have never once looked back or regretted it - except for not switching sooner.
Now, with the Intel architecture, if you need Windows for work or some other reason, it will run Windows - and it loads faster, and runs more stably on the Mac.
I cannot imagine what kind of PC or version of Vista Joe K is talking about, or what version of Apple OS - or for that matter, what color the sky is on his home planet...
As for the people who are complaining about Apple users' responses, I challenge you to find any comparable dedicated group of Windows fans - especially after Vista - best thing MS ever put out - to boost Mac sales.
Apple is nice -- but a bad value. I have no need for them anymore. It's liberating.
Does anyone actually believe that Apple would call Microsoft and ask them to stop running the ads? If there was any call - which is debateable - it would have likely been the legal department threatening some legal action due to MS calling them by name in a derrogatory manner in their commercial.
Common sense, people. This was uttered at a MS convention. If you believe this at face value, then I have some oceanfront property in Arizona for sale...
That said Apple has whipped Microsoft on:
1. Ipod and Itunes vs. pathetic Zune and joke Zune music site.
Microsoft began to peddle re-badged and lousy Toshiba MP3 player at least 5 years Ipods were introduced.
2. Iphone vs. Windows Mobile (plus countless other names like remember Pocket PC?)
Microsoft has been trying to monopolize the smart phone OS for over 10 years and the bloated OS has been distant also ran for years.
In summary Apple carries the cool hip image while Microsoft carries POS softwares like Vista and hardwares like Xbox with dreaded ring of death.
Appreciate your knowledge-based experiential comments. I too am retired––a former computing technician, hardware design & development engineer, network admin, and ET/IT college instructor. At the college, there were a couple of Mac labs––primarily used by graphics design courses. There was then––and perhaps still is––no question those Mac outperforms PC in heavy graphics applications. The young EE/CS engineer “gamers” that have worked for me in the past have always preferred Apple products. But most college general-use computing devices were then––and still are––the PC. Lower cost and availability of necessary higher-level technical assistance are major administration factors for college labs. That’s where the PC has always ruled.
Did some design consulting for a Chicago-based firm a few years back. Their product, a CAD accelerator device for ASIC, was designed to operate on the latest generation Mac. The Mac closed systems architecture made the design process very difficult––a computing design held very close to Apple’s chest. Hefty royalty requirements coupled with difficult communication with knowledgeable Mac engineering staff was then the Apple paradigm. Don’t know if those Apple practices continue today, but that internal corporate policy thwarted third-party development. And it is typically those fresh ideas in third-party startups that make the real innovation. Apple simply does not make outside development reasonable. This corporate practice is a significant impediment to macro IT developments––and has likely stymied building block innovation that the IT community will never learn about. At the time some felt this corporate behavior emulated textbook examples of business anti-trust. Somehow, Microsoft is held to a higher anti-trust standard.
My first home PC was a Radio Shack Tandy 1000 (original IBM PC clone, w/no hard drive). Today I’m basically a web-surfer-researcher, email, photo edit, and MS Office application user. My new $375 box, a no-name barebones Intel dual-core box that I spent a few hours upgrading to my taste, runs on MS XP/SP3. I’ve skipped VISTA. And this new box is just fine. One management policy instituted at the aforementioned college was to skip OS & Apps releases where rationally possible. For example, Vista would perhaps not be installed on the majority of campus devices. Updated XP would continue in wide use––and special technical attention given to instances of PC-Vista product installation. A quick rollback is always ready. I’m reading various articles on Win7––and most seem positive. A couple of friends are Win7 beta evaluators, and initial reports are great so far. But this user won’t be standing in line to buy the first copy of Win7. Another policy––let the pot boil for a few months––let the initial (and inevitable) bugs shake out before upgrading any software installation.
Bottom Line: Whenever Mr. Gates offers a new software upgrade––take it slow––especially if an older product is working. Bill really doesn’t need the $$. And I suspect this advice might be good for Mr. Jobs’ latest announcement too.
DJ
On Jul 17 01:34 AM F. J. Taylor wrote:
> I have owned and run MS Os and products since DOS 3.0 (on an IBM
> XT), all the way through NT and XP. I have taught computers, and
> was a sys admin working with both PC and Apple LANs, and I have used
> other platforms incl. UNIX, and all major apps for the relevant platforms.
>
>
> Since the intro of the Mac, I have grown to consider Apple to be
> the more advanced and better software and (esp. in the days when
> they made all their own peripherals,) the best in hardware, hands
> down. However, I had to use DOS (and later Windows) for my work.
>
>
> Just before I retired in 2002, I switched to Apple and have never
> once looked back or regretted it - except for not switching sooner.
>
>
> Now, with the Intel architecture, if you need Windows for work or
> some other reason, it will run Windows - and it loads faster, and
> runs more stably on the Mac.
>
> I cannot imagine what kind of PC or version of Vista Joe K is talking
> about, or what version of Apple OS - or for that matter, what color
> the sky is on his home planet...
>
> As for the people who are complaining about Apple users' responses,
> I challenge you to find any comparable dedicated group of Windows
> fans - especially after Vista - best thing MS ever put out - to boost
> Mac sales.
I have a PC laptop. It's in the shop again, having bogged down and become inoperative. The 3-in-1 printer I was assured was compatible required several visits from a tech to get into operation, and has no OCR software included (one of its selling points was scan capability, remember). I'm sure Uncle Billy would gladly sell me something, and them something else, and so on.
Someone mentioned value? Yes, each MAC cost more originally. Try amortizing $2k over 25 years... we still use the old software on that machine for DTP of newsletters, brochures, etc. Can't tell the difference... Tell me about value again...
Although present Windows systems are more stable, they are still based on MS-DOS which is a toy. The move to adapt Digital VMS to WNT was a move in the right direction when MS hired dave Cutler away from Digital.
When I was in the UNIX world we were always looking for a better user interface. The best we could come up with was X-Windows and this "browser" from CERN that became Mozilla.
Putting the MAC user interface on UNIX was brilliant; having the capability of running a MS Windoes in a virtual machine, which have been running on IBM mainframes for more than 25 years, is also commendable and well-proven.
outlet store.
On Jul 17 11:16 AM Techtrader10 wrote:
> Apple has 7.4 percent of the personal computer market, most of the
> other personal computers run various microsoft operating systems.
> It all comes down to a personal preference or in some cases need
> for a particular specialty. I've been told that Apple computers
> are better for drafting and art applications. But quite frankly,
> none of this matters in the greater scheme of things. I look at
> the Apple crazies as social misfits that don't have a life and this
> is their only interest. Guys get a life, it doesn't matter if you
> check your email with a Mac or a PC!
the only real things that is real, is that on a pure hardware point of view, you can get a similar pc configuration for cheaper than the equivalent mac. i did the test with dell, hp, apple and lenovo (taking big brand name online). this is a fact. how much premium , a consumer is putting in the design and software difference, it is purely subjective. Second fact is that with windows 7 coming in, the software quality subjective difference will be reduced. this is also a fact, even mac users like windows 7 (ok not the hardcore fanboys). The Design will remain, up to the poitn where a sony or a dell will decide to make nicer pc's. Apple did understans that well by tryign to build ne wproducts and keep an edge. the mac or pc war will become osbolete soon for a new one iphone or whatever else
merrigan.wordpress.com.../
> of an intercontinental cruise ballistic missile.
Yeah. The launched a collection of bombs and hoped to hit something at least by accident.
Seriously. This is accurate for you? A series of staged commercials that still have to mention Apple for legitimacy? Yeah, Microsoft has really hit back hard with that...
And then, to top it all off, after mindlessly repeating archaic nonsense (much of which wasn't even true back in the day) they complain about "Apple religious fanatics" when someone dares to call them on their BS.
If the strides that Apple has made concerning computing products matters so little, why can't the detractors shut up about Apple?
On Jul 17 12:33 PM JW.PhD wrote:
> On Jul 17 11:16 AM Techtrader10 wrote: