Apples New Ad Campaign? Bad Move?
Monday, June 24, 2002 by mormegil | Discussion: WinCustomize Talk
As someone who makes a living doing Graphic Design, on PC’s. I have always had a bit of angst toward the *Mac People* out there who think Macs are the only way to do anything creative.
However, I am a big fan of the tenacity of Steve Jobs. I Admire the fact that he is hell bent on making what he sees as the best computer he can make. And of late, at least since OS-X, or should I say NeXTstep reborn, I think that they have been making great systems. I would not go so far as to say the best, but very impressive. I have to give great praise to the creativity of design, and say it takes balls to just change standards whenever they get out dated.
That said, I have to gripes.
I am buying a new MAC G4 next month, not to replace my PC, just to go along with it. I like the BSD base of OSX and figure I can kill two birds with one stone and improve my knowledge base while I am at it. I think Mac and PC, can get along just fine, and that each has its strengths. This is costing me way more then A equivalent PC but I have been saving for a year, and I am going to do it anyway.
Now comes Apples New Ad campaign, which is amid at PC users. It almost lost the sale to This PC User when I first saw it. The Why I see it is This campaign will not attract any more PC users then before and will alienate the More Tech Savvy PC Users. (That they have been attracting for the last year with OS-X) The New adds seem to me to say, replace that crappy PC with a cool MAC. This insults anyone who likes there PC, I being one, and then try to sell the Mac on the on its Aesthetic appeal. No Facts are given. Tech Savvy PC Users what to know what makes the system better, not that it is “Not Windows”.
And my biggest gripe is that in all of that adds I have seen so far they make it a Black and White issue, They say quite using your PC throw it away and use a MAC. In my experience your average person doesn’t want to through away all they have learned and start over. That approach doesn’t seem to be a selling point. I use both, and soon will own both.
My question is:
As a largely PC community of Designers, Users, and Artist, do the new Apple ads piss you off or make you think of buying a Mac?
And Secondly, how may of you use both PC’s and Macs? And what do you think of the new Ads?
However, I am a big fan of the tenacity of Steve Jobs. I Admire the fact that he is hell bent on making what he sees as the best computer he can make. And of late, at least since OS-X, or should I say NeXTstep reborn, I think that they have been making great systems. I would not go so far as to say the best, but very impressive. I have to give great praise to the creativity of design, and say it takes balls to just change standards whenever they get out dated.
That said, I have to gripes.
I am buying a new MAC G4 next month, not to replace my PC, just to go along with it. I like the BSD base of OSX and figure I can kill two birds with one stone and improve my knowledge base while I am at it. I think Mac and PC, can get along just fine, and that each has its strengths. This is costing me way more then A equivalent PC but I have been saving for a year, and I am going to do it anyway.
Now comes Apples New Ad campaign, which is amid at PC users. It almost lost the sale to This PC User when I first saw it. The Why I see it is This campaign will not attract any more PC users then before and will alienate the More Tech Savvy PC Users. (That they have been attracting for the last year with OS-X) The New adds seem to me to say, replace that crappy PC with a cool MAC. This insults anyone who likes there PC, I being one, and then try to sell the Mac on the on its Aesthetic appeal. No Facts are given. Tech Savvy PC Users what to know what makes the system better, not that it is “Not Windows”.
And my biggest gripe is that in all of that adds I have seen so far they make it a Black and White issue, They say quite using your PC throw it away and use a MAC. In my experience your average person doesn’t want to through away all they have learned and start over. That approach doesn’t seem to be a selling point. I use both, and soon will own both.
My question is:
As a largely PC community of Designers, Users, and Artist, do the new Apple ads piss you off or make you think of buying a Mac?
And Secondly, how may of you use both PC’s and Macs? And what do you think of the new Ads?
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_Coolballer
Reply #43 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 3:05 PM
Reply #43 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 3:05 PM
man i didnt like macs to begin with but i did somewhat respect the name brand... but these ads make them look like name calling children...(just my 2 cents)
paxx
Reply #44 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 3:20 PM
Reply #44 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 3:20 PM
Even if I liked Mac computers, I could never bring myself to buy all over again all the software I have! Must have more software worth than the hardware worth. Yikes!
Again, if only all OSes were 100% compatible, then we'd have a fair fight, and may the better win.
Again, if only all OSes were 100% compatible, then we'd have a fair fight, and may the better win.
KarmaGirl
Reply #45 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 4:00 PM
Reply #45 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 4:00 PM
I've used Macs and I don't like them. My FIL has been using Macs for years, and even though he complains about them all the time, he claims that they are better than a PC (even though he doesn't use PCs). I don't like them, but I have no problem with them or other people being fans of them. i do, however, have a problem with companies slamming other companies to try and make themselves look better. All computers have their own issues- they are just different issues.
Peff
Reply #46 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 5:02 PM
Reply #46 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 5:02 PM
I just could never get used to the single mouse button after using a 2 or 3 button PC mouse.
jtfolden
Reply #47 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 7:33 PM
Reply #47 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 7:33 PM
mormegil: I actually haven't tried DesktopX under VPC, but WindowBlinds, ObjectBar, etc... all run fine here. 
KarmaGirl: I agree, all computers have issues. IMO, however, a recent Mac running OS X 10.1 generally seems to have less issues than a comparable PC running Windows. Probably due to the fact that the hardware and OS were literally made for each other. I've had virtually no problems with my 3 OS X based macs during the last year: not one crash of any sort, no lock-ups... I got one Kernel Trap back in April 2001 that I was able to reboot my way out of... Any Mac OS before X is an entirely new ball of wax, however. I think they're just as troublesome as the average Wintel PC due to all the baggage that got added over the years.
Peff: I love my single-button mouse so much that it stays in the box my Mac was shipped in.
I'm using a Logitech Cordless here, actually.
KarmaGirl: I agree, all computers have issues. IMO, however, a recent Mac running OS X 10.1 generally seems to have less issues than a comparable PC running Windows. Probably due to the fact that the hardware and OS were literally made for each other. I've had virtually no problems with my 3 OS X based macs during the last year: not one crash of any sort, no lock-ups... I got one Kernel Trap back in April 2001 that I was able to reboot my way out of... Any Mac OS before X is an entirely new ball of wax, however. I think they're just as troublesome as the average Wintel PC due to all the baggage that got added over the years.
Peff: I love my single-button mouse so much that it stays in the box my Mac was shipped in.
I'm using a Logitech Cordless here, actually.
paxx
Reply #48 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 9:19 PM
Reply #48 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 9:19 PM
Yeah, all the Mac users at work use a Logitech 2 button mouse. Too bad the wheel isn't supported though.
About OSX, I don't doubt its stability. But previous Mac OSes were just as flaky if not more than its Windows counterpart. Seems both PC and Mac now have a stable plateform to work with. Never had a crash with XP on any of the 2 machines I use it with. So I must admit, I don't feel compeled to change whasoever, and according to statistics, not many people do.
Last stat I read, there were more Linux/Unix/BSD users than Mac users (something like 6% against 5%). But that was about one year ago, it might have changed a bit since then. The Linux craze seems to be slowing down.
About OSX, I don't doubt its stability. But previous Mac OSes were just as flaky if not more than its Windows counterpart. Seems both PC and Mac now have a stable plateform to work with. Never had a crash with XP on any of the 2 machines I use it with. So I must admit, I don't feel compeled to change whasoever, and according to statistics, not many people do.
Last stat I read, there were more Linux/Unix/BSD users than Mac users (something like 6% against 5%). But that was about one year ago, it might have changed a bit since then. The Linux craze seems to be slowing down.
jtfolden
Reply #49 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 9:46 PM
Reply #49 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 9:46 PM
Hmm, the wheel is natively supported under OS X, and I have the Logitech driver installed under OS9 and it works ok there (granted, I rarely boot back into 9 so how good it works I have no idea).
I really don't like XP. I thought NT4 and Win2k were great but the UI in XP is just a mess, IMO, and I don't really see any other major benefits.
Well, if you're lumping all the *nix's together, I guess you'd have to throw OS X in there, as well. I've never much cared for who uses what, though. I constantly seem to be using minority platforms (DESQview/X, OS/2, OPENSTEP, etc...) I just care about what works best for me.
I really don't like XP. I thought NT4 and Win2k were great but the UI in XP is just a mess, IMO, and I don't really see any other major benefits.
Well, if you're lumping all the *nix's together, I guess you'd have to throw OS X in there, as well.
I've never much cared for who uses what, though. I constantly seem to be using minority platforms (DESQview/X, OS/2, OPENSTEP, etc...) I just care about what works best for me.
paxx
Reply #50 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 10:54 PM
Reply #50 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 10:54 PM
Just a matter of taste, jtf.
I personnaly never cared for the Aqua look.
BTW: what programs do you use? At work, they have OSX beta installed but they never boot into it because their apps don't support OSX.
They mostly use Photoshop 6, Illustrator 9 and Quark Xpress.
Yes, they just bought PS7 and AI10 which support X, but Quark still doesn't and they keep switching back and forth between PS, AI and QX, so until Quark supports OSX, it's oput of the question for a lot of publication artists.
Of course, it'll come in time.
I personnaly never cared for the Aqua look.
BTW: what programs do you use? At work, they have OSX beta installed but they never boot into it because their apps don't support OSX.
They mostly use Photoshop 6, Illustrator 9 and Quark Xpress.
Yes, they just bought PS7 and AI10 which support X, but Quark still doesn't and they keep switching back and forth between PS, AI and QX, so until Quark supports OSX, it's oput of the question for a lot of publication artists.
Of course, it'll come in time.
migellito
Reply #51 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 11:50 PM
Reply #51 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 11:50 PM
yeah, i'm almost tired of the aqua theme on my osx machine. i'm about ready to start using some of the other themes out there.
jtfolden
Reply #52 Thursday, June 27, 2002 1:14 AM
Reply #52 Thursday, June 27, 2002 1:14 AM
I'm not especially enthusiastic about the default multi-colored Aqua, but the Graphite variant is quite pleasing to me and I've not really had any urge to change it in the last 15 months or so...OTOH, I wish there was still an option to make it look a little more like NeXTSTEP.
As far as graphics apps go, I use the Corel Graphics 10 Suite and Painter 7. Eventually I think I'm going to purchase TIFFany.
I've heard that Quark is a bit of a mess, code-wise. I imagine they've had a bit of trouble turning it into a Carbon app (one that runs under both OS9 and X).
As far as graphics apps go, I use the Corel Graphics 10 Suite and Painter 7. Eventually I think I'm going to purchase TIFFany.
I've heard that Quark is a bit of a mess, code-wise. I imagine they've had a bit of trouble turning it into a Carbon app (one that runs under both OS9 and X).
migellito
Reply #53 Thursday, June 27, 2002 1:27 AM
Reply #53 Thursday, June 27, 2002 1:27 AM
jt, try these on for size..
http://xthemination.maccustomise.com/
http://themes.themox.net/
http://xthemination.maccustomise.com/
http://themes.themox.net/
plainsong
Reply #54 Thursday, June 27, 2002 6:34 PM
Reply #54 Thursday, June 27, 2002 6:34 PM
That Themox site is pretty cool.. now here's a newbie question I never thought I'd here myself ask..
"What program do I need to use those themes on my Imac?"
"What program do I need to use those themes on my Imac?"
migellito
Reply #55 Thursday, June 27, 2002 11:57 PM
Reply #55 Thursday, June 27, 2002 11:57 PM
one of the most popular ways to do it is to go here http://www.enteract.com/~doc/charonsoft/index.html
and get metamorphx 3.1
metamorphx is basically a theme switcher. the themes are actually independent of any program, being a single file that gets replaced deep within the system. the big difference between osx themes and xp themes being that there is no encryption, and theme files can be readily [and legally] switched without the need for any sort of 'crack.'
it can be done manually as well, but the theme progs do the dirty work of finding the right file and switching it out just the right way. you have to be logged in as root to do it yourself, and wacky hijinx can easily ensue
what they don't do is offer abilities above and beyond those available in the os, the way an actual application like windowblinds can.
and get metamorphx 3.1
metamorphx is basically a theme switcher. the themes are actually independent of any program, being a single file that gets replaced deep within the system. the big difference between osx themes and xp themes being that there is no encryption, and theme files can be readily [and legally] switched without the need for any sort of 'crack.'
it can be done manually as well, but the theme progs do the dirty work of finding the right file and switching it out just the right way. you have to be logged in as root to do it yourself, and wacky hijinx can easily ensue
what they don't do is offer abilities above and beyond those available in the os, the way an actual application like windowblinds can.
jtfolden
Reply #56 Friday, June 28, 2002 1:20 AM
Reply #56 Friday, June 28, 2002 1:20 AM
What's really sad is the existence of an XP theme for OS X. 
You can find it on this site:
http://macmotiva.rocks.it/
You can find it on this site:
http://macmotiva.rocks.it/
paxx
Reply #57 Friday, June 28, 2002 10:37 AM
Reply #57 Friday, June 28, 2002 10:37 AM
Hehehe! Yeah, but at least there's only one, as opposed to the many Aqua skins that were made for Windowblinds. 
plainsong
Reply #58 Friday, June 28, 2002 8:34 PM
Reply #58 Friday, June 28, 2002 8:34 PM
Well Juni very nicely called this mac place and had them hold one of their two 800mhz superdrive Imacs. He surprised me with this info and we headed out a few hours later after some crucial housekeeping was done. After a 30 minute trip, we were a few minutes away when the guy called and said "Oops, we don't have any, but we can order one!" We said no dice and went to a place that doesn't lie about what's in stock just to get a commission.
That guy plainly deserved to loose that sale. Juni had called the day before and checked as well.
So now I'm at Wincusto on a Mac... which I find somehow funny. I think I'll load that Xp theme on the mac and use the Aqua look on the Pc
That guy plainly deserved to loose that sale. Juni had called the day before and checked as well.
So now I'm at Wincusto on a Mac... which I find somehow funny. I think I'll load that Xp theme on the mac and use the Aqua look on the Pc
plainsong
Reply #59 Saturday, June 29, 2002 6:58 AM
Reply #59 Saturday, June 29, 2002 6:58 AM
Well that certainly didn't work. That metamorphix program halfway works. And now that I deleted it, the theme I tested is still halfway there. GRRR!
jtfolden
Reply #60 Saturday, June 29, 2002 12:43 PM
Reply #60 Saturday, June 29, 2002 12:43 PM
I haven't yet messed with OS X themes as they actually replace system files. They "should" have had an option to restore Aqua, though, I would think. ;-/
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Reply #41 Wednesday, June 26, 2002 12:21 PM
I know a teacher who saw one of the ads on TV over the weekend. She knows I use Macs now and called to ask me if she should 'switch'.
I more or less made the 'switch' around 15 months ago myself and couldn't be happier. The only Windows PC that runs in my house now is a "Virtual" one via VirtualPC.