A few weeks ago, I posted that I had no plans to upgrade from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S. There were several good reasons for this. Here is an excerpt from that post:
…As excited as I am about the quantum leap Apple has made in its AI interface with Siri (the new personal digital assistant that is only available on the iPhone 4S,) I have decided to wait for the iPhone 5. Read more
Unless you’ve had your head in the sand for the last month or so, you’re bound to have seen at least one of Microsoft’s new series of advertisements lauding the value of PC laptops; the typical scenario involves a person in search of a laptop, who has highly specific preferences and a limited budget. This buyer visits an Apple store and notices limited choices and high prices before heading to the nearest PC outlet where he has a far more edifying experience. Here the shopper appears to be having a great time browsing around an unidentified store (which looks a lot like Best Buy to me, but could be any ‘everyman’ retailer) checking out PC laptops from an assortment of readily recognizable brands such as HP and Dell. There are many sizes, colors, and performance ratings to choose from — but one thing unites them all: every glossy screen, no matter the size or logo, is alive with Microsoft Windows Vista.
The Laptop Hunter ads are a direct hit to Apple, which for the better part of the last decade has kept Microsoft on the defensive with its own ads featuring “Switchers” (who can forget Ellen Feiss?) and personifying a Mac and a PC in a more recent “Get a Mac” campaign. All of these ads are entertaining, but the Microsoft ads come across as being more honest, and they appeal to a more authentic, average person than the intended target of Apple’s ads. The Laptop Hunter is someone who knows what he wants his technology to accomplish for him, and realizes there is little difference in Apple’s version of that technology and — all the vast rest. Certainly the difference could not be worth up to $1,800 if it did really exist. The savvy Laptop Hunter can get the PC equivalent of Apple’s most expensive Powerbook for less than $900 in most cases, and he knows it, and no amount of “cool” will separate him from his Benjamins and common sense. These ads make us feel smarter while saving us cash! No wonder they’re so successful.
For more on the latest ad campaign from Microsoft:
‘Laptop Hunter ads hurting Apple’ - Wired News
New Microsoft Ads: Made on a Mac? – Cult of Mac
Microsoft’s Jedi Mind Trick – DailyTech
Lots of exciting things are buzzing along the Mac grapevine these days; there is talk that the long-rumoured netbookesque mid-sized Internet device (you may have heard of the mythical Macalope?) — something sized between the iPhone and Macbook — may soon materialize. Note I did not refer to it as a tablet, but do keep in mind that the prevalent chatter of the day suggests a device with a large bright touch screen and no keyboard. What else could it be?
Times like these cause my Mac envy to flare up again. I find myself missing the days when my home network consisted exclusively of Macs: in the downstairs family room was a graphite iMac, with a pair of twin dual USB iBooks upstairs, and a Titanium G4 Powerbook in the home office. All of this was wirelessly networked through a white (UFO style) Airport Base Station.
The network has undergone a complete overhaul since then, and at the moment we are 100% PC. Except for our iPods, that is. I still mourn the untimely demise of my trusty old iBook about one year ago. I am sure that this plays some part in the Mac Fever resurgence. I may soon inherit my cousin’s iBook, which is the same as my departed one. That should help stave off symptoms for a while.
