Apple discontined its “Switcher” ad campaign a few months ago, amid speculation that it was not performing as well as hoped. Though we still may not see anymore stoned girls extolling the virtues of Macs on TV anymore, Apple has posted several new Switcher stories on its web site.
I miss Ellen Fiess
That different computer hardware/software combinations are suited to different people.
I’m not saying Apple is “Different.” I’m saying that these stories are so generic that they could be switching from one form of tea to another because of personal preference or unique experiences. I’ve heard all the same kinds of statements for Apple users switching to Windows, or Windows users switching to OS/2, or Linux, or.. etc.
Surely there are merits to each system. These stories, however, are too generic to give actual valuable informatin. They don’t mean much more than “these specific people feel more comfortable with Macs.”
They’ve posted new switcher stories every couple of weeks since it launched. The pages are all still there just somewhat deprecated.
There is no revival because it never went away. At least the stories.
Jees, people aren’t very well informed.
[i]Surely there are merits to each system. These stories, however, are too generic to give actual valuable informatin. They don’t mean much more than “these specific people feel more comfortable with Macs.”[i]
That’s the whole point. If you get someone up there saying, “I switched because Mac’s have a much better GUI, easier software installation, and are designed better.”, no one will really care. If you get people saying, “I’m a lawyer and Mac made my life easier” or “It’s easier to make music with a Mac”, more people will notice. These commercials aren’t for you and me.
Apple has been posting Switcher stories about once a month ever since the ad campaign launched. It never went away, just “depreciated” as noted by Anonymous
Here is a link of an interview with Ellen Fiess. Enjoy.
http://www.browndailyherald.com/post/stories.asp?ID=269
I never took this to be part of the switch campagin. These are just stories they post randomly of how people use their macs.
Ellen Fliess may have been funny in a “my computer ate my homework while I making hash brownies” kind of way. However, the Janine Porsche lady was absolutely lovely. What a cute face.
I concur with most of the opinions here: <http://www.markh.com/switch.html>.
However, I think that user comprehension of GUIs on the different OSs is the pretty much the same… Mac may be “less threatening” because of their marketing, but not beacause their GUI is easier to understand than the others.
.
What are you people talking about? It worked, it really did!
P.S. Mac OS X keeps getting gooder and gooder 😛
Does it bother you at all that some of your fame might be related to your perceived state of sobriety in the commercial?
It doesn’t really bother me. I do admit to looking pretty out of it in that commercial — I think I look horrible. It was after school, but I was the last person to make the commercial, so by the time I made it it was like 10, so I was really tired. The funny thing was, I was on drugs! I was on Benedryl, my allergy medication, so I was really out of it anyway. That’s why my eyes were all red, because I have seasonal allergies. But no one believes me.
http://www.ugo.com/channels/games/features/switch/media/switch.mov
In its hardware more than the software? How does Apple’s hardware rate vs. Sun’s?
Virtually non-existant support for Arabic and Hebrew, as well as other right to left languages. Granted that is partially Microsoft’s fault, but either way, the point is that MS Office for OS X has almost no Arabic and Hebrew support. As a student of Near Eastern Studies, that’s a major problem for me.
thats what nisus writer is for
http://www.nisus.com/NisusWriter/Features/Hebrew.php
The “>” character in the link in my original post somehow got included as part of the link. Try clicking on this:
http://www.markh.com/switch.html
the PC does everything he wants it to do. which means…I am happy with things being good enough.
thats great. so why write an entire piece on why a person should NOT buy a Mac?
and I never understood the software thing.
what do you need that Mac does not have? wow, I can buy some POS software and I have 10 million choices. why would I want that many choices? especially when most of that crap is useless.
saying a PC has more software is about as meaningful as saying the economy added 10 million jobs.
thats great, what jobs are they? oh McDonold’s decided to hire a 10 million people…great.
so, considering that most PC software is useless crap anyway, I can only assume he is alluding to Games…..but I though a computer was a tool not a toy!!!
now, if your main reason for owning a PC is games, then hat is great…that is one VALID reason, over top your own opinion as to why a PC is better for YOU.
and you always know that it is a flame article when they staer out with “I am not flaming” or “I don’t hate them but”
The one time they posted a “switcher” story, it was a fake, remember that one?
A windows computer can be the best thing for many uses. But windows is not an OS you love and switch to. You’re switching DESPITE the OS, because of the software availability and open hardware, etc.
<the PC does everything he wants it to do. which means…I am happy with things being good enough.>
Actually, this point is identical to what he was later inferring about Macs. You must have misinterpreted his stated reasons for using a PC instead of a Mac: “[reason 1] the Windows/Linux box does what I need it to do, [reason 2] the software I want to run doesn’t work on Macintoshes, [reason 3] and even if it did, buying a machine that ‘looks cooler’ for two to three times the price is pretty stupid, in my opinion.”
<thats great. so why write an entire piece on why a person should NOT buy a Mac?>
It doesn’t seem that the entire piece is about why a person should not by a Mac, but rather it seems that he is trying to clear some common misconceptions, and he wants the more religious Mac supporters to be honest with themselves about the facts.
Actually, he never even ruled-out buying a Mac for himself… “I won’t say that I’ll never buy a Mac; the prices keep drifting slowly but surely closer to the PC world…”
<and I never understood the software thing. what do you need that Mac does not have?>
His mention of the plethora of PC software seemed minor and “in-passing.”
There are a lot of specialized applications that do not exist in the Mac world, and there are several Mac programs that are primative compared to their PC counterparts. For instance, in animation and film image manipulation, Linux applications dominate: Blender, CinePaint, Houdini, Maya, Mental Ray, NUKE, POV-Ray, Radiance, Renderman, Shake, and SoftImage. Admittedly, a few of these applications have already been ported to Mac and Windows, but Mac currently has no viable alternative to the unported ones. Certainly, there must also be a few specialized Mac programs that out-do similar PC software.
Vital software is eventually ported to other platforms, anyway, but I think most would rather have the choices than not have them.
<wow, I can buy some POS software and I have 10 million choices. why would I want that many choices? especially when most of that crap is useless.>
Simpler software can reduce the load on weaker machines, which allows recycling/revitalizing old hardware. The choices don’t harm anyone.
<so, considering that most PC software is useless crap anyway, I can only assume he is alluding to Games…..but I though a computer was a tool not a toy!!!>
Did you say that HIS article is “a total flame?” I would be interested to read your list of all the PC word processors, spreadsheets, web browsers, email clients, etc. which are “useless crap” and which don’t have Mac counterparts.
By the way, he said he runs “entertainment and development software,” which doesn’t necessarily mean games.
<now, if your main reason for owning a PC is games, then hat is great…that is one VALID reason, over top your own opinion as to why a PC is better for YOU.>
He was not saying that PCs are better for everybody. In fact, he also said: “I’ve even helped my dad purchase three Macs over the years, and I’ve kept him current with his OS over the years (including buying OS X 10.2, “Jaguar”, for him this summer). I think the Mac is a good choice of machines for him, because of two reasons: he doesn’t want to run the software that I do (entertainment and development software), and it’s non-threatening.”
Again, I think that Macs are “non-threatening” compared to other systems because of the perception generated by Apple marketing. User comprehension of the various computer GUIs is similar.
<and you always know that it is a flame article when they staer out with “I am not flaming” or “I don’t hate them but”>
Thanks for making it clear who is the flamer.
people who don’t flame don’t write such articles. he can SAY anything he likes but it is all fluff for a flame.
again, spexifics would have made it a valid article.
what is entertainmnet software? what software does he run that he cannot run on the Mac?
the article is designed to be vague enough to lead people to think that general pourpose software can’t run on the mac but concrete enough to make him sound like he is making an unbiased review.
also, to the point, he makes fun of the switcher ad which is an ad to normal home users….why would a home user think about all those industrial applications? they won’t. this is a FUD ladden flame ment to guide people to the PC.
<people who don’t flame don’t write such articles. he can SAY anything he likes but it is all fluff for a flame.>
I found his reasoning methodical and solid, but he did qualify by saying it was an opinion piece. Also, I think it is published on his own web site.
<again, spexifics would have made it a valid article.>
To quote an old (and perhaps, now, non-P.C.) saying, “That’s the pot calling the kettle ‘black.'” Even the author of the article noted, “It’s interesting to listen to Mac users about why they love their Macs so much; they can’t seem to give concrete evidence as to why Macs are a better choice.”
Anyway, he absolutely gave many particulars with reasoning to back almost every one. Here are the points (each with a summary of his reasons) just from the bulleted section, “Things I Wish Mac Users Would ‘Get'”:
-Computers are Tools. [He chooses a computer based on performance and price… not by what it looks like or who it impresses.]
-Computers Are Not Religions. [Macs are great. So are other computers. Quit trying to convert everyone.]
-Apple Is Just As Corporate As Microsoft. [“Apple is not your altruistic little buddy, they’re a hardware/software vendor.”]
-Steve Jobs is Not The Messiah. [He is just as smart/dumb as the average Fortune 500 CEO.]
-Macs Do Not Outperform, nor Match Performance With PCs. [Performance-per-dollar, Mac hardware has always lagged behind PCs, but it is catching up.]
-iTunes/iPhoto Isn’t Anything New. [Similar programs have existed in almost every OS issued within the past 4 years, and these Mac versions aren’t that great. But Apple marketing did a good job promoting them.]
-It doesn’t Always Work, Out Of The Box. [Must I elaborate here?]
-“Blue Screens” aren’t that frequent. [Usually, once a month or less with XP, never with *nix. The ‘Switch’ marketing blew this former Windows problem out of proportion. And OS-X isn’t without the occasional kernel panic.]
If you want more detail, go to the article. He puts things very well. I can also add instances from my personal experience that support most of these points.
If you addressed each point one-by-one, perhaps we could come to a mutual conclusion.
<what is entertainment software? what software does he run that he cannot run on the Mac?>
I don’t know what he means by “entertainment software.” Again, there are many specialized programs (more than the examples I previously gave) that currently have no Mac equivalent, and there are probably a few that are vice-versa in favor of Mac. And, as he stated, the price/performance ratio is an important to his platform choice, in addition to the software.
<the article is designed to be vague enough to lead people to think that general purpose software can’t run on the mac but concrete enough to make him sound like he is making an unbiased review.>
Your observation is interesting in light of his plain statement: “They [Macs] do pretty much everything most people want them to do, just like PCs.”
In addition, he repeats the point later in his article (see the excerpt quoted below).
<also, to the point, he makes fun of the switcher ad which is an ad to normal home users….why would a home user think about all those industrial applications? they won’t. this is a FUD ladden flame ment to guide people to the PC.>
True. His “Just Think” parody ad pokes fun at the “Switch” campaign, and he criticizes the “stoner” marketing. But he acknowledges the suitability of the Mac for the advertisements’ target: “Apple’s ‘Switch’ ad campaign isn’t aimed at me; it’s aimed at Mr. and Mrs. America, AOL-users who aren’t comfortable with computers. These are the average people in your average town who want to buy a computer to do the basics, and yes, a Macintosh will do that for them, quite admirably.”
Given the last two statements quoted above and given the many other qualifiers in his piece, I do not see how one can conclude that his article is FUD or flame designed to dissuade the uninformed.
I know this is sort off topic, but i had to rant. I know Apple is cool and everything and I have an Ibook which I like a lot. However, is there anything wrong with quality control with Apple and the new powerbooks? A friend of mine who finally decided to ditch his old dell notebook had to return his brand new 15″ powerbook after only 7 days of use!. First the latch didnt work. then the light sensor of the keyboard continued to crash the machine after sleep and then to top if off, the screen died tonight, all this in 7 days!. My friend was a switcher from windows and I doubt he will get another mac ever after this dissapointing experience, after buying all the hype about apple superior quality control.
I have noticed that many other users are having problems with the new powerbook and some hint at a problem with the motherboards. Is this something to be expected from apple’s new models? should a switcher wait until a revision comes up?
I am not a Mac fanatic, I am however, a person who does not like liers.
I do the same in politics, if a Democrat says something about Bush that is blatent spin and or totaly false, I call him/her on it and I get called a Republican.
If a Republican says something about a Democrat that is total spin or a lie, I call him/her on it and get called a Democrat.
I am just a person who is fair to all sides and does not accept the crap shoveled from either side.
-Computers are Tools. [He chooses a computer based on performance and price… not by what it looks like or who it impresses.]
that is great, he chooses computers based on what he values. therefore he should not be writing this article that slyly implys macs suck
-Computers Are Not Religions. [Macs are great. So are other computers. Quit trying to convert everyone.]
PC fan boys do the same damn thing, but they don’t speak about how nice the OS is, they talk about price and performance (which for home users is not that big of a deal anymore, > 1GHz is fine for home use)
-Apple Is Just As Corporate As Microsoft. [“Apple is not your altruistic little buddy, they’re a hardware/software vendor.”]
who claimed they weren’t? this is a reason not to get a mac? the fact is that while Apple is as corprate, Apple does not tie the users hands and is not moving the OS into a DRM hell.
-Steve Jobs is Not The Messiah. [He is just as smart/dumb as the average Fortune 500 CEO.]
actualy, I would say he is smarter than the average CEO since Apple was almost bankrupt when he took over and now they are doing the best they have done since the 80’s
-Macs Do Not Outperform, nor Match Performance With PCs. [Performance-per-dollar, Mac hardware has always lagged behind PCs, but it is catching up.]
Blatent lie. the Duel G5 outperforms anything from intel, including duel Xeons. and the powerbooks are on par with all intel laptops that have comparable battery life.
-iTunes/iPhoto Isn’t Anything New. [Similar programs have existed in almost every OS issued within the past 4 years, and these Mac versions aren’t that great. But Apple marketing did a good job promoting them.]
this is also a lie. itunes and iphoto is better than anything available on windows. if this person likes good enough rather than done right, then that is his opinion, but it is not a reaon to not get a mac.
-It doesn’t Always Work, Out Of The Box. [Must I elaborate here?]
yeah, it would be nice to know exactly what he is talking about. leaving it like this makes it worthless and pure FUD intended to make people think that Macs are POS computers.
-“Blue Screens” aren’t that frequent. [Usually, once a month or less with XP, never with *nix. The ‘Switch’ marketing blew this former Windows problem out of proportion. And OS-X isn’t without the occasional kernel panic.]
once a month is ok? again, he shows that good enough is fine for him, however, if I get a blue screen, that is just not acceptable.
“thats what nisus writer is for”
Sure. But it’s Word compatibility is pretty bad, which means I still wouldn’t be able to share documents with Arabic or Hebrew speaking colleagues.
Thank you for your opinion and for addressing each point individually.
<<-Computers are Tools. [He chooses a computer based on performance and price… not by what it looks like or who it impresses.]
that is great, he chooses computers based on what he values. therefore he should not be writing this article that slyly implys macs suck>>
Here, I think he is just critical of the high price of Macs and, perhaps, of those who prefer style over substance.
<<-Computers Are Not Religions. [Macs are great. So are other computers. Quit trying to convert everyone.]
PC fan boys do the same damn thing, but they don’t speak about how nice the OS is, they talk about price and performance (which for home users is not that big of a deal anymore, > 1GHz is fine for home use)>>
Certainly, there are many PC fanatics, and the ratio of MAC/PC fanatics is probably impossible to quantify, but, if you have any doubts about PC users not bragging about their OS, attend your local LUG meeting. And I agree, home users don’t need much more than a $400 generic PC or an $1100 E-mac.
<<-Apple Is Just As Corporate As Microsoft. [“Apple is not your altruistic little buddy, they’re a hardware/software vendor.”]
who claimed they weren’t? this is a reason not to get a mac? the fact is that while Apple is as corprate, Apple does not tie the users hands and is not moving the OS into a DRM hell.>>
Okay. Apple fanatics rarely criticize M$oft for being corporate. I will concede that point. And, without a doubt, DRM (and other M$oft practices) is terrible and is a reason to avoid M$oft products. However, Apples dubious marketing claims are no more admirable (see test links below). Also, keep in mind that the author mostly uses *nix.
<<-Steve Jobs is Not The Messiah. [He is just as smart/dumb as the average Fortune 500 CEO.]
actualy, I would say he is smarter than the average CEO since Apple was almost bankrupt when he took over and now they are doing the best they have done since the 80’s>>
Good point.
<<-Macs Do Not Outperform, nor Match Performance With PCs. [Performance-per-dollar, Mac hardware has always lagged behind PCs, but it is catching up.]
Blatent lie. the Duel G5 outperforms anything from intel, including duel Xeons. and the powerbooks are on par with all intel laptops that have comparable battery life.>>
The race for the absolute fastest is usually dominated by PCs, but the author of the article was refering to performance-per-dollar. In regards to lying about performance, see this link to a Mac user’s investigation of Apple’s G5 tests:
http://spl.haxial.net/apple-powermac-G5/
More on the tests here:
http://www.amdzone.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1296&page=2
<<-iTunes/iPhoto Isn’t Anything New. [Similar programs have existed in almost every OS issued within the past 4 years, and these Mac versions aren’t that great. But Apple marketing did a good job promoting them.]
this is also a lie. itunes and iphoto is better than anything available on windows. if this person likes good enough rather than done right, then that is his opinion, but it is not a reaon to not get a mac.>>
Again: “iTunes is a media player, with a basic mp3 encoder. iPhoto is… well, an image download utility with very basic image manipulation features. The software that *came* with my digital camera does more than iPhoto does.” iTunes doesn’t sound like much. And it sounds like iPhoto is not only not good enough, but it is also done *wrong*: “…iPhoto can’t read images in the Canon native image format.”
<<-It doesn’t Always Work, Out Of The Box. [Must I elaborate here?]
yeah, it would be nice to know exactly what he is talking about. leaving it like this makes it worthless and pure FUD intended to make people think that Macs are POS computers.>>
True. He doesn’t give any specific instances here of Macs not working. But it really is unnecessary… of course, Macs have ocassional problems just like other computers. Also, his logic is strong: “I’ve been amused with watching my Mac-addict cohorts whenever there’s a new release of OS X walking up to each other and saying things like ‘Oh, cool, they added this now’ and ‘Hey, they fixed the problems with (insert random thing here).’ If it was perfect before, and everything worked, why’d they need to fix, add, or change a thing?”
Now, here are a few specific instances:
-My mother has used Macs since 1984. The last two machines have given her constant problems. Both have had to be taken in for repair, and the most recent one (an iMac) has even required several additional visits by a “Mac doctor.” The installation of the Palm software never “took” properly, so consequently, she cannot sync her PDA and her iMac, but the broken software still loads after boot. Once, she inserted an AOL disk and the iMac has never been the same. While trying to fix some of these problems, the machine has locked-up on me several times.
-I do product design for a company that has a network of mostly iMacs and a few Wintels. Frequently, many of the iMacs have to be taken offline together to have something fixed… I don’t know what the problems are, but they exists… repeatedly. By the way, the older Wintels have never needed to be repaired or taken off the network.
-a computer-illiterate rep working for the same company bought an eMac last year, and had to have it repaired the first week… he almost gave-up entirely on computers.
-One of my friends bought an iMac in 2000. This March, it had a catstrophic breakdown and the repair shop said it would cost $400 to repair. She threw it away and bought an iBook (I wish I had that kind of money).
-I also work in the film industry, and there have been countless times at edit sessions that I have had to wait for the editor to reboot a locked-up Mac or to restart Final Cut Pro (Final Cut Pro is an Apple product, incidentally).
These are just recent occurances just within my group of acquaintances. Certainly, there must be more. Did you happen to catch the posting by jodie?
Also, as a product designer, I can attest to major usability errors inherent in Mac hardware and software: the round mouse; monitors that can’t tilt down; a finder that conceals open applications instead of an informative taskbar; colored bubbles for window buttons instead of symbols, etc.
It really is no big deal that Macs have occasional problems and design mistakes. The article’s author puts it best: “A lot of things work exceptionally well with OS X, right out of the box. Not everything does. As computers are complex machines by their very existence, things are bound to not always work as promised or be as stable, and it’s no unforgivable sin of Apple’s, no one blames them for it, so just relax and quit insisting that problems which exist, don’t.”
<<-“Blue Screens” aren’t that frequent. [Usually, once a month or less with XP, never with *nix. The ‘Switch’ marketing blew this former Windows problem out of proportion. And OS-X isn’t without the occasional kernel panic.]
once a month is ok? again, he shows that good enough is fine for him, however, if I get a blue screen, that is just not acceptable.>>
What about all the Mac lockups mentioned above and the many more that go unmentioned? Anyway, the author primarily uses *nix.