14 DAY TRIAL // Although it took Microsoft some time to respond to Apple's Get a Mac video ads, the Redmond company is now producing and serving consumers a steady flow of advertisements aimed at turning them away from buying Mac computers. The software giant's main weapon? A price measuring contest of Windows PCs vs. Macs, a comparison in which the machines produced by Apple are at a consistent disadvantage. The latest Laptop Hunters ad from Microsoft features mother-daughter couple Lauren and Sue. They end up settling for a Dell after dismissing a $2,000 Mac in its default configuration as a viable option.
“With just $1700 to spend and a little help from Mom, Lauren finds her perfect laptop—a portable and speedy Dell with a battery life for long law-school lectures,” Microsoft informs. At the end of the video, Lauren exclaims: "I'm a PC and I got exactly what I wanted," with her mother agreeing that usually the daughter, indeed gets what she wants. And what she wanted in terms of a laptop was a $972 Dell computer.
This after of course looking at the Mac, where Lauren says: “This Mac is $2,000 and that's before adding anything!” and with mother asking “Why would you pay twice the price?” the future law student dismisses the Mac stating “I wouldn't!” And despite Apple and its support's claims, I am more than sure that the question “Why would you pay twice the price?” resonates with the vast majority of consumers looking to buy a new laptop while having available shrunken budgets specific of an economical downturn.
Apple of course is not sitting back and taking it. The Cupertino-based hardware company has produced yet another Get a Mac ad in which “a Megan” ends up with a Mac. But not until Megan states that she wants a PC without “viruses, crashes and a ton of headaches,” at which point the I'm a PC guy leaves, and coincidentally, a point at which the I'm a Mac guy also needs to leave. Especially considering the recent increase in Mac OS malware, and the attempts to build the first Mac botnet, dubbed iBotnet.
By continuing to propose the idea that Macs are safe havens from malicious code via nothing but pure marketing, Apple manages to put its own customers at risk. In fact, the only “computer” that fits Megan’s description of no viruses, no crashes and without a ton of headaches is an abacus. It even rivals the Mac OS in terms of the gaming content available (yes, cheap shot, I know).
Video: Laptop Hunters $1700 – Lauren and Sue get a Dell XPS 13