[www.huffingtonpost.com]

NAILED IT!

BTW, as a side note: I just came back from a conference of computer user groups in Florida. Most of you wouldn't have enjoyed it -- too many old people, too much emphasis on Windows -- but I had a great time.

Reasons?

1. Vista dissatisfaction is *VERY HIGH*. This demographic are NOT impressed and DON'T want to start over yet again learning another confusing system, the honour of which (they are being told) will almost certainly require a new computer.

2. The "Mac vs. PC" ads are INCREDIBLY effective with this demographic. I was told OVER AND OVER how much they loved those ads, and how it has really changed their thinking on the Mac. When I first went to this conference two years ago, I was the ugly red-headed stepchild of the bunch -- now I'm a star vendor and treated like a rock star (well, more like a Laurence Welk alumni, but you get the idea).

3. I attended a Vista demo which focused on the consumer features -- and my jaw DROPPED. I know we all joke about Vista being like Mac OS X, but I mean EXACT RIP-OFF time here, right down to the EXACT SAME WORDING on all the dialog boxes. The only difference was that Vista ran SLOWER and CRASHED during the demo. Microsoft are *truly* the most shameless people on Earth, and on a planet that has a Bush administration, that's saying A LOT.

4. An awful lot of these folks mentioned to me that they've had it with Windows -- they've been struggling to master it for years (decades in some cases!) and don't feel they're getting anywhere. They are really starting to look for something new, and the Mac (in particular the 24-inch iMac I was showing off at my vendor table) is looking MIGHTY GOOD now that they're reassured that it can run their Windows programs if they really need to. That kind of hand-holding is very reassuring to many non-geeks.

Anyway, that's my impression. The people who criticise the ads have simply forgotten what it's like to be a "regular" user, and in particular they've forgotten what it's like to be a regular PC user. Nuff said.

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chas_m




[crawlingfromtheusa.blogspot.com] <-- Moving to Canada blog



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/04/2007 11:00PM by chas_m.

Good work Chas.

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Da Good Life

NAILED IT!

Exactly!

I also like this:

Justin Long exudes an effortlessly cool, understated, charismatic vibe -- he is playing a Mac, after all -- but he never really has all that much to do. He is -- and this is the true, ironic brilliance of the conceit -- the straight man. He's kind and earnest, sincere and occasionally befuddled, always trying to help out his friend,

For some reason a lot of people have called that "smug". Watching the commercials very closely to see any sign of that trait, I've concluded that others have not.

And Hermann is right- Hodgeman as PC is the star, and he's brilliant at that. The commercial, contrary to the opinions of many, is not making fun of PC users.

I've liked those commercial since the very first, and they've only been betting better. The Cancel or allow, and PC stalking off camera with the camera falling down and the masking tape unreeling, just kill me.

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I am that Masked Man.

All you can do, is all you can do.

There’s trouble — it's time to play the sound of my people.

Your boos mean nothing to me, I've seen what you cheer for.

Insisting on your rights without acknowledging your responsibilities isn’t freedom, it’s adolescence.

I've been to the edge of the map, and there be monsters.

We are a government of laws, not men.

Everybody counts or nobody counts.

When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

Chas_M, you really got to get out more.
Us, "Old Folk" in the know have been Mac folks since you were playing with your blocks.
Nice political bits in your post, and nice elderly slams!

BGnR

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"Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto! You're beautiful!"
"If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster."
"Near the day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky."
"A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans."

You tell 'em, BGnR!

GeneL (I can't believe that I'm sixty-nine)(but I am!)