The new Apple iMac: comparison shopping with a twist
– posted August 8th, 2007 by Laurence Veale Comments (11)
While it’s clear that Apple’s new iMac is a beautifully designed, do they still need to use this negative marketing (clever as it is)? Okay, so it’s a bit of a laugh, I’m still asking myself, if they’re good enough and confident enough, then surely they’re above this “my da is better than your da” approach.
To me it teeters on arrogance.
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Categories Design, Spotted, Technology
11 comments so far
1. Eoghan McCabe on Aug 8th, 2007 - 10:11
Yes, I would tend to agree with you there. It is a bit of fun, but this negative, exaggerated marketing is exactly the kind of thing that turns PC-fans off Apple. If I were a PC advocate, I’d feel insulted and certainly would want to back-down and buy a Mac. However, maybe they’re not trying to sell to such people. The reason so many love Apple is that they’re opinionated, edgy, different.
2. Des Traynor on Aug 8th, 2007 - 10:29
I’m actually disappointed they chose to go with a wired mouse & keyboard in their design. It would have looked nicer without any wires.
The only thing that’s a bit unfair is that they single out dell, if they had have placed an unbranded pc there, I’d prefer it.
The whole thing smacks of “This is our superior desktop design”, and I agree.
3. Belen on Aug 8th, 2007 - 10:29
I think is somehow a useful comparison: I would have never considered space and cables when deciding to buy a Mac. For me that aspect was not obvious. I think it is an attempt to reach a bigger audience with their marketing, an audience maybe not so hooked on technical finesse (if you can say that).
What bothers me more in the webpage is the little plus next to the first picture of each photo gallery. I kept on clicking on it, but nothing happened: you need to click the photographs. The thumbnails are already telling me there are some additional photos in there to see. Why is that confusing plus there?
4. Lar on Aug 8th, 2007 - 22:37
I got caught with the plus sign too. Visually, it’s quite a strong call to action. It looks clickable but it’s not.
I wonder to Dell do product photos better
5. Colman on Aug 13th, 2007 - 13:31
I think it’s a great ad. It’s highlighting a benefit to the Mac that most people wouldn’t have considered. I might get one now myself…
6. Ruairi Galavan on Aug 14th, 2007 - 13:11
I like the add, and I don’t see any harm in singling out Dell, I say ‘fair play’ to Mac. (and I’m a PC user)
7. dave on Aug 15th, 2007 - 15:49
What you can’t see is the enormous pile of money the PC user has saved.
8. Hector on Aug 15th, 2007 - 16:46
They can take that money and spent it on magazines to read while watching the blue screen of death…
9. Darrell P on Aug 16th, 2007 - 13:42
The ad is quite succinct. It sums up the difference perfectly; for not only does the imac entail less physical clutter, the ad also reflects how much less this machine will clutter your mind and your life. I switched from PCs to Macs over 2 years ago, I’m about to buy my 4th Mac (the machine in question), and could not imagine ever going back. Plus, having experience of both platforms, I’d rate mac very high for value.
Apple take this ground simply because they can. Oh, and almost all Mac owners are also current or ex-PC owners.
10. David on Aug 16th, 2007 - 23:09
@Eoghan - people partly love Apple for their edginess and difference, but that’s not going to get them very far if their products are poor. People stay with Apple because the products work better.
@Des - I agree, they could easily have had fewer cables coming out of the iMac.
11. Paul Robinson on Aug 31st, 2007 - 05:58
Of course Apple makes a desktop Mac too and it does have cables, but this ad does its job - the iMac is a nice clean computer that actually looks good in the living room.
I dont want my home to look like an office and the iMac helps just a little bit with that
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