Apple lifestyle campaign misses the point

By Stan Beer
Thursday, 04 May 2006 18:21

Home IT

Apple's latest Mac lifestyle campaign has won widespread praise from the critics who know all about advertising. However, no-one appears to be stating the obvious - it's preaching to the converted. So where's the increase in its miniscule PC market share going to come from?

Yes, the Mac is easier to use, more reliable, much better for music and movies and, despite recent controversy, much less of a security risk. Hasn't the general public known about most of these things since 1986? So how come the horribly unsophisticated, virus friendly Windows PC gets the nod 96 times out of 100 times someone walks into a computer shop?

The answer is really quite simple. Most people use a Windows PC at work or school, so usually they don't want something different at home.

Yes, that young hip guy in the Mac ad might not work in a boring stuffy old office and all he wants to do is visit net chatrooms, watch movies, listen to music and maybe even do some work in his cool SOHO business. However, that poor fellow with the glasses and business suit, commuting to work five days a week to feed his family, probably works in an office with hundreds, maybe thousands of Windows PCs. He may have to take work home and, if so, he'll probably need to be running a Windows PC.

The new Intel Macs now have the capability of running Windows natively. So what does Apple do? It alienates the fellow with the glasses, a potential new customer, by telling him he's not cool. The message for all those boring, stuffy, spectacle wearing, accountants, lawyers and middle managers is "don't come to us - the Mac isn't for you; it's for the hip guy."

And what a pity. Yesterday, I heard a most compelling argument from a Unix expert for using Macs instead of Windows boxes. According to the expert, despite all the hype to the contrary, it's actually very difficult to get a virus on a Unix type of system like OSX because it won't run commands that will change your system unless they come from a systems administrator who has the appropriate permissions. However, if you do happen to be unlucky enough to get one, just about the worst thing it can do is delete some files. That's not much of a problem if you happen to run regular back-ups.

What that means is that you don't need anti-virus software or a firewall on your home Mac - unless you're running Windows natively on it. However, if you're running a Windows emulator on top of OSX, you're safe. The boring guys in business suits would probably love to hear all about that stuff but they've just been told that the Mac is not for them. What a great way to increase your PC market share - not!