The Hard Six

Have you seen this yet?

Holy hell, what a terrible ad.

I’m fully aware of the fact that a die-hard Apple fan bashing Microsoft ads is beyond cliche. But stick with me. This isn’t going to be a “M$ sucks, lol” post. Promise.

Everyone knows PCs are cheaper. Advertising it is supremely counterproductive.

Why is Microsoft so fucking concerned with Apple anyway? Does Microsoft realize that Apple will never be in a position to threaten the Desktop Windows monopoly? Ever?

I would say that the majority of computer users still don’t believe that Macs are compatible with the PC world. The consequence of this is that there are computer users out there who are not buying/using Macs for reasons other than price. A lot of them.

The recent surge of Mac marketshare isn’t coming from people who woke up one day and suddenly decided their budgets are big enough to accommodate a Mac. No, it’s coming from people who have always been able to spend the money to buy a Mac, but stayed away from Mac because of one of the various misconceptions about the platform, which are still at large. Apple Retail Stores are the #1 reason that Apple has been able to successfully combat these misconceptions over the past decade. The “halo effect” is instrumental, but it isn’t enough: there needed to be a place where a customer can actually get their hands on a Mac and be walked through it by an Apple-trained employee.

As these misconceptions die, the primary differentiation that will be left standing will be price. There are others, but price is the big one. That will never change. Apple is never going to go out of their way to build computers for people who aren’t looking for a premium computer. I’m not saying Mac prices are never going to drop, because they very well could if Apple decides to blitz for marketshare much like they did with the iPhone 3G. What I’m saying is that we will never see $299 Mac desktops or $599 Mac notebooks. It’s just not how Apple rolls.

To use another worn-out cliche, imagine a world where people think that BMWs take a different kind of gasoline than Hondas, a type of gasoline which is only available at a fraction of the worlds gas stations. Now imagine that people are beginning to realize that this isn’t true - BMWs can handle normal gasoline just like Hondas. BMW sales are going to spike, at the expense of Honda sales, in the short term. But these sales are going to come from Honda owners who have been willing to pay BMW prices the whole time, they just didn’t know that BMWs use the same gas. Obviously this isn’t anything even close to being the majority of Honda owners, and even after all those Honda owners jump ship, Honda will still be left with a much, much larger marketshare than BMW.

This is obviously a very simplified, streamlined analogy. But it gets the point across.

For the same reasons Honda isn’t worried about 3 Series sales eclipsing Civic sales, Microsoft shouldn’t be worried about Mac sales eclipsing PC sales. It simply isn’t going to happen. Yes, Apple has a lot of room to grow. I’ve always believed that in a world where the majority of consumers are sufficiently educated on what Macs are “about,” for lack of a better term, Mac marketshare would hover around 20%. It’s probably going to pass 10% buy the end of 2009.

But that’s it. I highly doubt Mac marketshare will ever get too far above 20%.

Microsoft is capable of making good products. I love my Xbox 360, I use it all the time, while my PS3 sits on the shelf. I’ve been playing with Windows 7 and it’s surprisingly good. It can be summed up as a slimmed down, cleaned up Vista. (Hopefully the Vista → 7 upgrade license will be sold for a nominal price, say, $49.)

But boy, does their marketing suck. It always has, and it probably always will.

Microsoft needs to get their priorities straight. Microsoft needs to realize their biggest competitor isn’t Apple, and it isn’t Linux. It’s themselves. The question isn’t “do I buy a PC or a Mac,” it’s, “do I buy a PC with XP or Vista?” Until they can win that battle, there’s no use in going after Apple. In fact, it’s really just a waste of resources.

There’s an old rule in marketing. If you’re on top, don’t reference the little guy. Ever.

Openly admitting that the little guy makes a “cooler” product than your own? Jiminy.

The battle they’ve decided to fight - stop the switchers - is an impossible fight, but more importantly, it’s not even worth fighting. Potential Mac users aren’t Microsoft’s bread and butter, they’re simply users who have been shoehorned into Windows by factors beyond Microsoft’s control. Mac users and potential Mac users together comprise a fraction of the general computer using population. They always will, because Apple wants it that way.

Cheap cheap cheap. Apparently, this is the message Microsoft wants to send. This didn’t send up any red flags before it got out the door? It’s mind blowing. Why don’t they just come out and say “hay guys, the majority of PCs you’ll find at Best Buy are pieces of shit! But they’re cheeeeeeeeeeeap! Amiright?”

That would be a lot more direct.

Microsoft worked their asses off to build their monopolies. They made an obscene amount of money in the process. That’s impressive no matter how you slice it. And like I said earlier, they are capable of making quality products. They tend to be few and far between, but every victory counts.

In spite of this, Microsoft seems determined to prove to the world that they aren’t the boring old corporate computer company, even though that’s exactly who they are and have made a truly staggering amount of money in being just that.

It’s pathetic.