herblish >>> herbie martin

If Apple is so much better than a PC, why are they punishing in public those who use the damn thing?

What ever happen to think different? Several weeks ago Apple Computer began a new advertising campaign. I am sure that by now, you have seen several of these commercials on the tube and switched to a Mac. There are too many reasons described on their TV spots, by those who have converted.

The approach is a noble one, at that. Consumers are telling the truth about their experiences, with this sometimes complicated piece of machinery, called the home computer. The message is strong, loud and very clear, or is it?

There is only one problem; the execution sucks!!! In my humble opinion, the commercials are cruel and mean spirited in nature, not to the PC users who have not switched yet to the Mac line, but to the loyal Apple user.

Is this a bad joke? Why did Apple decided to show such a collection of incompetent idiots? Are things going that bad on One Apple Place?

I guess, the message Apple is trying to convey is that, in order to switch, there must be something terribly wrong with you. These people look like they really need help. The way they are shot and portrayed makes them look like freaks of nature, if you will. They might as well be in front a police lineup confessing their crimes.

Let me illustrate my case. By watching freelance writer and illustrator Mark Frauenfelder's video, you can easily deduct that he is not a big scorer with the ladies. Why would anyone say that working on a PC "it's like being stuck in a bad relationship"? He must be talking about a subject that he probably knows a great deal of... bad relationships.

Windows LAN Administrator Aaron Adams is another laughable character. He says that he is a Windows guy and works with Windows all day. He gets tired to fighting with Windows all day, and then he goes home to a Mac and happiness reigns in his valley. Is he a Windows or a Mac guy? Talk about masoquistic schizophrenia!

The ladies don't do much different, or wiser. Sarah Whistler is writer whose not afraid in admitting that she did not get the PC. She could never get a PC to work properly. She even starts off by saying that the PC was a "horrid little machine". If I only had a brain, she should had said.

Dianne Dyruff talks about her I-Book as if it was her friend. How pathetic is that! A friend, c-mon, what are you five years old? She even mentioned getting another one, like you would talk about a having baby. Can you say WAKO!

Let's talk about Ellen Feiss, student. She tell us about her ordeal of writing a paper for school on a PC and loosing half of it because it began to beep. "Like, you know, it crashed" (actually, she didn't say that, but it would have been humorous, if she did).

I really don't want to hurt your head anymore, but you can go to Apple's website and judge for yourself. After looking at all the mug shots in one place, one can easily determine why they were picked to be Mac's sacrifificial lambs. Would you be firends with any of these guys?

What if instead of being in an Apple computer ad, they were on the popular TV show Survivor? Imagine that they would have to live in a giant white painted warehouse and the only way to survive would be utilizing a PC. The show would be hosted by the Dell dude. Now that is must see TV to me!

The universal message in all the ads is that, they all say their name and professions at the end of the commercial. This is supposed to make us feel as if they are one of us. But really, are they? Would you talk about your computer problems as if you were an alcoholic?

Adding salt to injury is the corky sounding music in the ads. It reflects a sense of mockery. When I watch the spot, I am not laughing with them, I am laughing at them because they could not figure out how to properly work the machine that 95% of the world uses.

Apple had a great opportunity to gain market share from the Dell Dude and the Talking Cow (Gateway). Utilizing the very popular reality TV approach was pure genius! Why screw it up with silly music and the geekiest group of loosers you could find. If it was a singles bar, they would all go home alone (of course, back to their beloved Macs).

For years, Macintoch have been the tool of choice by artists and many other fields. Apple has pioneered many products and services that we use and take for granted today. Take for instance I-Tunes and I-Photo, they are much better than anything on the Windows side.

How about showing off their much sleeker looking I-Book or the most powerfull laptop on Earth, the Power-Book. A mobile, video, multi-media creating machine. Rival by none.

So why they are always missing the boat when selling their machines to the common person?

Perhaps the answer should come as no surprise in Apple's next commercial starring founder and CEO Steve Jobs. He will talk about how Bill Gates stole his operating system to build Windows and will end it with the following line; "I am Steve Jobs, and I am an idiot".

Send your comments to Herblish!