Posted on 07/08/2005 10:33:18 PM PDT by Swordmaker
Gee, maybe we Mac users really are as snobby as the hoi polloi Windows world thinks. (I'm kidding about the hoi polloi, by the way....) But this piece over at Apple Matters (see Reply #1 below) -- which looks at Apple's recent marketing efforts and how it's selling Tiger to the masses -- makes some very good points about the snob appeal of Macs.
Chris Siebold argues that Apple isn't really selling to the masses anymore. Forget that whole "computer for the rest of us" business. Siebold's view, and I'd generally agree, is that Apple now seems to be catering more to the tech elite (like me) than the tech commoners (say, like my mom). Sure, I know that basing Mac OS X on Unix is a good thing. But does mom, or anyone else who just wants a reliable computer with which to surf, do e-mail and trade digital pix really know or care what that means? I can assure you mom and her hypothetical computermates don't. (Although Mom does know a good thing when she sees one -- just try taking away her iBook.)
The same holds true, Siebold notes, with all of Apple's talk of the H.264 codec in Quicktime (I doubt mom knows a codec from a Coke), and a variety of other really cool, really useful OS X attributes that many users will never touch. Heck, I haven't even played with Automator myself -- yet.
"The Mac, we were told, was the computer for the rest of us," Siebold writes. "With the release of the Mac Mini, it is time for that message to be renewed...."
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Macintosh: The Computer for the Best of Us?
by Chris Seibold
Jul 04, 2005
Buying a car can be a trying experience. If you have no idea what you’re after the salesmen will positively inundate you with questionable information about why you should spend the next six years of your life paying for a option laden luxury SUV. The situation is ameliorated slightly if you know which vehicle you want to purchase before the dealership looms into view. Imagine you’ve chosen to buy a 2006 Land Whale. You’ll still be approached by the salesman but once he understands you know what you’re after the pitch changes, no longer will the salesman be actively trying to convince you to buy a car, rather he will now spend all his energies reassuring you that your decision is the most logical choice. The conversation usually runs along these lines:
“Can I hel..”
“I want the Land Whale, with the V-28 engine”
“Oh, nice car. What do you like about it?”
“The trunk, I heard it is huge and covered in vinyl?”
‘Yew doggies, you bet it is! Why you could stuff ten bags of mulch in there and rinse the crud out with a hose! Easiest to clean trunk in the industry! Zero inch lift-over to boot”
“Excellent. And does the trunk have a safety so it can be opened from the inside?”
“Of course. Federal law and all”
‘Shoot me straight, is this featured easily disabled?
“Never been asked that.”
“Uh, I work with a lot of red liquids. I hate to have my car looking dirty.
You have a red model on the lot?”
“Of course.”
“Great. Can the V-28 really out run a highway patrol cruiser?”
“Hey, let’s get that paperwork started…”
Which is seemingly analogous to the way Macs are being presented lately. Take a look at Apple’s Tiger page, you’ll se a lot of info on Tiger being based on UNIX. You’ll note the words spent highlighting the benefits of widgets and you can’t help but notice that Apple is fairly proud of Spotlight. Which is understandable, after all if Apple wasn’t saying great things about Tiger one would be forced to think that the marketing department was spending far too much time ogling a golf course. Still one can’t help but wonder if Apple has quietly abandoned the notion that the Mac is a computer for the rest of us and began marketing the thing primarily for the elite computer user who has already convinced themselves to buy a Mac.
Take the UNIX foundation of OS X. One supposes it does increase stability and foster a multi-user environment but does the average household with one or two machines even care? A better question might be: Does the average computer user even know what UNIX is? The answer is absolutely not only does the average computer user not know what UNIX is they also don’t care. In the end the UNIX underpinnings of OS X undoubtedly appeals to the elite, computer savvy among us (read: people who care overmuch about computers) but it doesn’t hold much allure to the guy who simply wants to edit home movies.
Casual reading of the aforementioned page will produce many more examples of Apple appealing to the very serious computer user. Apple spends several words touting the benefits of smart folders, Automator, Quartz Windowing, the H.264 video codec, Core Image, Core Audio etc. All of these have one thing in common no one except paste eating geeks and computer professionals care. Picture a sixty-year old computer purchaser in Oswego Wisconsin. The guy wants a computer he can surf the web on, buy some music, and maybe whip up a really bad song in GarageBand. Do you think he cares that the Mac comes with an operating system that features the H.264 video codec? Most would agree that discussions of various video codecs are a little too esoteric for our confused Wisconsinite.
Spotlight is the one thing that Apple gets right on the Tiger page. While Spotlight may be simply redundant in many cases (if the information is that crucial to you, you likely bookmarked the page with the info) it is also extremely compelling eye candy. In fact it is easily argued that for the 90% of computer users who really don’t care about computers Spotlight is the only thing on the entire page that holds any appeal at all. The best example of Apple’s ploy for the elite is evidenced by the existence of iMovie HD. While High Definition televisions are growing in popularity as their price decreases the cost of a High Definition digital video camera is still hovering at around two thousand dollars. If you’ve laid out two grand for a camcorder chances are iMovie will not be your movie editor of choice. Unless, of course, you are in rarified company when it comes to financial matters and don’t wish to be burdened learning the intricacies of Final Cut. In short, you’re one of the elite. In the end Apple seems to be selling to the already convinced. If you fully comprehend the advantages of smart folders or the abilities of Automator then you’re either intent on buying a Mac or just waiting for one more thing to push you to the Mac side from the techy embrace of Linux (even Linux folks occasionally enjoy the GUI of OS X). Unfortunately for Apple these people are few in number and happen to be better informed than 95% of computer users out there. Of course it wasn’t always this way. In days of yore Apple positioned the Mac as a computer that everyone could use straight out of the box. The Mac, we were told, was the computer for the rest of us. With the release of the Mac Mini it is time for that message to be renewed, after all arrogance repels as many users as it attracts and over technical arrogance? That even repels me.
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Probably the Sensory Modalities model (the original one, not the incomprehensible souped-up one) is the most help in understanding how and to whom the Mac is and has been marketed. :')
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