Limbaugh could sell new Mac

The Hill ^ | 1/26/05 | David Hill

[Vermonter]

Limbaugh could sell new Mac

This week, Apple Computer is launching a campaign to sell a new product, the $499 Mac Mini, that portends to transform the world in a way the original Mac didn’t. But Republicans will be needed for the campaign to succeed.

To put this in context, you need to read Revolution in the Valley, Andy Hertzfeld’s new book about the making of the original Mac in the 1980s. Hertzfeld points out that the initial target price for the first Mac was $500. But by the time it was launched in 1984, the price had ballooned to $2,495.

Many of the Mac’s creators felt betrayed. All initial design goals had centered on Everyman, but instead of a computer that changed the world, the Mac became a niche machine mainly for artisans and limousine liberals who could afford one. The rest of us bought commodity PCs. Fewer than one in 20 computers sold or used today to cruise the Internet is a Mac.

The Mac Mini could rectify this. But will it? Will a low price tag and terrific design alone entice a mass market to buy this new product? I’m not so sure. Apple’s image may still be an impediment to Mac sales.

To research this column, I read lots of discussion boards all across the Internet, and it’s evident that politics still play a role in computer purchases. Just as there are red states and blue states, there are also Mac Democrats and PC Republicans. These battles were especially nasty after Apple went public with its politics and added Al Gore to its board of directors.

Apple’s leader, Steve Jobs, seems to have sensed last year that his company was getting too “political.” He backed off some of his campaigning for John Kerry and cryptically signaled to The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg in an interview that he understands the problem.

“People have said that I shouldn’t get involved politically because probably half our customers are Republicans — maybe a little less ... [but] I do point out that there are more Democrats than Mac users so I’m going to just stay away from all that political stuff because that was just a personal thing,” Jobs said.

There are, in fact, devoted Republican Macintosh users, but that is not the perception. So Apple desperately needs to introduce a replacement image to achieve the original Mac’s vision. There would be no better way to do this than to add a Republican or two to Apple’s board of directors. Mac users such as Karl Rove or Arnold Schwarzenegger adviser Mike Murphy would be possibilities, but Rush Limbaugh is the most obvious choice. Rush is an ardent Mac evangelist and knows a thing or two about marketing. Even if Limbaugh is not put on Apple’s board, the company should market through his daily radio program, paying Rush to tout his favorite computer the same way he builds mattress sales for Select Comfort.

Hertzfeld’s book says the team that created the original Mac had a spirit of “urgency, ambition, passion for excellence, artistic pride, and irreverent humor.” That sounds just like Rush Limbaugh to me. I know that if Rush had been a board member in 1984, he’d have had the guts to back the famous Big Brother Super Bowl ad that Apple’s then-timorous board abandoned.

Apple marketers also need to understand that restoration of their brand’s image in conservative and Republican circles can resonate with various factions of the party. I have already read favorable gun-owner comments about the Mac Mini on the discussion boards of Ted Nugent’s populist United Sportsmen of America website. James Dobson and his Focus on the Family might be intrigued by a computer that is affordable for young families and not subject to porno pop-up ads. And business Republicans will be impressed by the seamless integration of the Mac’s OS X operating system with corporate networks.

The Republican Party is a big tent. Apple should come on in.

[golas1964]

I just bought a Tempur-pedic mattress and I love it. I do believe I paid too much money for it ($2500 for a deluxe Queen mattress, foundation and one pillow) but it's extremely comfortable (great back and neck support) I'm sleeping better (I can sleep on my stomach again) and I recommend it highly!

[Leonard210]

Hank. Hanky. Hold on there. If PC's represent 98.5% of the computer market, then you guys have a much bigger problem with gay, scraggly goatee, faux-hipster types than Mac folks do. You clean up yours and we'll work on ours.

[cmsgop]

Yup ,thats it. I will never get rid of mine,

[Sam Cree]

Does anyone know if there is a browser for the I-Book that will handle popup blockers? I got an I-Book handed down to me from my daughter with IExplorer 5 on it.

[golas1964]

Firefox 1.0 (go to www.mozilla.com - it's a free download)

[Joe_October]

.... Rush is an ardent Mac evangelist ....

Why do Mac people have to lie. Rush is no evangelist. He said on his show countless times, it's what I learned on and I don't want to change. How is that an evangelist?

[Right Wing Assault]

"Anyone have one of those beds? How are they?"

Uh, see posts 31, 36, and 45.

[Joe_October]

... Macs have also been compatible with PC monitors since the days of VGA.....

I got a IIsi that says you lie like a rug. Different connector. Different frequency. You could by an adaptor but it didn't work very well.

Macs are always simpler until you try to actually use them with other computers and software. Geeks like us can manage but most users cannot.

[RS]

"Har, har, har. My wife runs a Mac Lab in school, 38 stations, and has never had a repair person in the lab."

Poor kids when they get out into the real world...

[BunnySlippers]

Since when do PC peripherals work with Mac!

Nice, huh? I am the proud owner of 5 Macs (a lot of years) ... and Republican. :)

[Swordmaker]

Since when do PC peripherals work with Mac!

Since about 1998... with the May 6th roll out of the Bondi Blue iMac with USB ports.

[libs_kma]

"The assumption is that you have one laying around from the PC you are upgrading from"

The problem is, that wont help PC users. Monitors and keyboards aren't interchangeable with Mac.

A buddy of mine married a school teacher (2nd marriage) and her Mac came with the marriage. I do a little work with other friends PC's and he's always needing help with this Mac. I've been able to help him with a few things but not much. I told him to find a buddy who's good with Mac's or dump it and buy a PC.

Needless to say I'm on his lib wife's crap list. Because hey, If I'm going over there to figure something out on their Mac that she can't figure out, then I'm going to put my 2 cents in about whiny liberals.

She loves me. I can tell by the way the smoke comes out of her ears every time I visit. :)

[Joe_October]

...Anyone have one of those beds? How are they?...

I tried one in the mall. They said you had to inflate them every morning when you get up. But, I bet people don't do that. But, if you did, it was the worst torture that I've ever felt. When that bladder is inflated (rigid), it's like a steel bar jammed up your spine.

I liked the Temperpedic though but I'm guessing it's just a preference thing. They have them in a lot of malls and they were very helpful.

[ByDesign]

Yep, they give you two ports, one for the keyboard( they don't give you ), and one for the USB port expander you will need to attach anything other then the mouse ( that they don't give you )

Mac keyboards also have a USB port, so the mouse is plugged into that - or whatever you want/need, so the keyboard/mouse only requires one USB port.

Or, you get the wireless mouse and keyboard from Apple, or Logitech, or whoever - most if not all of them work just fine.

... and just try to load the USB drivers from those mini-CD's via the slot drive ...

USB drivers? On Mini-cds? On a Mac? It's built into the OS - one thing Windows could really use - universal USB/Firewire drivers. I use wireless mice, a Wacom table, several USB cameras, a Optical monitor calibrator, an iPod, an ADS A/V Pyro dv capture box, an Epson 2200 printer, and several USB and Firewire external drives and DVD burners, and the only one that needed specific drivers was the Epson printer. On my Windows laptop, I've needed specific drivers for just about all of them. The only one I did'nt was a flash thumb drive.

Want the DVD burner ? - add another $100

They're free on Dell's?

[golas1964]

You can get the Tempur-pedic mattress on a 90-day trial period, and if you don't like it you can return it for a full refund. (except the 'Comfort Pillow', they make you keep that)

[Sam Cree]

So the I-Book operating system (I've forgotten what it is, OS-something) will run one of the firefox browsers?

Thanks

[ThinkDifferent]

Monitors and keyboards aren't interchangeable with Mac.

Once again, yes they are, although if you have a PS/2 keyboard you'll need a USB adaptor. Any VGA or DVI monitor will work.

[TheBattman]

PC peripherals with a mac? Most do - My Canon i860 printer, Epson scanner, HP 960c printer, my Logitech M700 wireless mouse, Logitech keyboard, additional USB 2.0 card, SanDisk 14-in-1 media reader, The LiteOn DVD+/DVD-/CD-R/CD-RW burner, Panasonic MiniDV camcorder, My Fuji FinePix S3000 camera, and additional hard drives all were non-PC specific - and work with my mac seamlessly.

Oh, I forgot - my Motorola V720 wireless phone syncs with my Mac's address book using iSync - a standard (and free) bit of Apple software.

So yes, many supposedly "PC" peripherals work just fine with a Mac.

[Swordmaker]

I was a big Mac booster and user, but to upgrade meant buying a completely new computer.

I was a big horse-and-buggy booster and user, but to upgrade meant buying a completely new form of transportation...

[Joe_October]

I bought the pillow. It was fine. I would buy the Temper-pedic but I have a relatively new mattress and I put one of those elastomeric pads on it. Mattress sales are a racket.

I did receive in the mail today a letter from Sleep Number for factory direct sales on returns, etc. The price was considerable better (like half the price by my reckoning). So there is some margin.