Isn't it time to really promote OS X?

D

d8n_two

Registered
I know this topic has been discussed over and over, but isn't it time that Apple puts OS X in the advertising spotlight?

The need for this was brought to my attention when I was hanging out with my girlfriend and her uncle. Her uncle is an Internet banking software developer/manager and obviously very computer-savvy. He sat down to look at my girlfriend's iBook, and although he was amazed at how beautiful the computer was, he was more impressed by how beautiful the OS was. When I proceeded to tell him about the UNIX underpinnings and that my girlfriend hadn't shut down her computer in 3 weeks without a crash he was astonished. He had heard something about "OS 'Ex'", but really knew little about the power.

Well, after all my bragging and showing off, I told him about server edition and Xserve. Now, with his small bank considering new servers, he and his bank are seriously considering OS X Server and Xserve.

Anyway, all I'm saying is that OS X needs some primetime airtime, not just some dude on a white background barely mentioning it. Show the rest of the unknowing computer world the OS we all know and love.

Isn't the upcoming release of Jaguar the ultimate place to start a promotional onslaught?

d8n_two
 
I couldn't agree more. The ignorance I hate most comes from PC users that always say "Mac OS sucks." After they try it, it is a different story. Those that use it on a regular basis become members of a cult and would never switch back.
-Doofy
 
Cult is a word with such negative connotations. We Mac users are an enlightened few. A select bunch. The elite. A cult? No, if we were a cult we would all bow down and pray to Steve Jobs 5 times a day. Currently, I only pray to Steve Jobs three times a day.
 
Yeah, with jaguar we could promote. 10.0 wasn't promotable, 10.1 was too close to XP(people could confuse them and say "Isn't that that Windows XP we've been hearing about?"[many have problems separating 2 OSs]), but with Jaguar we coudl run a few commercials. If Apple could please smarten up they could run them worldwide in prime time(Microsoft style).

But if they do this I bet it'll be a few commercials late night and only in the US...
 
Yes, I know... Apple MUST do something about Mac OS X because most people think that end-all, be-all for Mac is 9.x.x. And that's way far from the truth!

At work and even at my free time when it happens so that I HAVE to discuss about computers they all hate the Mac even though while 99% of the people never saw or used one for that matter ;( And if someone saw/used a Mac at some time it was with 9.x.x or earlier...

And yes, when I drive them in front of Mac OS X screen or pics they become M$ supporters: Hey, it looks like Apple copied XP, man! That's one of the phrases I hear all the time... But if I'm lucky and I have the time: They start to realize a thing or two: Hey, this rocks! How can I buy one? However, so far only up to 20 or 25 people bought Macs after talking to me and that's in a period of 9 months or so which is SLOOOOOOWWWWW... Also, 9-10 where relatives or people well known to me which made things easier! I remember one or two people I was talking to them for 5 days or so, for up to 2 hours per day: Hey, how do you do that? Can this be done? How it compares in this? What is this? Blah-Blah again and again... Hey, I even got self-macmind-controlled that week ;)

Now, if Apple started those commercials or they started giving away Macs to people who have key positions... At least that's what Wintel do: The majority of people when they buy 10 or more computers for their offices, companies in general they get 1 or 2 for free (you know, the ones that they later get for home use...)

Also, Apple likes to boast how their users are from creation and school markets and still they don't give them a Mac for free: Hey, it is cheaper than advertising in a ZDnet publication or similar ones and if all will go according to plan, people will start seeing Macs around more often... I know that this not gonna happen but at least this is something that Wintel companies do "off the record" ;( to get more and more customers aboard!

Someone said that X.1 was too much of XP-like: Well, actually is the other way around and believe me I can tell you MANY things that make X.1 a league of its own but Apple in one of their web-pages said it nice:
Myth 5: Windows has caught up with the Mac.
Fact: It can’t be denied that Microsoft has made a good business out of copying the innovative Mac OS. And, truth be told, Windows XP is their best effort to date. But Mac OS X has sent them back to the drawing boards. Particularly with respect to graphics, everything digital (like music, movies and photography), ease of use and elegance. In other words, all the things that make a stateof-the-art operating system, well, state-of-the-art. And we’re not the only ones who think so. Consider critics like the Detroit Free Press, who recently proclaimed: “The new OS X for Mac runs circles around Windows XP.” Or ZDNet’s David Coursey, who praises Mac OS X as “The nicest operating system I’ve ever seen.”

Here is the link: http://www.apple.com/myths/
:D
 
And it must not change the PowerMac name to xMac. Featured Here:
 

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Xserve will not be promoted to the public. Steve Jobs was asked that in a product demo presentation announcing the Xserve and he said that they have no plans to advertise the xServe.

So in the case of your girlfriend's dad, unfortunately the message would not have gotten to him for a server solution.

I think that’s a shame, Apple has a better product.

Although the "switch" commercials might not be enough for mac cult.... ahhh elite members, it is a step in the right direction.

First we empower the people then inform them... kind of like "just do it" or "Got Milk?" or "dude you're gettin' a Dell" or "Can you hear me now?"

Apple is using "switch" and the obvious question is... to what?

I think Jaguar will be the first publicly commercial driven OS for Apple. They are setting it up, and rightly they should.

Let's face it OSx 10.0 wasn’t enough for the average consumers. We had to fight through a lot of issues that "non-mac" wouldn't tolerate. It needed that real-world testing to work out all the primary bugs.

Some would say it still has a long way to go... But Jaguar seems to be the answer to most – if not all – our prayers. A major release, with a major ad campaign to follow. That’s my guess and my 2¢.
 
I'm not really calling for Apple to push Xserve to the public. It's not made for general consumers. My girlfriend's uncle became really interested in server possibilities after hearing about OS X consumer edition. This is why I think OS X exposure to the general public is so important because hype about "a" leads to hype about "b" >>>"c">>>"d".

Sure Apple is supposed to be a hardware company, but in computers there are two selling points. They've marketed their hardware fantastically. They've marketed iTunes, iPhoto and iDVD on the software side. But with Jaguar (as opposed to 10.0 & 10.1) although I have not used it, I think they have one of their biggest selling points on the software side.

I'll relay another story. A really good friend of mine and his wife (neither too computer-saavy) were in the market for a computer. My friend really wanted to get a Mac. He's wanted one for years. They were going to go with an LCD iMac. They went to CompUSA where they were told Macs aren't compatible with this and that. He asked "What about OS X?" He was told it was harder to operate and due to it's Linux (yes he said Linux) base, it would be even less compatible in the future. This scared my friend's wife out of the idea of getting a Mac. Now they have a Dell laptop (without consulting me; I could have set them straight). When I heard the story, I was mystified that they were told that.

So, it seems either people don't know anything about OS X or they are completely confused about it. C'mon, give us some clever ads to enlighten everyone (or set the ignorants straight).

d8n_two
 
Misinformation.

I was in a local computer store the other day... I took my usual trip to visit the Macs.

My girlfriend gave me a time-limit... :mad: while she shopped in the other departments.

But while I was there a guy was looking at the new iMac. (15in flat panel display).

He was talking to his friend about it... saying "this computer is very cool!" as he moved the monitor around and played with the mouse.

I have to admit I started listening in to the conversation between him and his friend, because I was happy to see someone admire the machine. The guy, in addition to being very touchy with the Mac was very outspoken. He started talking with his friend saying how he’s been looking at this model for a couple of years now... (yeah I know, a bit long for this model...)

He said “This one has a faster Pentium chip in it then mine at home... And look at this version of Windows, it’s great... I’ve been playing around with it and it’s a lot better then my machine.”

I was astonished... Here it was, the extreme of what we have talked about... Apple actually enticed someone to play around with their machine, but failed to inform them that they were on a Mac... This guy was convinced Microsoft had made OSX... He wasn’t sure what model the machine was, which concerned me at first... But then I realized... Not all PC people are concerned about who makes the machine because there are so many PC makers out there.

Heck, I have a PC that is “home-made” and I have a Dell, and honestly it’s hard to tell the difference between the two, so I can’t blame him.

The catch is that the combination of the machine and OS sold him on buying a machine, but, because of misinformation, he was set to order (via the web at home) at DELL.COM!!!

I, of course, couldn’t let this happen...

I asked him “excuse me, you seem to know a lot about computers, what do you think of the Macs?”

His answer was shocking... He was literally pointing at the iMac when he said “their machines are not as cool as this and their operating system works differently then the other ones, so you can’t share files or even go on the internet with a Macintosh... Which is why this store doesn’t even sell them.”

I stepped back in astonishment, here he was “the authority” on computers and teaching his friend misinformation! I didn’t know what to say and just them my girlfriend came to the rescue!!

She knows enough about Macs and OSX from my conversations with her.

She approached the iMac and said, “sir, you’re on a Macintosh... And that’s OSX, not windows XP! OSX is much better then Windows XP. It’s UNIX based, so it very rarely crashes on my machine at home. Unlike my two PC’s that crash more frequently. Honestly, you seem very impressed by it as well. Do you think you could buy an Apple if I told you the one you’ve been playing with was one?”

I was very impressed with my girlfriend... Even before I could say anything she had informed this guy of his unknown preference to Apple Macintosh computers. And she did it in a way that was non-offensive and possibly a bit flirtatious... I’m not sure.

He nodded his head and smiled. He noted that the tagged signs were misplaced, which is where his information on the machine was coming from. But he admitted that after playing with the machine on his numerous trips to the store, he would strongly consider buying a Mac.

My girlfriend then gave me the disappointed look as if I wasn’t fulfilling my “Apple” obligations by not informing this guy he was on a Mac earlier. She then motioned her attention to the direction of her wrist watch, noting that my time playing with the new Macs was up. I love my girlfriend.
 
d8n: I've never really got hyped about the alphabet...

evildan: You got the coolest girlfriend of them all...faster Pentium chip my behind:D

I think you have a point, too many hear rumors of Macs or try OLD versions of the OS(do we still judge MS for Windows 95?)

I have a little story of my own, not funny, but hey...
My friend was constantly nagging on her mom to get a computer. She's into artistic work, I suggested a Mac. Her mom takes the words "good", "computer" and "good looking" and, unfortunately, goes off to the electronics store alone to buy a computer. Here, she made the fine decition to take the salesman as her adviser.
I think this is the dproblem, customers don't think far enough to know that the guy behind the counter is trying to sell a product, he won't tell you to buy the computer you need, he'll tell you to buy the computer that gives more money to him.

I was called later that same day, and to my diappointment threre was a Packard Bell in their house. She figured this would be the time to ask me to help...she needed to get it up and running...

Sad story, I wish these ppl would just ask a computer litterate to tag along when they go to buy computers...at least we know enough to stay away from PB...poor thing is crashing even when it's turned off...
 
last time i went in my local Computer store all the iMacs were asleep (they didnt hide the prefs well so i changed it), except one, which only had 64MB of RAM on, and they'd installed X and couldn't work out why it didnt work. you'd think that 'experts' even PC wise would be able to read the minimum reqs on a box.
 
Voice- I think this alphabet thing is going to take off. You'd be wise to get in on it now. They say that in the future you won't be able to communicate without it.

d8n_two
 
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