Mac Vs Pc

MAC vs PC

As if it isn't hard enough to chose between the multitudes of available Windows based

personal computers on the market Apple shows up off the sidelines with its new and

innovative line up of MAC computers. In an attempt to take over or regain back some the

market share that they once held Apple started its witty and entertaining campaign of TV

commercial Get a MAC. As I'm sure everyone has seen; the MAC and the PC are portrayed by

Justin Long and John Hodgman respectively as they act out the witty roles of the two rival

computers. The Mac is portrayed as a laid back and more casual character while the PC is a

formal stuffy character that shows frustration at the MAC's care free demeanor. Picking out

the flaws in the previous Windows Vista the two characters take part in everyday scenarios

where the PC struggles while the MAC does it with ease. Have these ads generated new

interest in Apple's MAC? I for one enjoy MAC's advertising campaign against PC I find it

humorous and tactfull but is it enough to uproot loyal PC users? Time will tell.

This is not the first time that we have seen Apple use the television as a media for

advertisement. From the beginning of MAC Apple has used bold ads in both TV and printed

media for advertising. In 1984 Apple produced an iconic TV commercial at the launch of its

new GUI based personal computer the Macintosh; 1984 produced by Ridley Scott at the cost

of $1.5 million the commercial alluded to the George Orwell novel Nineteen eighty-Four.

An unnamed heroine represented the coming of Macintosh as a means of saving civilization

from IBM's attempt to dominate the computer industry, the atmosphere of the commercial

was dark and hinted of a time where we where ruled by a televised "Big Brother".

Earlier in 1983 Jeff Raskin the designer of Apples new GUI (Graphical User Interface)

computer named the new personal computer after his favorite apple the McIntosh changing

the spelling to Macintosh. One year later in January of 1984 two days after the first airing of

the new commercial 1984 during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII; the new Macintosh

128k went on sale at a price tag of $1995. In November 1984 Apple bought all 39 advertising

pages of a special post election NewsWeek at the cost of $2.5 million. And if that was'nt

enough Apple advertised a "Test Drive a Macintosh" where potential buyers with a credit

card could take home a Macintosh for 24hrs and return it to the dealer afterward. 200,000

people participated but at the cost of Apple many units where brought back in such bad

condition that they could not be resold. This misfortune cost Apple so much that they had to

raise the price of the Macintosh from $1995 to $2495 which is the equivalent to $5200 in 2010

after adjusting for inflation.

Later in 1985 Microsoft released its version of Apples GUI system dubbed the "interface

manager" in their new Microsoft Windows 1.0. From that point forward the two rival

companies have been battling and at one point Apple sued Microsoft and Hewlett Packard on

the grounds of copyright infringement of the Apple GUI system but the case was later ruled

against Apple as was the later appeals.

So from the beginning the battle raged between Apple and Microsoft and 25 years later the

two kids are still at it with the ever so popular TV commercial campaigns Get a Mac and