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I'd Like to Teach the World the Mac... |
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 I think I stumbled upon the perfect way for Apple to sell more systems. Pretty as they may be, the hardware will not always sell itself to new inexperienced customers, especially in these economic times. I think I may have found the perfect way to get more and more people interested in the Mac way of life. Apple should not spend their marketing dollars on showing off their quite impressive hardware designs, they should spend the money on having Mac Evangelists such as myself showoff what this wonderful operating system known as Jaguar can do.
Now I am not talking about the switch campaign. The switch campaign is great, however I think a lot of people view the switch campaign as, "That's great it worked for them but I don't need a mac." Testimonials are great and this sometimes helps some people take that first step, however others need that reason that shows them that, "The Mac Operating System is something I can not live without because it would simplify my life so much."
Now let me illustrate this point with a real world example that happened to me just a few hours ago. Today was like any other day at my real job, except the fact I had to spend some time with a Technician from a company that fixes our DSL lines when there is a problem. As we were waiting for one of my customers to call back and let me know that we had fixed their connection issue, the tech and I made small talk. We got to talking about the technology of the Internet and soon this degraded into computer languages. He told me that he was currently learning C++ and soon after he finished that he was going to learn to program Windows. (Yeah, there is nothing like an oxymoron is there, but I didn't say anything.) Well to kind of jump in on the conversation I mentioned that I knew PHP programming. After I mentioned this, the guy said that his wife did Web design and they had a small site.
I saw my opening, so I took it. I asked the guy if he hosted his own site or had someone else do it. He said he would like to be able learn to host it himself. He had taken my bait and there was no turning back now. I then proceded to tell him that with Mac OS X all he had to do was hit a button. You can not believe the way his eyes lit up.
"Really???? No way????", he says.
I then begin to tell him how easy it is to host a site on a Mac using a high-speed connection to the Internet. I showed him that by using DynDns.org he could take his domain name and have it forwarded to his IP, allowing him to essentially have his own server. I also told him that this was possible with an old G3 iMac which he could get cheap off of eBay. I even went as far as to tell him he could host multiple domains using on the built-in Apache server.
By the time I was finished showing off the wonders that is less than 1% of what the operating system is capable of, this guy was hooked. I thought he was going to ask to use a computer right there and then to look on eBay for a mac of his very own.
The Mac operating system is amazing, the hardware is a thing of beauty, and the switch campaign is good, but sometimes that is not enough. So, I guess what I am trying to say is that OS X is the best operating system out there, and the only thing stopping people from owning it for themselves is their lack of exposure to just how powerful this operating system is. |
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June 19 2003, 4:07 PM EDT, by |
Comments:
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| HTML Samurai |
6/19/03, 4:11 PM EDT |
That brought a tear to my eye!
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| iKen |
6/19/03, 4:57 PM EDT |
AWESOME! Another soul saved!
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| Jonahan |
6/19/03, 5:36 PM EDT |
Dude, you rock :)
I think this is the reason Apple needs to show some of the features of OS X in TV commercials and print ads. The way Apple has done ads in the past is beautiful: keep it simple, get their attention, give a link they can go to for more info.
However, I don't think this works for many PC-types. Apple has to make the commercials suck (like Dell's or Gateway's) and actually give specs on hardware or what you can do with the software. And talk about the iApps while you're at it too, that stuff is GOLD for converting people :)
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| Bill Palmer |
6/19/03, 9:55 PM EDT |
Jedbeck, you've got the right idea entirely. Keep up the good work.
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| DA |
6/20/03, 1:21 AM EDT |
playing devil's advocate here... doesn't windows PWS (personal web sharing) also only require a single mouse click to start?
Of course, it's not Apache, but still, your point was that all it took was one mouse click.... :-
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| Jedbeck |
6/20/03, 8:08 AM EDT |
I also have a Windows XP Pro machine at home and I have seen that feature there. But now i will have to look. But along with the emphasis on one click i was stating the fact it was starting the all powerful apache web server. Thanks for playing Devil's advocate. :)
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| Jonahan |
6/20/03, 8:25 AM EDT |
Even if XP does have that option, I think Jedbeck was pretty much referring to the entire OS and the ease of use of it.
For instance...something as simple as changing your IP address is much more complicated with XP.
In OS X you could have locations set up and just go to the Apple menu -> Locations, and select which one you want. Even if you don't have locations set up, you just go to Apple -> System Preference, click the Network pane and change your IP. Piece of cake!
Now in XP, you have to go to Start -> Control Panel -> Network Connections, then right-click your conenction and select Properties, Double-click on "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)" and THEN you can change your IP.
There may be an easier way to do this, but I was a Tech and even Network Admin of a Windows network and I haven't seen one. :)
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| HTML Samurai |
6/20/03, 9:36 AM EDT |
No, you are right on the money Jonahan, but at least XP and 2K don't require a reboot the way any other Windoze OS did.
Apache is also available for Windoze, but not even close to being included with the installation of it. And, if anyone is running a web server on a Windoze box using the default web server, I strongly recommend migrating to Apache - it has about a 100% increase of security over MS IIS.
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| Chris |
6/20/03, 4:07 PM EDT |
"I switched because of OS X."
The above is both true for me and something that Apple needs to start using on their commercials. Show it off to the world! I would never have swithced if my friend hadn't had OS X on his system for me to screw around and fall in love with.
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| Adam |
6/21/03, 12:16 AM EDT |
Good job, Jedbeck.
Yeah, Apple really needs to do a better job of advertising what you can actually do with the Mac OS. The Switch campaign wasn't even close to good enough. And the AppleMusic commercials...I'm not even going to coment on their stupidity.
Apple's entire marketing department should really be fired. They haven't had one really great ad since Mac OS X came out. OK, the PowerBook commercial with the 12" and 17" with the actor of Mini Me was funny, but it didn't really say anything about the computers. Apple needs some great OS X commercials showing what it can really do.
Adam
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| Mr. HooHoo |
6/22/03, 6:03 PM EDT |
Nice work Jeb, but what about the prices man? As long as people can look at a processor speed comparison and see more Mhz for the buck on the Windows side they wont care that Macs are superior machines.
Wouldn't a 3 Ghz G4 or G3 be nice to see on the market?
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I guess one of the funniest memories of my grandfather was the time I was at his house and that tied-up man with the gag in his mouth came hopping out of the closet and started yelling that HE was really my grandfather and the other guy was an imposter and to run for help. Who was that guy?! Oh, well, never saw HIM again.
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