The blogosphere has been buzzing about the the number of Microsoft jabs during Steve Jobs’ keynote address at WWDC 06. Looking at the keynote this year one would think he is obsessed with Windows Vista and all the problems Microsoft is having with it. This coupled with the recent Mac vs PC ads just enforces the “smug/elitist” label that Mac users have been slapped with for decades. Many of Macheads may agree with the Microsoft bashing, but that to me should be left to the bloggers and Mac/Windows forums. Apple as a company and especially its CEO should at least be above the fray. Although Jobs himself deliver most of the slams, and relegated it to his subordinate, the constant focus on Vista in my opinion only takes away from OSX and adds little if no value to it. And to devote an entire segment of the Keynote just for Windows bashing? It may be funny, and even appropriate in a sales pitch, but this was a developers conference!. The primary audience there was developers who are already interested in the Mac platform or they wouldn’t be there in the first place. They don’t need petty bickering or a side by side comparison of how Windows is copying OSX. To me, that only puts them off and puts off people in the rest of the world when they think of Macs as an alternative. There is plenty of copying going around – a certain shareware program called Konfabulator comes to mind. Immitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and that is how Apple should perceive it if OSX is the flagship OS. If you think Microsoft truly stole an idea (as they have a habit of doing) call your legal department. That being said, even Windows fans like Paul Thurrott
agree that the blatant copy of iCal in the new Windows Calendar down to the identical color scheme bubbles is downright embarassing.
Macnuts including yours truly have been begging Apple for eons to show OSX in action on their ads. To this day I have yet to see a real OSX ad. Sure some of the new ads are funny, but one has to wonder if they truly have the desired impact. All those Quicktime movies on the Apple website would look a lot more impressive on TV. For example, an ad featuring iChat on Leopard with live motion video as a backdrop while sharing a Keynote presentation would be jaw-dropping. But then again, what do I know about marketing? All I can say that as a devoted Mac user and professed Microsoft hater, when it grates ME that Apple keeps harping on Vista to promote OSX, it is bound to rub others the wrong way. The “Start your Photocopiers” stuff was funny when Tiger was released – now it’s become just another hackneyed phrase.
So Apple, if anyone is listening, CAN the Attitude. Take the high road and get people to buy your product because it is BETTER. Apple didn’t have to bash Zen or iRiver to sell iPods. If you truly believe you have a superior product, you shouldn’t have to bash Windows to sell Macs.
