[Luca]

Messiahtosh's sales pitch: "Hey people, buy a Mac! It'll organize your life, make movies, do your dishes, even cure cancer!"

applenut's sales pitch: "You want a Mac? Fuck you. You don't deserve a Mac, you worthless motherfucker."

Big 's all around, this is just a caricature, not trying to offend anyone.

[Messiahtosh]

Haha, I'm just a nice guy with a passion for the Mac.

Read the following if you want to know what my idea of the Mac is.

The Apple Way

Writing about a passion is simple, therefore this essay should reveal a lot about something I love and the reason that I, along with millions of other people feel the same way. Apple Computer, the name to me is nearly a mythical one, stemming from all the way back to the beginning of the personal computer revolution. The original Apple Computer brochure advertisement did not focus on an Apple logo at all, but it showed Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree, while reading a book. The imagery means something, legend has it that Newton sat under an apple tree and had an apple fall onto his head. Once the apple fell on his head, he then took a bite from the apple and the bite proceeded to travel down to his stomach. Newton then posed the question: what law of the universe is responsible for making things fall? And today, the meaning that can be derived from seeing the Apple logo is that Apple’s products are catalysts for creativity, imagination, and problem solving. Apple changed their logo in spite of IBM, who has a logo of blue and white bars, spelling the name, “IBM”. The IBM logo represents the separation of white and blue-collar workers, so Apple made their new logo the colors of the rainbow. The rainbow logo is symbolic for being the computer for everyone else, the computer “for the rest of us.” But there is more to a company and its products than just the logo. The Apple story is a complex one, and it should be stated that it has taken me many years to understand what it is that made me fall in love with Apple and their products. In reality, Apple is still just a business that wants to make money, right? Yes and no…


About twenty years ago, a starry eyed visionary named Steve Jobs asked then Pepsi CEO John Sculley the question, “do you want to continue to sell sugar water for the rest of your life, or do you want to change the world?” Sculley was heavily swayed and impacted by the way Steve Jobs could pitch and sell his ideas and vision. Sculley became the Apple President and Jobs acted as the CEO and headed up the Macintosh division. Many would argue that Apple and Steve Jobs are one in the same, that the mercurial, passionate, and perfectionist Jobs is the essence of every Apple product and design. I tend to agree with that on some level, because Jobs demands more of his employees than the average software or hardware company manager. Making silicone art through the endless pursuit of the perfect machine, from the inside out, is what Apple is all about. There is a reason for this, which I think I have figured out; it comes down to philosophical differences between two companies, and different kinds of people. The differences in the products are because there are massive differences in the men that founded each company, what their visions were, and what their ultimate achievements ended up being.


Steve Jobs was Apple’s founder and is their current CEO, while Bill Gates founded Microsoft and is currently their Chief Software Architect. Steve Jobs was an orphan. Bill was the son of a powerful attorney. Steve was a hippie and a Bob Dylan fanatic. Bill went to Harvard and listened to Frank Sinatra. Steve is a liberal and Bill is a staunch conservative.


These two entrepreneurs also have many similarities. They are both the same age, neither of them possess college degrees, and they are both billionaires. They love technology, they know how to give customers what they want, and they both have visions about where the future of computing lays. The one thing that just separates these two individuals and company philosophies right down the center, is that Jobs knows what a better product is, while Gates knows how to run a more cutthroat and profitable business.
Steve and Apple have a philosophy that the sold product is a reflection of those who envision and create it. In the early days, Apple hired people who were geniuses in their fields. Microsoft hired hackers and businessmen. To embolden the differences in the underlying guidelines that the companies follow, this quote from Apple Industrial Designer, Jonathan Ive (who is ranked by Wired Magazine as the most recognized person from the U.K. even more than Harry Potter author JK Rowling) tells quite a bit, "Differentiation has never been the goal at Apple. It has been a consequence-the result of an ongoing effort to humanize technology, understand what it means, and convey that meaning to users everywhere. Our goal at Apple has never been to look or feel different. The goal is to be different by doing everything in a better way."


Most people that know me know that I like computers a lot, specifically Apple computers. To 90% of the world that is pretty hard to understand, much less appreciate. I came to a conclusion a long time ago, that “the Mac is better,” and the reasons for it being better come from experience, and intense research about the industry, but most of all from what I am actually able to accomplish when using my computer.


What I am able to do with my computer demonstrates this reality: productivity and end-less possibility have always been an exclusively Macintosh trait.


Look beyond Megahertz and Gigabytes and look at what your Pentium processor is actually processing! And look at what your hard drive is actually storing. I think most people will freely admit that they aren’t that creative with their PC, which runs the Windows Operating System from Microsoft. Apple exists to deliver on the promises of technology and to tie together all of the different technologies that exist and make them functional, fun, worthwhile, and easy to use. Microsoft exists to manipulate, monopolize, abuse and reap profits off of unknowing customers. If knowledge is power, then it should be a powerful wake up call to people who just don’t know about computers, that the Mac is empowering and the PC is limiting. Some people, however, may not ever even care. And that’s fine, because I can’t expect everyone to care about what I like. But as Americans we should all be expected to seek out the truth, we have been taught to value a dollar, and we have been taught to value progress. If we value all of these things, then there is no way one can go about buying into the Windows platform if they know what actually comes with it.


Fittingly, movie critic Roger Ebert once said, “any reasonable person would choose a Mac over a PC, Apple's market share (about 5%) provides us with an accurate reading of the percentage of reasonable people in our society.” Maybe there is more truth in what I am saying than people care to realize? For every person there is at least one time in their life when they find something out and want to share their discovery with the world. This is that something for me.


Computers are not life, but you can share, embellish, and enhance your life with only one kind of computer, because the people who work at Apple know what we want to be able to do, and they make it possible for us to enjoy. I just hope that what I have said provokes the seeking of truth, and to figure out what is truly the greatest value and better product. Maybe you will wonder, “just what is it that I don’t know?” According to Steve Job’s favorite artist Dylan, “The answer is blowin’ in the wind.”

[Luca]

Geez man, you gotta get out sometime and do something instead of spending your free time writing essays about how great Apple is.

[Messiahtosh]

Originally Posted by Luca Geez man, you gotta get out sometime and do something instead of spending your free time writing essays about how great Apple is.

I did that for a class, where we had to write about people's love of technology.

BTW, going to a kick-ass party tonight, no computers involved, I swear.

[Messiahtosh]

http://www.macnn.com/news/25668

Apple #2 choice among potential PC buyers.

[Messiahtosh]

http://www.macnn.com/news/25672

Fortune recommends the Mac for college-bound students!

[applenut]

Originally Posted by Messiahtosh I get people asking me to help them figure out what to buy, I have sold hundreds of Macs to kids at Penn State, and I dont even work for Apple. You dont know who I am, how I am able to draw people in and what makes me tick. You see my narrow minded Apple focus, on these message boards.

ever look into the apple campus rep position at Penn State? I'm currently on the wait list for Berkeley. Hoping a spot opens up this semester. It's easy money, merchandise and huge discounts for like 10-15 hours of work a week. And they fly you to cupertino in august for orientation/party

[Messiahtosh]

Originally Posted by applenut ever look into the apple campus rep position at Penn State? I'm currently on the wait list for Berkeley. Hoping a spot opens up this semester. It's easy money, merchandise and huge discounts for like 10-15 hours of work a week. And they fly you to cupertino in august for orientation/party

I definitely have checked it out, my older brother Pat currently fills the position. Luckily Pat will be gone after his final year here, at Penn State...I've met with Pat's boss and he seems nice and he feels that I would do a good job as the "successor" to my bro. I'll be in touch with Paul, and probably have an interview when the time comes. I'm pretty excited about it.

Applenut, you surprised me by your siding with me on these marketing issues, it's not a bad thing to have common ground once in a while. Good luck with the Apple Rep position!