Mac vs. PC War Continues
Tauw.com broke a great story yesterday that shows Jerry Seinfeld sitting in front of Mac Book Pro.
It wasn’t too long ago that Microsoft paid Seinfeld a reported $10 million dollars to do some PC commercials. These commercials showed Jerry Seinfeld with Bill Gates promoting the PC.
Jerry Seinfeld in front of a Mac
From Tauw.com (the unofficial Apple weblog): “In the latest episode of HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm — which happens to be one of my all time favorite shows — Jerry is actively discussing ideas with Seinfeld creator, Larry David. In the scene, a MacBook Pro is prominently shown on Jerry’s desk.”
Is this another sign that Microsoft has to literally pay for celebrities to show non-genuine affection for the PC?
When all along, when the cameras are off and these same celebrities are in the comfort of the work place, they are actually using Macs.
Perhaps this will change with the release of the new Windows 7 operating system from Microsoft, but I wouldn’t be too sure of that.
The Power of a brand
I’m guessing that even with the release of Windows 7, people are not going to leave their Mac to switch over to a PC. Why is that? Because of the power of a brand.
The Mac, even though it has a substantially lower percentage of market share compared to the PC (90% PC compared to 10% Mac), the Mac faithful attribute more than just computing efficiency to using the Mac.
People who are seen with a Mac feel smarter, better, more empowered, more tech savvy, etc… And people who are seen with a PC are seen as lesser computing power individuals – am I right about this?
So because of the power of the “Mac” brand, and especially with the perceived class associated with the Mac, my guess is that the Windows 7 operating system is not going to cause users to switch from a Mac to a PC.
If anything, with the release of yet another operating system from Microsoft, and this one as a result of the previous version’s failure (Vista), the effect might actually be to increase Mac users.