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Comment by xenophanes | Hacker News Reader

Apple's TV ads criticize Microsoft. I think "never" is too strong, but you should definitely be careful, and do it in good humor.

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That's true, but as you said, Apple is very careful in phrasing their criticisms. Microsoft's flaws are drawn out from comparisons, not explicitly stated by Apple's guy (I don't know the actor's name). The viewer then makes the predetermined conclusion on "independently".

It's a crafty technique put to good use by Apple's marketing department. Whether it's something a small startup could use to put a dent in a market goliath, I'm not so sure.

The actor who plays the Apple guy is Justin Long.

They are also careful to say PC not Microsoft even though everyone understands what they mean.

Yes, and it's annoying. My PC runs Linux and virtually nothing Apple says in those adverts applies to Linux.

And it's not even honest given that ever since they abandoned PowerPC, Macs are pretty much the same as any other gereric x64, except that they're perhaps better designed than Dells or HPs and that they ship it with their own custom OS (which is a lot of difference from a user's perspective but still not quite honest in my opinion).

There's a fine line between criticism vs. compare and contrast.

There's also a fine line between humor and making fun of people. For me, "I'm a Mac and I'm a PC" is not humor.

By the way, I'm a PC guy.

I think the Apple ads try and cast PC as a representation of conformity, they aren't making fun of PC.

I actually think in the Bay Area, it's reverse. Having a Mac or an IPhone is conformity. I have never seen so many Mac/IPhone users anywhere else in the world.

Can't reach self actualization without an Apple enema.

The whole "I'm a PC" response from MS was decent. Unfortunately, they didn't go after the fashion statement base, which are the only Mac users who bother me. They're the ones that could be surfing the same Internet on a PC for 1/2 the cost.

Right, since when is advertisement meant to give an accurate picture of reality.

Whatever you might think of Apple's TV ads, Steve Jobs is rather notable for not being afraid to slam Microsoft.

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