Windows, Mac OS, and Linux all have their ups and downs, however none of them are perfect.
That doesn’t stop fanatics from all three camps from being a little bit crazy.
This matrix from Global Nerdy perfectly sums up the points of view of fanboys and girls from all three groups.
Three years ago I would have gotten a good laugh out of that headline, but it’s true (This in depth and interesting article details the market shift).
Apple has completely conquered the high-end computer market, while PC makers have been producing weak machines with lower profit margins.
PC manufacturers fell victim to one of the classic blunder, (“The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia” The Princess Bride) got themselves caught up in an unwinnable battle over price.
Back in March, Microsoft began running the “Laptop Hunters” ad campaign. I had a particularly negative response to the whole thing.
Here’s part of what I argued:
The second problem with this section of the ad is the price-point. Microsoft doesn’t sell PCs but their partners do. The profit margin on a $700 laptop isn’t usually amazing. They set Lauren’s budget at $1000, why not have her spend $950? or $990? The ad lowers the expectation for what consumers will expect to pay. If Lauren could get a “great” computer for $699.99 then that’s what a PC should cost.
This ad also degrades the value of a PC. Apple is now officially the gold-standard… Microsoft said so in its own ad. Microsoft has made Apple the BMW of computer makers (if they weren’t considered that already, there is no debate now). PCs are the computer you buy when times are rough… like now. But in the future, the economy won’t be in the dumps (hopefully sooner than later). Then people will have money again. When they replace the cheap POS of a PC they bought during the recession, they are going to want to replace it with something better. Something top of the line… and now we all know that PCs are the cheap computer.
I guess I learned something in those brand management and consumer behavior courses I took in grad school.
Couple Apple’s market share victory with Microsoft’s first annual sales decline, and you can imagine that a lot of folks in Redmond are having a pretty crappy week.
High-end computers are where the money is, and Microsoft (and PC makers) can’t possible afford to concede that turf to Apple… That’s like agreeing to split an apple with a friend and agreeing to eat the core; there isn’t much to eat, and the seeds contains trace amount of cyanide. They need to win back consumer confidence (good luck with that), and they need to do it fast (seriously, now is the time to throw money at the problem). If Microsoft doesn’t change their product’s image problem before the economy recovers, there will be a mass exodus from cheap PCs to the high-end Apples.
It’s become abundantly clear that if the average consumer is going spend a lot of money to buy a good computer, they prefer to purchase it from the fruit company.
This trailer looks even more impressive than the previous ones.
It seems that the release date has been bumped up to August 25th. I don’t have to tell you what my plans for that evening are do I?
The PC vs. Mac ad war continues to rage.
A few weeks ago I wrote about the first of what has become a series of PC “Laptop Hunters” ads. I’m continuing to stand being my original analysis of the “Lauren” ad. The two subsequent PC Hunters ads weren’t quite the train wreck that Lauren was, but I still found the people in the ads obnoxious and ill-informed; shouting off random computer parts and claiming to be tech savvy doesn’t appeal to me at all.
The biggest problem with these ads is that they completely ignore the user experience. Microsoft doesn’t sell Blu-ray drives, monitors, or graphics cards. They sell software. They sell a user experience, and that experience is lacking but it isn’t unsellable. These ads were pretty damn good:
These two ads are simple and elegant. They address the user experience in a clear and friendly manner. Plus, how can you get have a problem with those little girls? They seem far more intelligent than the tools that appear in the PC Hunters ads. The four year-old came across as more authoritative and likable than Lauren, Giampalolo, Lisa, or Jackson.
In response, Apple is using the same old formula to continue point out the flawed Windows user experience, and why not? These ads have been working wonders. Here are two of the new ones:
Another problem that Microsoft has is that Apple has had an active and preachy community for decades. There wasn’t a completely devoted community of PC users in the same way that there was a Mac community. Tight knit communities form around minority views. Additionally, many of the devoted PC users of the past (like myself) jumped ship to Apple over the past few years.
If Microsoft want’s to plug the holes, the answer isn’t poking holes at Apple; Microsoft doesn’t have the credibility to pull it off. They need to prop up their product and make it as cute, pretty, and above all, as likable as possible. They need to highlight the virtues of their own user experience, even if there aren’t many of them.
It's the user experience stupid!
There is a new latest and greatest version of the free (and awesome) VLC media player is officially available.
It works on PC, Mac, and Linux and can play damn near anything.
You may download it here.
Happy viewing.
I’m not writing any more on Conficker prevention or safety but remember that April 1 is tomorrow and no one knows what will happen with this worm.
If you need more info, check Lifehackers post:
How To Protect Your Windows PC from the Conficker Worm
Practice Safe Computing.
This past week the new Microsoft ad, “Lauren Get’s an HP Pavilion” has consistently come up in conversation.
Is the ad telling the truth?
Yes! It absolutely is true. PCs are much cheaper than comparable Macs under almost all circumstances.
The question of truth unfortunately isn’t the important part of the ad. Sadly for Microsoft it is an excruciatingly shortsighted and ill-conceived TV spot. Let’s parse out this ad’s message:
By kicking off the ad with Lauren trying to buy an Apple it states very clearly that a Mac was her first choice. She went to get a PC when she couldn’t afford her first choice.
Flash forward to the Best Buy-ish store.
Lauren shouts out some easily digestible specs that she wants, and the PCs can meet he expectations for well under her budget of $1000… in fact, she bought if for $699.99 – This section of the ad has two BIG problems.
First, Microsoft sells software and a user-experience, not necessarily a good one, but a user-experience nonetheless. They don’t sell hardware. In spite whatever Microsoft believes, the biggest draw of an Apple is the user-experience, not the pretty hardware (there are some very pretty PCs out there). As Lauren points out, they have comparable hardware. The ad never deals with Windows Vista’s inferior user-experience. At least the Mojave Experiment ads did that!
The second problem with this section of the ad is the price-point. Microsoft doesn’t sell PCs but their partners do. The profit margin on a $700 laptop isn’t usually amazing. They set Lauren’s budget at $1000, why not have her spend $950? or $990? The ad lowers the expectation for what consumers will expect to pay. If Lauren could get a “great” computer for $699.99 then that’s what a PC should cost.
This ad also degrades the value of a PC. Apple is now officially the gold-standard… Microsoft said so in its own ad. Microsoft has made Apple the BMW of computer makers (if they weren’t considered that already there is no debate now). PCs are the computer you buy when times are rough… like now. But in the future, the economy won’t be in the dumps (hopefully sooner than later). Then people will have money again. When they replace the cheap POS of a PC they bought during the recession, they are going to want to replace it with something better. Something top of the line… and now we all know that PCs are the cheap computer.
Bad move Microsoft.
Over the last 24 hours there have been a number of articles posted on tech news sites that are downplaying the impending Conficker evolution on April 1.
Most of the articles point out that Conficker isn’t the worst virus ever created because it has been defeated by Windows patches and virus scans.
They also acknowledge that the new infection has diminished greatly over the last few weeks.
Both of these are true. However, if you are still infected the virus can still do damage.
It’s a threat. How much of a threat is undefinable because no one knows what will happen after April 1. I am advocating for people to clean up their computers because it isn’t in anyone’s best interests to operate on a computer infected with malware of any kind. I’m also fairly certain that the people reading and writing tech news sites are the ones who are at risk. The people at risk frequently don’t know it and won’t get their computers fixed unless someone knowledgeable identifies the problem and fixes it for them.
If you aren’t infected and your computer is up-to-date Conficker isn’t a threat just as Hepatitis B isn’t a threat to a person who has been vaccinated against it.
The bottom-line as I have said in my last three posts on the subject:
If you keep Windows up-to-date and make sure that you have a current virus scan, you should be safe from both Conficker and most other viruses that are circulating the Internet.
If Conficker doesn’t do anything terrible on April Fool’s Day – That’s wonderful! But why put yourself at unnecessary risk?
Practices safe computing.
A friend of mine just lost all of her data during a freak hardware malfunction.
Just because your computer is working today doesn’t mean that it will tomorrow (that goes for Mac users too). If it breaks you will be so relieved to have backups of your data.
Computers are replaceable. Your work and photos are not.
Please practice safe computing.
This is no joke. I’m not exaggerating. If you are not 100% certain that your computer is absolutely Conficker free you are making a very big mistake.
This is the third time I am writing about this worm because it remarkably scary.
For more background, you can read my initial posts:
PC Virus: Downadup/ Conficker/ Kido
Don’t Mess with Conficker! Make Sure Your Computer is Clean
Conficker is a worm that impacts Windows computers. It is a rather impressive program that is constantly evolving at the will of its creator(s). It can be contracted through a download or it can spread over networks. Some versions are capable of breaking simple passwords.
On April 1, 2009 Conficker will evolve once again. If you are infected be prepared to wake up to an April Fools Day gag that won’t be very funny.
No one but it’s creator(s) know what it will do, but I’m a “prepare for the worst and hope for the best” kind of guy. I recommend that you imagine Conficker is under this guy’s control:
"Why so serious?"
It is possible that it will end up being a big April Fools joke from a guy like this:
… But it is foolish and dangerous to assume that Conficker is innocuous. The creator(s) of Conficker have built something very elaborate and will be in a heap of trouble if they are caught. The risks and effort involved do not suggest that they are playing a practical joke.
This virus is stoppable. You can update your computers using Windows Updates and install a proper virus scan. Backup your data, and do whatever you can to make sure that your computer is virus free.
If you can’t do it yourself, call a friend.
No tech-savvy friends? Pay someone to do it.
Just make sure your computer is clean.
If you are infected, you can clean your machine with this tool.
If your computer refuses to run or install Windows Updates, you probably have a virus. If you think your computer is a cesspool of viruses and malware, just bite the bullet and reformat it before April 1.
Even if Conficker doesn’t do anything terrible, you are still doing yourself a favor by cleaning up your machine.
Spread the word to everyone you can. Email this post, don’t email this post, I don’t care. Just please warn everyone you can.
If you have the skills to remove this worm or secure a system from it I firmly believe that you have an obligation to help family and friends who do not have the skills to protect themselves. No one knows what will happen to infected machines as of April 1.
Always practice safe computing and in this instance, please help others do the same.
Writing a post or series of posts that provide guidance about building a computer has been on my agenda, but Lifehacker did a very good job with theirs. For now, I am just going to direct you to their post:
http://lifehacker.com/5151369/the-first+timers-guide-to-building-a-computer-from-scratch
This stuff is on the advanced side, but it far from impossible. I don’t recommend attempting it unless you have moderately strong technical background, don’t mind doing all of your own troubleshooting, and want to learn more about how computers work/ how to fix them.
In my opinion the best way to learn how to fix computers is to break them and make them better (That’s how all three of the computer geeks who write on this blog learned). This could be an excellent learning experience.
The Downadup/ Conficker/ Kido worm is no laughing matter. Please, for the love of all things technology make sure that you don’t have it.
Run Windows Updates! Get a good virus scan (if you don’t already have one), and make sure that the virus scan is up-to-date.
I’ve already written about this worm before, but it is so dangerous that the warning bears repeating.
It is entirely possible that the initial worm which has infected millions of PCs around the world might be the first wave. Conficker looks like it has the capabilities to update itself and trigger a second wave of attacks – which could be more vicious.
This is one of those problems where the technical reasons and manner in which the worm works, don’t really matter. What does matter is that you make sure you are not and infected.
If you care to read more about Conficker or the tech industries united front against this menace, this article is pretty good:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/13/AR2009021302080.html
Please! Please! Please! Practice safe computing by staying Conficker free.
I’d like to write about something very close to my heart (it’s not babies): the art of backing up your stuff.
Some of the particular programs we’ll reference later are platform specific, but the principles here ought to apply to anyone with a computer. If you’re a non-Mac user, hang tight and hopefully Jason will be able to answer your specific backup needs in a future post.
Let’s get right down to it.
Which brings me to my second point.
A good backup, like fire insurance, is something you hope you never ever have to use. Also, like fire insurance, a good backup keeps you sane, safe, and protected when something terrible happens. Which brings me to point three.
I spent a fair amount of high school screwing around with Linux on my computer. I can’t count the number of times I formatted my hard drive or the number of precious songs I was into in high school that I now no longer have (may your cowboy twang Rest in Peace, “Don’t Tell Me” by Madonna). So, let’s put first things first.
All there really is to backing up is simply making additional copies of your important data and putting them in other places. At the core of it, that’s it. You want to have more than one copy of your data, you want those copies to be in safe places, and you want to be able to access them in the event of an emergency. So, while there are tons of fancy-pants tools and and programs to help you back up your data, they’re all doing essentially the same thing: helping you make copies of your data.
I’m not an industry expert, but I have picked up a few things along the way that you can think of as guiding principles when it comes to backing up.
Come on back tomorrow for my first Mac backup guide. If your computer dies between now and then and you lose all of your data. I’m sorry.
In this multi-post “how to” guide I am going to go over everything from deciding between a desktop and a laptop to deciding between individual parts.
"Round One... Fight!"
For starters, we will begin with the easy question – desktop or laptop.
Both have advantages – desktops are cheaper and much easier to upgrade. They are also generally more powerful. But laptops are good too – they are portable and compact. They take up less space and can be used on the go.
So the question remains – “Which one do I buy?”
Well being in retail, or more specifically being a guy who sells computers, I can tell you that it really boils down to one question – Does the portability matter to you? If it does, then you should obviously go with a laptop because no one wants to carry around a huge tower, keyboard, mouse, monitor, and whatever cords you need to plug it in. And if it doesn’t, then ask yourself, “would I be happy with a desktop?”
Now for those of you who think there is more to it, there isn’t. The decision process is that simple.
In my follow up post, we will be looking more closely into the different types of laptops and how to decide between them, so stay tuned!
Here’s a quick tip for you:
When using a laptop, so long as you have a healthy battery, it’s fine to use it without plugging it into the wall.
However, if you need to do something that will take a bit more power than basic applications such as installing software, installing updates, editing photos/ movies, or ripping/ burning a CD, I recommend that you plug your computer into an outlet.
Why?
When you run off of battery power, many computers will clock-down the processor. That means that your computer is jogging instead of running. Some computers might also clock-down the speed of your CD drive also.
Most of the time you can run on battery power alone, but if you need the extra juice, plug into the wall.
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