Am I a PC or a Mac?

Companies compete not just in their product offerings; they also compete well in their advertisements. I still remember the Pepsi-Coke commercials that rocked India during the cricket season.

Digressing for a second, I also would like to mention how top CEOs down-play their competitor products, at least to add some punch to their otherwise mundane presentations. Larry Ellison is famous for trashing Bill Gates. Steve Jobs is generally more subtle in his attacks against Microsoft, except for the occasion where he accused Microsoft of lacking “taste”. He generally lets his executives do the Microsoft trashing most of the time. Microsoft generally ignores such banter.

What can I draw from this? Smaller companies vying for a pie out of the larger company’s market-share typically attack larger companies. And if the larger company is unfazed of this competition, they ignore these attacks. But things change when the smaller company pulls of a successful product that forces the larger company to sit up and notice.

One clear example of this is the Microsoft-Apple battle. Microsoft never took Apple’s acusations seriously, until recently. You must have watched uber-exuberant Steve Ballmer make fun of the Macbook Air and the iPhone. Even after factoring Ballmer’s hyper-activity, the bottom-line is that Microsoft took notice. They began to realize that Apple is steadily increasing its market-share, and that Apple’s products can no longer be ignored.

I believe that as Apple continues to innovate in their iPods and iPhones offering superior user experiences, new form factors and drive sales with aggressive price-points, their computer market share will continue to grow. If a user is very satisfied with his iPhone, he would want to buy a Mac (I did the same, and there are several reports all over the internet that the majority of iPhone users want their next machine to be a Mac). Moreover, Microsoft’s Vista debacle also helped boost Apple sales.

Microsoft did take notice, and they understand that Apple’s products are a threat to their business. How do they counter it? Through their Ad campaign that counters Apple’s famous Get a Mac commercials. Microsoft has released their own set of ads titled “I’m a PC” where they feature Bill Gates, and initially the famous comedian Sienfield. They counter Apple’s ads by trying to make a point that PC users are not really nerds at the office desk, as portrayed by Apple, but are people who are successful at work, and definitely have a life worth talking about.

I believe Microsoft’s commercials attacking Apple do not have substance. By alluding to Apple’s ads, they’re publicizing Apple’s products using their own money. The target audience view these ads as attempts by Microsoft to counter Apple’s recent fame, and thus PC users who have never taken Macs seriously until today will start researching on Macs and what they offer. Every viewer watching one ad from Microsoft will continue exploring and watch ALL the ads of Apple. I feel this ad campaign would be equivalent of an own goal in soccer.

I’m both a Mac and a PC. I use a Macbook Air and run Windows XP on it using VMWare Fusion because I need it for work. When I am not working, I generally use OS X for its excellent multimedia capabilities. At home in India, I have a lovely PC. I will use whatever hardware / software that works for me. If the Government of Zimbabwe (I just wanted to know if they had a website) designs a product that will make a difference to my life, I’ll buy it.