Why People Buy Apple products

It's a question that's always confused and frustrated me. A lot of the time, people who buy a Macbook or a iPad don't even know why they are. They're buying it 'cos they want one. Fair enough, but what annoys me is the thought process they go through when they are making their decision. I work at an electronics retail store, so I deal with this everyday. I'm gonna be quoting a lot of actual conversations I've had with customers. For example, all the time people come into my humble Dick Smith store and ask me to help them and give them advice on picking a tablet. Sure, from here I then proceed to show them both the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab2. I then start to rant about how much the Galaxy poops all over the iPad, listing all the advantages such as.

• Cheaper
• Expandable Memory. That's the big one
• Thinner and Lighter
• Larger Display
• A more customizable interface and navigation
• Supports Flash
• Doesn't need to run through iTunes.

 As opposed to the iPad.

•  Higher resolution display, which you'll only really notice if you're watching HD movies or pictures that support the higher resolution. Which you can't really do, because there's no slot for an SD card so unless you spend over $600  you can't fit more then One or two.
• The interface is very dumbed down and user friendly. Which is a good thing, but then that ends up leaving little room for customisation.

Then their response to my biased rant to them is "Yeah... but... my son has the iPad and he says it's really good." So then I ask them more personal questions, about what they want to use it for and then explain how the Galaxy would be good to suit their needs.

"Yeah nah, I think I might just grab the iPad."
"Oh okay, can I ask why?"
"Yeah I dunno, I just... Well, I already have an iPhone?"


And that there is the thing that annoys me. Not because they wanted to buy the iPad. Not because I'm hurt that they didn't take my advice. It frustrates me because of the reason, or rather the lack of reason which determined their decision. If you have reasons and arguements why you would prefer an iPad or a Macbook then by all means, go nuts. But they rarely do. The customer didn't know why he preferred the iPad. They chose it for no reason other then because it's Apple. Because it's what everyone has, because it's the mainstreme thing to do, because it's cool to have Apple stuff, they want it just for the sake of it.

Same with a Macintosh Computer. People come into work all the time and ask me if we sell Macbooks. So then I explain to them, no we don't. We have plenty of brands of Windows PC's, we actually have 20% off Toshiba Laptops at the moment. Is there a reason you want a Macbook?

"Um. I dunno. Just, cos they're better?"
"No, not really. Why do you think they're better?"
"aah, I dunno. They're cooler?"

This sums it up

Again, when people don't actually know why they want to buy a Mac, they want one just for the sake of it. Or when people justify their preference with arguments that are completely wrong such as.

"You pay more for a Macbook, but that's 'cos they're more reliable."
"Wrong, despite paying hundreds of dollars more for a competitor with the same specs, Macbooks only managed to place the fourth most reliable, after Toshiba, Asus and Sony."
http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf

We actually have a 20% off Sale on Toshiba Laptops at the moment.

"Yeah but the Mac OSX is way more secure, you can't get viruses on a Mac."
"No, see that's absolutely incorrect. The reason why people commonly mistake them for being secure and immune to viruses is because there is simply too small of a market share for anyone to give a shit. It actually has way more security holes then Windows and Linux"

Here is an article about some hacker who managed to break into a fully patched Mac running a fully patched Safari in 10 seconds.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9129978/Researcher_cracks_Mac_in_10_seconds_at_PWN2OWN_wins_5k

Can't say I didn't warn you.

And yet after all that and more, aswell as a price comparison they still reply with "Yeah but they're cooler" and ask me do I know if anyone nearby sells Macbooks. At the end of the day, dummies are only going to hear what they want to here. And that is why I hate Apple, because their selling point is peoples ignorance.

The Bean Story

Now us McColes, we're all a bunch of tight arses… to put it bluntly. One day, around about a year ago, my local IGA had Heinz Baked Beans for half price at 99 cents, down from two dollars. So I saw this and I thought to myself "Alright! Fantastic." As a result I proceeded to buy 10 cans of said Baked Beans, stocking up and future proofing myself. Later that afternoon my dad called in for a visit for whatever reason it was. He noticed I had recently acquired a large range of Heinz Baked Beans and said to me “Woah Callum why do you have so many baked beans?”

“Well Dad, I’m glad you asked! Guess what, they were half price. 99 cents. So I thought I’d stock up.” I watched my Dad’s face lighten up.
“WHAAAAAT 99 CENTS! THAT’S HELL GOOD. WHY DIDN’T YOU BUY HEAPS!?”
“Well… I kinna did?”
“No you didn’t. Look… if I gave you TWENTY bucks would you go down there and by me 20 cans of baked beans.”
Obediently and towards a common goal I replied “Yeah okay, sure.”
After several seconds of noticing my Dad rummage around his wallet, he paused and looked at me. “Ah oh, I only have a fifty.”
Not a problem. I reached down into my pocket and grabbed my wallet out. “That’s okay, I’ve got some change.”
His face shifted, stern and proud. “No.”
Confused I asked. “No?”
And with but a doubt in his voice, he looked me dead in the eyes and said “No Callum. If I gave you FIFTY bucks would you go down to IGA and buy me fifty cans of baked beans.”
Unsure whether or not to take him seriously, I replied “Aaaah. I guess?”

Not long after I made my journey down to the local IGA. This was back before I had my license, so I had no choice but to walk. I knew what had to be done, I was there for a reason, I was on a mission… To the Baked Bean Isle I went! As I arrived, I noticed several people walk past and think to themselves “Ooh, oh look. Those baked beans are on sale half price for 99 cents. That’s great! Better grab me some.” And then place three or four into their trolley.

Pathetic. Pitiful. Weak. Get out of my way. I parked myself there on the ground, loading all of my carry bags and baskets into a practical yet comfortable position. Without a moment’s hesitation I began, claiming them all as mine. 5 flavours, 10 of each, I loaded them into my bags and making sure I had the correct amount.


50. No more, no less.
50 Shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be, 50.


My work here was done. Excited with what I had achieved I propelled myself back onto my feet, only to release a rather well-mannered grunt as I failed to calculate how much 50 cans of baked beans would weigh. Struggling to carry my cargo, I waddled my way to the checkout. They stopped and looked at me. Confused, shocked and full of disbelief when they thought “But how could one be such a tight arse?”

The Alpha Jew.

One by one, I loaded every single can of baked beans onto the till. The 14 year old bimbo looked at me, unsure of what to think. If only she knew how to respond, they didn’t teach her this in her Year 9 ‘Caring for Kids’ or ‘Fun with Fabrics.’ I looked her dead in the eyes. “Just the Baked Beans for today thanks.” Slowly but surely she made her way through them all. “That’s $49.50 thank you.”

Damn. If only I had bought 100, I would have gotten one for free.

After the rigorous process of dragging them home. I loaded them all into our cupboard. All 50, plus the 10 I had before. Not long after, my Uncle on my Dad's side came home. He's one of us, a fellow McCole and with him came several bags of  shopping. “Hey Callum, the best thing happened! I was in the IGA and I stumbled across Heinz baked beans, half price for 99 cents! I bought a whole bunch of them, but unfortunately there wasn’t enough of the good flavours left because some wanker took them all. I had to buy mainly the crappy salt reduced ones because that arsehole must have come in and taken all the good ones.” He placed them on the ground about to load them into the cupboard. He opened the doors and there he saw them.  He turned and looked at me, appearing as if he had never been so proud of someone in his entire life. “So that’s where they all went.” Male bonding.

As a result of his contribution we had almost 100 cans of Heinz Baked Beans. Definitely more than your average amount of baked beans. Months and months have since passed, and yet to this day there are still probably some of those crappy salt reduced ones left. Lest we forget.

The end result.

Macs & Windows

 

The underlying rule with Mactinosh, is that they are a computer designed for people who don't know how to use a computer. Quite so in both the practical sense of the operating system and the hardware, as well as the marketing side of it too.

For example, customers who aren't very computer literate see one of those iMacs on display in a retail shop somewhere and think to themselves "Oh my, that's so pretty! I want one of those, it's so much prettier then that Windows PC next to it." And this really is a stupid thing to say because Windows doesn't actually have anything to do with what the display looks like. The person thinking this would be looking at the awesome 27' LED screen in the iMac which would be contributing to about a third of its total cost. On the official online Apple store the high-end 27' iMacs are $2,299.00 for all the specs and the peripherals, minus the monitor, which you can get on a Windows PC for around $1000. As a result it would be fair to say that the monitor is accounting for $700 or so of the overall price. Those customers would then compare this expensive, but very nice monitor to an average and small 19' generic display monitor that's connected to one of the Windows display PC's.

Sure it's a good monitor, it really is. For $700 you would bloody well hope so. For comparison, here is a better monitor valued at $479. Both 27' except this one has many advantages such as:

• Awesome 3D support and conversion
• 120hz refresh rate
• Less display latency
• HDMI Compatibility
• Much cheaper

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=558_1210&products_id=19221

 
If they were to have these monitors on display for Windows PC's next to the iMacs then people wouldn't think that Macs are prettier then Windows.

The other big advantage is that it's an independant monitor and not restricted to just your PC. You could plug it into a gaming console and then have it looking super awesome too, you could get a TV tuner in your PC for around $40 and then be able to watch TV on your super awesome monitor! Having the monitor inbuilt into the computer makes the iMac look slim, innovative and futuristic. Well yes, it does but it's really impractical. That is an underlying principle for Apple products. Looks/visuals>Practicality. That is a bad thing.

"But the OSX interface itself looks so much prettier then the Windows inferface, it's less cluttered and I like it more." As much as I disagree with that statement, that is an opinion and personal preference. Well guess what, you can get a theme that makes your Windows 7 look and navigate exactly like the Mac OSX.

http://osxdaily.com/2010/08/22/mac-theme-for-windows-7/  

So now not only does your Windows PC have an outright better display, it also looks exactly the same as the pretty OSX on the iMac. Except the other thing to remember is a Windows PC should cost around HALF the price of what the iMac does.

I really could go on all day about stuff like this, but this is just an example of as I said how the selling point of Apple products are peoples ignorance. I hope I've shown how actually knowing your stuff shines the light on how Apple products really aren't as good as people seem to think they are, because they simply just don't know better.

I'm not neccesarily critising the preference of a Mac, it's just when people make arguements that have no validity such as the Mac "looks better" it gets me all emotional inside because of (This article.) Especially because the whole 'pretty' arguement tends to be the main one.

Convenient and easy. That is what I believe the only advantage of a Mac over a PC is. It's much more convient and easy to not get a better and cheaper monitor off PC Case Gear. It's convenient and easy to not go download the OSX theme that basically turns your Windows 7 into OSX. It's a lot easier and more convenient that instead of saving your money and getting much more out of your PC, you just go down to the Apple store and spend that extra 100% to pick up your Mac and instantly have everything you need, without worry of hurting yourself because you're on an Operating System where everything is spoon-fed to you.

I'm starting a blog!

Hello internets! My name is Callum and I'm starting a blog.

Now there are several reasons why. The main reason is that I'd like to think I'm interesting, and don't anyone say otherwise or my feelings will be hurt. Secondly, because I was already pseudo-blogging on Facebook using the notes function, which amongst other things seems far less prestigious then actually running a proper blog. And finally is because people seemed to actually like them.


So after I upload my original blogs I think I'll pretty much carry on in the tradition I've already set myself. Here with the creative freedom for my gentlemanly rants or lovely exaggerated stories. I'll improvise. So if you like me then I'm sure you'll like it here. I'll update it every so often so stay tuned!