Will Apple sue Microsoft over Laptop Hunter ads?
Back in May, my crystal ball twitched with wonderment at the idea that Microsoft might be feeling a frisson of excitement that Apple had decided to make an ad in response to Redmond's "Laptop Hunters" campaign.
I suggested that Microsoft executives would be dancing with fair glee and abandon.
It seems that, for once, my crystal ball may not have been full of Bay Area fog.
The revelation that Apple's lawyers allegedly called Microsoft to complain about the Laptop Hunters ads has brought much needed amusement to those who have not seen humor in quite some time.
Indeed, Friday, AdAge began to speculate as to whether Apple might become a Microsoft Hunter and drop a little lawsuit on Redmond's charmers.
The report quoted Michael McSunas, an attorney at Chambliss, Bahner and Stophel, who said that legally Apple "would have a leg to stand on."
McSunas continued: "If, indeed, you now can buy a MacBook for under $1,000, then [the 'Laptop Hunters' campaign] would be inaccurate and misleading."
But grinding your teeth and filing suit are two different things.
So McSunas speculated: "Apple seems to have this sort of cool image; I'd be surprised if they'd file suit on something like this...It would be bad publicity and only make people talk about Microsoft being more relevant."
Does having "this sort of cool image" really preclude Apple from suing or at least doing a little more than wearing black and looking superior?
There is precedent for ads being taken off air when the claims within them were no longer accurate. Chrysler, McSunas pointed out, persuaded Ford to remove an ad for its Freestar minivan in 2004.
But the truth is that in any kind of legal action, the PR is more important than the actual legal action.
If there is one area (and, of course, there are more) in which Apple is extremely talented, it is the area of making people feel exactly what the company wants them to feel.
If the company thought there might be PR value in publicly upbraiding Microsoft, you can be sure that it will lay the groundwork meticulously before delivering a nasty two-fingered jab just below the eyebrows.
It is one thing your lawyer calling Microsoft and telling the company to knock it off. It is something slightly different (and a lot more fun) when Redmond tries to make PR capital from your phone call.
Will Apple file suit? Unlikely. But will it let it all just bubble away like a virus on a cheap PC? Somehow, I doubt it.
Chris Matyszczyk is an award-winning creative director who advises major corporations on content creation and marketing. He brings an irreverent, sarcastic, and sometimes ironic voice to the tech world. He is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET. 
Hey, Apple, "Bring It On Guys!"
This I'd like too see.
Gonna be fun, taking Apple apart in court.
.......oops sorry for the delay I had a CPU "kernel panic attack", again.
Guess what, during the dd ( at Fry's electronics) there was a price tag, very truthful... end of story!
Maybe Apple should be taken apart in court by violating the copyright misuse doctrine left and right... this time excluding Palm. Now there is an actual court case for you!
McSunas is making a mistake. He said "If, indeed, you now can buy a MacBook for under $1,000, then [the 'Laptop Hunters' campaign] would be inaccurate and misleading" but in the ad she said "They only have one computer for under a $1000 and it's got a 13' screen" so the ad is still true because the only computer for under a $1000 has a 13' screen (http://www.apple.com/macbook/)
I like how Apple insinuates that a PC does nothing but security updates while not mentioning the fact that Apple unleashes a ton of security updates themselves.
I know Apple loves to charge you tax on everything...
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Wait a second, so you're saying if I buy a Dell or HP or Toshiba or (insert other brand name here) I won't have to pay sales tax on that? Only Apple charges sales tax??
That has to be the single most idiotic red herring I've ever seen anyone wield.
Nah, I don't think this is anything but fluff. I imagine Apple is sitting back and smiling at what others speculate they may do when they know there isn't any chance in Hades that they would do this.
That's just my opinion. Apple could surprise everyone and take Microsoft on head to head in a public court, but the chances of that are pretty slim.
The fact that you have to even ask that question is scary...
Okay, Apple claimed if you % certain there isn't a magic fairy inside every Mac making a backup of your data to some magical land where your data is 100% safe from everyday things like... oh.... external damage, hard drive failures, or water buffalos stepping on the unit, but I believe most people would consider their data important enough to back up. On a Mac, they are led to believe this isn't necessary.
Here's the full text if you want to read it:
http://www.macjournals.com/news/legalcopytext
There's dozens of examples of hyperbole and blatant misrepresentation right there alone. Apple has made it all nicely listed and collected in one ad that I don't think they really want the courts to start going over too closely...
Here are a few examples I can remember:
LIE: - Macs have embedded webcams, PCs don't.
FACT: PCs had embedded webcams way before Macs had any.
LIE: - Macs don't have security vulnerabilities, PCs do.
FACT: Just look at Apple's OS updates and you will find dozens of security holes fixed in each update. The most ironic thing about that ad was that the same month the ad started appearing, a new OSX update was released that had 5x (I think it was 54) security vulnerability fixes in it.
LIE: - Macs have all-in-ones, PCs don't.
FACT: Both PCs and Macs have all-in-one versions. There were many all-in-one PCs (very nice models from Sony, HP and Dell).
LIE: - Macs make better home movies, PCs can't.
FACT: There are far more superior video editing solutions for PCs, let alone the question of "if" they can.
LIE: - Macs have better device support than PCs. (the japanese woman with camera ad)
FACT: This is by far the biggest lie of all. _ALL_ devices have Windows support, only some of them have Mac support. Macs are a closed hardware system, PC world is completely open to new hardware.
LIE: - Macs have automatic backup, PCs don't.
FACT: Windows had automatic backup (in XP) way before Mac had any.
I could go on and on... But just one of these is enough proof that Apple is full of lies. When they lie about PCs, it is somehow okay, when other tell them that Apple is overpriced (simply proven by looking at price tags at the time the ad was filmed), it is not okay! Yeah right.
The problem is you seem to think they are talking about "copy" in the sense of a backup of your system. You are so blinded by your obsession that you missed the context of the ad, it is all the LEGAL small print requirements placed on the product so that Microsoft is not sued for misrepresentation of their product by them saying it is easy to use which is not really the case. It requires more than meets the eye, hence all the "mice type" to explain the true requirements; "Legal Copy."
What is even more laughable, is how much time and effort GCSF, Inc. went to and they themselves missed the context of the ad as well. Matter of fact they were so obsessed that they actually captured the fake mice time and attempted to analyze it for content and grammar. Now that is truly funny, pathetic, but funny.
Try again.
Because Mac HDD magically never fail?
I highly doubt the authenticity of the comments you made. In fact please, name one ad where you took content from where those exact words were stated. We don't need to see all your Lie/Fact nonsense. Just find one ad, provide the name, each has a name, and quote the exact text in which it matches what you stated.
Macs are SOOOOOOO reliable??? How about when the FTC MADE APPLE extend the G3 iBook's warranty to THREE YEARS because there were so many complaints of RANPANT LOGIC BOARD FAILURES and several school districts sued Apple because of in excess of 21% FAILURE RATES on G3 iBook within the first 12 months!!!??? I know, I worked for one of those school districts that was suckered into buying 2800 G3 600mHz iBooks!
And THAT is just ONE of hundred of complaints about FAULTY and BUGGY Macs! How about Cracking and Peeling Paint on G4 Titanium PowerBooks, Failing internal LCD cables on ALL G4 PowerBook models, LCD strips on MacBooks and MacBook Pros, and more and more .... ALL DOCUMENTED ON THE INTERNET!!
--#
http://macenstein.com/default/archives/category/mac-chick-of-the-month
You really are making this too easy. Learn to think first.
I bet your fat!
I do think first... in fact, i just thought "I love my MAC. I love me too!".
You love your Media Access Control address?
"I bet your fat!"
My fat is not yours to bet, use your own. :)
haha not really.
Most mac users are people that try to pretend to be computer savvy but the mac was made to be simple for the simpletons and are limited but they don't notice because the users are so simple.
Are most dumb blondes and trendy people cool?
I'm sure they think they are!
But reality for them, like most mac users, isnt...well... quite real !!
That being said, I doubt that the Fruit Stand will sue, but all manner of rabid fanboys on both sides of the aisle will go ape on countless comment boards.
Heck, just ask Leo Laporte about the price his media server ran to upgrade the memory on that Mac.... Wow... I could buy a car for less.
You obviously haven't priced server memory from HP or Dell (which, unlike the Macs, is notoriously proprietary and impossible to find outside of the server vendor - especially HP).
I could buy a house (literally) in most areas of the US for less than what it costs to get an extra 64GB of RAM onto either a Dell or HP server...
All things sold for the enterprise are overpriced because they are not as mass-produced as their desktop counterparts... There are also service considerations, etc... There is competition in that landscape, so if they're really overpriced, companies can go somewhere else.
Dan did, which is why I found it amusing enough to point it out to him. ;)
Then again, considering how most fanapes are, well, that's not far from the metaphorical truth.
As long as your favorite computer, be it a Mac, PC (running Linux, Windows, BeOS or _fill in the bank here_), Atari 800, Commodore 64, Amiga, Atari ST, does what you need it to do, it's the perfect machine for your needs.
This may get interesting, but probably won't be the fireworks people hope for.
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This sounds more like a reporter trying to stir things up for page views and attention.
But then the people set their own criteria, and if the sub $1000 Macbook doesn't meet their needs as they list them in the ads, then Apple doesn't have much to say about it, especially since the ads started before Apple dropped the price to under $1K.
Meh. I would love to see them try it. I just don't think Apple is going to have the guts to take on Microsoft head to head in a fight they have very little chance of winning and a huge chance of embarassing themselves in the public view point. Much better to just make new and better ads on their own to counter the claim.
If Apple sues, then they have to be ready for the countersuit on every single Mac vs. PC ad they have run in the last decade.
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This sounds more like a reporter trying to stir things up for page views and attention. "
---And yet you people fell for it hook, line, and sinker. I will just sit back and laugh at that fact for the rest of the day. BTW, this will be my only post so don't start with the "well you posted here too' mess. I will not respond and will keep on laughing.
My friend's Asus laptop is also a piece of crap. He had his for a year and a half and also had his motherboard die. Asus fixed it but he had to pay to ship it to them. And they took over 2 weeks.
My other friend's MacBook Pro is also a piece of crap. He had to take it into the Mac store 3 times in the first year for battery issues. Apparently the MacBook was in some way overloading and destroying the batteries. They gave him new batteries the first 3 times (notice they did no actually fix anything) and once the limited warranty expired they wanted to charge him to even look at it, although they knew the history of the issue.
Bottom line: All computer and laptop manufacturers make cheap pieces of crap. Some just change more for their crap than others.
Can't speak for the Asus. Don't have enough of those around to speculate.
Apple- I had to pay for service on my iPod Touch even though it was under warranty. Oh, the warranty repair itself was free, but I had to pay them to ship it to the service center even though I drove there in person. Where was it going to be repaired? Right there on site. Why did I have to pay $48 for shipping when they weren't going to actually ship it anywhere? I was told that was to help subsidize people who have to ship their systems from more distant locations. HUH? Okay..... but if I wanted to upgrade and extend my AppleCare coverage, it would be free. My 'free' repair ended up costing me $54 to upgrade the AppleCare coverage. Meh.
I wish I could say that was unique to Apple, but that's becoming more and more common amongst all the service hardware industry- computers, televisions, consumer electronics in general. :P
I'd suggest you check out Lenovo. If you're looking for a business-oriented notebook or workstation you can't beat a ThinkPad or ThinkCentre. They're the most consistently reliable and long-lasting PCs out there imho. Not to mention the side benefit that their support is top-notch, and based in Atlanta, GA.
As a side note, their home PCs aren't too shabby either. :)
So Random... you got enough to respond back or are you just whistling dixie.
You wanted an honest review? There ya go. Would you like to ask me what I think of windows 7? I'll tell you anyway... I think it rocks!
No 64 bit driver for my HP Photosmart 5950 - again, not Microsoft's fault.
No 64 bit driver for my Microsoft Fingerprint Reader - *** Microsoft?
A lot of people seem to think Vista was some horrible OS where nothing was compatible... yet they like to proclaim their love for XP. Yet when XP came out, there was a ton of stuff that did not work with XP.
Another Vista problem I have had is on my Toshiba laptop, when coming out of sleep, I sometimes have to disconnect / reconnect over WiFi to get my IP address back.
No if that's the only problems I have had out of Vista, then that's incredibly minor. It makes me wonder what the heck all these other people are doing?
I know a lot of people like to complain about UAC, but it's really no different than OS X and Linux in that aspect. I am prompted for Administrator password any time I want to update or install something on my Ubuntu box and I have no problem with that.
"Love Vista here. Had three driver issues. All of which goes squarly on the hardware vendors shoulders. The longest developement cycle, most tested OS ever and the vendors cant get their act together to code a driver?"
EXACTLY! Why people like to fault Microsoft for this is beyond me. It's almost inexcusable for lack of drivers and software support. The beta was out for a long long time. Vista underwent several delays, so why these manufacturers could not get off their lazy ***** and write some new drivers is beyond me. You can't blame Microsoft because some printer or scanner company didn't write drivers for a new OS.
No one blames Apple for software written for PowerPC not working properly on the Intel based systems.
"If that is the case then Microsoft should sue Apple over the "I'm a Mac" ads because if they're going to use the "inaccuracy" card then those "I'm a Mac" ads are LOADED with them."
Name them. Name the inaccuracies.
http://www.macjournals.com/news/legalcopytext
Seriously - the Microsoft commercial take the cool out of it and state the facts simple, want a inexpensive computer? Buy a PC and no... you don't have to be cool to buy a PC... it's okay to be average as you can realize your own potential through you versus buying some consumer goods.
"The MacBook Pro that Microsoft falsely advertises as retailing for US$1,999.99 in their ad actually costs $1,699 (see it via YouTube here). It's been that way since June 8th, but Microsoft kept running their false advertising anyway. Microsoft's ad also subliminally throws in the $2,499.99 price because Microsoft has nothing but an upside-down and backwards poorly-faked Mac OS running on junky, thick, heavy, cheap hardware, so in order to move their inferior crap, they have to resort to all kinds of tricks. Just like the ones that Mr. Turner performed in his little act yesterday. $1,999.99 vs. $1,699 is a very significant price difference that Microsoft apparently didn't want to bother fixing until they were compelled to by Apple's legal department. That resulted in the greatest single phone call that Microsoft COO Turner has ever taken in his business history, which says quite a bit all by itself.
In addition to falsely advertising the wrong price for the 15-inch MacBook Pro, the ad has always been misleading in that the shot of the Apple product shown before the price tag is of a now-discontinued aluminum 13-inch MacBook, which at the time retailed for $1,299 and has since been replaced by the new 13-inch MacBook Pro starting at $1,199 or $800 less than the 15.4-inch MacBook Pro price card that Microsoft shows in their misleading ad. Not only do they lie in the visuals, but Microsoft lies in the audio, too: In the ad, while showing the 13-inch MacBook, Microsoft's actress states, "This Mac costs $2000" (see it via YouTube here)."
http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/21807/
Their (MDN) reaction is a bit over the top.. but they make some excellent points.
So it was better, but still not good enough to compete.
It's one thing that the price is totally fictitious it's another if the price was changed. It's not Microsoft's fault that the price of the Mac was like that when it was shooting the Ad.
Get a clue. The I'm a mac/pc mud slinging honeymoon is over.
1. Whoever phoned Microsoft lied when they said the worked for Apple (It was a spoof, or a joke)
2. Whomever at Microsoft is making it all up.
I'm tending towards the latter, but the former is also reasonable - but doesn't explain why the waited so long to drop this on the media.
I just don't buy that claim that it didn't happen.
"Most Apple users aren't tech savvy...they're style savvy"
And considering Microsoft has a hell of alot more cash to throw around then Apple does Microsoft is not simply someone they can blow over with legal fee's in court.
Do you guys listen to yourselves? Do you actually spend this much time each day telling everyone how superior you are? Each format has its good and its bad. It's funny though that it takes seven or eight of you PC lovers to show off for each other. Why not spend the time doing something constructive.... Like reading. And to the guy who gets all his information off of the Internet. Do you really think that all of it is true? Sorry...
Do you guys listen to yourselves? Do you actually spend this much time each day telling everyone how superior you are? Each format has its good and its bad. It's funny though that it takes seven or eight of you PC lovers to show off for each other. Why not spend the time doing something constructive.... Like reading. And to the guy who gets all his information off of the Internet. Do you really think that all of it is true? Sorry...
But you are correct. MSFT Windows is gaming. One of many reasons I have always used Windows.
And the flexibility of building my own machine.
Used to be Newspaper and even TV journalist wouldn't have even run with the first part of the story about the phone call as being anything factual without some sort of supporting proof. Todays "journalist" print stuff that is on the level of " I read it on a twitter from a guy that saw it on another guys facebook page that he talked to a girl that works for a guy that...."
..which is why this will never happen. A
- by AppleSuxLeo July 17, 2009 12:10 PM PDT
- I can see it now. Apple`s lawyers will whine that competition is illegal ! Bwahahahahaha
- Reply to this comment
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- by scott2400 July 19, 2009 6:37 PM PDT
- Finally finished with the one-handed keyboard exercise and cleaned your room like your mother asked? Good boy, Leo! Bash away! I know it probably makes the humming in your head go away... at least for a while..
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Showing 1 of 4 pages (194 Comments)Apple`s new motto...Reality Bites or Reality Bytes LOL