CNBC Bureau Chief Invents Imaginary PC Tax

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April 20th, 2009 by Avram Piltch  

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Tags: Mac vs PC, CNBC, Microsoft, Apple

8 Responses to “CNBC Bureau Chief Invents Imaginary PC Tax”

1. JonGl Says:
   April 21st, 2009 at 2:59 am

   Avram-

   At least you did admit your bias, and to be blunt, it showed through your entire article “debunking” Jim Goldman. You would have done yourself much better, had you actually shown _evidence_ of your striving for objectivity. Instead, you wrote another subjective piece that was devoid of any evidence to back up your own claims, and worse, replied “in-kind” with your own subjective impressions.

   I didn’t see the segmant, but just reading the screen shots, I suspect that you overlooked one point that would have helped me, the reader. I highly suspect, though cannot know, due to the lack of context, that he was comparing one of the PCs bought in one of the Microsoft ads. This would certainly allow the direct comparison that is shown in your last screen shot. That missing bit of data means we cannot know, which allows you to make a blanket statement about one that was potentially _not_ a blanket statement.

   Now, to some of the specifics.

   First of all, anti-virus. I don’t know about you, but years ago, I was always told by experts to never trust free anti-virus. You could never be sure it was truly up-to-date. But more significant for your story, is that the people featured in the Microsoft ads, and most PC buyers in general, have never heard of AVG, and they will immediately be steered towards commercial software that is sitting on that shelf over there. This is a legit item. So, 1 for Jim, and 0 for you.

   Second, multimedia software. Actually, several of your points fit into this, but let’s try to break it down like you did for the sake of points. Every new Mac (non-Mac Pro models, at least) comes with iLife. iLife includes iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, iWeb, Garage Band and iTunes. This is a complete suite of apps that are deeply integrated, and which accomplish their assigned tasks with aplomb! I have several friends who have come over to Macs in recent years and months, and every one of them has been astounded and delightedly surprised at how _awesome_ these apps are to work with! There is absolutely _nothing_ in the Windows world to touch this suite of apps–and when I say _nothing_, I don’t say it, but every one of my friends who has switched. Some of them were very savvy Windows users, very knowledgeable both of how Windows works, and what is available. A couple, even, spent probably thousands of dollars trying to replicate the capabilities represented in iLife on Windows–and failed. Until you spend some time in iLife, you will find it hard to appreciate. But I must add one caveat. Not every app is for the geek among us. In particular, I think of iWeb. People laugh and scoff at it, but it does its intended task well–just don’t try to make it something it is not. So, again, 1 for Jeff, and 0 for you. Score 2-0

   Photoshop. Not having watched this segment, I, myself, am confused. I find it hard to believe that Jeff actually said that Photoshop comes with a Mac. This is absolutely not true–on the other hand, if what he meant to say (or said) was that the capabilities of Photoshop, as found in iPhoto and Preview (both of which can accomplish about 90% of what most people want to accomplish in Photoshop), then he would be correct. I have and use Photoshop, but I tend to stick with these simple apps for most of my work (admittedly, I also tend to try to get it right in the camera first, and only resort to extreme measures when it was either not possible, or because I blew it, but want the record). I’m going to give this one to you, but only because we don’t know what was really said. So, Jeff 0, you 1. Total score 2-1

   Video editing: As I mentioned above, sorry, but iMovie has everything beat–sure you can download even _free_ software for Windows, but even the paid software fall short. Why do people ignore these points? My switcher friends can attest to the power of iMovie. So, since the truth is that there are huge piles of ….. um… junk on the Windows side, and nothing compares to iMovie, It’s Jeff’s. Oh, I forgot to mention. We are discussing the Microsoft ads here. We are talking about the people who are buying these computers from the ads. Would you _really_ wish this Windows software on them? This one is a super-big, fat 1 for Jeff, and shame on you for even pretending to promote that software. Minus 1 for you. Ok, 0 Score 3-1

   Music software: I think that you can safely say that both GarageBand and iTunes fit. And in this you admit defeat, but toss out a straw man of “will anybody really use it?” Well, the truth is, yes. Lots of kids and teens use it! My kids love it! It brings out the musician in all of us. Furthermore, on the rare occasion, when I needed something odd, I found that Garageband fit the bill, maybe for modifying a sound I already had, maybe for creating a short riff, or maybe for mixing multiple sources of audio. It does all of that. Plus, if one is using iMovie and iDVD, GB can really be a life-saver. So, you downplay it–is it because you, like PC in the Mac ads, only wants to crunch numbers? Sorry, but sour grapes is _not_ an argument. Again, Jeff gets the point, 4-1

   Geek Squad. Hm… where to start with this easy one…. Ok. Look at the counter some day…. Look at all those clueless people suffering. Look at the cheap hardware they are bringing in. Look at the user experience of those people. Next, visit a Genius Bar at an Apple store, and compare the experiences…. You tell me who wins. Geek Squad or Genius Bar? I thought so!!! So, Jeff gets the point for this one too!!! I’m really surprised! When I started this exercise, I figured it would come out 50-50–half and half…. But here, we are looking at a score of 5 to 1, Jeff 5 and you 1.

   As I said at the beginning, your “comparison” of specs really doesn’t count, because you didn’t tell us something which I suspect was said, but left out of your article. it was a model-to-model comparison. You can’t make a broad statement and and build upon that.

   In any case, my comments are no less subjective than yours or Jeff’s. It’s all an exercise in futility–but at least it’s fun.

   -Jon

2. Tom Says:
   April 21st, 2009 at 11:57 am

   Hey Jon, watch the video before you comment.

3. Vic Says:
   April 21st, 2009 at 1:26 pm

   Like most Mac users, Jon seems to be on the less tech-savvy side. Likewise, he failed to “score” the last few paragraphs of the post, which would put points in favor of Arvam, even with Jon’s ignorant scoring system. I don’t even know why I bothered giving his tl;dr comment consideration– it’s the same tired “pros.” There isn’t anything software-wise I couldn’t do on a Mac that I could do on a PC, and I could build a comparable, if not better PC, at less cost.

4. V.A.N. Says:
   April 21st, 2009 at 3:13 pm

   This is in response to Jon:

   LOL…I don’t even know where to start. I can make a great comparison being that I am BOTH a Mac user and a PC user. I even have more Macs then PC’s.

   Anti-virus: The popularity of free AV software such as AVG will prompt users to know about that software almost as soon as the consumer’s trial of NAV or McAfee runs out. Plus…..why do you automatically think that the PC users on the Microsoft commercials are soooo new to PCs? I am taking away your point for Jim.

   Multimedia software: What does MS Windows Media Player have to do with iLife? We are talking about multimedia here. But for fun, let’s look at this a little further. In regards to iPhoto, Google Picasa is free. iTunes/Amazon is free.

   IMovie: iMovie is very good, but c’mon here…..LOL……anyone using that software isn’t going to create the Academy Award winning movie here. They basically want to transfer content from the camcorder to the computer and onto DVD. For that iMovie and Windows Live Movie Maker are the SAME. To even strengthen the argument against the “Apple Tax” how much do you have to pay once the current version of iLife expires? How much will iLife ’10 gonna be? Again….who among the average person is gonna spend money on the “Apple Tax” to use the rich features of the iMovie. Anyway, IMO, iMovie’06 was much better and much more flexible then the current version. Take away another point

   Photoshop: Outright Lie or Ignorance…pick one.

   Garageband: Again……in Avram’s words, “…does the average computer user really want or need to compose music?” Is your family a clan of musicians?

   Geek Squad: There is no question there are a few people in lines at the Geek Squad, BUT……do you know how many people are in line at the Genius Bar? One time I tried to make an appointment at the Apple Store computer for 3pm, there was no available time until 8pm.

   Model to Model comparison: HUH??? The lowest end Macbook is $999. ALMOST $1,000. Where’s the choice? Here go to: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001F50TJG That’s a Sony Vaio laptop with BLURAY. LOL…of course, I already know what you are going to say….Blu Ray is just gonna kill my battery power. LOL…..who, with even a half a brain, is gonna watch a Blu Ray movie on battery?

   Jon, with all due respect,…..your post is stupid.

5. T Man Says:
   April 22nd, 2009 at 4:05 pm

   Jon, that’s an awful lot of BS you just provided there. AVG is as fine a package as nearly all of the others. In fact, many of the paid solutions can be worse. Check out the av-comparitves site for some crunching on the effectiveness. For most users, Windows Live Movie Maker, which I’m sure you have never used and are thinking of Movie Maker in XP, will work just fine. Can you do more in iLife? I’m not going to doubt it. But just like GarageBand, the average user isn’t going to touch most of these apps, so comparing them in the grand scheme of things is stupid. And I guess you never made an appointment at the Genius Bar. They book up fast.

   It is also funny that you deride Avram for lacking evidence to back up some of his point, but you back up your points with your friends. That is not evidence, especially since you, whom I’m sure are a Mac fanatic, were telling your supposedly geeky friends to get a Mac every step of the way.

6. Greg Says:
   April 22nd, 2009 at 4:36 pm

   I’m glad there are people in this world like Jon and Jim…wait, no i’m not.

7. Matt Says:
   April 22nd, 2009 at 9:47 pm

   Jon,

   I’ve heard some pretty dumb things before, especially on the internet. But your whole post was like watching a train wreck. So tragic, yet I had to read on.

   One thing you spit out is this whole “Where’s your evidence” crap. Well my friend, there is this something called “common sense” (look it up): when a point is so blatantly obvious (like “the sky is blue” for example), the only people left questioning such facts are the people (like you) who cannot deal with the truth. The CNBC reporter was dead wrong about every point… deal with it. Unless of course you’d rather believe one idiotically biased TV reporter (being the mass media slave you are, and like most Mac users are), instead of the technologically better informed members of the public (such as the writer of this article).

   You can be proud of one thing though: you have successfully solidified your position as one of the world’s biggest idiots. Expect a call from CNBC in that case, evidently they’re always looking for that kind of talent.

8. Jabebrwolf Says:
   April 24th, 2009 at 5:55 pm

   I kinda agree with Everyone else.

   EVERY SINGLE POINT was made with evidence to show the contrary.

   I love the faster chips.. they are the SAME!!
   And as someone pointed out, OSX is limited to 2 core ( until leopard comes out).

   They are also limited in professional use with Cs4, 3ds Max – those programs can only run in 64 bit mode on Vista or XP 64. more professionals use autocad than any other program and guess who cant run that?!

   The battery argument was astoundingly inaccurate!
   evidence – Tims Hardware. The new 17″ mac can last 8 hours on a weaker GPU, and most 17″ notebooks are shorter in life because of a much faster GPU, and some run in SLI mode which OSX cant.

   For max portability and power Sony’s Z series stomps on Mac’s 13″ equivalent and for a lower price.

   For on par pricing, replace the HD with a 64 SSD and a windows machine with run circles around a MAC with an equal price point!!

   All these things can be looked up and priced out easily.

   I hope CNBC is thoroughly embarrasses by this lack of reporting and flat out lying.

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