All the Mac ads in the world can’t stop Microsoft from posting a 79% rise in profits. This news makes me happy. The reason, I can’t stand those Mac ads. My problem with these ads begins with the casting. The Mac character is just the sort of unshaven, hoodie-wearing, hands-in-pockets Liberal we’ve always imagined when picturing a Mac user. He’s perfect, a little too perfect. It’s like Apple is parodying its own image. If the idea was to reach out to new types of consumers they ought to have used a different type of actor.
Meanwhile, the PC guy plays the chump in these Apple ads; his humor and likability are evident. The ads pose a seemingly obvious question; would you rather be the laid-back young dude or the portly old dweeb? But I find myself consistently giving the “wrong” answer: I’d much rather associate myself with the PC guy than with the Mac guy. Mr. PC gets all the laugh lines! And Mr. Mac comes off as a smug little twit.
Microsoft profit rises 79 pct, outlook bullish
Microsoft Corp
signaled confidence to a rattled stock market by raising its full-year profit outlook above Wall Street targets and reporting a 79 percent rise in quarterly profit on Thursday. Analysts took the results as a good sign for technology companies in the face of a slowing economy, and Microsoft shares rose 4.5 percent in after-hours trade. That followed a 4 percent gain in regular trade, representing a gain of more than $26 billion in its market value for the day.
The results and raised forecasts from the world’s largest software maker come on the heels of disappointing outlooks from tech bellwethers Intel Corp
and Apple Inc , which sent shivers through a U.S. stock market that shed about 10 percent to start the year, before bouncing. Microsoft reported bumper quarterly sales of its Windows Vista operating system and Office software and said anti-piracy efforts were improving results at an above-average rate.
Previously:
Windows Vista Has Fewer Flaws Than Mac OS X
