As a former employee of Best Buy working in Digital Technologies, (selling Computers, mp3 players, and tablets) I noticed a strange trend that made little logical sense to me. The tags for the computers would say that this Asus computer over here, which is only $600 has more hard drive space, more RAM and more programs accessible to it than a Mac. The Mac generally sits at around $1200 for a lower end MacBook Pro. That didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Stranger still, it would generally take me about 20 minutes to sell a PC to someone, but to sell a Mac, it would take all of 5 minutes. What drives this impulse that consumers have towards this brand to buy?
It seems to me that the reason people choose Macs is for the same reason people wear Hollister or Calvin Klein. They want to be carrying a highly technological status symbol in their bags! In cultural studies terms, the object is the specific Apple product someone chooses to carry, whether is be the iPad, iPod, MacBook, etc. Notice that they have very specifically branded their products so that it's unconsciously recognized when we see the symbol. The sign is the Apple logo (pictured). Apple has done a beyond fantastic job at conditioning us to recognize that symbol through brilliant marketing and placement of their logos. Since this is a cultural symbol, we have learned meanings to associate with it. Therefore, culturally, the Apple sign signifies to us that the person who owns this piece of technology is generally well-off. Since Macs are not cheap, owning a Mac is a way of letting people know that you can afford to indulge in yourself. It also lets people know that you are at the cutting edge of technology because Apple is known to be a brand that is at the forefront of the industry. These are also known to be extremely user-friendly. As such, these tend to be popular with hipsters, people who are computer illiterate, and people with excess money.
If you'd like to see some of Apple's brilliant marketing click here.
Also, I'm not trying to start a Mac Vs PC argument or declare that Macs are terrible. This is all just my observations (as well as some of my former coworkers who have noticed similar trends.)
Hi krysta! I totally agree with you! I'm kind of a computer nerd, and I know a lot about computer hardwares. Such as ram, CPU, screen, vedio-card etc. Because I always want to get the best performance computer, so I study them before I buy them.
ReplyDeleteHowever, when I came to US, I saw a lot of people are using apple's computer. So I did some reserch on it. The first thing suprise me is the price! Is so expensive! The hardware the Mac use is just as same as PCs. You spend 1200 on a mac, you only get maybe 500G harddrive, 4G rams. But on a PC, you could get 1Tharddrive, and 8G rams. I mean, look at the differences! And believe this, Mac is using the same exacly hardware as PCs, only worse.
I agree with your point, that apple is not only a computer, is a symbol, a symbol of class and technology. Now, in China, more and more people are using Mac, is not because they are good, is just because they are the representation of rich.
I often get in the mac vs pc argument with many people who own macs. They usually fall upon the reason that macs are better for graphic design and video editing. This makes no sense to me, because the same programs they use can be found available for windows as well. You are very right about people purchasing macs because they are a status symbol and many consider them more aesthetically pleasing. It just blows my mind that people will spend $3000 dollars on a mac with inferior hardware when I could build a top of the line PC for nearly half the price! This leads me to conclude that most of these people are just purchasing macs with the logic that expensive=better. It always amazes me how few people educate themselves before purchasing a product....
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