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“Apple Tax” calculation in need of amended return
By Paul | April 10, 2009
By JOHN MURRELL (Copyright SiliconValley.com)
Sensing a sore spot, Microsoft has been hitting Apple with the bang-for-buck argument lately with renewed vigor, like a boxer who head-butts his opponent and spends the next rounds working the cut. But sometimes an aggressive offense invites well-timed counterpunches, especially if you leave big openings in your defense. That was the mistake that led to the thorough pummeling received Thursday by Endpoint Technologies President Roger Kay, author of a Microsoft-commissioned white paper titled “What Price Cool?” that purported to show the hidden “Apple Tax” that Mac buyers pay. The report compares prices and hardware specs across several configurations, then conjures a scenario in which a family is buying a desktop, a laptop, some software, some services and some upgrades along the way. Kay calculated that picking Mac over PC would cost the folks more than $3,300 over five years. Unfortunately, whatever credibility the analysis might have had (did I mention it was commissioned by Microsoft?) was quickly shredded as the commenting class pointed to outdated Mac specs in the charts, suspect assumptions, invalid comparisons and assorted lapses that offered a distorted view of cost of ownership. Kay allowed that there might be room for a few quibbles, but “if I found another $500 (in savings) it wouldn’t change things much.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft continued jabbing at Apple in the third commercial of the “Laptop Hunters” campaign (see “Let’s see if Lauren is still giddy in six months”). This one stars mom Lisa and Little Leaguer son Jackson, working with a $1,500 budget and in search of good laptop for gaming. They go to check out the Macs, with Mom noting “they’re kind of popular with this age” (Jackson’s 11) and “pretty,” but they’re put off by the small size and big price. Back on the PC aisle, Mom threatens Junior with a pink portable before they go on to pick a Sony Vaio with a Blu-ray player and head to the car with big smiles. When these ads started running, I wondered if Microsoft would be confident enough to do follow-up commercials down the road to see if that parking-lot enthusiasm was still there after living with the machine for a while.
And finally, not to be left out of the “I’m a Mac” and “I’m a PC” exchange, the Linux Foundation announced the winners of its “We’re Linux” user-generated video contest — lower budget, but very earnest.
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