Classic(ally Bad) TV Commercials: If Mac and PC met in 1990
It’s 1990, not long ago when you think about it. There was no Internet, cell phones were the size of bricks, and your cable company gave you just 48 channels. It’s amazing how technology has changed in those 18 years, and it’s even more amazing that a “portable” computer at that time was the size of the New York City Yellow Pages. The computers also had just as much memory as those phone books… as did the people that used them!
Today, the Mac vs. PC war is represented by those humorous ads featuring the cool and artsy Mac guy and the stiff and clumsy PC guy. In 1990 though, the difference between the two was slim. Apple had dominated the home computer market in the 1980’s, but when the 1990’s rolled around the PC (i.e. Windows) computers were becoming more popular. Looking to take the lead in the business community, a market IBM had held for decades, Apple tried to make their 25-pound portable computer cooler than the competition’s. That’s where the coolness of Apple died.
Of course the size and ability of a portable computer then compared to computers now is laughable. It’s hard to believe people would pay thousands of dollars for these things, but it was new technology then and I’m sure 18 years from now people will chuckle when they look at our laptops and iPhones from today. But once you get past the technology gap, the true message of the commercial is revealed. The portable Mac of 1990 was designed precisely for stupid people. The successful business man who could speak seven languages somehow isn’t successful with his PC laptop. How he got this far is beyond me. The woman toying around with the portable Mac readily admits she’s an idiot, and I’m guessing she’s playing around with her computer simply because it has pictures and stacks of coins on the display. I have a hunch she designed that solitaire game people play when they’re bored.
It is because of this sales angle Mac suffered greatly in the 90’s while the PC market (especially Windows-based computers) took off. Computers were becoming more and more necessary in the 90’s, and Windows made PC’s look very business-like while also being fun and easy to use. Basically, PC’s were the mechanical pencils of the computer world while Macs became the box of crayons. Let’s not forget the big breakthrough with the Mac in the late 90’s was you could get one in your favorite color. Since Steve Jobs was able to build up from that ho-hum announcement to once again dominate the computer market for tech-savvy people, I’m wondering if he can walk on water.
In 1990 he couldn’t, and neither could the confused young lady at the airport in this commercial. She could stack coins and make pictures on her computer, and at that point in time that was amazing enough.
