College sales..... why does Apple do nothing?

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
As I'm entering my first year of college and all my friends are, I've realized just how many laptops get sold in the last 2 months. All my friends are buying one, all their friends are..... it seems as if nearly all do.



But Apple doesn't actively pursue these sales? Why?



Why doesn't Apple run commercials about college student savings and promotions?



I tried to talk some of my friends into buying an iBook instead of the Dell or Sony or Toshiba laptops they wanted. But it was useless. And I can't really blame them, they are too unfamiliar with Apple. Don't know enough about it. Don't know the advantages. It's pretty hard to explain to someone who isn't exactly tech savvy either. You say UNIX to them and they don't care. You talk about stability and they say they haven't had crashes. Software.... they just say i heard macs dont have any software and you can only use Apple software. And then you try to explain to them how thats not true but then they get tired of how much work it is taking you to convince them.



Since Apple's rebound in 1998 they have had 6 YEARS to actively squash these misconceptions and really promote mac advantages. But they have done nothing more than show spinning computers and sell on style. Style doesn't work for most of the back to school crowd and most of the crowd in general.



Add to the fact that the iBook could use an update and so could the Powerbook. What better time would have been to do this then June or July? Yet, Apple didn't update any and didn't last year either.



iPod is probably one of the biggest entering college must buys/gifts this year.... but I'm pretty sure that nearly no one buying one for college with a computer knows that if they bought a mac they could save up to 300 dollars.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 12
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    The problem is that I don't think Apple advertizing sinks in, just because people read it through their preconceptions. Apple isn't an option for them, so they figure the ad copy isn't targeted at them. Apple has always taken out huge ads in the campus paper here, not that you'd know it looking around.



    Network effects are a bitch when you're on the wrong end of them. It does take a Sysiphean effort to combat them, which has been the Mac evangelist problem for years now.



    Let them pay $300 too much for their iPods - once they've got them, they'll have some first-hand experience with an Apple product, and with how well it integrates with their Windows PC. That takes down a significant psychological barrier right there.
  • Reply 2 of 12
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    also, i have to wonder what is going on "behind the scenes" at the larger universities with their campus computer deals. having just come from toronto, i can say that the university of toronto had to upgrade all of their library terminals about a year and a half ago. one day i walk into the library, and i see row upon row of nice new black dell boxes with corresponding monitors. and then i notice them in the administrative offices, etc., etc.



    now, admittedly, a lot of those boxes are used only for such things as email and word processing, so when dell comes in and says "if you let us install 500 desktops campus wide, we'll give 'em to you for US$200 each," the university admins just roll over and take 'em without blinking an eye.



    but they do have some mac and design oriented contingent. where was apple canada to say "well, we can throw in about 50-100 emacs at US$400-500 each, plus free tech support and three year warranty" just so they can have SOME sort of presence. now it's just this enormous sea of black cpus all over that campus. depressing, really...\
  • Reply 3 of 12
    amorphamorph Posts: 7,112member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by rok

    also, i have to wonder what is going on "behind the scenes" at the larger universities with their campus computer deals. having just come from toronto, i can say that the university of toronto had to upgrade all of their library terminals about a year and a half ago. one day i walk into the library, and i see row upon row of nice new black dell boxes with corresponding monitors. and then i notice them in the administrative offices, etc., etc.



    You're right to wonder.



    When Windows 95 first came out, it was almost immediately banned from the campus network here because it had a habit of trying to reconfigure every network printer it could find so that it was only compatible with Windows 95. Between that and the raftload of problems that plagued early releases of that OS, we held off upgrading. In fact, we had decided not to upgrade when word came down through the administrative chain - not IT - that all desktops were to run Windows 95. The people who'd actually have to maintain that abortion yelped and protested to no avail, and anything that was not a Windows 95 box was gone in a year or so. We even had to battle to keep our VMS box.



    So there's no question in my mind that the bulk of Windows and Dell adoption is done with wheeling and dealing at high levels, and the network effect (not to mention MS' advantage as a monopoly) doubtless plays into that as well.



    Apple can and has already underbid Dell for small business and education contracts, but if nobody is allowed to submit bids to Apple in the first place (we aren't), it doesn't matter.
  • Reply 4 of 12
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Amorph

    Apple can and has already underbid Dell for small business and education contracts, but if nobody is allowed to submit bids to Apple in the first place (we aren't), it doesn't matter.



    Well, then that's your answer.

    AppleInsider University! Classes begin soon!*



    Team name = the AIU CONFIRMED!!!
  • Reply 5 of 12
    bradbowerbradbower Posts: 1,068member
    I'm just happy the 12" PB is $1399!!!
  • Reply 6 of 12
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    Do you all think that price ($1399 for 12" PowerBook) is just going to stick around for this current 867MHz model, and go away as soon as the rev. B 12" is announced?



    Is that great price a "blow 'em outta here!" special price?



    And as for educational discounts, how closely is that checked? Is that something really stringent and "official", or could I - when it comes time to buy - take my buddy with me and let her be the one "buying" it, with her university ID?



    I'm not trying to be snakey or get into any forum trouble (is this akin to pirating? I don't know...), so I'm asking in all sincerity.







    CAN I get a nice student price, even though I'm not a student, if a friend helps me? Is her name/school/info somehow tagged to that particular computer?



  • Reply 7 of 12
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    I'll soon be leaving the lovely world of academe in search of greener pastures, well maybe, where else could I do as little as I do and still get paid -- albeit meagerly?



    Anyway, Apple hurt itself with its prices and a dogged determination NOT to listen to the market, that opened the door to the current situation, let's call it "IT bias"



    "IT bias" exists because much of IT butters its bread with windows. When they propose ALL WINDOWS environments for education (A HUGE mistake, iThink) admins pretty much accept that because they see the savings in per-machine costs. In the GTA school boards, IT is part of the board union, and the guys on staff get paid no matter what, so the cost of maintenance issue is moot. The machines and the software licenses are the key determiners.



    Windows boxes are much much much more affordable, as are the volume software licences. Since nobody really has any idea what to do with "computers in the classroom" no one is willing to fight for a "vision" of computing, they need X amount of computers to let bureaucrats and parents and politicians feel good about the state of their classrooms, windows gets them there cheaper -- in the current state of affairs.



    As for style, that's the one thing Apple NEEDS to survive. If they last another ten years, the "platform" won't matter any more, so long as it talks to the world in a common language.
  • Reply 8 of 12
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by pscates

    CAN I get a nice student price, even though I'm not a student, if a friend helps me? Is her name/school/info somehow tagged to that particular computer?



    i mentioned this elsewhere, but here's the deal:



    there is nothing to stop her from using her student status to purchase a computer and letting you keep it. essentially a gift. you should even retain all warranty rights, provided you register the computer in your name.



    BUT



    student discounts are limited to one laptop and one desktop PER YEAR (i think... double check that, though), so by doing this, she would not be able to use her academic discount for herself for another year. she could, of course, pay full price if she wanted to, though.
  • Reply 9 of 12
    pscatespscates Posts: 5,847member
    cool, thanks for the info.



    Well, I just BOUGHT her a damn iBook, so she owes me anyway. Least she can do is help me save a few bucks!



  • Reply 10 of 12
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    double post: see next...
  • Reply 11 of 12
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    edit: in order to avoid sending this thread off track, i'll just PM you the info.
  • Reply 12 of 12
    aquafireaquafire Posts: 2,758member
    More to the point..Why doesn't Apple do anything about its overseas presence?

    If you think you've got it bad..man..O/Seas seems to blip off Apples radar...

    It's like it's the USA only..& the rest of the world can go suck eggs...
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