All in the <head> – Ponderings and code by Drew McLellan –

Dear Apple Computer

Congratulations on the launch of your new PowerBook range. Yet again, you have paved the way with cutting edge design and innovation.

Please would you consider making a gift to me of a 15inch PowerBook. I would put it to exceptional good use, and would tell everyone how great it is. I would gladly buy one myself, but I am a sorry mess.

Please don’t consider this to be begging. I am not begging. I am offering you a unique marketing opportunity, a sponsorship opportunity, the opportunity for tremendous positive publicity in the struggling UK market, and also I want one really really badly.

I look forward to your response with eager anticipation.

Yours,

Drew McLellan

P.S. Pleeeeease!

– 16 September 2003 –

17 Responses

16 Sep 2003

Justin Blanton

HAHAHAHA… Good stuff Drew. Before I got my 15” PowerBook, I entertained the idea of creating a ”switch” ad and submitting it to Slashdot (hopefully to eventually be seen by Apple). I was going to say something along the lines of how I would like to switch, but that I just didn’t have the money. It never came to fruition though and I ended up plopping down the cash. I’m currently trying to sell my PB so that I can get the new 15”.

16 Sep 2003

Drew

I’ll give you $1 for it.

16 Sep 2003

mike

I’ll give you $2… ;)

16 Sep 2003

Drew

Dammit.

16 Sep 2003

Bob

Get in line, Drew. I’ve been begging for a new PB for months on my site. I even put up a Paypal link with the legend ”Buy Bob a new Powerbook.” No takers, sadly.

16 Sep 2003

Jesse

Hahaha.. well I am just negotiating for a trade-in through work. Not sure what my G4 400 tibook is worth (influences the deal – more i can get the less the dept has to pay – the more likely i get it sooner!) but the uni pricing is so good on the new ones…

Hopefully by Christmas I will have one…

16 Sep 2003

zlog

Send me an iMac whilst your at it Apple ;)

16 Sep 2003

Drew

Come on chaps, this isn’t fair. Go and grovel and beg on your own blogs!

;)

17 Sep 2003

tomjleeds

Well you shouldn’t provide such an inspiration, Drew!

But seriously, yes I’d like an iMac/PowerBook, but seeing as I’m planning on building a PC that’ll do everything I need for around £350, and iMacs start at about £1000, is there really any option?

;^)

17 Sep 2003

Drew

That’s like asking why you should buy a good pair of shoes when you can get a cheap pair at the supermarket.

The cheap pair will give you blisters and let in water.

17 Sep 2003

Rachel

You can build a nice PC for £350, I bought the components for our server for less than the price of an iMac … and that’s no low-end machine.

17 Sep 2003

Drew

I was really thinking more on the lines of total experience than just hardware components. Maybe shoes are a bad example because it’s not just about build quality and materials.

Maybe it’s more like why eat in a nice restaurant when there’s a McDonald’s across the street that’s cheaper? It’s a fairly every-day principal that people are willing to pay more for something that they will enjoy more.

Mmmm foood.

17 Sep 2003

Alex

Gah! these people are missing the point! any Mac user who has been forced to use a PC, instantly recognises how cheap and nasty the machines feel in comparison to a Mac. I’m with you Drew, on this one, which is why i forked out £1450 for my iMac rather than a cheaper PC, which would have ’done the job’. if your using a machine day in day out, why not buy one that you’ll enjoy using?

17 Sep 2003

Jesse

Mac zealots… OS X is to blame.

One guy that works for the Computer Science school here had a 17inch iMac for 1 week – he is BSD all the way and hated the idea of Apple. He is now doing whatever he can to get that Mac back… he went so far as to install X.3 developers build on a first gen iMac.

They are sooooo good. You pay 2x as much but you have it for 2x as long.. and love it 2x as much!

18 Sep 2003

Rik Abel

Try befriending a research scientist who then gets a massive research grant to spend on whatever, do a website for him, and bingo – a brand new powerbook. Worked for me, although my TiBook 400 is getting on a bit. Still, musn’t grumble…

19 Sep 2003

tomjleeds

OK, let me rephrase. Yes, you may love it 2x as much, have it 2x as long, but I won’t be paying 2x as much.

Why?

Because I can’t afford to spend £1000 on a #*@$%!~ computer! Yes, I agree that you should spend more on something that will be better. Unfortunately, Macs are just TOO expensive.

03 Jun 2006

Wraith

I just don’t understand people who actually obsess over those overpriced, useless pieces of crap that Apple tries to call computers. It’s no wonder that Microsoft almost completely destroyed them before idiot America fell for the iPod, just because Apple launched a huge marketing campaign for it.