[Macworld]

Post your comments for The Macalope Weekly: The waiting is the hardest part here

[Glenn_Fleishman]

Why did Walmart steal its new logo from Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions, anyway? Was Sam such a big fan of his work?

[Rhywun]

Geez, partnering with the country's top selling retailer? Sounds like a no-brainer. And by the way, Wal-Mart is hardly restricted to small-town America--every suburb has one too.

[folklore]

Rhywun said:

Geez, partnering with the country's top selling retailer? Sounds like a no-brainer. And by the way, Wal-Mart is hardly restricted to small-town America--every suburb has one too.

Premium brands simply cannot compete at Walmart, whose customers (generally) compare products only by price. Selling through Walmart can do more damage to a brand than good. See, e.g., Snapper lawn mowers.

[friday04]

What a great response to an ignorant comment. I've read that story about Snapper before but I went ahead and read it again when you posted the link.

The "Laptop Hunter" ads may very well be effective. Especially when people are trying to save everywhere they can. But those ads never mention Microsoft, nor do they mention the differences between the Mac OS and the Windows OS. They simply go for price. Price, price, price. Right now, that's on people's minds. But there are several references, especially by Consumerist.com, to the fact that now is not the time to buy cheap, but to buy smart. If you have to buy jeans, buy jeans that are going to last. If have to buy paint, buy premium paint. The point to these stories is that buying cheap may seem to help your wallet but over time it actually costs more since you have to buy them again. And again. And again.

It cost me a lot to get into a Mac. But once I was in, it hasn't cost me so much. Every few years I upgrade and I sell my old equipment for a good chunk of change which helps me offset the cost of my new machine. How much is that $699 17" HP going to wield you when you need an upgrade? And when will you need that upgrade? Will it last as long as my Macs do?

[neutrino23]

I'm skeptical that there is anything to this perceived change in value. Somewhere I saw the chart of the results. It had Apple spiking really high in February followed by a smaller surge by MS. So the thesis is that MS ran a few TV adds and suddenly there is a huge swing in the market? I don't think so. The change may or may not be real, it has nothing to do with the MS ads. My take is that the data simply noisy and hard to interpret.

[ericole]

This analogy is about as stupid as it comes: "with a logo that looks suspiciously like the end part of the human digestive tract may" When this was first brought to light I think it was dealt with quite soundly then. First, it's some lines in a circle. Second, others have logos similar to this. Third, if this is the best Kurt can do, he's a loser artist that people need to ignore. My 13 month old can almost do this.

[Glenn_Fleishman]

ericole said:

This analogy is about as stupid as it comes: "with a logo that looks suspiciously like the end part of the human digestive tract may" When this was first brought to light I think it was dealt with quite soundly then. First, it's some lines in a circle. Second, others have logos similar to this. Third, if this is the best Kurt can do, he's a loser artist that people need to ignore. My 13 month old can almost do this.

No one may ever make the same joke or observation twice.

[Dalkorian]

Now, the thought of a premium brand like the Mac being pushed through a high-volume retailer with a logo that looks suspiciously like the end part of the human digestive tract may lead you to some uncomfortable analogies.

I see someone took offense at this (probably someone who works there), but I LOL'd at it. I couldn't have said it better myself because that what prostitute mart really is.
Everyone who shops there is stupid enough to deserve death before they further contaminate the human gene pool.

[WarrenS]

Wal-Mart as Borg. Does that make Steve Ballmer Ludicrous (Locutus)?

[bwooster]

Macalope 1/22/09:
Don’t expect Macs to suddenly show up at Wal-Mart in response to a small decrease in switcher traffic, though. Wal-Mart buyers might buy premium low-cost items, but they’re probably less likely to buy premium higher-cost items.
Macalope 5/21/09:
If Apple wants to reach as many people as possible, partnering with Wal-Mart is a good strategy
So you changed your mind?

[SomethingWicked]

It's not how many people you reach, but it's how many QUALIFIED people you reach. No one at China's-favorite-friend-Wal-Mart is going to buy Apple computers as their price tag sits next to Dell or HP. Won't happen. Not in a million years. Wal-Mart shoppers are CHEAP. Nothing more, nothing less. They don't go to Wal-Mart looking to walk out with the most expensive item in the store; it's against their DNA.

Apple would do better to market through Target.

[neutrino23]

The guys at Apple don't do things haphazardly. If they are putting product in Walmart stores their research tells them that this is a good move. They don't shoot from the hip.

[whadefu]

I shop @ walmart, it is the nearest store and it carries most of what I want to buy, so that makes me cheap ?
Oh, on top of that I have used a mac since day 1, 1984 and b4 that a lisa & b4 that apple II.
The point is that apple will reach a lot of buyers thru walmart and if the 'cheaper' tablet thingi does appear it will sell well there.
Funny that all these cheapos that buy @ walmart are also buying ipods as well, they should be buying cheaper stuff, obviously apple sells a lot of ipods thru walmart and it is a no-brainer to add macs to the mix, if nothing else, if it is just cheapos buying there it may address the 'macs are so expensive' myth !!