When I was a little boy, around 10 years of age, I remember being a little bit upset with my momma, because she always bought me the Sears brand Toughskin jeans. Now, there was nothing wrong with the jeans themselves, they weren’t called Toughskins for nothing. They were durable, and as my momma said, “You are hard on your jeans.” But my friends were wearing Wranglers, which had some stitching on the back pockets, and I had to wear the plain pocketed Sears jeans. Life just wasn’t fair.
For the most part, as I have grown older, I have remained pure and unsullied by brand envy. When the “designer jeans” craze hit in the late 1970’s, I stuck with my beloved Wranglers. (By this time I had outgrown my Toughskins). When the Nike craze hit, I was satisfied with my Converse All-Stars. They didn’t have the pretty swoosh on the side, but I could jump just as high (which admittedly was not very), and run just as fast (which was also not very) in my All-Stars, and they were significantly less expensive.
The Designer jeans were what blew my mind. The jeans were twice as expensive, just because they had someone’s name, or a fancy design stitched on the back. How many kids yelled from their bedrooms on Monday morning, “Hey mom, did you wash my Calvin Klein’s?”
I’m just not willing to pay more for a name! If the quality is better, then fine. But not for the name. Did you know that there are several store brands of raisin bran that tastes just as good as the Kellogg brand? When you buy ibuprofen, it is cheaper if it doesn’t say Advil on the box; same thing with the Tylenol equivalents; and it is amazing how much cheaper acetylsalicylic acid is if it doesn’t say Excedrin on the bottle!
I think it is my frugal nature, which I got from my dad. Of course, my kids roll their eyes and call me scrooge, but it just seems to me that the 10 dollar sunglasses from the Dollar General store work just as well as $150 Oakley’s. Or at least, close enough to forego the $140 dollar difference. Did you know that tissues work just as well even if they come from boxes without the Kleenex label, and many copy machines seem to make copies just as well as those made by Xerox.
In electronics, I joke a lot about hating Apple. And I think this is the primary reason. Apple is the ultimate brand name. The evil empire. If Apple makes it, it has to be good. Put it in a slick package, and put the Apple icon on it, and you can charge twice as much. They even have a name for people who have drunk the Kool-Aid (excuse me, the flavored fruit drink), they call them fanboys. As in fanatics! It reminds me of Homer Simpson, staring all glassy eyed and saying, “OOO, Shiny!”
You can have your iPod shuffle, I’ll take my Sansa clip. You can have your Macbook Air, I’ll take my HP laptop with the broken hinge. You can take your elegant User Interface on your latest glitzy machine with the single button mouse, and I will stick with my workmanlike Windows XP machine that cost me $400 dollars about 6 years ago. That is, until I take the plunge and learn how to use Linux.
But that’s just me…
Tags: Brand Names
You and your infernal Apple-bashing!
In spite of its leadership’s liberal politics and the presence of Al Gore on the board, its recent success is evidence of what made America great. When they were down, they took Microsoft’s money — not the taxpayer’s — and rebuilt the brand through innovative, superior products. The iPod is not the market leader because the Senate nationalized the product, but because a majority of consumers prefer its look, feel and interface to anything else, including Microsoft’s doomed player.
I was Apple long before Apple was cool and most of us are less fanboys than just satisfied customers. We pay an apparent premium for our laptops, but enjoy the savings when others are wrestling with adware, viruses, restarts and reinstalls.
To be honest, the brand’s success is a concern to many of us longtime Mac-users. We are anxious to see if the company will slip into complacency and mediocrity as a result of its gains. We don’t want to become the GM of the computer business — frankly it seems like Microsoft already wears that mantle anyway.
Okay, enough good-natured computer banter for today!
Jeff,
I would argue with you more about this, but today my 6 year old XP desktop wouldn’t boot. So, I may have to reinstall the operating system.
This round goes to you… but the game is far from over!
Apple does a better job of protecting the user from damaging their own computers. Linux can do an even better job, but still, if you are stupid enough to log in as root and surf the internet, you can have issues.
I just can’t wait until the federal government shows as little faith in us as does Apple. I hate Windows not because of what it will or won’t do, but because of what it will or won’t let me do. “Action Forbidden” indeed. “Dangerous File Deleted” indeed. Apple is no better. Linux can be better. If I say a file is okay to download then IT’S OKAY TO DOWNLOAD. (This is a virus and will not be downloaded.) I WROTE IT!!! IT’S NOT A VIRUS.
I know what’s wrong with me, I need an antibiotic. (You can’t have it. Federal health care will not deem it a “full” sinus infection until it has affected you for two full weeks, as it may only be a severe cold with minor bacterial intrusion.) IT’S MY BODY!!! I’m not going to OD on amoxicillin. Give me the medicine. I could make penicillin myself!!!
I need to take care of this congestion. (Oh, no sir, you bought sudafedrine too recently.) I bought that for my wife. She was sick. I’ve caught was she had and now I need it too. (Sir you should have your wife buy her own medicine. Perhaps she can buy yours now.) Perhaps, YOU could give me the MEDICINE the DOCTOR says I NEED!!! What am I going to do, make meth? You think stupid pinhead federal rules could stop me from making meth if I wanted to.
Stupid people messing it up for everyone.
Naffel,
Looks like I’m not the only one who needs to rant every once in a while!
Good stuff!