[zmmmmm]

> Apple's branding and advertising tends to exhibit a similar focus on how their products will improve your status, rather than on the capabilities of the actual hard/software

Look at the lid of every mac book. Which way up is the Apple? Your way so that you naturally see it right side up when opening the lid? - no - it's upside down to you, because the point is, everyone else is supposed to see it.

[kubrickslair]

Almost every other laptop manufacturer also does that, at least now-a-days. And it was true when I got my first laptop, a ThinkPad in 2004. Did Apple start the trend, and was it different before that? I am not sure, I could not find enough conclusive pictures of older models.

More broadly, this is the kind of rationalizing which probably come from some irrational hate that the grandparent is talking about.

Also to talk about advertising, it generally works that way. Not just in the first world, but in the third world too.

Let me give you an anecdote. tl;dr: ads targeted towards working class in India had the decor which is not even common among wealthy, it works.

I grew up in India, in a rather wealthy family in a medium-sized city. And I mention that, because with it comes with something which is very uncommon in most of the Western world and even bigger Indian cities. I had an entourage as a kid, the kind that only old money has in US, with a pretty minute fraction of wealth. And I was close with some of my help, been to their homes, parties etc. (May sound weird, but is not that common in that part of the world.) And most ads which specifically target them, project a lifestyle which I have generally not seen even among the wealthy i.e. people who they work for. And yet, instead of shying away from those products and considering them elitist, they embraced them, as opposed to the things that used more down to earth marketing. I have not watched Indian TV for almost a decade, but I doubt that things have changed a lot.

So what's wrong with Apple projecting a slightly more stylish and affluent image. Benz does that too, and so do most startup videos I have seen, irrespective of whether they were made by Adam Lisagor.

Errata: On second thoughts, I am not sure if it was true for the ThinkPad. But the Dells and HPs were like that.

[mkr-hn]

Do Benz fans wander around automotive forums talking about the various inherent superiorities of their car and car company? This is the part that draws the anger. No one would care if Apple fans could just be happy with their purchase and not lord it over everyone.

[vacri]

None of the Thinkpads that I have on hand (x30, T41 tablet, X201, Z61m, covers ~ 10 years) exhibit that feature, so it's not something "thinkpad does".

The difference with the Apple logo is that it is usually illuminated - rather than mere branding that you have to look for, it actually pulls your eye and works as an advertisement due to the difference in illuminance.

[kubrickslair]

Yes, the difference with Apple is illuminance. But I think they started it when they were much smaller, and it was meant to be promote word-of-mouth-ish promotion. Sure now that Macs are popular, it sucks to have too many illuminated logos being thrown in your face. I don't like that either. I too find it sad that too many children these day will think the Apple logo is synonymous with computing devices. At least in the earlier days there were many different logos from different companies.

Going back to ThinkPad, I think the difference was that it was a small logo on the corner. Consider having a big ThinkPad logo in the center, and how odd it may look to anybody who looks at the user. Probably why other manufacturers also do it.

[dredmorbius]

The apple logo is also designed to be viewed by others, NOT the owner.

Thinkpad's branding ("Lenovo" and the angled "Thinkpad" in the corner) face the owner when the laptop is closed.

The Apple is inverted. When the laptop lid is up (in use), it's advertising Apple to others. When the laptop lid is closed, the owner sees an upside-down apple.

That's marketing genius.

(Typed on a Thinkpad, running Debian GNU/Linux, of course: while I appreciate marketing genius, I prefer technical superiority ;-)

[ktrgardiner]

The point is that when you're actually using your Macbook, you do not see the back of it. It makes more sense for it to be right side up when open so that everyone else sees it the proper way instead of right side up when closed and in the process of opening when the only person seeing it is you.

It's just one more example of design that makes sense.

[krevis]

It hasn't always been that way. The Powerbook G3 series (and before?) had a similar logo, but oriented in the other direction.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerBook_G4#Industrial_design

[mwhite]

Is there a single laptop where the logo is upside down from the observer's perspective?