All grown up now: The Mac OS gets viral

After years of proclaiming a virus-free computing environment, Apple quietly announces its recommendation that Mac users get antivirus software (see the Apple Support forum here).

Or perhaps, just a sophisticated way of generating sales from the Apple store in a down environment?

UPDATED 12/3...apparently Apple has removed the referenced posting to the support page. A spokesperson claims "it was old and outdated information." Computer security experts ask why they wouldn't update the information it rather than removing it.  Especially since Apple's share of the market has grown slightly. Full controversy here.

The cost of cool

Several posts around the web last month have discussed the apparent 'cost differential' between Macs and competitive products, from computers to phones. See here and here for examples.

And while I don't mean to take sides in a debate that is, largely, style over substance, it is interesting to note the premium price differences between a brand like Apple and the prices that can be charged by a branded generic (like Dell).

According to IDC, while the average cost of PCs has dropped from $1,046 in mid-2005 to $963, the average price of a Mac has risen to $1,526 because of new high-end products such as the razor-thin MacBook Air.

So here's a chart I created to show what PCs lack...and what the value of the Apple brand is to shareholders. I suspect your point of view will depend on which side of the Mac-PC debate you've already staked out. Either way, one must be impressed with the ability of Apple to charge the premium.

The Anti-Brand: Grand Theft Auto

Grand Theft Auto 4 is now in stores. For all the unseemly elements of the GTA game series, it does go to great pains to incorporate parody and, one might even say, satire into the GTA world.

Though I find myself now less enamored of immersive, virtual world/games like GTA, Runescape and Second Life, they do present unique opportunities for hiding humor bombs in the nooks and crannies of the game space. And here comes GTA4 with a satiric smack at one of the decades most revered brands: Apple.

The references play mostly on the perception of some that Apple is a brand for effete elitists.

More screen grabs and description at The Unofficial Apple Weblog.

So what?

It's just a game...for gamers. Except that this game is anticipated to sell nearly 13 Million units this year. And with distribution like that for what is arguably as immersive an online experience as it gets, one wonders where a brand's loyalties might be found...or found lacking...in the minds of GTA4 players.

The GTA4 Apple easter egg also reminds me that for any brand that becomes 'fashionable' there will inevitably be a counter-fashion that seeks to think different.

UPDATE 5/7/08: GTA4 delivers $500 Million in sales in the first week...6 million units of the game...that's a lot of engagement anyway you look at it.