Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Hardware, Apple
HP wants to be more like Apple
Computers, in general, are not cool. They are just silly machines, however, Apple manages to make theirs cool. Now, HP wants a little slice of the cool for themselves. They have hired a former Apple marketing exec to launch a revamped advertising campaign to get the kids thinking that HP is cool.I, for one, have always enjoyed HP's advertising. I think that for the most part their commercials are cool (and this finger soccer blog is lots of fun) but how many HP products do I own? One (I have an iPaq that I no longer use), and that's not too good for HP.
Here's hoping they can get their cool commercials to give their products that 'lust factor' that Apple's have.
Thanks, Shoaib.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sabon said 7:11PM on 7-25-2006
Well - having cool looking hardware and a cool OS would be a good start. They have neither now.
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Matteo D. Adreani said 7:15PM on 7-25-2006
i love hp printers... they're simply great machines...
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Andy said 7:36PM on 7-25-2006
I've always thought Apple's marketing was their weakest point. It's their products that are cool. The best marketing they have had was for the ipod, but by the time it came out it was too late, the iPod was already cool.
So I think they've hired the wrong exec!
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Tre said 8:20PM on 7-25-2006
I find that in the world of PCs, if one had to get one instead of coming to Apple than HP is the way to go. Before Apple I have always gone for them because they are a better quality than most others in the market when it comes to their price point.
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jon said 8:27PM on 7-25-2006
HP is only good for their printers. I wouldnt buy anything else from them. Ive got 2 HP printers, they are the best Ive ever owned.
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diulei said 8:42PM on 7-25-2006
HP iPod's were somewhat cool.
heheheh.
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Victor Agreda Jr said 8:54PM on 7-25-2006
Let's not forget HP once decided to hire a smart cookie named Wozniak once ;)
My how they have strayed... but yeah, I like HP gear. Printers are best, that's fo sho.
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John S. said 9:36PM on 7-25-2006
Among engineers, their calculators are considered pretty "cool". I'd never own any other brand.
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Armaan said 9:41PM on 7-25-2006
I bought a slimline HP Media Center PC just the other day, and it rocks. It had all the features I was looking for, at the price I was looking to pay, and it was pretty nice-looking too. When I started using it, everything ran so smoothly that I thought to myself: "This feels like a Mac", especially once I plugged in my HP printer and it just worked without having to install any drivers.
Then XP froze, and the illusion was shattered.
I still like the system, though.
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martin said 9:53PM on 7-25-2006
HP laptops are horrible. Anything I've had from HP has been horrible. I repair laptops and I see more Compaq and HP laptops than any other brand, and they all have hardware issues.
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Greg Boone said 10:32PM on 7-25-2006
ever notice that HP is one letter shy of hip? sorry that was lame but I had to do it.
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Matt said 10:44PM on 7-25-2006
Can I please have your iPaq? :)
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starwxrwx said 11:38PM on 7-25-2006
Their printer and scanner drivers are horrible bloated pieces of crapware, and I will never again buy an HP device. Other vendors aren't much better, but I have had enough. Also, their printer cartridges are way more expensive than, say, those from Canon.
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Mark David Gerson said 1:34AM on 7-26-2006
Now, if only HP could get their web and phone support (particularly Mac-related) to match Apple's, I might reconsider my decision to never buy an HP again. As much as I like the product, my service experience has been beyond awful
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Scott F said 4:14AM on 7-26-2006
Cool as HP's advertising may be, I have to say their products don;t liv up. Every HP product I've used, Laptop, scanner, camera, printer, monitor... CRAP! Support? Fuggetaboudit. There are some decent people on support, but they;re hamstrung by a beurocracy and policy that only seeks to punish those customers offensive enough to expect help and support that they have paid for.
I'm in the market for an inkjet printer, and I hace one requirement that supercedes all others: NOT Hewlett Packard. They're the Microsoft of the hardware sector. Give them no money. Better yet, rip them off in any way you can.
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David said 12:31PM on 7-26-2006
My HP printer works pretty well, but I would never buy a computer from them. Years ago I had to call Customer Service for an HP product I owned. They wanted to charge me to even be able to talk to someone, just to find out why their product that I PAID for wasn't working.
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Thatboomguy said 10:00PM on 7-30-2006
I have two HP printers (an 1315 Photosmart and an All-in-one) that I use w/ my G3 Powerbook and Macbook Pro. I recently downloaded new/updated drivers for both and now the 1315 Photosmart doesn’t work with either laptop. I called HP for assistance and they want to charge me. I tried their "chat room" techs and that was worthless. Next, because the option was there (and it was important to me), I emailed their CEO and complained about the problem. What can I say? I had to try. I don't expect HP to get back to me with a solution (other than the "...Your comments have been forwarded to the appropriate
people within Hewlett-Packard for their information and review"... . I am down on HP Printers. How are Brother and Canon printers?
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Thatboomguy said 3:08PM on 8-24-2006
I wrote HP's CEO and President, Mark Hurd back in early July. It's now August 24th, and I'm still waiting for "the appropriate people within Hewlett-Packard" to get back to me with a solution to my problem That's what the response I got back on Jly 5th from "CEO Customer Relations". I guess with HP, it's just that. My problem. Maybe they're still looking for the "appropriate people" at HP. Maybe, they don't have the "appropriate people" at HP?
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