Hacker News Reader

I don't see anything supporting the assertion that the shifts were due to Microsoft's advertising. Given the recession (and the media's mood regarding it), I'm not at all surprised that consumers are acting a bit more frugal.

View on HN

The article did show a massive downfall of consumers thinking Macs are awesome, and a rise of consumers thinking PCs are.

Not exactly. The measurement was of "value-perception" -- Yes, consumers are starting to view Macs as luxuries, but there's no evidence of a causal relationship between that shift an Microsoft's advertising. For instance, a similar trend was seen when asking individuals whether or not household goods (microwaves, dishwashers, air conditioning, etc.) were luxuries or necessities. What would Occam say?

Link to the Luxury / Necessity study: http://pewsocialtrends.org/pubs/733/luxury-necessity-recessi...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com