Jim Lynch: Off the Top of My Head…

Mac Daily News is one of my favorite Apple news sites but today it had some very snobby commentary in a story about Macs possibly being sold at Wal-Mart. The MDN editor seems to look down his nose at Wal-Mart customers and comes across as a snooty snob.

Untrue. Wal-Mart shoppers have been offered the option of cheaply-priced Linux PCs. Wal-Mart pulled them from shelves due to poor sales this past spring. At the time, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. spokeswoman Melissa O’Brien explained, “This really wasn’t what our customers were looking for.” To which we replied, “Yeah. They were looking for Slim Jims, pro wrestling posters, 56×29 Faded Glory jeans, and beer helmets.”

The allure of market share is strong, but wouldn’t Macs at Wal-Mart have the great potential of being neglected and poorly displayed (Think Sears) while also resulting in diluting the brand that Apple has worked so hard to build and differentiate from the PC box assemblers (Dell, HP, etc.)?

Maybe Mac minis. Or maybe even Mac minis, the low-end 20-inch iMac, and the white MacBook at Wal-Mart. Maybe. But, we type even that with great reservation. “More harm than good!” SteveJack bellows down the cavernous halls of our palatial headquarters.

Well I buy stuff from Wal-Mart sometimes. And I own a 24 inch iMac, a 20 inch iMac, an Apple TV, a 15 inch Macbook Pro and my iPhone 3G. I find Apple’s products very useful. And I also shop at Wal-Mart sometimes.

Wal-Mart and Apple are not mutually exclusive and Apple is not going to damage its brand by selling products at Wal-Mart as iPods are already sold there. I think Apple is smart enough to negotiate well with Wal-Mart in terms of how its products are displayed.

And Wal-Mart shoppers are smart enough to understand the value proposition of Macs. I think MDN’s commentary, while amusing, is rooted in some sort of personal snobbery or something. I think Apple offering products at Wal-Mart is a good idea and I hope it ends up happening.

And I hope the MDN editor comes down off his high horse and stops looking down his nose at us Wal-Mart shoppers.

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