When you buy a new Windows PC, as you probably know, it comes festooned with little (or not so little) stickers on the palm rests. There’s one for Windows, one for Skype, one for Intel, one for the laptop company, maybe an Energy Star sticker and so on.
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A.M.D.’s research shows that consumers hate the stickers (duh). But they’re not going away, for one simple reason: There’s big money involved. Intel, Microsoft, Skype and whoever else is represented by the stickers actually pay the computer companies for the billboard space. That’s why H.P., for example, would tolerate gumming up its laptops’ good looks with crass ads. (Apple refuses to put Intel stickers on its computers, even though there’s Intel inside. In doing so, it leaves millions of dollars a year on the table.)
I’ve always seen these stickers as a sort of benchmark for computer manufacturers.
Historically, only Apple has refused to give in to the temptation to pad its bottom line with sticky advertisements on its products. It isn’t surprising, given the company’s obsessive focus on design. It is also not surprising the companies that ship sticker-covered laptops are the same companies that dump loads of crapware on their Windows boxes.
In short, products with stickers are made by companies that care more about money than product design. Makes perfect sense.