Bruce Willis: iChat user, forum troll

What do you when you've got millions of dollars, no steady day job, and plenty of vocal critics that do their best to berate you knowing full well that they could never do your job if given the chance? We might just ask Bruce Willis that very question, but thankfully for all us, he's already responded. Apparently, Mr. Willis not only finds his way around internet message boards that focus on his films, but he doesn't hesitate to join in on the oftentimes testy conversations and give users his platinum-laced two cents. In a recent go 'round in regard to Die Hard 4, Bruce was caught mouthing off to disbelievers and carpers alike, and while a select few were adamant that this so-called Walter B. was little more than an overzealous fanboy, Bruce did the honorary thing and offered to prove it. The actor actually requested that a fellow iChat / Mac user hit him up for a momentary video chat in order to show his face, and sure enough, the most vocal doubter was indeed put in place rather quickly. Big fan of the ego, Bruce.

[Via Switched]

[Motoko @ May 12th 2007 10:57AM]

Bruce is awesome.

primarily because he uses a Mac!

[BobTurbo @ May 12th 2007 11:17AM]

Haha that is hilarious. I hear a lot of celebrities talking about Macs. Maybe because the artistic industries are full of them. I could never imagine a celebrity say "lets talk on Live Messenger Ultimate Edition. I have a new MeeWee and MooGoo." Just not cool is it?

[anonymous @ May 12th 2007 11:21AM]

Uh. Everyone loves macs. Step into the engineering departments of Sun Microsystems and every engineer owns one. Even Jonothan Schwartz (Sun's CEO) uses OSX.

People act like a mac is for dumb people who wan't a fisher price toy. The fact is that a Mac is perfect for hard core users. If you essentially want a linux or unix environment "on the go", you're going to get yourself a mac.

[anonymous @ May 12th 2007 11:21AM]

So let me understand this.

Internet dorks want to rant and complain and cry and attack. Then when the person they're all gossiping and talking about chimes in, they're suddenly a self-involved ego-boosting ass? Really?

I would say it's pretty damn cool that someone would even pay attention to the internet regarding their career and projects and that they'd interact with people - including those who don't agree with them or enthusiastically support their stuff.

But, I guess whiny "ain't it cool" style idiots would rather just blather endlessly from their mom's basements without ever possibly facing the people they're talking about.

Bruce gets big points for this. Completely awesome.

[Smills @ May 12th 2007 11:33AM]

You must be joking...

[Revrant2394 @ May 13th 2007 5:18AM]

He simply must be, I hate the things, last I checked "hardcore" users have two buttons on their mice.

[Matt @ May 12th 2007 11:38AM]

You must have never used a Mac.

[directive0 @ May 12th 2007 12:48PM]

I was going to write a long tirade chiding that guy for taking such a partisan stance on computers... but it really doesn't matter as nothing said will stop a person from holding a irrational bias. Its just sad to see the same ignorance shown in religious disagreements spill over into computers.

Use whatever the hell you want, I don't care. I know mac and windows zealots hate to hear this, but both OS's for all their rabid proponents are pretty much identical to the user. I know it sucks, sorry guys but your OS of choice is really nothing special be it Windows , Mac, Linux, what have you. At the end of the day the computer is just the tool, the person using it is what matters.

[Magnulus @ May 12th 2007 11:36AM]

Yeah, okay. I knew Bruce was pretty awesome, but this is fantastic. Love that guy. A lot of celebs put up a Myspace page or a blog, and that's nice, but it's not exactly interaction. Bruce is taking this to the next level. Great stuff!

[Smills @ May 12th 2007 12:46PM]

Had to use a mac instead of a PC because my damn design and tech class teacher thought that macs were easier to use to design things with. I couldn't stand the damn things.

[trainwrecka @ May 12th 2007 11:47AM]

i was already hyped for DH4... plus the "I'm a Mac" guy is in it

[Camperton @ May 12th 2007 11:47AM]

that dude who's chatting with Bruce looks mega stoked.

[Ratteler @ May 12th 2007 11:58AM]

Bruce just sold me a ticket to "Live free Die Hard".

Honestly. I had decided to wait for DVD, but now I'm making the trip because...
A) he had the brains to actually get iChat working. May not sound like much to us... but there are a LOT of dumb people out there.
B) he had the balls to show up and face his fanboi critics on their turf.
C) We're both First Amendment Alumni. (Wonder if ANYONE will understand that one.)

[Graison Swaan @ May 12th 2007 12:05PM]

Bruce is awesome. Ever see him on Letterman? It's always hilarious.

[Arno @ May 12th 2007 12:35PM]

Bruce Willis FTW! :)

[A Gupta @ May 12th 2007 12:42PM]

Haha that's pretty awesome that someone got to chat with Bruce Willis "face-to-face." I wish it had been me. That guy has a story for bars now, don't he? :-P

[Josh McGrath @ May 12th 2007 4:36PM]

i'm with you, i had to use macs for my web design class, 3 different times it crashed on me and lost all my work

also, i wonder why you comment is "lowest ranked" just for saying your experience with a mac was sub-par...

[Smills @ May 12th 2007 12:56PM]

I voted you up...
I know what you mean, you do make a very good point. However, the quality, capabilities and power of the tool make a great difference to ease of use, and what you can do with it.

Macs are easier to use than PCs. I don't deny this. However, I am a gamer and develop software. You are massively more restricted with both gaming and software development on macs. Vote me down, blast me, do whatever. It is a truth.

Another thing, programs written for macs give you considerably less income than programs written for the PC, simply because of the small user base. I am sorry my previous comments were a little harsh, I had just had a frustrating time with a mac at university, so was not in the best mood. I will try to be a little more professional.

[directive0 @ May 12th 2007 1:20PM]

Thanks for the reply, though I wasn't referring to your comment, but I hear you. I have no problem with people having an opinion on hardware and software. What I have a problem with is biased and illogical partisanship in relation to computers. Its just silly.

Your argument is solid, you have a legitimate beef with the OS. I don't for a second believe any option presented to todays computer consumer is without flaw. So I say; use what works for you. If that means only using Windows then rock and freaking roll. Me, I'm going to keep using everything I can get my hands on. Theres a lot of variety out there and a lot of cool software being written for all of them. If that means I won't catch anything you've developed on my macbook, thats fine maybe I'll see some of your work on my dell. Its all good, at the end of the day I'm just a nerd and its a great time to be a nerd. I see incredibly innovative apps and solutions being written for the Mac despite its limiting developer support. And at my business I am forced to be able to utilize all the different platforms to meet client demands. Using one system just doesn't make sense to me, I want to see and be a part of it all, the only way to do that is to ignore these petty arguments about which is the "best" and use all of them. What kind of geek is satisfied with only one piece of equipment?

[wraith808 @ May 12th 2007 9:25PM]

^Agreed. That's the same reason I don't use them. Also add the fact that I like to build machines to my specifications, and the Mac's not for me. I wish all of this fanboyish OS war crap would disappear and people would just admit that PCs are better for some things, Macs for others, and the twain, while closer than ever, shall never meet. Apple was my first company of choice, and my first home computer was an apple (well a Laser, but the same thing). When they started moving away from the hobbyist, they moved in a direction that was separate from what I wanted (and a lot of other people too). And yes, I've used one lately, and they're still not for me.

As far as the article... he did the honorary thing? That should be 'honorable' right? Not being a blog critic, just wanted to make sure I was getting the context right.

[Martin Pilkington @ May 13th 2007 4:35PM]

"You are massively more restricted with both gaming and software development on macs."

Gaming I can agree with, but I don't see how you are restricted development wise? The APIs are as good as those on any other platform and the development tools are free. There isn't an application you can make on Windows or Linux that isn't also capable on the Mac.

As for the considerably less income, I'd say that you are taking the basic idea that having less market share means you can't earn as much money. On the contrary, it may be easier to make money on the Mac than the PC. Less software means less competition, and the fact that most Mac software is sold over the internet means that it costs very little to get started and get on level footing with your competition. The APIs available allows you to build quite large applications with very small teams. You also have to realise that while the Mac has 5% of the market, it is the 5% of the market that has the money and is the most likely to buy 3rd party software. I suggest you try Mac development before claiming that it is severely lacking.

[Smills @ May 12th 2007 1:46PM]

It is good to see someone looking at the competing operating systems with an open mind. This is a rare and welcome occurrence. I have a Linux machine (Ubuntu 7.04), a Windows Vista Ultimate x64 machine (Primary computer) and a Windows XP machine.

I know what you mean when you say "What kind of geek is satisfied with only one piece of equipment?". I personally tend to buy pretty much every gadget I can get my hands on (a bad, expensive habit) but I have just not had a need for a mac. I used them extensively at high school, and on many occasions at uni, but they never grew on me. Yes, there are indeed some amazing programs on the mac. They are well suited to designing and media creation/editing. However, when it comes to gaming any one of the plethora of other uses of a computer I have found macs lacking. Don't get me wrong, I think they are fantastic for your average Joe that knows nothing about computers as they are so easy to get the hang of, but for power users they fall short. I believe though, that it is certainly worth using as many operating systems as you can get your hands on, and if it is in your line of work to use many types of computers then you cannot afford to take precedence.

Basically, my viewpoint is this: if you like an OS, so be it, if you dislike an OS, so be it, however, make sure you have used and used well that which you dislike. People that dislike Vista because "itz made by M$!!1!1!" annoy the hell out of me. Each to their own.

[Darnell @ May 12th 2007 1:53PM]

Nice to see things being resolved on the internet. People disagree but as long as there is a bit of civility we all win in the end. Nothing wrong with diverse points of views. Lets hear them all...

[Walt @ May 12th 2007 1:57PM]

Props to Bruce and props for turning his appearance on AICN's talkback into a Mac fanboy troll without even trying.

[hunglikehorse @ May 12th 2007 2:04PM]

Is everyone sure that the bald headed dude in question isn't just a Bruce Willis lookalike? His head doesn't look big enough to be Bruno's

[KiraXD @ May 12th 2007 2:16PM]

hahaha.. this is awesome. (Im a huge bruce willis fan) its so funny to see him doing this, seems like a pretty down to earth kind of guy lol.

[shaun @ May 12th 2007 2:19PM]

whenever a mac or pc is mentioned in a story on here, you can guarantee that by the 10th comment it's descended into a PC vs Mac debate and no-one can remember the original story

[DM @ May 12th 2007 3:15PM]

This goes to show that celebrities don't know anything about computers. The easiest solution??? Go buy a MAC.

[Zeus the God @ May 12th 2007 3:30PM]

"People act like a mac is for dumb people who wan't a fisher price toy. The fact is that a Mac is perfect for hard core users. If you essentially want a linux or unix environment "on the go", you're going to get yourself a mac."

Really, people act like Mac is for people who either really need the few/many developmental tools that Mac has for a specific subject. PCs with Windows is ideal for people who are going to do a variety of things, and want a reliable machine at that (I know for a fact that Macs aren't durable, as my friend has gone through 5-6 iMacs in the past year, all of them failing with cooling, and randomly shutting off) will last for a while, and won't require much maintenance. I agree, OS X has it's uses, but for the general public, it just falls short.

I think it's kind of cool that someone of fame would just do regular/weird people stuff... I guess.

[d00t @ May 12th 2007 10:10PM]

Zeus, because one of your friends has had reliability issues with Macs, does not make it a "fact", in the sense that it is the rule. It's allegorical evidence, and not even first hand.

directive0 is right, so it's probably pointless to say anything else, but at least I felt I should point out the errors in your logic.

[Grant @ May 12th 2007 4:13PM]

thats pretty sweet, it's cool to see a celeb take an ACTUAL interest in what people are saying rather than whats in cheesy hollywood magazines and what their PR person says.

As for the mac and PC debate, i love how directive0 put it: "Its just sad to see the same ignorance shown in religious disagreements spill over into computers."

Things can be different yet equal. Both platforms have their benefits and downfalls. At the end of the day, I use both religiously and am very happy using both platforms for their strengths and what i need them for.
Now as for linux users.... i keed, i keed.

[Nick @ May 14th 2007 3:12PM]

did you run paralells to check the site in IE? Interesting that you'd use a mac for a web design class, when the latest version of IE for Mac is ancient and really wouldn't do anyone any good.

I will have to agree that my original experience with Mac (G3 iMac running os 9) for a High School graphic design class made me want to beat myself to death with the one button mouse. Couldnt run Photoshop and Indesign at the same time cuz it didnt have enough system memory. When doing work on it i would grab an element and move it and the processor would be delay the action on the screen by 5 seconds or so. The experience caused me to write off Mac until I had to try yet again in school using G5 towers running OSX to do multimedia/video production work. I realized my initial experience with Mac was a bad one.. and that my High School bought bottom of the line with probably no upgrades and probably pleaded with Mac to downgrade the units to save some money.

[Josh McGrath @ May 12th 2007 4:38PM]

anybody else think it's hilarious that a story about Bruce Willis showing some guy up turned into another fanboy fight about OS'S?

[John Doe @ May 12th 2007 5:01PM]

Not hilarious; sad. As in seeing a retard and feeling sad for them. In this case the retards are in both camps. Windows users and Mac users. Get a life people. Granted its usually the Mac asshats who start it now a days. I never see a Windows user on a thread going...Yah its sweet they are using Windows. those Macs suck. Nope its always the holier then thou Mac user who has to turn into an ass. That being said Windows users COULD try and ignore them....whatever.

[JSK @ May 12th 2007 8:30PM]

Actually you guys should quit bashing the everyone who called him out for "buying a mac" because it was easy, etc.

He readily admitted in the Talk Backs that he just didnt know how to use a PC and that was why he bought a Mac.

[Josh McGrath @ May 13th 2007 12:14AM]

what?

[julian miller @ May 12th 2007 8:48PM]

a few years ago bruce called for tech support on one of our photo products. we always like to hear from people and to hear from someone who is an actor we enjoy and who likes our products was flattering.
there are a surprising number of famous people who have macs and buy shareware software.
http://www.scriptsoftware.com
julian

[Bee Hatch @ May 12th 2007 9:33PM]

Bruce wins for this. Very cool indeed.

[denialG @ May 14th 2007 9:50PM]

"allegorical"

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

[brandon @ May 12th 2007 10:26PM]

Hate to cast doubt in the general direction of this story, but that guy looks more like puchi-bruce than the real bruce willis.

http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/akihiro-suzuki-is-puchi-bruce-japans-best-bruce-willis-impersonator/

[EUboy @ May 12th 2007 10:47PM]

FAKE

[kombizz @ May 12th 2007 11:15PM]

How can I get hold of that video?

[Valebant @ May 12th 2007 11:52PM]

I'm an AICN TalkBacker and I got a chance to do the iChat AV thing with Bruce for 5-10 minutes. I used my wife's Macbook (that I swore I would never buy her) and now I will never say a thing against Macs again. It was surreal talking to him, but my brother's comment was: "So, you mean he was just a normal person?" Point taken. We talked about LFoDH, stunt men, the NFL draft, wonders of the Internet and the awesomeness of Bruce Willis. I couldn't restrain myself and ended my part of the conversation: "Yippee kiyay, Bruce" and Bruce responded appropriately.
By the way, that's not me in that picture up there. Bruce talked to 2-4 people on iChat AV I think, gauging from the TalkBack at the time. He asked me whether it was possible to retract his mac.com address from the TalkBack... Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

[Valebant @ May 13th 2007 12:11AM]

I guess I can also add that it was the first time I've ever used a Mac (outside of the Apple IIe in grade school) and the first time using iChat AV (obviously). It was actually pretty intuitive though Mr. Willis helped me through it a little via AIM/iChat.

[Walter B. @ May 13th 2007 3:57AM]

Confirmed.
http://www.vanishingtattoo.com/celeb-willis.htm

[ps @ May 13th 2007 8:56PM]

then i guess mac users's are super hardcore by your pathetic standards, as the included mighty mouse has four buttons available to customize (including left side and right side clicks), along with a scroll ball. get informed. you mac-haters really need to update your cache of knee-jerk comments - most of them are out of date and don't apply anymore.

[Revrant2394 @ May 13th 2007 9:01PM]

Learn to type, Mighty Mouse is it? SQUEEZING the side of the mouse is fun, and a hard covering over the entire top for double clicking, stylish, but obtuse and hard as hell to click with, consistently terrible logic from Apple.

How's that for a Cache refresh? Enjoy.

[Jason @ May 13th 2007 11:03AM]

Hardcore. Softcore. No core. Whatever you like, that's your business. It doesn't discount anyone else.

iChat with Bruce Willis would be awkward IMHO.

[Valebant @ May 13th 2007 2:45PM]

It was only awkward at the end when I realized he wasn't ending the conversation. I actually was going to close out when he said, "Hey... let me ask you something..." That was sort of awkward. Ended up talking for another couple minutes.

[Jason @ May 14th 2007 11:30AM]

Macs work with any mouse I've tried - right-click menu and all. And mice cost how much to add on to a system? Why is something like that even relevant? I agree that the Mighty Mouse is a piece of junk. I never liked the feel of it, either.

Your comment about "terrible logic" being consistent with Apple is short-sighted and ignorant. The Mighty Mouse sucks, but they have a lot of nice hardware and software and I've found a lot of intuitiveness in using their products that made me wonder why others are still doing it the "hard way."

Why not accept that Macs work well for some people and PCs work well for others? A simple rule would be: if you hate the machine so much, don't use it. Otherwise, your negative comments only make you look ignorant and belligerent.