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Novell releases Get a Mac spoofs
Apple's Get a Mac ads have inarguably struck a chord with both the advertising and our culture. People clearly either love 'em, hate 'em or wanna spoof 'em, and one only needs to comb our archives or check YouTube to see what we mean. Recently, Novell (yea, the Linux guys) tossed their hand into the mix with their own spoofs which debuted at their BrainShare conference (which you can attend virtually). The first video, linked here at YouTube, plays off the Win/Mac rivalry and pokes fun at how the industry often ignores Linux and its surprising (to some) user base size. The second video, embedded in this post, is arguably funnier, as it does a great job of poking fun at the way Microsoft and Apple market their products while pointing out open source software's advantage of being a community effort. They're both good for a chuckle and a nice effort from Novell, or whoever actually put them together.Thanks, geezer.
Ten more reasons to get a Mac
It may be hard to believe but not everyone who reads TUAW owns a Mac (shocking, I know). Lots of our readers are Windows users making their first tentative steps towards computing nirvana and we here at TUAW want to help. Today's ten reasons to get a Mac come from that bastion of tech journalism, the Register. Some of the points made are very good (fast wake up from sleep, target disk mode) and others are just silly, however, it is both entertaining and informative for someone on the fence.
New UK Get a Mac Ads
Back in January we mentioned Apple's UK Get a Mac campaign featuring local British comedy duo, David Mitchell (PC) and Robert Webb (Mac). Despite a report that the ads might actually be harming Apple's image in the UK, Apple is apparently pressing ahead with a few new ads including: Naughty Step, Court, and Magic. For my own part, I like the ads, probably even more their US counterparts. Besides, the word 'naughty' is funny all by itself! Check out the new ads at Apple UK.Thanks, John!
Found Pic: I'm Linux
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I think that's selling this one short. True, so true...[Via Digg]
New Get a Mac ad: Security
I am not one of those Mac people who immediately hates anything from Microsoft, in fact I actually think Vista is a pretty good OS (I've been using it for awhile now on my MacBook Pro). That being said, the latest Get A Mac ad from Apple is right on the money. It is called 'Security' and it features the familiar PC and Mac, but this time the PC has a security guard. The security guard gives the PC a chance to 'cancel or allow' pretty much everything, much like Vista's User Account Control which can be pretty darned annoying.It is nice to see Apple aggressively taking on Vista, but I would still rather see these commercials highlight features of OS X rather than simply mock Vista (though that has its charms as well).Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Bill Gates on Mac ads: "I don't even get it"
So, we didn't get our wish of a Gates vs. Hodgman showdown on the Daily Show this week -- too bad -- but that doesn't mean Bill has been totally mum on the topic. "I don't think the over 90 percent of the [population] who use Windows PCs think of themselves as dullards, or the kind of klutzes that somebody is trying to say they are," said Gates. "And I don't know why [Apple is] acting like it's superior. I don't even get it. What are they trying to say?" He continued, "Does honesty matter in these things, or if you're really cool, that means you get to be a lying person whenever you feel like it? There's not even the slightest shred of truth to it." Perhaps it's good there wasn't any Gates / Hodgman interaction after all, things could've gotten a bit testy. Gates was also asked straight up if Microsoft would have a new OS in 2010-2011, to which he responded, "Absolutely." Which seems to put to rest some of those will-they-won't-they rumorings. He also had plenty more to say about the future of Windows, calling it "more user-centric" in a portability of data sort of sense (read: Windows Live). Bill also promised even more handwriting recognition and speech improvements, claiming "Students won't need textbooks, they can just use these tablet devices." Gee, we've never heard that line before.
Apple UK: "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC." Smashing, isn't it?
Japanese isn't the only language barrier Apple's decided to cross with its "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC" ads. Those UKians love their "shenanigans and tomfoolery" just as much as the next guy, and Apple has hired the Peep Show's Mitchell and Webb to do the honors as PC and Mac, respectively. The casting is in keeping with Apple's penchant for casting total squares as the Mac, but the pair do a good job of spicing up the commercials with a bit of dry British humor and sexy good looks. Peep some YouTube versions after the break.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Apple posts three new Get a Mac ads
Apple has posted, in glorious QuickTime, three new Get a Mac ads (one of which we covered previously). The three ads are: Surgery - Featured in the Stevenote, this ad finds PC making ready for an upgrade to Vista Sabotage - The image above is from sabotage. The PC gets someone else to stand in for the Mac, extolling the virtues of the PC. Tech Support - The PC gets a webcam for serious business video conferencing All in all these ads are what I have come to expect from the Get a Mac campaign, ads that are kinda funny.
New Get A Mac Ad surfaces online
Apple has released a new, online only (at this moment), Get A Mac ad. This time PC is being upgraded with a webcam and assures the Mac that one day he'll be as high tech as the PC. The tech installing the web cam points out that iMac and MacBooks come with a built in iSight much to the PC's consternation.Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Apple posts new Get a Mac ad
Everyone's favorite Mac and PC duo are back again, this time PC is prepping for 'surgery.' He's being upgraded to Vista and he's a little nervous. Ahh, poking fun at Microsoft is fun, isn't it?
Mac AND PC Win
That is to say, John Hodgman as PC and Justin Long as Mac in Apple's Get a Mac campaign have brought home the bacon. The bacon being the Garfield "Bobby" Award for best male performance in a commercial. As always, Apple's main campaign from TBWA/Chiat/Day is generating lots of buzz, both good and bad. It seems like pretty much no matter what they do, where Apple leads others will follow. As we just mentioned there is a new Christmas ad out. Our congratulations to the Mac pitch men.[Via Digg through Spymac]
John Hodgman's (aka PC) Areas of My Expertise Free on iTS
As many people have observed already, if there's one problem with the Get A Mac campaign, it's that PC (John Hodgman) often comes off as more likable than Mac (Justin Long). Mr. Hodgman is a talented comedian, appearing often on Comedy Central and This American Life. Well now Apple and Audible.com have an early Christmas present for you: an abridged audio version of his recent book Areas of My Expertise is available for free on the iTunes Store (and don't worry, the abridgment is still nearly 7 hours long). It's read by the author in his inimitable deadpan style and offers humorous observations about a whole variety of topics. Erica already mentioned this as part of our weekly iTunes Free Weekly post (and a couple of commenters realized Hodgman is PC), but I thought some of you might have missed it. Thanks Alexis Cordova!
New "Goodwill" Mac Ad
Thank you to everyone who wrote in, to let us know that Apple had uploaded a new "Get a Mac" video to their site. In the "Goodwill" video, the Mac and PC decide to put aside their differences in the spirit of the holiday season. But of course, the best intentions can easily go awry. And yes, in the end they hug. Happy Holidays TUAW readers.
Apple inspiring 'non-PC' PCs
Sony is apparently trying to hitch a ride on Apple's bandwagon, at least in Australia so far, by attempting to remove the 'PC' moniker from their branding. On the VAIO C C Series product page for Sony Australia, Sony is not only using a "non-pc pc" slogan, but also a bizarre Flash movie directly inspired (right down to the costumes) by Apple's Get A Mac campaign, complete with a third VAIO character. The interactivity is strange because it doesn't seem to do anything - the three characters simply turn around and offer, uh, *strange* sound effects - not even catch phrases or complete sentences. The movie itself, however, is a clear sign that Sony is trying to separate its brand from the rest of the industry in the same way Apple does. Think about it: everyone, including Apple, makes PCs (i.e. - Personal Computers), but Apple makes Macs, and now Sony makes VAIOs. If we momentarily disregard the fundamentals at play here - such as Apple having a truly unique software platform, while Sony uses Windows like the rest of the industry they're trying to banish to the uncool kid's corner - this is a serious branding move for a company like Sony to make, even if it seems, at least for now, this is only done in Sony's Australian branch.In a way, I can't blame them for trying this out. After a detrimental year of exploding batteries, selling security-trampling Windows rootkits, embarrassingly low PS3 shipments and even a digicam recall, Sony could use a fresh change of pace. Unfortunately, I don't think they offer enough to have any chance of differentiating themselves and, more importantly, overriding the culturally understood definition of 'PC' to achieve some sort of cool factor. Sure, Sony has some impressive hardware, and they make some of their own unique software packages that do iLife-type stuff. Sadly, you'd be hard-pressed to find a journalist, amateur blogger or even a Mr. Consumer who can use Sony's apps without being overtaken by soul-wrenching pain. At the end of the day, Sony still uses Windows, which means they can't wash away the negative connotations with unimaginative marketing and a wish for things to get better.[via digg]
Translation of Japanese 'Get a Mac' ads
Oliver Reichenstein and Moritz Zimmer at Information Architects Japan have posted a translation of the Japanese Get a Mac ads we posted earlier this month, complete with essential cultural contexts. Included is a breakdown of the meanings behind the actors (and their interesting similarity), what they're wearing and what their body language means. IA finishes off the post with some criticism of the ads, complete with suggestions on what could have been done differently. If you're unfamiliar with Japan and its rich culture, this is an interesting analysis from a two-man design firm that lives right in the middle of it.[via Daring Fireball]
Flickr Find: Get a Mac ad with a twist
I was Zune hunting on Flickr this afternoon and came across this mock-up of a "Get a Mac" style ad with a Zune twist. Actually, I enjoyed the whole "iPod Etc" photoset so you should check it out. Perhaps you'd all like to have some fun by contributing a few lines of copy to this fakery in the comments? You won't win any prizes or anything, but I promise to pull out my favs and round them up over the weekend. I'll start:"I'm an iPod. And I'm a Zune."Your turn...
Get a Mac ads in Japanese
Apple has rolled out Japanese versions of the "Get A Mac" campaign. While you might expect these ads to be nothing more than the plain old English ads with a Japanese language overdub, the commercials are entirely in Japanese and use Japanese actors. Perhaps Justin Long (may he rest in peace) and John Hodgman just weren't otaku enough for the Japanese market.There appear to be three ads available right now, "iLife," "Viruses" and I can't quite determine the third one. You can see the ads on Apple.com/jp. If any of our Japanese-speaking readers would like to compare the dialog in these ads to their English brethren, drop us a tip!I wonder if Apple plans any other localized versions of these ads?Thanks to everyone who sent this in!
Justin Long a Mac no longer?
Radar Online is reporting that Justin Long, the actor who plays the part of the Mac in Apple's Get a Mac campaign, is no longer an Apple spokesman. A new round of ads is being worked on with John Hodgman (the PC) and director Phil Morrison but Justin Long with not appear in them, according to his 'people.'Was this Apple's decision, or Justin's? We may never know, but Justin's representative said, "Justin's a movie star, not a commercial guy."So, dear TUAW readers, who do you think should fill his shoes as the Mac in the new commercials?Thanks, Matt.
Applepeels on those times we're glad we got a Mac
David Sobotta has a new post up about a topic close to my heart - those times when we're all glad we have a Mac.The two key points Sobotta references as shining Mac moments are the ability for Mac OS X to create PDFs out of the box, with no additional software required, and the OS X Migration Assistant which helped him recover from a mistake that had left his G5 unbootable and resistant to all the usual tricks. Catastrophes and problems are not unique to Windows users. We Mac users have our share of problems. One of the things that sets us apart from our Windows brethren is the ability to get ourselves out of a jam somewhat gracefully with most, if not all, of our data and working environment intact. I am reminded of these niceties more and more every day as I spend more and more time supporting Mac users who are now running Windows via Parallels or BootCamp alongside their OS X environment. Somehow I'm supposed to find Windows less painful just because it's running on Apple hardware, but I'm not really finding that to be the case.Just the other day I had an "aha!" Mac moment myself. In one of the cross-platform corporate environments I help support, a Windows user needed to get some images off her camera and onto her PC. I was the only one around so instead of finding someone far more proficient in Windows to help this person I opted to help her myself. How hard could it be? Well after 10 minutes of trying to suppress the Windows dialog boxes telling me that the camera I just plugged in wasn't recognized and needed some unknown driver from an unknown location and the having it say the same thing about the CF card reader I'd plugged in instead, I told the user that I could get her the images she needed much more quickly if I took the card, popped it into the card reader that was already attached to my Mac (no drivers required) and plopped them onto the file server for her to access at her leisure. And about 90 seconds later I'd done exactly that, saving us both what would probably have been 10 or more excruciating minutes of trying to accomplish the same task on her Windows PC.Have you had one of those moments lately when you've been reminded why you chose the Mac? Tell us about it in the comments.
John Hodgman not a PC, just plays one on TV
Initially I found those Get a Mac commercials charming, but after a while I started to wonder why Apple chose to make the intellectual and funny guy represent the PC and the annoying dork represent the Mac. What twisted logic was used there? Anyway, I'm a fan of John Hodgman's work on The Daily Show, while I find Justin Long's snide arrogance to be perfect for sitcoms like Ed and movies like Dodgeball, but counter-productive for a pro-Mac marketing campaign. So it's with great pleasure that I read Engadget's interview with Hodgman and learned (as I had suspected but never truly cared enough to find out) that he's a Mac user in real life and has been for 20+ years, excepting "...a brief period in the wilderness between 1997 and 2003," which he'd rather not speak of. You can see more of the interview over at Engadget... don't worry, it's a short read.
