Slashdot Mirror
Justin Long No Longer A Mac
david.emery writes "Wired is reporting that Apple will be replacing Justin Long as its 'Mac' in their 'I'm a Mac/I'm a PC' ad campaign. John Hodgman, the personification of the PC, is reportedly shooting new commercials." From the article: "Even people who hate the campaign find their core idea compelling enough to endlessly satirize the series on YouTube. The one enduring criticism of the ads is that John Hodgman's PC is funnier and more likable than Justin Long's sleazy hipster doofus Mac. (just what was he saying to that hot new camera from Japan?) Hodgman is a riot (just read "The Areas of My Expertise" if you don't believe me), but I'm not sure how the new series of ads goes on from here. Is there a new Mac? Does Hodgman become the Mac?"
From TFA: O RLY, a huge movie star? Why, he was billed 17th in "Dodgeball"! And who could forget his star turn in "Jeepers Creepers II"! Why, I bet he's even bigger than Bronson Pinchot, and that dude's enormous!
Apparently the author hasn't seen "Accepted." Hilarious movie. I'll forgive him, though, because he used O RLY in a news article.
people like me found the PC dude much more amusing and likeable than the scruffy, elitist asshole Mac guy?
Hack your mind out of its sandbox.
Since they were both chosen as "types" of a machine ... what does this decision have to say about PC's versus a mac?
There's something in the news/TV/content business called an "evergreen"... something that's just as newsworthy tomorrow as it was yesterday and is today. We've finally hit the slownewsday(tm pending) that brings those things out of the woodwork.
"Is it true that you squeeze photographs out your ass?"
Not the Americans dubbed in Japanese - these are Japanese actors doing the same shtick. Hi-larious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpYgNz6W6Gs
It was produced by G4.
It would only be fitting. If imitation IS the most sincere form of flattery, then PCs should be awfully flattered. Waaaay back in the day, Macs had a selling point of being able to read PC diskettes. Then they started boasting that they could run PC programs. After that, you were able to buy an add-in card with a Pentium CPU, on which to run your Windows apps. Now, they run on Intel hardware, and you can boot into Windows.
As much as I respect Macs for what they are and do, for all of their "We're different" attitude, they just can't seem to stop with the "Me, too!" actions.
Ah, well. Here goes nothing, Maccers, start modding me down....
Oh, you're not stuck, you're just unable to let go of the onion rings.
The commercial needs some intimidating stars, to reflect the intimidating arguments Mac and PC users perenially fling at each other. I say we get Alan Rickman to be the Mac, and Christopher Walken to be the PC. Then users can choose the lesser of two evils...
Professional Dilettante
Justin Long has only been using Macs for a few years, from what I hear, just since they became trendy. But John Hodgman is the real deal—a Mac user since '84, and a talented writer in Brooklyn, too. I've seen him around the neighborhood, and all the girls go wild for him in real life. No kidding.
And now, a PSA from David Lynch.
It not funny though, the poor kid has just become an unsigned long. Hopefully another actor can give him a few pointers which he can store for future reference.
There's a faster kind?
I am not a crackpot.
That looks like "The Rahmens", a very well known comedy duo in Japan. Here is a sample of their best work illustrating how to eat sushi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIb6ZSqal64&feature =PlayList&p=51CAE8F9A6BB401A&index=7
Mac: Whatcha got there?
PC: Games.
Mac: Can I play?
PC: No.
Mac: Aww! No fair.
PC: All right. you can play them in 2 years, if you're lucky.
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
So jeans + sweatshirt = hippie? It's clearly not we jeans-wearing people that have a problem with elitism...
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
I always thought it would be great if a penguin waddled into those commercials and bitch-slap both of them.
Don't Tread on Me
I agree about mac guy. I kinda like him, I think he's right for the part, and not particularly smug or a jerk about his superiority. But the pc guy is right for the part too, and he is funnier ... but only likeable in a "feel sorry for him because he's such a pathetic loser" sort of way.
...It's more likely because his agent figured he was "hot stuff" which Apple couldn't live without and so he demanded too much money. Then Apple proceeded to say, 'Alright then. Goodbye', where then Long's agent had a massive 'oh crap' moment and heart attack.
"Everything worth innovating today will go to court tomorrow."
If jeans and a shirt make a guy a hippie, I must become an Army Ranger when I wear my camouflage boxer shorts.
Hooah!?
Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
In actuality, Hodgman is a Mac user.
PowerLevel.com - A next generation marketplace for virtual items and services
No, he wasn't imagining it, he was just misremembering it.
The Mac says he does "music, movies, podcasts - stuff like that". The PC says he does "timesheets and spreadsheets and pie charts". He does not says "games." Definitely implies it, though. The whole thrust of the ad is that PCs are built to do business apps and Macs are not. It's fairly ludicrous.
I don't know anyone who actually likes those dumb ads, in fact it usually makes them hate Macs even more.
The usual responses I hear:
"PCs are no fun? Don't Macs get like, no games? What a bunch elitist assholes! Who gives a shit about making picture albums!"
"Macs are safer? Of course they are, you don't get to do anything with it because there's none of the software I use!"
"That Mac guy looks arrogant, not sure why. The PC guy looks friendlier though. Hey, in fact he looks a lot like that guy on that Jon Stewart show. Now THAT'S a funny guy."
Now tell me slashdot, am I living in some bizzaro world or are Apple really shooting themselves in the foot?
(Disclaimer: Not a Mac hater myself. Long time Linux user who's seriously thinking of buying one of those nice Core 2 Duo MacBooks real soon...)
hajimemashite -him
hajimemashite -her
yoroshiku onegai shimasu. -him
hajimemashite - How do you do?
yoroshiku onegai shimasu - Nice to meet you.
Later:
arigato - thanks
Can't really hear anything else.
Wow, wrong on nearly everything. "Hajimemashite" does not mean "How do you do?", it means "Nice to meet you." If you wanted to say "How do you do?", the polite form would be "O genki desu ka?"
"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu" does not mean "Nice to meet you" as pointed out in my previous paragraph. "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu" is a fairly standard phrase which roughly translated into English means, "Please treat me kindly." It's a phrase used between two people who are just about to engage in some sort of co-operative situation (maybe starting a new job or a new project at work) or more commonly between customer and a vendor. For example, I just asked my local jeweller to make some size adjustments on my new watch and once we finished discussing what I wanted and when it'd be ready for pickup, we both bowed and said to each other, "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu."
You gotta know what you're talking about before offering a translation, dude. Then again, this is Slashdot so I'm surprised someone didn't say they were actually speaking Swahili or something.
I'm genuinely curious - what makes the Mac guy a "hippie"? You've already dismissed folks who asked about his clothes as being "shallow" basing things on appearances. So what is it? Can't be his physical build, haircut, grooming... that's shallow appearances. Maybe its him doing creative things with his computer of choice? Or is it just because.. ya know... he's the Mac guy?
The message seems to be that you can get more out of your digital camera, your digital video camera etc with a Mac, while there is less hassle with unnecessary concepts like viruses and drivers.
This series of ads is not about preaching the the choir. It's about converting those who don't feel emotionally attached to their computer. Apple tries to convince potential buyers to get a 1000$ Mac rather than a 500$ PC. It's that simple.
And it's working. Apple market share has been rising quickly since the introduction of the Intel line.
(Drivers are needed for a computer to work, but the end user should not need to know about them, like they don't know about memory management implementation details)
Stop the brainwash
Actually, You. Must. Drink. More. Beer. And. Stop. Writing. One. Word. Sentences.
This. Post. Powered. By. Burning. Karma.
So it should really go:
Enter BSD.BSD. Hey guys.
Mac. Hey.
PC. Hey.
There is a pause. PC looks at Mac. Mac looks back at PC. They both pull evil grins, and then pounce.
Cut to fuckwitted, oh-aren't-we-clever message. Unseen, we hear roaring and BSD screaming.
BSD. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Steady guys, there's enough of me for everyone!
Well, at least as an unsigned long, he can't express anything negative.
Actually Mac computers are women and should be played by a sexy actress, here's why:
- they're sexy and have nice round Windows with lots of makeup.
- they bring all kinds of gadgets with them at all times.
- they actually use their 2 hemispheres.
- they can run hot
- they don't play FIFA soccer.
- they're expensive at the store
------
... And with Intel, they're now just PCs in drag?
(Disclaimer: I'm typing this on a ladyboy MacBook Pro. Which for games purposes, is currently running Windows XP. Eww!)
Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
John had a very funny bit on the daily show, where he was explaining the internet (after the "series of tubes" event). He started out with envelopes, representing packets, and said "for example, say I'm a computer..." Jon Stewart interrupted him and said "what kind of computer would you be?" After a bunch of evasive answers ("oh some kind of microcomputer"), with Jon unrelenting, he finally dropped his shoulders, sighed, and said "I'm a PC..." Hilarious.
:)
(I was kind of waiting for a reference to the commercials on the Daily Show, and they delivered
Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
The PC guy's suit probably cost $150 at a "Suits 'R' Us" type of place... OTOH, the Mac guy is probably wearing $500 worth of "vintage street clothes" from an overpriced sales barn like Urban Outfitters. :)
Yes, I think you might be. Or at least, close. The guy is amazingly annoying, condescending, and not particularly representative of anyone I can think of in this role except himself. He fails to represent the spirit of the machine's users, which is pretty much one of independent thinking and an appreciation of fine design for the most part; and he fails to represent the machine itself in the sense that there is no clue from these commercials that the Mac is truly much easier to use at the top level, yet far more sophisticated, flexible, extensible and secure underneath. PC users can come out of the woodwork and scream about that characterization, and they probably will, but the fact is, it is bang-on true. Windows is so far behind any version of *nix that I can't see it ever catching up in terms of flexibility, no matter how many times they patch it and give it a new name. Now, if you want to argue that Long is prettier than Hodgman, I can't really go there, and I'll have to leave that in your lap, as it were. Guys don't send me "pretty" signals. But Macs do. :)
Maybe Aishwara Rai? Now that is one exotic, beautiful, sexy, and smart human being.
Truly, Apple needs better advertising people. Mac ads are just terrible. I wasn't even remotely sold until I got a Mac in my hands, because the ads transfer no information whatsoever. Just fluff. Which I have no use for. And the Mac is not fluff. Not by any means. Yet that's how they try and sell it. And with Long... they don't even do that very well. :(
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.