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Interview With "Switcher Girl" Ellen Feiss
Ed over in Accounting writes in with a Macinstein interview with Ellen Feiss, an Internet cult figure of a bygone era. Back in 2002, in the heyday of Apple's "Switcher" ads, the 14-year-old Feiss garnered a bit more than 15 minutes of fame. Her Switcher ad became an instant classic — partly because of the widespread belief that she was stoned while filming it, which she says was not the case. In the interview Feiss, who is now a college student with one movie behind her, talks about pseudo Internet fame, drugs, and acting. She says she's still using the same G4 she had when the ad ran. Nostalgia bonus: the ad is embedded at the end of the interview.
She actually says "Psych!", as if she is still 14. She may have well as ended a hilariously fallacious statement with "...NOT!".
To me it looks more like she's lost her contact lenses than is stoned.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
I wasn't stoned when I saw the ad either!
boy those pupils look big in the pic from bed and breakfast. did they do that on purpose? she can never live it down!
Ed over in Accounting writes in with a Macinstein interview with Ellen Feiss, an Internet cult figure of a bygone era.
Well, you know what they say. You should let bygones be bygones.
Push Button, Receive Bacon
Another interview, with audio, is linked in the responses to the story.
Eve Fairbanks says I drive a hybrid!LOL
She said no comment to the relationship question and then she also says she like the show 'L word'..... hmmm you make your mind up.
It's been 5 years or so. And still most of the Apple ads represent one or at most two objects (frequently human actors it seems), which are speaking about how much PC-s suck, and occasionally, ONLY occasionally, also mentioning how Mac software never has problems (lie) or how on Mac you can process photos and videos, and on the PC you can't (lie).
And you suddenly know why most people just don't buy Macs. Mac marketing makes impression of being really really desparate.
Maybe they should try some of their iPod concepts for advertising the Mac? This could work better. Show people having fun with a Mac, show Mac being used.
Stop with the "PC sucks" nonsense.
Interesting to hear she's still using the same G4. I'm using the same PowerBook G4 I bought in 2003, because it still is a surprisingly competent notebook after 3.5 years, even for my daily graphics work. I hear all these Windows people complaining about how a PC only lasts a couple of years before you have to buy a new one; I hear that and think, well, that just about negates the "PCs are cheaper" argument...
...What do you think it was about your ads that made you a stand out?
Ellen: I don't know? Because people thought I was stoned, because there aren't that many young girls in computer commercials.
Ellen seems to have figured out where fanboys come from.
- - - -
You can't be ahead of the curve if you're stuck in a loop.
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
I'd hit it.
Hell is other people - Jean-Paul Sartre
Seriously.
I saw her Switch ad when it came out. I didn't get the cult fascination then, and I don't get it now either. So fine, whatever. Fast forward 5 years later and I'm wondering what the hell any of us are doing reading an interview with her.
I read part of the interview and have concluded that it's just as interesting as most blogs by strangers I'll never meet. Funny thing is, most people are immediately appreciative of how much most blogs suck, yet an interview with Ellen Feiss is somehow above that.
Please, someone tell me, what the hell am I missing here? Really. I don't get it.
2002 is not a bygone era damn it. We haven't even decided what to call this decade yet.
as quoted by a MacFan magazine...
Macenstein: What do you think of the newly announced Apple iPhone?
Ellen: Sounds expensive.
Macenstein: Ok, we've taken up far too much of your time already.
- - - -
You can't be ahead of the curve if you're stuck in a loop.
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
I was reading the story, and thought I was going to see something interesting, and it was like "beep beep beep". It's kinda... a bummer.
Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
The internet highlights a rather interesting aspect of human nature - the need to idolise other people.
The rise to fame of actors and actresses is a bit more straightforward, since their performances are laid bare for all to rewind and review. We needed to see something about a person before we decided that they were worth the worship.
Now, as we move forward, it seems the time and effort required for someone to bask in the aura of fame is drastically reducing. What we find more often in public forums are people, represented by no more than the text of their name or a default avatar, enjoying heroic receptions.
I guess anonymity of others allows us to identify one or two things we like, and then our imagination fills in the rest.
I think this will negatively effect self esteem in the long run.
Have a song about this young lady ? Something about her "making their hearts come all undone" ? Or have I got the wrong song ? Or maybe - heavens - the wrong girl ?
How many beans make five, anyhow ?
It's true I tell you, feller at work's next door neighbour read it in the paper.
The beeb uses it.
But, first time I read it I thought the evil microsoft fanboys stoned
her 'coz she switched. And it was polite of her to say 'it wasn't the case'.
The best planning can be done after the project completes.
Still working. My father still does his Word/Excel stuff on it.
And it still has its original CMOS battery.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Yeah, I agree, PCs should really stop sucking. However, I wonder why you're telling that to us. Most of us aren't working on Windows.
She is dating a female. So any takers would have to be lez.
What about her comments were bitchy? If a woman who speaks frankly about gender offends you, then you have some serious problems. Although I guess that's a foregone conclusion - anyone who uses "femmenazi" is pretty screwed up.
Seems to me fanboys are bang outta luck. The fanGIRLS though....
I cant view the movie, or any other movie (tried three compleatly diffrent types of movies)
you're readin something out of that article that's totally not there. maybe you've just got personal issues. besides, she sounds pretty down to earth in this podcast interview.
She seems like a big pain in the ass.
She has no sense of humor about the whole episode, no sense of proportion, and she seems desperate to distance herself from a bad student film that no one heard of, no one will see. And she keeps telling us how bad it is, while at the same time bringing up the film.
But what do you expect from a 14 year old girl... Oh wait.... she's 19 now.
Good luck to her. And to anyone who has to deal with her on a daily basis.
All the machine I still use at various place are still based on Pentium II mother boards. Some of them dating back from 1998. ...and they still do the job I need them done... ...mostly because I run Linux on them and configure the interface according to the computer performance.
Sure, I upgraded processor a couple of time (Slot1 interface and Slotckets are a wonder ! I just long until similar board with AM2 & DDR2 sockets on them and HTX interface to the main board appear...) maxed out the memory, but it still mostly the same old computers with derelict 3DFX Voodoo AGP video cards...
Interestingly, the reason I start considering upgrading the hardware is Windows : I use it to double-boot for playing games, and even adventure games start to require performance that my hardware can't provide.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
here.
The 3-series outsold the Ford Mondeo range last year. (And the year before that, if memory serves).
The 1-series is an offering set against the Focus, too. Although it might not be available in the USA.
Peter
This is /.
I saw the ad. It went beepbeepbeepbeepbeep and then I was like, huh?
It was a bit of. . . a bummer.
Then I had to watch it again. It was a really weird commercial.
The Christian Right is Neither (Christian nor right). See: Matthew 23, Matthew 25, Ezekiel 16:48-50
This is not offtopic. This is exactly the kind of shit that needs to be drilled into fanboy heads. Stop talking shit about PCs when you really mean to talk shit about Windows. Now that I think about it, just stop talking shit period. Does making Windows look bad somehow make your system run better? Or is it to justify the extra $1000 spent on some shiny plastic and a draconian OS that was built on top of one you could have gotten for free and done more with?
She was in college for an entire month, and no one recognized her from the ad until someone looked up her name for an unrelated reason? Just where was this college anyway?
In case anyone is wondering, the high school she went to is Cambridge School of Weston in Weston, MA. A friend of mine went there for two years and remembers her.
That'd be kinda ironic given in their ads they specifically stress on the fact MS Office is available on Mac and It Is Good.
They're not lying, either; Office for Mac is actually an entirely decent piece of software.
Actually, I'd say without reservations that Office for Mac is significantly nicer to use than Office for Windows, and it's a big step up from Claris/AppleWorks, which Apple has never seen fit to pay any attention to, ever since they brought it back into the corporate fold.
Office for Mac has a more consistent UI and doesn't have some of the annoying nonfeatures that Office XP does (like those ridiculous roll-up menus; can I please find the person who thought they were a good idea, and impale them? Please?), and some features that don't exist on Windows to my knowledge, like the "Notebook Layout" in Word, which automatically records audio and synchronizes it to the typed notes, so later you can click on a line and hear the audio that was spoken at the time you wrote it. It's one of the slickest things I've ever used for automated note-taking and writing minutes, and I don't think it exists anywhere else. (There's still room for improvement; it would be better if it saved the audio and text in separate files inside a container, like Apple's RTFD documents, rather than together in a binary blob.)
Microsoft, ironically, has a history of producing pretty decent Mac software. I'm not sure if it's because the developers there are aware that the Microsoft marque carries a certain stigma among Mac users, and they overcompensate by trying harder to produce good gear (while the Windows devs seem to know that they could stamp the MS logo on a dog turd and sell ten million copies, and produce software to match), or what, but there's no reason to knock Office for Mac. About the only complaint I have of it, is that it probably won't ever support ODF, which is a terrifically good idea. And back in the "lean years" of the Mac platform, Microsoft produced a version of Close Combat for Mac (or paid someone to produce it, more likely) that was respectable.
Sure, they've produced some half-baked crap (MSN Messenger for Mac, Windows Media Player for Mac), but when they want to, their Mac division seems to have some talent. Pity about the rest of the company, though.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
When I saw the headline, the switcher girl that came to my mind was Janie Porche. Much cuter than Ellen!
I mean, come on, we're SLASHDOT, people! Why hasn't anybody found the movie online and posted a link to it yet?
Pay absolutely no attention to the fact that I failed to find it. Yeah. And ignore that man behind the curtain, too.
"Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised."
-Marilyn Manson
A lot of this was covered in an earlier interview with Ellen, and as a bonus, it's audio, so you get to HEAR some new classic Ellen-isms: http://www.theflux.tv/index.php?/Podcast_Player/el len-feiss-interview/
Macenstein: I read that after the Apple ads aired, Apple sort of advised you to not try to capitalize on your celebrity, and sort of fade away. Why do you think that was?
:)
Ellen: A multinational company obviously doesn't want to be associated with weed. Their instructions made me want to capitalize on it though.
Sounds like my teenager.
Wow, well you just fucking saved Christmas, huh!
I think most people are perfectly capable of inferring from context what the actual subject of a conversation is. Here's a hint: If a Windows user tells you that his PC sucks, he's probably talking about things he doesn't like in Windows, not about the ugly color of his minitower.
The rest of your rant isn't very clever, either. If you tell others to "stop talking shit," you might as well try and be the shining light we can all follow instead of ranting and raving about imaginary fanboys who presumably stole your toy when you were a toddler, or something similarly nefarious. Furthermore, the early 90s called. They want their "Macs are expensive and made of shiny plastic" rants back. Have you actually seen a Mac recently?
And you clearly haven't tasted enough.
Clearly, you don't understand women at all.
i ct-Bedroom/dp/1560258489
Here's something to get you started. This book will change your life.
http://www.amazon.com/Sperm-Wars-Infidelity-Confl
No joke. You will understand women much better. You might be able to get laid, even.
"Switcher girl" sounds vaguely bisexual to me.
Seems the best analogy for Apple advertising that I can think of, thats for sure. Only appropriate given the articles content =).
Ice Cream has no bones.
Your mother seemed to think a lot of me... in fact, it's entire possible that I'm your father.
You can call me "dad" if you want to continue this gay banter...
I'd be proud to have her as a daughter. Any of you nerds want to mess with her, you'll deal with me. Seriously, I thought she was intelligent and genuine in the interview. Quite perceptive about the bizarre kind of celebrity that accrued to her.
n/t
Once they put out their spreadsheet program it is quite likely that the Microsoft Business Unit will be broken up and assigned to Windows products.
I guess this explains why they've never done a spreadsheet...if Microsoft stopped making Office for Mac, it would cripple the Macintosh platform and probably depress sales tremendously. Apple knows it -- hence why the advertise that the Mac will run Office -- and so does everyone else (iWork didn't sell very well, heck, it couldn't even outsell Word Perfect).
Not to be conspiratorial, but if you're right, I'd sooner believe that Apple planned a spreadsheet and pulled it out of iWork, essentially scuttling it in order to save the Mac as a platform, rather than believing that they're going to implement one and take on Office directly.
There are thousands, if not millions, of users who can only get away with using Macs, despite their advantages in other areas, because they run a native version of Microsoft Office and thus can be argued to be "100% compatible." Without a native version of Office, the Mac's marketshare would evaporate -- either with users switching back to Windows in order to get "real Office," or to Linux, because it would then be just as good (or bad), and significantly cheaper.
There is Office, and there is everything else. iWork is not Office, therefore it is, to most people, no better or worse than any number of 'alternative office suites,' some of which are free. I think it's a great program, but unless it supports ODF and ODF catches on in a big way (like, the U.S. government mandates it as the One True Format, not bloody likely) it's competing in a niche that's been dead for years.
I'm hardly a MS fanboy: I have a dual-proc G5 (last of the great PPC Space Heaters) at home, sitting next to a Linux workstation that I bought no-OS. I've never purchased a copy of Windows in my life, and don't plan to. But if Office didn't exist for Mac, I'd probably have to bite the bullet and get one, because it's just not practical to not speak the lingua franca of the electronic-document world, with perfect fluency. I despise the fact that DOC, and not an open standard, has become entrenched, but that's the situation users have to deal with.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my killbot features Lotus Notes and a machine gun. It is the finest available."
Do you have a cite for this? Not saying you're wrong, just that the "rumor" alarm went off.
"People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
OMFG she's legal. I totally forgot about that, thanks for reminding me. fap fap fap fap fap
Fascism trolls keeping me up every night. When I starts a preachin', he HITS ME WITH HIS REICH!
GREAT. This is based on ONE DATA POINT.
Hint: there's a swell job waiting for you in Washington. Running a certain war.
She was 14 in 2002.
all she says in TFA is that she was not high
Geez, is 2002 retro already? That's younger than my Slashdot account!
In 2002...
iPods were hot
Google was cool
Mozilla 1.0 was released
Oh yes, things are *totally* different now.
One of the Google Video copies of this has viewing stats that mysteriously jump dramatically in the past few days. Interesting effect that the interview had.
in the year 2002, the only effective way to sell computers was if your spokesperson appeared high. How so much has changed... (sigh)
The one thing I love about these awful Mac commercials is that they clearly illustrate how stupid Mac users are. "Duuhh I was writin a payper an it vanish!"
Hilarious. Keep clicking that dancing clown, Mac losers.
You're a chick!
Can you post a picture? If you're not that good looking, I don't want to talk to you any more.
Nice personality..... hahahahahaha.
This will be very unpopular with the pop culture on /. that seems to idolize her... but
First of all, she's a very gawky looking 14 year old kids. No big deal.
And I "get" why people think she's sorta stoned.
But listening to this mp3 that you linked to... how can I put this.... she wasn't stoned, she's just dumb. Not retarded dumb, but dumb as in "who could talk to this chick for more than 5 minutes".
Really. Listening to her as I type, not only is she not smart, but she has the personality of a flatworm. No doubt she can reproduce because one of you guys will hit it (and let's face it, if guys were truly picky, the human race would die out in about 60 years). I can't imagine a worse fate than being tied to this slab of wood for a few decades. A man would just kill himself. Seriously.
Imagine that voice just braying at you night after night. OMFG. You'd kill yourself and god would forgive you. You'd say to him "I'm sorry I took my life god, but there was this girl with this voice..." and god would say "I KNOW I KNOW I KNOW".
Here's a website with all the switch ads http://plex.us/videos/switch.html
If it's a taste you truly want to acquire, use hypnosis. I did. On the site WarpMyMind you can find a file named "PussyLover". It makes you absolutely love eating pussy. I went from not liking doing that to craving it all the time. Hell, I enjoy eating pussy more than getting head or even regular sex.
After using the file for a few months, you get to a point where the taste is just amazing. Better than anything else. The smell becomes incredibly arousing. Seeing her react and orgasm creates a feeling better than an orgasm, in addition to actually getting many orgasms from doing that (without touching yourself).
All was good back in the days of "Le Leon" but that "Oh Ani" business just kind of ruined it for me. The thrill is gone Natalie. Ellen is the slashbabe for the 21st century.