…and this is a 
This is going too far. As you probably know, Apple has run a long series of ads where they personify computers: the Mac is the young, cool, hip dude, while the PC is the stodgy old loser. It has been a very successful campaign, and various other companies have tried to copy it or defuse it. But sometimes they are too slavishly following the concept and lose any credibility or any awards for creativity. Latest case: OpenBSD proposes a series of ads with their own personified operating systems. It's never going to happen — they can't afford the talent they want to use — and it's also too overwrought. It's got Vin Diesel as OpenBSD, and Yoko Ono as a Mac (yes, I am offended!), and no mention of Linux (Greg is offended!) but I still approve, because it's got the only acceptable use of Ben Stein in a commercial, playing the role of a PC.
Ben Stein is shown knee deep in sludge at the bottom of a porta-potty tank. Stein waves up at the camera and calls cheerfully, "Hey there, OpenBSD!"
Vin Diesel wrinkles his nose and replies, "Uh, what are you doing down there, PC?"
In response, Stein cups his hands and scoops up a hearty mass of brown goop. Holding it close to his face, Stein says, "I'm trying out Vista!" He then buries his face in sewage, pulls out gasping and choking, and proceeds to vomit down the front of his shirt.
Diesel looks aghast and says, "That... doesn't look very healthy, PC. I've heard some pretty bad things about Vista."
A visibly shaken Ben Stein gathers himself and retorts sarcastically, "Yeah, Vista is bad, evolution is real, and I just traded the last unicorn for a bag of magic beans. Wake up, OpenBSD! There's a whole wide world out here!" Stein stretches his arms wide in the dank confines of the porta-potty's waste tank.
OpenBSD is a good OS, but I'm not excited by it…but man, I want to see this commercial made, just to get Stein frolicking in sewage. It's never going to happen, alas.
Comments
Posted by: Glen Davidson
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June 15, 2009 11:34 AM
You see, it's a conspiracy to make stupid old creationists like Ben Stein appear bad.
It'll be the subject of Mathis's next movie.
Glen D
http://tinyurl.com/6mb592
Posted by: Rrr | June 15, 2009 11:36 AM
I'm all for this conspiracy.
Posted by: Bethor | June 15, 2009 11:39 AM
Wow... that commercial would make even less sense than the ridiculous apple ones.
It's already bad enough that Apple tries to contrast Mac and PC (how is a Mac not a Personal Computer, exactly ?) but at least they can try and keep up the pretense that their overpriced hardware isn't exactly the same as what you'd find in any random wintel box.
Contrasting Linux, OpenBSD and 'PCs', though ? How about admitting instead that Linux, OpenBSD and Windows, since that's what they are actually referring to, all have their uses for different tasks and different users ?
That being said, I would pay good money to see Ben Stein wallowing in sewage. I'd say that would just stand on its own without the rest of the commercial around it :D
Posted by: Darren | June 15, 2009 11:41 AM
BBSpot is a humor site. They're so good, people regularly take their spoofs and write serious news about them. Sometimes they even wind up in newspapers. You got caught.
Chances are you don't really want to be posting that OpenBSD is behind this.
Posted by: Chris Davis | June 15, 2009 11:42 AM
You know, I think he already is, don't you?
Posted by: Matt H.
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June 15, 2009 11:42 AM
@Glen #1
Mathis and Stein have to make their movies about gravity and germ theory first.
Posted by: Bjørn Østman | June 15, 2009 11:42 AM
As much as I'd like to see BS in a Johnny-on-the-spot, I am triply offended by the suggestions 1) that Vin Diesel is cool, 2) that Ono is the Mac, and 3) that the PC is such a stinky app, which I think is just not true. I use both Mac and PC, and I see problems with both. Just different ones. For example, my PC never lags when opening a new tab in Firefox, but it happens daily in Safari.
Posted by: m5000 | June 15, 2009 11:44 AM
"Mac and PC (how is a Mac not a Personal Computer, exactly ?)"
By way of the 20+ year precedent of referring to IBM compatible computers as "PCs"
Posted by: SidBB
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June 15, 2009 11:44 AM
Umm ... BBspot is a satire site. A bit like The Onion. Just in case you didn't already know. It's clear enough from the article itself.
Posted by: Matt Penfold | June 15, 2009 11:44 AM
If I was being uncharitable, and I am, I would say it was what Mathis's last movie achieved, even if that was not the aim.
Posted by: Darren | June 15, 2009 11:45 AM
BBSpot is a humor site. They're so good, people regularly take their spoofs and write serious news about them. Sometimes they even wind up in newspapers. You got caught.
Chances are you don't really want to be posting that OpenBSD is behind this.
Posted by: lordshipmayhem
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June 15, 2009 11:49 AM
If you look on Youtube, you'll find about three very funny "I'm a Mac, I'm a PC, ... and I'm Linux" ads that Novell made. Linux is portrayed as a foxy young lady.
"And people just GIVE you things?" says an aghast PC.
"Pretty much, yes," says Linux, as she dons a leather jacket and designer sunglasses.
Posted by: llewelly | June 15, 2009 11:51 AM
Because Apple still owns it.Posted by: Bernard Bumner
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June 15, 2009 11:52 AM
There is far too much OS wankery out there; good of them to point it out.
I'd love a nice open-acess, sleek operating system, but I also like to be able to point and click at a shiny, integrated GUI, and have nicely comprehensible help files and system information. Mainly, I want to be able to play games without having to piss around with a dual-boot system.
Is Windows shitty? It certainly can be. But no more shitty than trying to go balls deep in Linux when you can barely remember having to use DOS. Every OS has the stink of anus about it, somewhere, somehow.
The sooner they can pump the Interweb into my brain, and let me control my virtual assault rifles with a wave of my hand, the better.
Posted by: Billy C | June 15, 2009 11:58 AM
I'm confused. Does this imply that Vin Diesel is cool again, or just that he's sufficiently uncool to plausibly play cool in a television commercial?
Posted by: Miguel | June 15, 2009 11:59 AM
You do realize that BBspot is a satire site, right?
(So its okay to laugh about the Ben Stein bit, but not to criticize OpenBSD for it :)
Posted by: jj | June 15, 2009 12:12 PM
Yeah, and Macs would now be considered "IBM" compatible (actually that should read IBM clone) as they use Intel chipsets. And any unit running BSD would be a PC. Although today the term "IBM compatible/clone" is fairly dumb, as IBM doesn't really exists in the home (or personal!) computer market.. They are called Lenovo now. Lets start one of those which is better Mac Vs. PC FlamewarsPosted by: Eduardo Padoan | June 15, 2009 12:13 PM
Novel made a "I'm Linux" commercial some time ago. The Linux person was a woman. A great choice I think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDc9I3z7ab4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LAXg_UmzTY
Posted by: sophia | June 15, 2009 12:19 PM
lol, that's pretty funny. one of these companies needs to leverage the os-chans and make a national ad campaign with cute chibi anime characters.
Posted by: pough | June 15, 2009 12:22 PM
Thank you for finally expressing my feelings in the best way possible.
Posted by: Blake Stacey | June 15, 2009 12:23 PM
Oh, fuck. An OS flamewar.
James Madison, Federalist No. 10.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 15, 2009 12:26 PM
Of all the flame wars, OS flame wars are the lamest.
Even Pokemon vs Dragon Ball Z flame wars contain less lameness.
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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June 15, 2009 12:28 PM
Yeah, how silly of Apple to use the term "PC" in its ads exactly how everyone else in the technology market does.
Posted by: rrt | June 15, 2009 12:36 PM
Never get made? I bet somebody like Robot Chicken could take a pretty good whack at it. Probably couldn't air it though...
Posted by: Eduardo Padoan | June 15, 2009 12:38 PM
What about the Great Editors Holy Wars? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor_warPosted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 15, 2009 12:42 PM
There's no war there because everyone knows that vi is the correct choice in editors.
But no, OS flame wars still win in lameatude.
Posted by: Naked Bunny with a Whip
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June 15, 2009 12:44 PM
Not really. The real hallmark of an IBM clone is the use of BIOS. Reverse engineering that BIOS is what started the whole clone market. Macs use EFI, which isn't so hideously primitive. (That's also why you can't install Mac OS X on random PC hardware without convoluted hacks.)
Posted by: jj | June 15, 2009 12:45 PM
Screw it, I still run DOS. And windows 3.1. Seriously.
Posted by: oldtree | June 15, 2009 12:52 PM
Alas, some "PC" users, and that stands for what Ben Stein will be standing in, haven't used an Apple, they don't know what they are talking about and ignorance must be bliss.
Do you think it is okay that the Windows folks have never been able to fix their computer for virus, and there has never been one for an Apple? Might open your eyes, and let the sewage out once in a while. Anal retention for windows is hazardous to your health.
Study science, embrace it. It will help you relieve yourself.
Posted by: Blake Stacey
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June 15, 2009 12:56 PM
Completely unrelated to OS flamewars, but much more entertaining: the Rare Ion Rap from AlpineKat.
And with that, I have to go and be academic. Ciao.
Posted by: Eduardo Padoan | June 15, 2009 12:58 PM
If each Windows version get to be played by a well-know creationist figure, who should play as Windows Me? The Bananaman?
Posted by: Ben | June 15, 2009 1:02 PM
Since PZ hasn't corrected it yet, I'll echo some other posters in pointing out the source of this article is BBSpot, an online satire magazine like The Onion. OpenBSD is not actually planning this ad campaign.
Posted by: jj | June 15, 2009 1:08 PM
OK, I'll go with that, I guess. Main point I is that there's really no difference anymore. Especially w/ Macs running XP these days. And as mentioned above, OSX will run on a PC (hackintosh). But I wouldn't call BIOS primitive at all, without it it'd be pretty hard to be able to use the huge amount of hardware that is compatible with the machines.
Don't fool yourself, there can be virus' for Mac, just not a lot out there at this time. Wait until Macs have a higher % of the market share, especially in corporate settigns, and there will be virus'. They don't exist 'cause those writing virus' don't see a reason to write software for a computer that has a small proportion of the market.
Alright that's enough for today. I have no hate for Win, OSX, BSD, Linux, DOS, OS/2, Android, Solaris... I use em all.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 15, 2009 1:12 PM
There are Mac viruses now.
Posted by: Feynmaniac | June 15, 2009 1:18 PM
The OS flamewars:
"In any dispute the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the stakes at issue."
Posted by: MikeM | June 15, 2009 1:19 PM
Vista is so completely useless that I wonder how it even got made. At least Port-A-Potties perform a useful function.
I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with my sister-in-law's Toshiba Vista-based laptop right now. I can load in a simple web-page, like Google News, and the first page and a half are fine... And then, when you scroll forward, it can take 10 minutes to get to the bottom of the page.
I wish I was exaggerating. I swear, I'm not.
I like XP just fine, though. We need a new PC at home, and I won't buy one right now. Waiting for Oct 22, when 7 gets released. I just wish I understood why Microsoft decided to phase out XP. Actually, I thought Windows 2000 was pretty darned good, too. But Vista? Imagine Honda making the Civic, the CR-V, the Accord, and deciding to introduce the Vega or Pinto. That's Vista.
XP is to Vista as the Accord is to the Pinto.
Posted by: Bernard Bumner
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June 15, 2009 1:19 PM
Also, Mac OS has become a bloated parody of earlier self: OS X is the Fat Elvis of operating systems. Used to be pretty and with all of the right moves, now it waddles around in a spangly jumpsuit looking for deep-fried peanut-butter and banana hardware to devour.
Posted by: MikeM | June 15, 2009 1:25 PM
#37: Agree.
I'm not sure why Apple has decided OS X needs to be so cute. It's the Sanda Bullock of operating systems; looks great at first, but it doesn't take 3 hours before you can't stand to be in the same room with it.
I'm done with analogies for today.
OT: Go so "Up", everyone. Make sure you pay the extra $3 for 3D.
Posted by: jj | June 15, 2009 1:28 PM
They actually haven't. Vista has been so poorly received especially in the corporate market, that you can still get XP. In fact, most PC's I find from retailers like CDW come with XP pre-installed. When you buy Vista, it actually comes with an XP downgrade license. So when I buy a new PC here at work, I'm buying Vista, but it comes with the XP downgrade installed. If you have Vista, you can call MS and they'll give you an XP CD key, and for a fee you can have them ship you a media kit (CD) if you don't have one (OEM!). Granted, this is not a fun process and takes a good deal of time just to get to the right person to be able to get you downgrade key. What this means for MS, is it inflates the number of people buying Vista, so it looks like it is doing better on paper than it really is.But I'm staying clear of Vista, win7 is much lighter.
Posted by: lordshipmayhem
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June 15, 2009 1:31 PM
#36 mikem:
I got myself a dual core real cheap: a friend of mine works for a large nationwide company that had acquired a large quantity of Compaqs as giveaways for a national ad campaign, and had a few left over at the end. For about $120 plus S&H, I got a brand-new Compaq with Vista Home Basic.
Ninety minutes later, I had a brand-new Compaq running the Linux distribution Mandriva 2009, complete with full updates. It recognized everything right out of the box, literally.
It still counts to the Redmond bean counters as a Windows Vista computer, but the total time actually running Vista was precisely zero.
Posted by: littlejohn | June 15, 2009 1:31 PM
Vin Diesel as the good guy?? Jumping jebus, have you ever seen him "act"? And if you were coming up with a cool stage name for yourself, don't you think you could come up with something a little more subtle than Vin Diesel? How about "Mack Truck"? Sounds like Sarah Palin's next spawn.
As for PC's vs. Macs, please consider for a second that many of us simply can't afford a Mac. PC's may be virus-prone, but they're practically giving them away. I don't own a Mac for the same reason I don't drive a Mercedes.
Besides, my PC work perfffekkkkly goooood Error! Error! Buy super Viagra. Yur tool big wood to make laady much happy time Earn millions of USD at hooome. Error #347. aoul;j opuael; pouafj ouoajd?
Posted by: JD | June 15, 2009 1:34 PM
Real scientists don't use Macs. Over-priced, under-powered Macs are for artsy-fartsy types and some science profs at liberal arts schools that don't do any research or publish.
Applications designed for scientific work that run on PCs probably out-number those written for Macs by 30-to-1 or more.
Posted by: Lurky | June 15, 2009 1:35 PM
I'm dualbooting Windows 7 RC and Ubuntu, for the best of both worlds. And with WINE getting better at running windows programs, someday I might even drop windows altogether. Until then, I'm pretty happy with how things are running now, more so because both the OS's are 100% free! Don't have much experience with Macs and don't think they have much to offer me what I already don't have. One thing I just can't stand about Mac is the image. Fashionable and trendy and hip people using Macs because it's "cool" can jump in the lake for all I care.
(Just to feed the flamewar a bit)
Posted by: BlackPat | June 15, 2009 1:42 PM
"Apple has run a long series of ads where they personify computers: the Mac is the young, cool, hip dude, while the PC is the stodgy old loser."
They are memorable advertisements, but the PC is the more Likeable character.
Posted by: Raven | June 15, 2009 2:06 PM
This was always my thought. The Mac is represented by a 20-something douchebag, while the PC is represented by the brilliant John Hodgman.
I've long used PCs at home, but I used Macs a good amount in school. For most anything other than gaming, they've increasingly become different flavors of the exact same thing. I like PCs better than Macs, but I also like green tea better than oolong tea.
And if we're going to personify computers and operating systems, I much prefer the Japanese approach anyway:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS-tan
Posted by: James F | June 15, 2009 2:18 PM
Comcast is actually using Shaquille O'Neal and Ben Stein in its latest ad campaign.
Posted by: Celtic_Evolution | June 15, 2009 2:19 PM
Oh fun... an OS wank-off...
*yawn*. Boring. Thanks but no thanks... I get enough of these pissing contests between pretentious fucking MAC users, ignorant Windows users, and just plain weird Linux users on a day to day basis to engage in an OS flame off with this crowd.
Posted by: Moggie
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June 15, 2009 2:22 PM
I'm sorry, I know humour is subjective, but that OpenBSD ad strikes me as pretty lousy writing. And I say that as someone who likes the BSDs.
#22:
No, meta-flame wars are way lamer.
Posted by: Bill Dauphin, OM | June 15, 2009 2:30 PM
Staying out of the OS wars, but this...
Demands a hearty "hear, hear!!" on all counts. Effin' brilliant!
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 15, 2009 2:31 PM
good point
Posted by: Hapax Legomenon | June 15, 2009 2:36 PM
XKCD, Windows, and Hitler. Enjoy.
http://xkcd.com/528/
Posted by: CommiusRex | June 15, 2009 2:51 PM
Not that I really want to get dragged into this shit, but...
Seriously, dudes, Macs are for people that value style over substance and know shit-all about computers. There is NO other reason to own one, other than being a cunt who believes the shit they see on TV. People who can really be bothered run PCs with Linux and Open Source software. People who are a bit lazy (HI!) run MS Windows. Cunts and fuckwits own Macs. End of.
Posted by: Sean | June 15, 2009 2:55 PM
Hi, I'm LINUX:
Offered in the interests escalating the OS wars and distracting you from getting useful work done:
One:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtp5gNhBZgo
Two:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEYot8voTDM
Three:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-vHrS4s14Q
-S
Posted by: PZ Myers
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June 15, 2009 3:03 PM
Hmmm. I own nothing but Macs. Richard Dawkins is a mac user. I go to conferences full of evolutionary biologists, and Mac laptops are pretty much the machine of choice.
If I have a choice, can I be a cunt? I rather like those. I'd rather not be a fuckwit.
Posted by: Epikt
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June 15, 2009 3:05 PM
JD:
Of course not. When I attend American Physical Society meetings, the roughly fifty percent of presenters who use Macs must all be slumming history professors.
"Hello Kitty Does Hartree-Fock" doesn't count. The real-world (i.e. non-toy) things I need are all cross-platform.
And, since we're talking numbers, what's the ratio for viruses?
Posted by: Clarie | June 15, 2009 3:07 PM
@52:
Language, please! Yes Macs can be lame, but so can overuse of swear words
*smiles sweetly*
Thank you!
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 15, 2009 3:11 PM
OH OH OH I wanna be a cunt and a fuckwit.
alas I don't own a Mac.
But I do own an iPhone. Does that me a mini-cunt?
I'll say it again, OS flame wars are lame.
Posted by: Woot | June 15, 2009 3:18 PM
It's already bad enough that Apple tries to contrast Mac and PC (how is a Mac not a Personal Computer, exactly ?)
Because everyone not living somewhere completely cut off from modern civilization knows that "PC" refers to computers running Windows. It is based on the original "IBM PC" units. So, how is the weather down there in the deep, deep Amazon these days?
They are memorable advertisements, but the PC is the more Likeable character.
Which says more about you than anything. ;-)
Over-priced, under-powered Macs are for artsy-fartsy types and some science profs at liberal arts schools that don't do any research or publish.
Cite?
Seriously, dudes, Macs are for people that value style over substance and know shit-all about computers. [rest of insane, spittle covered ranting snipped]
Wow. The standards for critical thinking on this site are pretty much in the toilet along with Ben Stein, huh? ;-)
Disclaimer: I use Windows XP and Mac OS X *and* Linux every day. They all have their merits, IMHO.
But, seriously, you hard core Mac bashers are about 20 years out of date, and your intolerance compares perfectly to religious fanatics. Honestly, folks, read what some of the posts say. Why so much frakking anger over an OS choice? Some of the posts here fail a basic sanity test. I'd be *afraid* to mention OSes in front of some of these people.
And am I the only one here who knows Mac OS X is built on Open BSD, complete with Unix 03 certification? The core of it is called Darwin, and is freely a downloadable open source project. It's also the core of the iPhone OS.
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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June 15, 2009 3:21 PM
The Redhead's astronomer cousin and architect cousin both use Macs. A lot depends upon the culture at a particular university or department as to which system gets used. I have a PC at work and a Mac at home. Both get sworn at, but the Mac less so since it has been upgraded, while the work computer has not.
Posted by: Richard Wolford | June 15, 2009 3:25 PM
I've been in IT for nearly 20 years and I will say that as soon as someone starts the "Mac vs PC" bullshit I immediately dismiss them as know-nothings. We use the right equipment for the job, which includes operating systems, unless there is a technical issue. We're more interested in running information systems, not squabbling over who is trendy because they use a Mac or really high-tech because they run Linux, or whatever the current vision of the situation may be.
And Woot, a Mac IS a PC; PC refers to personal computer, and the Mac was one of the earliest personal computers available for the home. The IBM PC simply refers to a PC which was made by IBM, nothing more. I had an IBM PS2, which was a PC, and I had a Mac classic, which was also a PC and marketed as such.
Posted by: Ted Dahlberg
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June 15, 2009 3:28 PM
Oughtn't fuckwith mean someone who's a clever lovemaker?
And while I really should stay out of this debate, I fail too see that Vista is as bad as people say, at least for me as a casual user. It uses more resources than I'd like, but I've been using it for two years and never had any other problems with it. And the reason that I'm using Windows to begin with is partly that I really can't be bothered wading into the open source swamp (not meant to imply that it's bad, just more work than I care to put in, which is also why I avoid actual non-metaphorical swamps), and partly that it's what I first learned (Windows 3.1) so I'm sticking with it for simplicity's sake.
Posted by: XD | June 15, 2009 3:30 PM
I'll just leave this here:
Linux = atheism
ciao!
Posted by: Ted Dahlberg
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June 15, 2009 3:32 PM
That should be fuckwit, of course. Of all the words to misspell...
Posted by: Watchman | June 15, 2009 3:55 PM
Right, which explains the plethora of useless, resource-gobbling bells and whistles one encounters in Vista.
At least the terminal window on a Mac runs bash shell by default. That's more than one can say for that pathetic DOS shell, or whatever MS calls it these days.
I'm primarily a Windows user, by the way.
The Reverend Chimpy is right. OS flame wars are lame.
Bingo. I use Windows XP, Mac OS X, Debian Linux and FreeBSD every day. Each has its uses. (At my last job it was Windows, OpenVMS, RedHat, HP-UX, AIX, Solaris...)
Posted by: PZ Myers
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June 15, 2009 3:57 PM
I think that makes you an iCunt, Rev.
And, darn it, when I rushed to the registry to grab it, I see that iCunt.com is already taken. Apple probably snagged it preemptively for some future line of cute and adorable gadgets. Everyone will want one.
Posted by: Woot | June 15, 2009 4:03 PM
@#59
"PC", specifically the abbreviation, is used as shorthand notation for Windows machines these days by just about everyone not you. *shrug* It was initially a shortening of "IBM PC" and has just stuck that way. Yes, a Mac is a "personal computer", but not a "PeeCee" as *society* uses the term. It's a pointless argument to even make, but someone always does, in this case message #3. If you don't like it, go join King Canute and stare down the lexicographical tide of the tech industry. Good luck with that. Personally, I use the term "Windows box" more than anything.
And the Apple II was one of the earliest computers available for the home, not the Mac. I used an Apple II, an Atari 800, a Commodore 64 and an Amiga in my early days. Yes, the computer wars raged even then. Hell, there were raging BBS discussions over modem brands and modulation formats.
Posted by: Woot | June 15, 2009 4:07 PM
Apple probably snagged it preemptively for some future line of cute and adorable gadgets. Everyone will want one.
Everyone who read John Moltz's Crazy Apple Rumors Site knows Apple has been working on sexbots for some time now, as well as POE (Pudding Over Ethernet). :-)
Posted by: PZ Myers
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June 15, 2009 4:14 PM
Pudding over internet? Holy crap, that's even better than my plan to deliver pie via fax! Killer app!
Posted by: Notagod | June 15, 2009 4:17 PM
Can we have George Bush in the commercial too? I want to see him look into the porta-potty tank and say "You're doing a fine job Steiny".
The way Microsoft makes products so that ownership of your computer passes to them is the worst part as far as I am concerned. If the Free Software Foundation hadn't made a stand, we would all be using software on a per use basis by now. It would be similar to your electric service but Microsoft use would be the product received. Every time you opened an application there would be a fee to be paid. That is one of the reasons why I stay away from Microsoft products, also, I think of my computer as having the potential to be an extension of my brain, I want my brain to be controlled by me only. There are other bad things about Microsoft, including forced upgrades for compatibility reasons, in a Microsoft only world the fee for the upgrade would simply be added to your bill, whether you liked it or not. Oh, your hardware upgrade is mandatory as well, not optional.
Personally, I think Microsoft's products are difficult to use and are very frustrating to use. My first OS was MSDOS, and Microsoft has gone downhill with each OS released since.
Posted by: Celtic_Evolution | June 15, 2009 4:19 PM
Seconded! Wonderful movie. Just reviewed it.
Posted by: Sili
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June 15, 2009 4:31 PM
Glad I'm not the only one for who mr Mac is the embodiment of all I dislike about Macowners.
The only good thing about those commercials is the slash.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself
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June 15, 2009 4:34 PM
I use XP at home and at work. I use it at work because that's the company standard. I use it at home because CIV4 BTS and GalCiv2 don't run on Macs.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 15, 2009 4:37 PM
Ahh yes. Obviously I'm not a cunt or a fuckwit because I would have obviously known that the correct term for any Apple related anything is "iThing"
/hangs head in shame
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | June 15, 2009 4:45 PM
obviously
Posted by: Moggie
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June 15, 2009 5:03 PM
I'm amused by the stereotype of Mac users (and I write that as primarily a Linux person, thanks to my job). When Mac OS X was introduced, there was quite an influx of Unix geeks to the Mac world: people who were attracted by the Unix underpinnings of OS X, and who wanted to use a system which was Unix, but not as they knew it. Us poindexters rather spoil the hipster Mac image, and to this day I'm not sure I'm cool enough to be allowed into an Apple store.
Posted by: B | June 15, 2009 5:16 PM
I'm amused by the stereotype of Mac users.
OS choice seems to be like ideology. It dissolves skeptical thinking on contact. People who huff and puff over the stereotypes hurled at us by the religious loons and unscientific kooks happily descend into the same numbnuttery when it comes to what computer someone uses.
The "hipster" Mac image never existed outside the minds of the rabid anti-Mac crowd. It was a derogatory stereotype manufactured out of vapor by people who place far too much importance on their computer skills. Also, in my experience with that sort of person, their actual skill set tends to be not exactly all that and a bag of chips. Wow, you installed Linux from a distribution disc? Well, let's just make you IT czar of the universe, shall we?
and to this day I'm not sure I'm cool enough to be allowed into an Apple store.
Nah! All are welcome. Step into the Light. :-) Note: For the Serious HardCore OS Users, that was a joke.
Posted by: Moggie
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June 15, 2009 5:18 PM
#67:
Sadly, I think the era of pie via fax has passed. To quote Achewood: "I ain't got a fax machine! I also ain't got an Apple IIc, polio, or a falcon!"
Bacon over IP, that's where the smart money is now.
Posted by: Moggie
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June 15, 2009 5:42 PM
#75:
The closer tribes live to one another, the more likely they are to be at war. Ever witness animosity between FreeBSD and OpenBSD people? That shit it vicious.
Age may have something to do with it: not a question of maturity so much as energy. I'm not about to forgive Bill Gates for all the pain he's caused me over the years, but I'm no longer prepared to take up arms. When people who run less Linux servers than I do trash-talk the OS, I'm more likely to smile indulgently than flame them, and when they diss the very nice Mac on which I'm typing this, I really can't be bothered to wave my cane at them.
Posted by: Andyo
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June 15, 2009 7:09 PM
Why don't anyone just get to the facts in these wars. I have wanted to own a Mac but I haven't cause I can't justify the cost. I can do pretty much everything on a self-built Windows PC or even a self-designed HP laptop. I used to think Macs were overpriced, but I don't know anymore. Their hardware is often cutting edge (since when have they had freaking Firewire 800 and multitouch?) and even trend-setting, but the FACT is that they don't give much options. I am just curious, and would like to learn more about Macs, but I can't own one.
With Windows PCs, I have built countless ones, they have given me trouble, but that's the nature of having a plethora of different manufacturers and their drivers to work with your OS. I wonder how much trouble OSX would have if they opened up as much as Windows is.
I have never had a virus though, at least not in my computers, and only since a couple of years ago I've been running an antivirus. Granted, many people I know have, but it's just because they don't know what to click. As it has been said, OSX is not really immune to viruses, it's just that not too many people use it.
The open-source software is much more available for Windows. I find Windows a nice balance between the flashy and professional usage of OSX and the geekiness of tweaking the nuts and bolts of Linux.
I also don't like that Apple wants to do everything automatically. It's too simplistic, but that's just my taste.
And the Vista hate is much nonsense. It was bad at lauch because of drivers and stuff like that, but now it's working just fine. It's way better than XP in many ways, and in fact, XP is suffering now from the same thing Vista suffered at launch, lack of driver support or many bugs in drivers and applications. Windows 7 does seem better, but that's only expected.
Posted by: rt | June 15, 2009 7:29 PM
Dashboard widgets - Gucci’s Chiodo watch
About Gucci’s Chiodo watch
GUCCI presents Chiodo, a new collection of striking timepieces, with a widget that tells time, displays notes and sets alarm. The nail motif of the Chiodo, based on the iconic square head nail employed by Gucci since the 1960s, is featured as a decorative detail on round and square styles. The Chiodo design represents Gucci’s intrinsic commitment to innovation with respect to its long-standing heritage.
Gucci serves up Apple iPod a la mode
As part of its spring line, fashion label Gucci is selling a $195 carrying case designed specifically for Apple Computer's popular music player. At that price, the ebony-and-beige, coated-canvas case costs nearly as much as an iPod itself.
Oh clearly you have never been in a OpenBSD/NetBSD flamewar!
They are both the same OS with every useful and modern bit removed. One stripped for portability and the other for security. This makes for a discussion about the differences between features... that are missing. This makes the flamewar so pointless it easily surpasses any anime flameware in lameness.
Anyway, netcraft confirms, anime flamewars are dying.
Oh go troll somewhere else, maybe with some "Atheist are so immoral they more likely to divorce" or "piltdown man" or "solar radiation causes climate change" BS.
Also when it comes to security modern windows beats the crap out of MacOS X. Seriously if your not gonna go for the openbsd auditing that makes scientology auditing look like a walk in the park then you are gonna need something to deal with the shellcode coming your way. ASLR, DEP might not be perfect, but when will MacOSX have them? Might that be around the time they distribute the sun java patch? Anyway, just run multics.
Hear hear, who need three kernels running in parallel, they should have gone with BeOS.
What about NT on Alpha or Itanic compared to linux + wine on x86?
And am I the only one here who knows Mac OS X is built on Open BSD (Try Mach)
complete with Unix 03 certification? (tree a freebsd userland)
Yeah I guess so since real scientist either use custom build FPGA based systems, PS2 clusters or SGI machines with custom content addressable memory originally designed for the NSA (as used to be the case in bioinformatics).... maybe, maybe some use a cray system, but anything more mainstream than that starts to get lame.The core of it is called Darwin, and is freely a downloadable open source project. It's also the core of the iPhone OS. (After dumping the OSS idea and stripping out most of what a modern OS needs)
Posted by: Nova | June 15, 2009 8:49 PM
@8
Except that since 2006, even Macs are IBM compatible.
Posted by: Sarcastro | June 15, 2009 10:12 PM
ASLR, DEP might not be perfect, but when will MacOSX have them?
Uh... DEP since 10.4.7 and a partial implementation of ASLR since 10.5. Full implementation will come with the move to 64-bit addressing in Snow-Leopard.
Posted by: Quimby | June 16, 2009 1:01 AM
@80
Gucci also sells generic computer cases for any computer. That was a really weak and pathetic response. As for iPod cases, for every Gucci case, there's a hundred cheap plastic ones over at Wal-Mart. It's the Gucci accessories that are trendy, not what you put in them. If I put a $10 disposable cell phone in a Gucci holder, is the disposable cell phone now a hipster icon?
Posted by: astrounit | June 16, 2009 1:52 AM
"But sometimes they are too slavishly following the concept and lose any credibility or any awards for creativity."
SOMETIMES?
I have owned and extensively operated both (hardware) machines, and run a number of OS's on (mostly Linux or Windows on the PCs and even Windows on a Mac) and after nearly 20 years now of watching this childish game of competition develop, it's obvious that 99% of the promotional slather (which hikes prices and has been summarily passed onto the customer) has been attributable to: Apple/Mac and to Microsoft. In that order. The latter, whose chief OS had initially been exclusively PC ground, has since eased off, at least somewhat, and although this came with a reduction of the pressure, Apple hasn't much withdrawn its giant erection in promoting their hardware.
Such as it is. ALL KINDS of hardware. Pods and things specially designed to keep people suitably distracted and enmarveled over the magnificence of Apple techno wherewithal.
Microsoft, for its part, has labored immensely to promote the "ease" and "intuitive" user interface of its Windows series of operating systems which in fact do a wonderful job of having many sub-functions "talk to each other" that have been dispatched by them over the years...while downplaying the ever-present maggot in their soup (that very volubility) which makes it an easy target for spamsters and hacksters to completely wreck one's delicately balanced configuration, forces people to spend (now) BILLIONS of dollars for security measures against viruses and worms (thus lofting an entire new BILLION-DOLLAR industry that actually did NOT need to exist) and (now) billions more for down time and lost data.
In the meantime, hacksters and virus/worm code writers have become immensely wealthy and ever more crafty, and have been encouraged all along the way, without a SHRED of any international oversight ever bothered in place to examine what a company decides to place on the market. (Now THERE'S a BIG and valuable regulatory commission that's gone utterly missing for a long while. Oops. Pardon me. It would have stomped on the delicate toes of those who wanted a "free" net, and so on. Never mind).
And while everyone with those vulnerabilities has to jump through an increasing number of hoops in order to update security measures (and so forth) the productivity of the corporate as well as the private sector declines.
It's not just like every 3 stept forward one is forced to take two steps back. It's more like that PLUS getting shot in the foot every 10 steps. IF they are managed.
But hardware-wise, both Macs and PCs ARE excellent. No sane person, however rabidly fanatic a Mac owner or deluged PC owner running Windows, would dispute it. I would just like to slap some of the software writers, along with their corporate enablers in this 20-year-old soap opera upside the head.
If the history of computer use over the last 15 to 20 years was written out as an error report like those submitted to Microsoft, their machines would have a heart attack. If I ever saw a flow chart of how they pretend to codify error reports into "improvements" (called "patches") that are dutifully supplied to their customers on a regular basis, I think I'd have a heart attack.
This business is WAAAAY outa control. And we're seeing the backlash (starting with the meltdown of Silicon Valley, which was the first shot fired...nobody much paid attention) to the current economic crisis less than a decade later. This stuff is ROBBING us of our time. And it has been seriously robbing us of our work ethic. Technologically-boosted intercommunication. OOOOH. And what exactly has the "communication" revolution fostered? The "American Dream" has been transformed from the idea that one can earn one's way into a good and confortable life for oneself and one's family and children...into another idea so sinister people don't even seem to recogize it: the idea that you can make money - or even become obnoxiously wealthy - with a mininum of work. Or no work at all, short of crafty juggling of other people's money.
BRAVO AMERICA! Well done.
And so many of you complain about jobs and revenue thrusted overseas. That must be what makes America great, surely.
Since the concept of a "melting (pot)" first appeared (J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur in 1782) nobody ever imagined that the pot could boil its contents into so completely a different a concoction as to defy recognition.
What is the friggin' "citizen" unit, here, or anywhere else in the world? The units that actually "vote"? Or the units that purchase votes or otherwise direct the selection of the vote through, uh, further persuasion?
Isn't what we are currently seeing in Iran just another example of how "power" (whether induced economically or religiously) completely undermines that ideal of "democracy"? Do we think ourselves exempt from this kind of thing? So that can we all pretend to follow it while very strong forces undermine it?
As if we can sit back and relax because it's like, you know, a LAW of NATURE or something???
No. After years of crap, I DO NOT want to see more computer commercials made. Even if it means Ben Stein gets a little more egg on him.
Commercials are a form of propaganda. They are messages intended by corporate interests to scream more money out of you.
Posted by: Nibien | June 16, 2009 2:19 AM
Every time someone says "XYZ sucks... and I actually use XYZ on a regular basis!" it reminds me of someone going "I'm not racist, some of my best friends are black"
Posted by: Moggie
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June 16, 2009 4:23 AM
#85, bad analogy. We choose our "best friends", but we frequently have no choice about the software we use, unless we enjoy job-hunting.
Posted by: Rorschach | June 16, 2009 4:28 AM
Linuxer here as everyone knows,not into BSD though because of lack of comfort and hardware support.
Just one little anecdote from today's study day :
Dude puts his memory stick in the presentation lappy to do a talk,did it on his home machine in Office 2007 the night before.
Doesnt run on Office 2003,which is on the work lappy.
Talk dead.
And to think that people pay money for this shit !!
Posted by: Jadehawk, OM
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June 16, 2009 4:43 AM
3D makes me nauseous.
and I'm not touching the rest of the thread with a 10 foot pole...
Posted by: John1152 | August 23, 2009 5:46 PM
Beautiful site!
Posted by: John1152 | August 23, 2009 6:46 PM
Hello!