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Justin Long No Longer A Mac

Posted by Zonk on Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:40 PM
from the maybe-now-he's-beos dept.
Media Television Businesses Apple
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?"
+ -
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[+] Apple: Apples Are For Grannies? 432 comments
RoboJock writes "So much for Justin Long — the young, hip 'n' trendy face of the Apple Mac (as seen in the 'Mac vs. PC' ads) is even further removed from the average Mac owner than everyone suspected... By three or four decades. According to research discussed at Silicon.com, 'nearly half of Mac owners are 55 and older — that's almost double the share for average home-PC users.' It seems the young guns don't have the extra cash to stump up for smooth shiny aesthetics." From the article: "For the digital youth, high-street box shifter Gateway is the brand of choice, taking the number-one slot among PC buyers aged between 18 and 25. Dan Ness, principal at MetaFacts, said in a statement: 'Apple can claim long-time loyalists but its future among the young technoliterati is an interesting dynamic.'"
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  • Movie star? (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 11 2006, @10:49PM (#16810708)
    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.
  • We're now analyzing an ad campaign's casting moves... must be a slow Saturday Night in geekland.

  • Is it because (Score:5, Interesting)

    by zr-rifle (677585) <zedr@zDEBIANedr.com minus distro> on Saturday November 11 2006, @10:50PM (#16810718) Homepage
    people like me found the PC dude much more amusing and likeable than the scruffy, elitist asshole Mac guy?
    • try reading the article SUMMARY and you'll find out the answer to this question and more!

    • Re:Is it because (Score:5, Funny)

      by SnowZero (92219) on Saturday November 11 2006, @11:39PM (#16810994)
      I had always hoped the Linus Torvalds would come onto the screen, kick the Mac guy in the nuts, and say "I can run on your hardware too." Then, he can turn to the PC guy, tell him "It's not too late," and then walk away.

              • Re:check youtube (Score:5, Funny)

                by ettlz (639203) on Sunday November 12 2006, @04:28AM (#16812296) Homepage Journal

                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!
    • ...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.

      • Re:Seriously? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by catbutt (469582) on Sunday November 12 2006, @12:35AM (#16811276)
        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.

        • Wow. (Score:5, Insightful)

          by aussersterne (212916) on Sunday November 12 2006, @12:20AM (#16811164) Homepage
          So jeans + sweatshirt = hippie? It's clearly not we jeans-wearing people that have a problem with elitism...
        • If jeans and a shirt make a guy a hippie, I must become an Army Ranger when I wear my camouflage boxer shorts.

          Hooah!?

        • Re:Seriously? (Score:4, Interesting)

          by _Sprocket_ (42527) on Sunday November 12 2006, @03:07AM (#16812020)
          Maybe you should stop hanging out with your Mom's friends if you're starting to consider hippies == average.


          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?

  • What does this imply about PC's and mac's (Score:5, Insightful)

    by everphilski (877346) on Saturday November 11 2006, @10:51PM (#16810722) Journal
    Since they were both chosen as "types" of a machine ... what does this decision have to say about PC's versus a mac?

  • What he said to the Japanese girl: (Score:5, Funny)

    by straponego (521991) on Saturday November 11 2006, @10:54PM (#16810744)
    "Is it true that you squeeze photographs out your ass?"

    • Re:What he said to the Japanese girl: (Score:5, Informative)

      by Speare (84249) on Sunday November 12 2006, @12:50AM (#16811394) Homepage

      Cute joke, I guess, but...

      • hajimemashite - nice to meet you (lit. "it has begun")
      • yoroshiku onegai shimasu - rhetorical how do you do / look forward to working together (lit. "favor me, please")
      • arigatou - thank you
        • I couldn't quite make out her response with the other babbling going on, but I think it was like, "nah nah, it wasn't much."

  • Japanese version (Score:4, Funny)

    by Srsen (413456) on Saturday November 11 2006, @10:59PM (#16810772)
    This is a must see - the Japanese version [apple.com] of the Get a Mac ads.

    Not the Americans dubbed in Japanese - these are Japanese actors doing the same shtick. Hi-larious.

    • Oh my god. That's the funniest shit I've seen.. well, since I saw Patrick Stewart in an extra talking about tits about fifteen minutes ago. Thank you for the entertainment.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by earthbound kid (859282)
      I can (sort of) speak Japanese. The three ads are from left to right: "Mac & PC" "Virus" "iLife" (ok, so the last one was a gimme)

      In the "Mac & PC" they note that Macs are technically just a kind of personal computer then wonder why Mac gets a special name as part of that, but other computers are just "PCs." Mac suggests its a kind of nickname because people enjoy their Macs. As a nickname for the other other kind of PCs, they suggest "Work," (which sounds like Mac in Japanese).

      In "Virus," PC gets o
    • 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 [youtube.com]

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by d_jedi (773213)
      Ooh kay. That's funny.. why?
      It's all gibberish to me..

  • Obligatory PS3 vs. Wii parody video... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Manchot (847225) on Saturday November 11 2006, @10:59PM (#16810774)
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpYgNz6W6Gs [youtube.com]

    It was produced by G4.

  • "Does Hodgman become the Mac?" (Score:4, Funny)

    by NerveGas (168686) on Saturday November 11 2006, @11:17PM (#16810868)

        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....

    • Re:"Does Hodgman become the Mac?" (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Midnight Thunder (17205) on Saturday November 11 2006, @11:37PM (#16810984) Homepage Journal
      Does Hodgman become the Mac?

      Actually that would be the ultimate switcher message :) "I used to be a PC, but now I'm a Mac".

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by _Sprocket_ (42527)
      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.


      Hell yeah! I mean... heck... who wants compatability! Who wants the option to use data and applications from other platforms? That's just crazy talk.

  • Intimidating Stars (Score:5, Funny)

    by Slyfoot (1020559) on Saturday November 11 2006, @11:23PM (#16810898)
    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...
      • And Gary Oldman as SCO Unix, hitting everyone with a baseball bat while high on drugs and listening to classical music. Mmmmm.

  • I'm glad he's gone (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Pink Tinkletini (978889) on Saturday November 11 2006, @11:23PM (#16810902) Homepage
    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.

    • Re:I'm glad he's gone (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Pink Tinkletini (978889) on Saturday November 11 2006, @11:27PM (#16810930) Homepage
      Here, I found this interview with John Hodgman [thephoenix.com], in which he drops this telling quote: "I myself am a Mac user. I bought the very first Mac, or convinced my father to buy it, in 1984. I used it through high school and college; it was the first computer I used outside of college, then I went though a brief period of exile during my corporate years as a professional literary agent, where I was forced to use a PC . . . . Mac has always gotten the design and the interface down pat. They just know it. PC's efforts to emulate this, and its constant failing, and its self-satisfied arrogance about it being the most used platform in the world, all of that made it very easy to craft a character who, while he is a boob, and often concerned about how he comes off, at his core really feels bad for the Mac. Is really so delusional to believe he's much cooler than the Mac. The whole reason they're standing in that white room is because he's trying to help the Mac out."

  • And the appropriate joke for the story (Score:5, Funny)

    by Kingrames (858416) on Sunday November 12 2006, @12:03AM (#16811094)
    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.

  • heh.. (Score:5, Funny)

    by Heem (448667) on Sunday November 12 2006, @12:29AM (#16811206) Homepage Journal
    I always thought it would be great if a penguin waddled into those commercials and bitch-slap both of them.

  • When will they stop making asses of themselves? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by IntergalacticWalrus (720648) on Sunday November 12 2006, @01:49AM (#16811710)
    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...)
    • I saw one of the Mac commercials talking about how Macs work out-of-the-box, and thinking about what happens when you want to upgrade.
      That would be an awesome parody commercial. Justin Long exits, a new Mac guy comes in. PC Guy: "What happened?" Mac Guy: "I upgraded." PC Guy: "Why are you so different?" Mac Guy: "I have to have a whole new computer to upgrade." PC Guy: "I don't need to do that." Mac Guy: "Prove it." PC Guy gets his arm screwed off and a huge robot arm put on. Smacks 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 introdu

  • John Hodgeman (Score:5, Funny)

    by PhotoGuy (189467) on Sunday November 12 2006, @08:20AM (#16813110) Homepage
    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 :)

      • Re:long term (Score:5, Funny)

        by SnowZero (92219) on Saturday November 11 2006, @11:34PM (#16810970)
        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.

        • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Well, at least as an unsigned long, he can't express anything negative.
      • No, he wasn't imagining it, he was just misremembering [apple.com] 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.

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by darkitecture (627408)
      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. "Yoroshik

                • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

                  by fyngyrz (762201) *

                  Am I the only one who thinks Justin Long seems like a nice kid who plays a good straightman... ?

                  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 the

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