New Mac ads feat. John Hodgman and Justin Long

I'm more excited about the recent release of the 17-inch MacBook Pro. Now, if only Adobe would get around to releasing a bundle of graphics programs (including a not-too-fucked-with Macromedia suite) that can run natively on it.

These are pretty funny, though (if not a bit pretentious).

Even though I love all things Mac, after watching these ads I think apple should never have greenlit them. Everything about the ads rub me the wrong way. They're awful, and I think will harm the company's computer sales.

Sometimes ya gotta be blunt. I'm sure that there are many, MANY happy PC users, but most of my family and friends are constantly complaining about problems that they feel like they just have to live with. My Uncle is STILL sending me virus warnings, though I keep telling him I'm immune. He just doesn't get it. For me personally, not having to wage the constant war against viruses and spyware would be enough to get me to switch. My parentes are plagued by this kind of stuff and have no capacity to fix them. I've told them the next computer they're getting will be a Mac. Problem solved.

I think last year was the first one that Apple actually cut into the PC marketshare. That's a pretty astounding marketing victory. I'd been an Amiga users through High School, so I was open to other platforms, but it's going to take a lot for some people to realize that (with some exceptions- games, autocad, some 3D apps, etc.) moving to a Mac would mean only good things, and is not the big mental switch that you might think. Of course, that because the last several Windows interfaces have been pattered after Mac OSs, but whatever. However, I'm sure there's still a LONG way to go. In the total marketplace, I'd wager 50-60% of people don't even know Apple makes anything beyond the iPod and iTunes.

My favs are the Virus & Networking ones.

BTW, on the week that Apple launches these ads, someone launches FUD reports about Macs and the virii. Read and see how an AP "journalist" gets his ass handed to him.

http://daringfireball.net/2006/05/good_journalism

Yeah, he uh.. really showed that guy, I guess.

I use a Thinkpad full time for work (although I still have an old PowerBook that I use as as a video player on my TV) and I have to say that these things are impossible to lock down.

Sure, you can reduce the risk, but you never know if something is going to come by and hose your Windows installation so royally that you'll have to reformat everything anyway.

Not that Macs are immune to viruses, it's just that currently they're not targeted as much as Windows PC's so it's less of an issue.

I think the point should always be that we not have a monoculture of PC's. Everyone benefits if there is a range of different kinds of PC's out there that aren't all susceptible to the same exploits. The same is true of web browsers, office suites, instant messaging clients, etc.

The only truly great thing about these ads is that they allow more John Hodgman to leak out into the world. That guy is quickly becoming my Favorite Person of the Year™

I want a g5 laptop... wow.