Apple / Motorolla Controversy

[AZRedhawk44]

So, Motorolla's commercial for the Xoom was pretty cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBUoLYOWR8I

I really dug (digged?) the "1984" overtones, especially the oblique reference to it via the e-Book on the Xoom device.

Evidently, it's also a marketing department slam against Apple's iPad and iPod devices.  The white headphones and everyone in white jumpsuits is very stereotypical of the usual Apple iTunes-oriented commercial.


Well, I wasn't paying close enough attention to commercials back in 1984 to catch the one time that this commercial was aired.  Cut me some slack, I was 5 and a half years old.

1984 Apple "Macintosh" Ad:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhsWzJo2sN4

The McWeenies are crying foul and claiming it's a ripoff.

I, being a McWeenie-hater, love it because it snuffs Apple.  And life is just a little bit better every day that Apple can be snuffed.

Anyone else know that Apple put out a 1984-Orwellian video in 1984, and that the Xoom commercial was (allegedly) loosely based on it?

[AZRedhawk44]

Part of me also thinks this is Motorolla "getting even" for Apple dumping the Motorolla-based CPUs sometime around 2004-2005.

[AmbulanceDriver]

I never saw the actual commercial on broadcast TV, but I have seen the commercial online at other times.  Within about 5 seconds, I knew they were making fun of Apple, and then about 2 seconds later realized they were also making fun of Apple's 1984 commercial.

[lee n. field]

Anyone else know that Apple put out a 1984-Orwellian video in 1984, and that the Xoom commercial was (allegedly) loosely based on it?

Pffff!  Yes.  It's a classic. 

First comment: "Apple users can't see the commercial, it's in flash. "   

 

[Brad Johnson]

It's not a ripoff.  It's a direct, outright jab.  It's called satire.

Brad

[BlueStarLizzard]

Why is apple calling foul?

Its not like their one commercial campaign wasn't outright insulting windows... 

Allis fair in war and advertising

[lee n. field]

Why is apple calling foul?

Its not like their one commercial campaign wasn't outright insulting windows... 

Allis fair in war and advertising

It wouldn't have been insulting Windows in 1984.  It would have been insulting MSDOS two-point-something.

[Perd Hapley]

The McWeenies are crying foul and claiming it's a ripoff.

I, being a McWeenie-hater, love it because it snuffs Apple.  And life is just a little bit better every day that Apple can be snuffed.

Anyone else know that Apple put out a 1984-Orwellian video in 1984, and that the Xoom commercial was (allegedly) loosely based on it?

Lame. Unless Apple owns the rights to 1984 (and that wouldn't be surprising) they have no claim to it, and can't complain if someone turns it back against them.

[BlueStarLizzard]

It wouldn't have been insulting Windows in 1984.  It would have been insulting MSDOS two-point-something.

Actually, I was talking about the campaign from a cuple years ago with... Zack ? Something or other (actor, in the last die har movie) and nerdy bald guy.

[Perd Hapley]

Justin Long and John Hodgeman, I think.

OK, I looked it up, his name is Hodgman and he is not bald. He actually looks and speaks exactly like a friend of mine.  

[AZRedhawk44]

Lame. Unless Apple owns the rights to 1984 (and that wouldn't be surprising) they have no claim to it, and can't complain if someone turns it back against them.

Gina Rosenblum owns the copyright to 1984 until 2044.

She got her knickers in a wad over the use of the 1984 Apple video in mash-ups against Hillary during the 2008 election.  She threatened, in 2008, to sue the guy who made the youtube mash-up that contained the Apple 1984 video footage.  Though she neglected for 24 years to sue Apple.

Partisan lawsuit engineering.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1809023/posts

The youtube mash-up in question:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h3G-lMZxjo

[BlueStarLizzard]

Justin Long and John Hodgeman, I think.

OK, I looked it up, his name is Hodgman and he is not bald. He actually looks and speaks exactly like a friend of mine.  

Justin long...  I should have known that.

[Balog]

To be fair, the point of the original Apple 1984'ish commercial was that the sort of hedgemony portrayed was a bad thing. Hate Apple, but it's silly to use accusations that are not accurate.

As for the Motorola commercial, it was great and I look forward to the Android tablets.

Although really, Apple sells popular products and has great marketing (even if I don't care for them) while Google is busy invading my privacy and gathering/storing info on me at every turn so I'm not sure I want to see Apple fail...

[Perd Hapley]

To be fair, the point of the original Apple 1984'ish commercial was that the sort of hedgemony portrayed was a bad thing. Hate Apple, but it's silly to use accusations that are not accurate.

Wait, what? The Apple commercial was about Apple being non-conformist. I don't think anyone's ever been confused about that. The point of the new Xoom commercial is that Apple is the new conformity. Right?

Also, it's hegemony.

[AJ Dual]

More funny that everything Apple's ever done was just more successful marketing, aided with a veneer of good industrial design... of existing products.

Don't get me wrong, they have their share of innovations, but so does any large tech company that's been in business that long.

The revolutionary ones they're really known for... none of them are "theirs".

Invent the PC? Nope.
Invent the Mouse/GUI? Nope.
Invent the MP3 Player? Not even close.
Tablet? Nope...

Apple HAS done wonders for promoting these technologies, in part by polishing them so they attained mass acceptance. However, the cult-status that Apple has which maintains they're somehow special beyond this feat is... irritating. And honestly, that makes my beef not with Apple, but their fans.

Kind of like how Disney managed to co-opt what are essentially a bunch of public domain fairy tales and legends etc. (probably the most original was Bambi... they produced that only 22 years after the Austrian book came out, and possibly actually paid the author something...) Wondrous animation, artwork, sound... but limited originality. Yet they're a tour de force.

[Balog]

Wait, what? The Apple commercial was about Apple being non-conformist. I don't think anyone's ever been confused about that. The point of the new Xoom commercial is that Apple is the new conformity. Right?

Also, it's hegemony.

Typing on my phone while distracted, I misunderstood something Red wrote. Also, thank you Captain Spellcheck. 

I also agree with AJ: I have no real issue with Apple, just the fan boys.


So for the record, is it Apple themselves who are publicly objecting to this commercial, or just some fan boys on a blog whining?

[De Selby]

Apple HAS done wonders for promoting these technologies, in part by polishing them so they attained mass acceptance. However, the cult-status that Apple has which maintains they're somehow special beyond this feat is... irritating. And honestly, that makes my beef not with Apple, but their fans.

Kind of like how Disney managed to co-opt what are essentially a bunch of public domain fairy tales and legends etc. (probably the most original was Bambi... they produced that only 22 years after the Austrian book came out, and possibly actually paid the author something...) Wondrous animation, artwork, sound... but limited originality. Yet they're a tour de force.

Being an apple user (not fanboy), you can't help but notice that Apple hasn't just used its industrial edge...it's grown exponentially against its competitors over the last ten years.  It did that, IMO, by making products out of those technologies that work reliably and are simple to use.  The apple products tended to be plug and play, versus the dreaded "plug and pray" with most PC products during that time.  To go way back, compare using an early 90's Macintosh to a PC....no contest there for the average user.

In 2011, and I'm not so sure they're as relatively simple and reliable.  But I can sure see why they grew so much against the competition.

My own experience with apple has been a G4 macbook, which lasted from 2004 without a single hardware or OS problem, and still works today (although slowly, which is why I bought a macbook pro six months ago), and now an iphone. Still waiting to see if the new macbook does as well without the motorola parts.

[Fitz]

Being an apple user (not fanboy), you can't help but notice that Apple hasn't just used its industrial edge...it's grown exponentially against its competitors over the last ten years.  It did that, IMO, by making products out of those technologies that work reliably and are simple to use.  The apple products tended to be plug and play, versus the dreaded "plug and pray" with most PC products during that time.  To go way back, compare using an early 90's Macintosh to a PC....no contest there for the average user.

In 2011, and I'm not so sure they're as relatively simple and reliable.  But I can sure see why they grew so much against the competition.

My own experience with apple has been a G4 macbook, which lasted from 2004 without a single hardware or OS problem, and still works today (although slowly, which is why I bought a macbook pro six months ago), and now an iphone. Still waiting to see if the new macbook does as well without the motorola parts.

The intel based macs are every bit as reliable in my experience. I have one of the early intel iMacs and it's still going strong. The intel based MBPs seem to be reliable as well, although they run hot.

Also, responding to the above youtube comment about Flash... the flash thing is an iOS only issue... flash can and does work just fine on OS X.

I use both a Mac and a Windows-based PC, and each have their uses. The bashing on both sides irritates me.

What irritates me even more are the people who give me *expletive deleted*it for spending "too much" on Mac hardware.

I don't particularly have a problem with spending more. Especially since my 1st gen intel iMac has now outlasted any PC I've ever owned. Seems like my "stupid" investment worked out pretty well.

[Monkeyleg]

Which is better, 9mm or .45?

I remember distinctly the 1984 ad. It's definitely a classic.

The human robots in the Motorolla ad look more like the sperm in Woody Allen's "Everything You Wanted to Know About Sex" movie. There isn't the sense of dreariness that was in the Apple ad.

I give it two thumbs down.

[AJ Dual]

De Selby and James Fitzer are examples of what Apple users should be. They buy what they like based on price/performance/feature set that works for them.

What I don't think a lot of the "regular" Apple users get is how irritating the cultists are who walk around smug with a chip on their shoulder that being an Apple user is somehow connected to being "special". That's the mind-blowingly infuriating part. The subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, implication I'm ignorant or sheep, because I don't use Apple like they do.

And then in the predictable backlash against that, the regular MYOB Apple users feel targeted, and the whole thing gets polarized.

[Fitz]

De Selby and James Fitzer are examples of what Apple users should be. They buy what they like based on price/performance/feature set that works for them.

What I don't think a lot of the "regular" Apple users get is how irritating the cultists are who walk around smug with a chip on their shoulder that being an Apple user is somehow connected to being "special". That's the mind-blowingly infuriating part. The subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, implication I'm ignorant or sheep, because I don't use Apple like they do.

And then in the predictable backlash against that, the regular MYOB Apple users feel targeted, and the whole thing gets polarized.

Agreed. People should buy what A.) does what they need, and B.) Fits within their budget.

Past that, they should leave everyone else alone. I hate mindless apple Fanboi-ism as much as anyone. Prime example: the apple rep who is dealing with us for our upcoming rollout, trying to get us to replace some of our existing linux infrastructure with mac servers.

Me: "Why would I do that: you guys are discontinuing the XServe, and we have no room in my server room for a bunch of mac pros. And the mini server isn't robust enough"

He tried to respond with a line of the "mac just works" bullshit.

I said "Well, show me a mac with redundant power supplies and a 1u form factor that can run Rivendell, that I don't have to purchase before January 31st because it's being discontinued, and I'll buy it. Until then, we should keep our conversation oriented towards reality."

[mtnbkr]

De Selby and James Fitzer are examples of what Apple users should be. They buy what they like based on price/performance/feature set that works for them.

What I don't think a lot of the "regular" Apple users get is how irritating the cultists are who walk around smug with a chip on their shoulder that being an Apple user is somehow connected to being "special". That's the mind-blowingly infuriating part. The subtle, and sometimes not so subtle, implication I'm ignorant or sheep, because I don't use Apple like they do.

And then in the predictable backlash against that, the regular MYOB Apple users feel targeted, and the whole thing gets polarized.

Change Apple to Linux and you can reuse this post.

I use Apple products and Linux (and Windows, etc).  They all have their strengths and weaknesses.

Chris

[Balog]

Fanbois of any kind are annoying. *nix has a higher % of users who are true believers, but Apple has a far larger number so they tend to get the backlash.

[mtnbkr]

Fanbois of any kind are annoying. *nix has a higher % of users who are true believers, but Apple has a far larger number so they tend to get the backlash.

In defense of *nix fanbois, they tend to become that way after using some flavor of *nix to do things Windows or Mac can't do, or at least couldn't do till recently. 

But yeah, the Linux fanbois who've never run a production system on ANY OS are a bit annoying.  I'll respect their opinion on the subject after they've had a few thousand (or tens of thousands) users rely on systems they build and after they have to meet SLAs at the same time.  Until then, they're just hobbyists with an opinion.

Chris

[Monkeyleg]

This discussion is no different than ones I listened to for decades about cameras. There were the Nikon fans, the Leica fans, the Canon fans, the Hasselblad fans, etc. Everyone was adamant that theirs was the best because...

When they'd ask me what I, as a professional, thought, I'd say that I bought the one I could get for the best price, all things being relatively equal. The cameras are tools, not lovers.

I get irritated at having to use both a Mac and a PC because there are some things that one platform can do that the other won't.

I also get irritated with Linux fans because I have no idea what they're talking about.