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It's funny. Laugh. Businesses Apple

Switch Different 252

Posted by chrisd from the slashdotting-our-own-bandwidth dept.
x180 writes "Those goofy hackers over at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention in San Diego this week have, in a spate of fun, put together a series of Switch ad spoofs for the geeky ones. Writes Rael Dornfest in his blog, 'You've no doubt seen Apple's fabulous Switch campaign commercials. But what of the others? The geeky ones. The scripters. The sysadmins in their server cages. The command-line jockeys. Those through whom the source flows openly.' See the stories of hackers chucking Emacs in favor of Vi, leaving Perl to explore Python, and leaving the familiar home of Unix to play with XP." These, of course, aren't the only switch parodies. Their numbers are Legion.
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  • Phoenix News Service (Score:4, Funny)

    by carl67lp ( 465321 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:06AM (#3963025) Journal
    We at the Phoenix News Service had a news story in a similar vein: PC Companies Counter "Real People" Campaign With "Real Porn Stars" Campaign [rabadev.com]

  • Audio? (Score:2, Funny)

    by HaveBlue34 ( 142274 )
    Well maybe if all the movies didnt sound like the parents from Peanuts I would appreciate the humor a bit more. As it stands maybe they should switch to some film classes.
    HB
  • "Emacs in favor of Vi... and leaving the familiar home of Unix to play with XP."

    Please, whatever you do, don't equate Vi to Windows XP!

  • Elitest Assholes (Score:5, Funny)

    by Bonker ( 243350 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:09AM (#3963032)
    http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2002-7- 12&res=l [penny-arcade.com]
    • Beat me to it. Anyway, yeah, what's with the switch campaign? What's wrong with what I have? It works, it doesn't crash, it does what I want it to whenever I want it to. This is a problem because...?

      Oh, wait, I got it, "because it's not a Mac." Well, I'm certainly convinced, just you *TRY* and hold me back from getting a Mac now.
      • it does what I want it to

        Maybe the problem is that you don't want enough.

        • Oh, and... (Score:3, Funny)

          by autopr0n ( 534291 )
          What exactly can you do with a mac that you can't do with a PC? Act all elitest?

          • Re:Oh, and... (Score:1, Troll)

            by scrod ( 136965 )
            run an OS that doesn't have to search the entire hard drive after you move the target of a shortcut? Don't tempt me. I have plenty more.

            • Re:Oh, and... (Score:2, Funny)

              by Anonymous Coward
              Wow, if they are as good as that one, we can expect some real zingers!!!
            • Well, I just tried that out and all I can say is that if it only takes a 3rd of a second to search a 30 gig hard drive my computer must be pretty god damn fast!

              Anyway, I asked what you could do not what you could do slightly faster on a mac that you couldn't on a PC.
              • No, you asked a stupid question, and you got a stupid answer. I mean, it's not like I care what you personally think, but generally stupid questions should be indicated as such. Software is software, and any abitrary piece of code can be duplicated, simulated, or imitated on any other computing platform (hell where would Microsoft be today if that weren't true?). The question isn't what you can do, it's how well you can do it. Though I suppose anything that works is "good enough" for sheep^H^H^H^H^HWindows users.
                • The person I was replying to said that someone didn't "Want enough" when they said their PC did everything they wanted. Now, don't you think it's fair to actually ask them what the hell they mean? What is it the PC user isn't wanting? What is it they can't do on a Mac.

                  You just replied with an idiotic statement that has no bearing in reality.
          • Oh, you can do that much better on a PC - and faster too.
        • You're probably right; I don't ask enough. Let's see... I could ask it to... well, I don't know. I guess I'm just one of those simple folk. So, for those simple folk such as myself, who want to do things like surf the net, print stuff, scan stuff, listen to stuff, program stuff, play stuff, burn stuff onto CDs, watch DVDs and other videos, IM people and share stuff quickly, the
          For doing stuff I don't do, though, I'm sure Macs are really great.
      • Um, the concept of an ad campaign is to try and sell something. They identify a problem (that lots of people have) and present a solution. I'm trying to figure out how you can have issues with this. I hate to shock you, but PC companies advertise too.. DUUUUUUDE, yer gettin' a DELL!!! (*ROLL*)

  • more parodies (Score:4, Informative)

    by TheSHAD0W ( 258774 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:12AM (#3963037) Homepage
    http://www.benbrown.com/switch/
    http://animoller. com/switch/
    http://www.ubergeek.tv/switchback/
    • that a few of the parodies listed at the top of googles search have been hit with cease and desist's by Apple, and yet the www.benbrown.com/switch one is still up.

      it is hilarious though :)

      • Re:kinda funny (Score:5, Informative)

        by flonker ( 526111 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:35AM (#3963108)

        Parody is a protected form of speech. Get legal advice, but most likely the cease and desist letters don't have much legal footing. From the Chilling Effects [chillingeffects.org] website:

        Even though the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, trademark and copyright owners have rights, that may or may not be violated by the name or content of a web site you have dedicated to protest, criticism or parody.

        ... on another page ...

        Question: What is "parody"?

        Answer: The courts have defined the word parody in the context of an Internet site. Here's what some of the cases have to say: A "parody" is a "simple form of entertainment conveyed by juxtaposing the irreverent representation of the trademark with the idealized image created by the mark's owner." A parody must "convey two simultaneous--and contradictory--messages: that it is the original, but also that it is not the original and is instead a parody. To the extent that an alleged parody conveys only the first message, "it is...vulnerable under trademark law, since the customer will be confused." While a parody necessarily must engender some intial confusion, an effective parody will diminish the risk of consumer confusion "by conveying [only] just enough of the original design to allow the consumer to appreciate the point of parody."

        #include

        • Someone should do a switch parody for Linux that includes this line:

          "And they don't serve you with cease and decist letters for parodying their ads."

          In the video portion, display the quotes from the US Code (Title 17 [cornell.edu]) or the court decision that established parody is legal. Cornell's search engine finds no hits of "parody" in Title 17, so I expect that the excemption for parody was set by a court decision on fair use. (IANAL though, so can't speak to it)

          • I did a bit more research, and found this article [publaw.com]. Some quotes:

            Since copyright law prohibits the substantial use of a copyrighted work without permission of the copyright owner, and because such permission is highly unlikely when the use is to create a parody, it may be necessary for the parodist to rely on the fair-use defense to forestall any liability for copyright infringement. However, the fair-use defense if successful will only be successful when the newly created work that purports itself to be parody is a valid parody.

            ...

            The courts have continually struggled with parody cases when ascertaining whether a particular parody falls within the parameters of fair use or is instead copyright infringement. The fair use section of the Copyright Act specifically enumerates criticism as one of the purposes for which the fair use defense was contemplated, but should this imply that a parody should have more extensive latitude than other types of creative works when the fair-use defense is invoked?

            And this was supposed to be on my previous message, but I messed it up:
            #include <IANAL.h>

      • The easy way not to get hit with a cease and desist is to not use the Apple logo or one of Apple's trademarks.

        Imitate the style, but don't make something that infringes on their marks, and should the cease and desist come in, you can laugh at them, and maybe call them up to do it to their face.
    • That Ani Moller has a sexy accent.
    • ...If I get to bone that Ellen Feiss. [apple.com] God damn she is a hottie. Shoot, she didn't have to switch to a PowerBook... I would have gone over and fixed her PC for her... uh huh huh huh huh....

      "Beavis, I think I have seen the light... uh huh huh huh huh huh...." ;-)

  • Sad (Score:4, Funny)

    by yzquxnet ( 133355 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:15AM (#3963043) Homepage
    Okay, that was just sad watching those videos. I want to praise them and call them geeks, but honestly, they looked more like DORKS in the video. 2 thumbs down man.

  • Yuk (Score:1, Redundant)

    by RedOregon ( 161027 )
    All in streaming QuickTime for your viewing pleasure.

    No thanks.
    • Heh yah, I'd hate Quicktime too if I wasn't maxed out on karma.

      A pet peeve of most animators is when somebody is unwilling or unable (bandwidth, etc) to install a codec or player. It sucks because we spend so much time picking the right one for the project. Until a single codec comes along and wipes the others out in every single category, you're just going to have to deal with having a bunch of different players despite the slimey tactics some of them use.
      • Like MPEG.

        It might not be the 'best for the project', but it will work for the most people. Quicktime is proprietary crap, and the player on windows sucks. Real is proprietary crap all around. And MS is proprietary (although the windows player is ok). If you use MPEG, everyone is happy.
        • Quicktime is proprietary crap, and the player on windows sucks.

          That may be true for the standalone player, but I've been pretty pleased with the ActiveX Control that loads in IE... it loads instantly, and you can view movies while they are partially downloaded.
          • It works for me pretty well right now, but I've had trouble with it in the past. Like when it ate the mime association for PNG and BMP files. If I tried to go to a .png URI it would load the whole thing scaled to the size of the window and I couldn't save. PNGs in pages used IE's internal renderer and didn't have a problem

            Then there was the time when closing a QuickTime subwindow would kill IE and close every browser window I had open... Got to a page with a QuickTime move, go back or close the window, loose all the surf sessions. It was annoying as fuck.

            And lots of other times it just didn't work. Id rather just not deal with it. What's wrong with MPEG? I'd rather have a 10% larger file or whatever then deal with all this crap

        • flamebait? (Score:1, Offtopic)

          by autopr0n ( 534291 )
          Yeh, okay...
        • Um no, let's clear a few things up:

          MPEG (1 I assume?) is capped at 352 by 240something. Plus its' compression isn't as good as modern codecs.

          Quicktime is not proprietary crap, it's actually very good for things such as movie trailers. Plus, it's both PC and Mac. Some of us artist types think that's important.

          Real's viewer stinks, which is a bummer since it has cool development tools, good bit per quality ratio and great a great servers olution.

          MS has a better viewer than Real, and is about the same on the other points I brought up.

          DivX is pretty cool but for mass market there aren't enough people with it installed.

          Bink is like MPEG2, and it's slow as heck to compress. But the quality is good, it can play back on slower computers, and it has some kick ass options for viewing like making it executable. (Which also makes people paranoid about viruses. Heh.)

          So no, MPEG1 does not 'make everybody happy'. Why you got a +1 for that I'll never know. Trust me, if it were that simple, they'd all be using it. However, every codec and viewer has their advantages.

          This is the sorta thing you become knowledgable about when you actually make videos.
          • Comment removed based on user account deletion
          • QuickTime is not proprietary crap, it's actually very good for things such as movie trailers. Plus, it's both PC and Mac. Some of us artist types think that's important.

            I know it's often used for movie trailers, much to my annoyance. But why exactly is it "quite good"? Because apple will provide free hosting? MPEG or MPEG4 would work just as well IMO.

            Look I don't care about what makes a video easy to 'make' I want something that will be easy to view on any computer. And the best bet for that right now is MPEG(no, the res is not capped).

            DivX is nice, but you can't really call it non-proprietary these days. The last release actualy included spyware...
      • Until a single codec comes along and wipes the others out in every single category, you're just going to have to deal with having a bunch of different players...

        Uh, this happened already, it's called DiVX;-) and is freely available to everyone. I don't know if it'll stream or not or what it takes to stream it if it will though.

        I guess you could always use a divx codec in a quicktime wrapper, leave it in an mpeg wrapper for those of us without macs.
        • DIVX ;-) kinda needs better audio/video syncronisation IMO
          • Might just be your slow box, you never know.

            To quote from the Linux User Top 10 Bad Sayings, "It works fine for me".
        • First of all, older versions of DiVX were hard to aquire and install. If you're a geek who wants to watch pirated moves, it's OK. But I wouldn't put up web content in it. I wouldn't think your average luser would know where to find it

          The fact that DiVX has gone propritary and even includes spyware (well, the last time I checked) dosn't help either. If you tell someone to 'download divx' they might just end up with that.
    • MPEGs are avaliable if you follow the link to the perl.com mirror

  • "Linux saved me from the blue screen" (Score:5, Interesting)

    by slugo3 ( 31204 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:23AM (#3963074)
    I propose linuxadvertising.org
    we could take donations from the community and make our own commercials. One could be about schools that made the switch to linux in fear of M$ audits and such. Ive always scoffed when people start talking about linux hasent lived up to this and isnt ready for that because linux is not a company but a little self promotion doesnt hurt :)

  • Apple gamers? (Score:5, Funny)

    by WildBeast ( 189336 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:25AM (#3963079) Journal
    Here's one about Apple Gamers, it's pretty funny.

    http://www.drunkgamers.com/switch0001.shtml
    • Hahaha!! that is sooooo true. I loved it when he mentioned the "Puzzle" game on the apple menu.... I actually thought of it before I watched the clip.

      I remember back in the grade school days when we thought Macs were the shit cause they had BreakOut/KnockOut on them. We would play that stupid, worthless game for hours! :-)
    • Maybe it's my gamma setting, but that dude almost looks as though he was computer generated!
    • Does anybody else find it funny that the file (yes, it's downloading) is a .mov? .... :)

  • It's a nice little irony... (Score:4, Funny)

    by bachelor3 ( 68410 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:28AM (#3963092)
    ...that all the movies on the site are in Quicktime, no?
    • Not as funny as the fact that they were edited with iMovie on an Apple notebook.

    • Not really (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Sycraft-fu ( 314770 )
      Just because you think the switch ads are retarded doesn't mean that you can't like Apple or their products. All of my friends that are Mac users think they switch ads are moronic, and somewhat insulted at being associated with the bunch of morons and blithering malcontents featured in them. That doesn't mean they still don't like their Macs, though, or that they are going to quit using/buying them.
  • I just clicked on the Vi one, and wouldn't you know it, its QUICKTIME --- so tell me how it is you 3 /. M$ users ?!?
  • When we have this [akamai.net]

  • ultimate switch parody (Score:5, Funny)

    by ceejayoz ( 567949 ) <cj@ceejayoz.com> on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:42AM (#3963127) Homepage Journal
    The ultimate "Switch" parody has to be this one [macboy.com] - one by Billy G. himself!

  • Scripts (Score:5, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 27, 2002 @12:44AM (#3963129)
    I took the time to type up the scripts because I thought they were funny. If you can download the videos, it's worth the wait and pain of using quicktime.

    ------------

    So when I started using linux, all the people were talking about was emacs. You know emacs, emacs, emacs!
    It does everything. I'd type in emacs, and I'd wait for it to load. I'd wait a really long time.
    And I mean, my pinky started to hurt. You know the ctrl-alt-meta-escape thing.
    So eventually my system administrator suggested that I try vi, so that other people could log into the machine.
    So, I tried out vi, and it was really fast, and it was really good, and I loved it.
    And my pinky stopped hurting. -- holds up hands, spells out VI -- Vee Eye
    vi/switch
    Chris DiBona, and I'm an editor for Slashdot.

    ------------

    I've been using python for years, to pretty much everything.
    And life was pretty good. And then my space bar broke... and then my tab key broke...
    So then I couldn't use Python anymore. So I had to switch programming languages.
    I work with Geeslin, Young, and Serrati. SO I picked perl, it seemed pretty natural. In fact, perl seemed natural.
    I mean, it did pretty much what I ment all of the time. Even if I didn't know what I ment.
    I mean, I get to macho code. I have job security, and I get to use all the keys on my keyboard... It's nice.
    perl.com/switch
    Hi, I'm David Asher, and I'm a developer for active state.

    ------------

    You know, I never thought that I would make the switch but,
    I've heard it was something that people did, and it was something that I wanted to try out.
    There's so much more room to grow, everything runs so much cooler, and I find it so much more intuitive.
    I have the freedom that I've always sort of wanted, and it fits my life sytle, just better... and I love it, I love it.
    boxers/switch
    Hi, my name is Ken Willaims, and I wear boxers.

    ------------

    Ahh... white space... Ohhh
    Byte code... byte code! I mean, it actually compiles to byte code.
    Guido van Rossen is just so much cooler then Larry.
    Larry Wall, what's that? 5.. 4.. 9 letters.
    Guido van Rossen, I mean, that's definately into the double digits.
    I mean, he's even longer than Larry. Wall, what kind of name is Wall? Now Rossen, that's a name!
    -- turns around and begins talking with his ass cheeks --
    This is my ass! My ass likes Python!
    -- ass talking -- Hahahahar, python good! nanannanananaaaa
    -- turns back around --
    Ohh, and then there's all the cool Monty Python jokes. Because I love monty python so-oo much.
    I mean, that dead knight guy who wouldn't die. Ohh... that kills me every time.
    I'm so sick of camels... what is it with camels? Camels in the desert, oasis...
    Yawn, yawn, yawn! I want a sexy, sleek... phallic?! Wait... excuse me.
    python.org/switch
    Nat Torkington, pron star

    ------------

    So my dad had this linux box that I used to use for programming assignments.
    I just like hacked all night using vi, gcc, perl, you know all that stuff.
    Window managers... desktop managers... editors...
    You had to be like a computer scientists, just to like even pick something.
    And that's why I switched to Windows XP.
    I mean, it's sooo much simpler. All my decisions have been made for me.
    There are only 3 color schemes to choose from!
    And really, if I want to pick colors, I'm going to paint my toe.
    You know, all that glittery stuff... glow in the dark...
    I mean there are just so many shades of pink.
    So right, XP, simple... it's easy for a girl to grok... or something.
    Sure, it crashes now and thing, but you know, you just push the, you know, button thinggy.
    I mean, you know the one, the button thingy.
    xp/switch.
    I'm Sarah Burcham, blog news

    ------------
  • Compared to some of the other ones posted in this thread, the O'Riley switch parodies really suck. You guys really need to learn how to adjust the audio and gamma...

    Using people who are not hideously ugly might help. Btw, was that chick pregnant or just fat?
    • Using people who are not hideously ugly might help. Btw, was that chick pregnant or just fat?

      I agree. The first thing we should judge anyone who intends to leave their house on should be physical beauty. No one cares if what your personality is like, or how skilled you are. If you aren't extraordinarly attractive, just stay inside.
      </sarcasm>
      • Dude, 5 minutes of hair, makeup, and wardrobe would have made these people presentable. It wouldn't have hurt if they practiced their little bits and actualy had something funny to say.
    • If you're talking about the Sarah one..have you had your eyes tested lately? :P

  • Apple controls the conversation (Score:4, Insightful)

    by burgburgburg ( 574866 ) <splisken06@@@email...com> on Saturday July 27, 2002 @01:15AM (#3963203)
    The sheer width and breadth of the Switch parodies just goes to show: Apple really does control the conversation. It has the mindshare.

    An article [yahoo.com] on Yahoo News today about Northgate's new "challenge" to Apple with their all-in-one computer/home multimedia machine [northgate.com] (Personally, I think it looks sort of a combo iMac/eMac ... an eiMac) was the latest example to my mind.

    Flat screens were unusual and esoteric. Apple makes them defacto with the iMac; now they are expected, necessary. MP3 players externally were the size of walkmen (and internally not much better then zip disks), connected via USB (if you were lucky) and were incredibly kludgy. Out comes the iPod; everyone is racing to remake/top them.

    I remember when the beige computer makers tried to reinvent their products with translucent plastic as if that was the key to the original iMac/G3s. I remember how desperate and sad Windows 1 - 3.1 were in their attempts to approach the simple elegance of the Mac OS. I remember how many Gnome/KDE Aqua themes were floating about (and still are, slightly under the radar) after OS X was unveiled.

    My point: however much Linux drives the geek masses forward in their open source quest, Apple is the internalized mental image that a majority of people hold when they think of the next step in computing. Not just civilians: examine the Aqua themed page that you're reading right now.

    (For every "too damn expensive, one button mouse" geek dismisser, I wonder how many are willing to admit that they drool at night at the thought of owning a TI Powerbook, and wish they could have back all the months it took them to try and configure their window manager to approach the functionality of Aqua out of the box).

    • Yeh okay... (Score:3, Insightful)

      by autopr0n ( 534291 )
      Maybe there are a lot of switch ads because people find them annoying and stupid?

      An article [yahoo.com] on Yahoo News today about Northgate's new "challenge" to Apple with their all-in-one computer/home multimedia machine [northgate.com] (Personally, I think it looks sort of a combo iMac/eMac ... an eiMac) was the latest example to my mind.

      Well of course you do. But to me, it just looks like any other 'all in one' PC. There's no rounded bulb like the old school imac/emac, there's no swivel stand like the new imacs. There are lots of

      MP3 players externally were the size of walkmen (and internally not much better then zip disks), connected via USB (if you were lucky) and were incredibly kludge. Out comes the iPod; everyone is racing to remake/top them.

      That's not true either. There were, and still are, a lot of mp3 players that were a lot smaller then the iPod, True all of the 'hard drive' mp3 players around were big and clunky, but not all mp3 players.

      Yeh, the iPod has a nice design, but it's hardly the end-all, be-all that Mac zealots seem to think it is. A nice refinement, but hardly revolutionary

      (For every "too damn expensive, one button mouse" geek dismisser, I wonder how many are willing to admit that they drool at night at the thought of owning a TI Powerbook, and wish they could have back all the months it took them to try and configure their window manager to approach the functionality of Aqua out of the box).

      No, my Sony Vaio SR is good enough for me, and smaller and lighter then an ibook with all the video editing capabilities (Firewire and all). And yes, it has more then two buttons.
      • Maybe there are a lot of switch ads because people find them annoying and stupid?

        There are a lot of annoying and stupid ads out there. Why are we all so fixated on Apple's? Why do these incredibly ordinary-looking people come across so, well, ugly and unskilled?

        My guess is because of Apple's place in the public's eye. People have been told again and again that only savvy paople and hard-core artists use Macs. Apple's new campaign is trying to dismantle the "artsy fartsy freak" image and show totally average people with all of their foibles.

        And I think the real reason people react so badly to the commercial is because most pictures of "real people" try to gloss over their blemishes. This one highlights them mercilessly. Not what you expect in an age of wardrobe departments, hair stylists and Photoshopping.

        After all, how many parodies of the flying XP users did we see mentioned on Slashdot?
    • I wonder how many are willing to admit that they drool at night at the thought of owning a TI Powerbook

      I probably would have gotten one years ago if TI [ti.com] really was the manufacturer (they used to make some of the best laptops on the market, and have experience in making things rugged from their decades as a defense contractor).

      As it is, I still want to get a Mac after I get another job, but I'm unsure whether to get a desktop or laptop right now. I could use a new laptop, but, I'm sorry, naming a laptop after the material it's made from is pretty funny, and smacks of conspicuous consumption. It's almost like an SUV with Greenpeace stickers, or a vegan leather dyke. Besides, if you stick to that convention, wouldn't you have a "recycled plastic emac" line, too? =)
      • apple does not use the monicker TiBook. They call it the PowerBook G4. it is the users that call it the TiBook.
        • apple does not use the monicker TiBook. They call it the PowerBook G4. it is the users that call it the TiBook.

          If the users call it "TiBook" or "Ti Book" or "Ti Powerbook," that's all fine by me. "Ti" is the proper abbreviation for titanium. However, when they say "TI Powerbook," they make it look like it's a TI product, and that's wrong. That's all I was really trying to say. =)

    • Re:Apple controls the conversation (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Sycraft-fu ( 314770 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @11:09AM (#3964201)
      No, I htink the real reason that Apple ad parodies are so common is because most people, PC or Mac user, find the ads insulting and pathetic. It is almost as if Apple found all the biggest bunch of morons and blithering malcontents they could and got them together as an attempt to show why to switch to Mac.

      This has not been the winning strategy some seem to think.

      PC users are offended because the ads are amazingly condecending and arrogant. Many Mac users are offended because they hate being associated with such a bunch of whiners and idiots. Well, some people then decide to have a little fun with it, and whip out a parody.

      I really think that this advertising campaign is by far the worst Apple has ever done and one of the worse ones I've seen. Their Think Different ads were cool, they made a statement (and were widely copied) without being insulting to either side. These seem to make a statement by being insulting to both sides.

      " wonder how many are willing to admit that they drool at night at the thought of owning a TI Powerbook, and wish they could have back all the months it took them to try and configure their window manager to approach the functionality of Aqua out of the box"

      Well with an attitude like that, you might just be a good candidate for a switch ad. You seem to be very self righetous about owning a Mac, and very ignorant of the computing population at large. Believe it or not many people use PCs because they really do work just as well or better than a Mac for them. I personally don't long to own any Mac products, my choice of a PC was an informed one and it works well for me. If a Mac works well for you, great, but take teh blinders off your eyes and stop assuming that everyone (or even most people) secretly wants a Mac.

  • apple.com/switch should become apple.com/wesue (Score:3, Informative)

    by Adrian Lopez ( 2615 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @01:23AM (#3963212) Homepage
    Speaking of Switch parodies, one of the reasons I refuse to switch over to Macs is Apple's disgustingly litigious attitude. This website [lickmysweaty.com] was forced by Apple's lawyers to take down their parody of the switch campaign, if there's any truth to the webmasters claims. I wonder how long these other parody sites will last.
    • This website [lickmysweaty.com] was forced by Apple's lawyers to take down their parody of the switch campaign

      If it's the one linked to slashdot that has linkmysweaty.com's name in it, it used an entire commerical of Apple's, instead of making their own. That's crossing a major line, legally.
  • After watching all of the switch ads [apple.com], especially this one [apple.com], maybe its time for me to switch?

    But I'm running kde3 now, and fancy UI effects don't impress me much [shania.net]. Add to that the organs I have to sell on the black market to afford some nice Apple hardware, and the interest doesn't seem justified.

  • The Blue Screen of Death (Score:3, Funny)

    by Malicious ( 567158 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @01:43AM (#3963255)
    This is one of my favorites, not because it's a parody, but because it's a brutalization of one of the origional Ads. Makes it more funny in my mind.
    It's also a WMV file

    *mild content warning*
    Punchbaby.com Apple Parody [punchbaby.com]

  • Using Macs. It's like Iceland [ubergeek.tv].

  • Oh, look (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Laplace ( 143876 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @02:10AM (#3963315)
    chrisd is posting it, and he is featured in one of the "funny" switch ads. how cute.

  • Bait and Switch (Score:4, Interesting)

    by KFury ( 19522 ) on Saturday July 27, 2002 @02:14AM (#3963322) Homepage
    Another parody [fury.com], combining 'switch' and the '.mac' debacle...

    Yeah, I know it's a self-link, but.. well... mod me down if it's not funny.

  • Well (Score:2)

    by The Cat ( 19816 )
    I'd say the ad campaign worked.
  • Pretty please? Somebody?
  • You made my saturday morning funny.
  • Man, I used to be a math major...

    You know, with all those, like, problems, and
    equations and stuff...

    Calc, linear algebra, advanced calc...

    Group theory...

    But then my GPA went down, so I switched to computer science!

    Now, all I have to do is get into protracted fights about obscure and ill-thought-out Notepad clones
    that have terminally silly keyboard shortcuts...

    Yeah. Like Emacs, vi....

    It's all so easy, and my profs are amazed that
    they have a student who pays attention!

    http://www.cs.mcgill.ca/switch

    Now I have an A+, and I go drinking every night!

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