The Man in the Dirty Mac (Adverts) News Posted by Jonathan Capps on 24th July 2007, 11:57 Robert Llewellyn has done a series of Mac/PC parodies for Computer Warehouse! They’re not particularly funny being as most of the humour seems to come from the ‘look, it’s a man parodying those Apple adverts’ factor, but still. They’re also not helped by the fact that Robert is really just playing two Macs (a Mac does not become a PC just because it’s running Windows) who just end up agreeing with each other that some piece of software or service needs to be purchased from Computer Warehouse, which isn’t really a rich vein of comedy to start with. Oh well, I like it when they say “we’re cool”. That’s a good bit. Credit due to Andrew Ellard for spotting this.
This would be funny if he was doing it in the Kryten voice. And if it properly ripped the piss, but that’s not what they’re trying to do, in the end it’s still an advert. Though I think we’ll all agree that Bobby IS cool.
I can’t be the only one who was reminded of Craig’s Dildonics joke upon reading the title of this post.
Well, no, by using it for Robert, I could also get a Man in the Rubber Mask reference in. Layers, monkey, layers.
You say a Mac doesn’t become a ‘PC’ by installing Windows.. why not? All a Mac is now is a Intel PC, without Windows and a slightly different BIOS.
> You say a Mac doesn?t become a ?PC? by installing Windows.. why not? Why *would* a Mac become a PC by installing Windows, though? It doesn’t make any sense. > All a Mac is now is a Intel PC, without Windows and a slightly different BIOS. Is that really all it is, though? You don’t think Macs as pieces of hardware are defined by characteristics other than their processors? Macs certainly aren’t defined by what OS they’re currently running, and neither are PCs, which is what makes the whole ‘PC vs Mac’ thing so horribly simplistic and utterly wrong.
The term PC is used to mean ‘Computer running Microsoft Windows’ in the context of these adverts. When Apple talk about ‘PCs’ have viruses, they’re talking about Windows. The only difference between a Mac and a PC, that actually affects how stuff works, is the software. I have a Mac and a PC, they both run the same operating system and work identically. Okay, they have different hardware, and the Mac is fairly old, in that it has a PowerPC CPU, but they’re the same. You could have a Mac now, install Windows on it and get rid of OS X and have a nice looking Windows laptop. And when it has a virus, take it into the Apple Store and see what they do then.
> The term PC is used to mean ?Computer running Microsoft Windows? in the context of these adverts. Yes, I know. And I’m saying that’s a bollocks way to look at it. Using that logic what would you call a non-Apple produced computer running OSX? Or Linux? My only gripe is those adverts referring to Windows machines as PCs when actually they mean ‘Windows machines’ and should be saying so. that goes for the original Apple ads and this pile of shit Robert’s done.
Yes, I know. And I?m saying that?s a bollocks way to look at it. Using that logic what would you call a non-Apple produced computer running OSX? Or Linux? I tend to call PCs running Linux “Linux boxes” – just to save confusion. I do agree that in general PC is a misused term these days – although it all comes back to the age-old argument about how many people have to misuse a term before it *actually* becomes the new meaning, and how loads of words we use today are based on misunderstandings. It’s got to the point where these days I just don’t use the term, as it’s not clear what is meant. Mind you – I think there’s probably an argument here that when you’re talking specifically about Macs, then PC does take on a more specific usage – Windows PCs as opposed to Macs. I think that usage *is* entrenched, even if it’s based on at best inexplicit language. And seeing as “Hello, I’m a Windows PC” isn’t exactly snappy… well, I can see why they did it. But I can understand why it would annoy people too, even if it doesn’t me personally.
> (John) I think that usage *is* entrenched, even if it?s based on at best inexplicit language. That’s how I see it, too. > (El Cappo) they mean ?Windows machines? and should be saying so I’m not sure whether, outside of the technorati, anyone is upset about this usage. But what I am fairly sure of is that pretty much everyone else has no problem understanding what the ads say. And, in a world where several entrenched PC users have genuinely asked me “You’re selling a Mac? Hmm – but, they can’t do email and internet and stuff, can they?” I really have to say – comprehension first, finiky definitions later.
Wintel Box = Your standard Intel & Windoze based PC (this general term also includes PCs with other makes of processor) Linux Box = any computer based on any processor technology running linux natively, this can include x86 based PCs and Macs, PowerPC Macs and 68000 based machines. Unix Box = Machines such as Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics (SGI) machines that run their own closed source distribution of Unix (Solaris and Irix respectively) Intel Mac = The new Macs which use Intel x86 architecture, these can natively run MacOSX and any 32bit distribution of Windoze. PowerPC Mac = The previous generation of Macs using PowerPC RISC processors which always proved to be hundreds of times faster and more reliable than their contemporary Wintel counterparts. This is also why 2nd hand PowerPC based Macs retain much of their value, an 8 year old G3 powerbook runs in many ways better than a cheap new ?300 laptop. I generally find a large percentage of the anti-mac crowd have never been near one let alone actually sat and used one for a while. I should also point out that even though you can get OSX Tiger running on a normal ‘PC’ it runs like a bag of shit and will recognise little to none of your wintel based hardware.
We tend to use the term ‘GNU box’ here for any machine running GNU with the Linux kernel. This laptop dual boots between Debian (GNU/Linux) and Nexenta (GNU/OpenSolaris) – though, as the developers of GNU and the copyright holders of most the free software actively used in the world, we’re particularly careful about what we say.
