John Hodgman returns to critique Apple Silicon advancements

Posted:
in General Discussion
John Hodgman, the co-star of Apple's popular "Get a Mac" ad campaign, returned during the company's Nov. 10 keynote to portray a PC criticizing the new Apple Silicon Macs.

Credit: Apple
Credit: Apple


The "Get a Mac" ad campaign featured Hodgman's PC character alongside Justin Long playing a Mac. Ad spots always opened with Long saying "Hello, I'm a Mac," and provided a contrast between the bumbling and uncool PC character and the casual and creative Mac.

"Why make all these advancements? What's the point?" the PC character asks.



"Oh, you're so quiet now. Look, I'm a machine. I'm proud of it," the PC says. "Longer battery life? Plug it in. Where you going? Just plug it in. Fast? I'm fast. I'm still fast. I still got it. I've always been there, I always will be."

Long's Mac character did not make an appearance in the video.

The popular "Get a Mac" ad campaign ran from 2006 and 2009. In 2010, Adweek declared it the best advertising campaign of the first decade of the 21st century.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Absolute genius. Intel has to be grinding its teeth over this. And if they try to retaliate by slowing down the supply chain it will just accelerate Apple’s transition plan. It’s lose-lose for Intel, no doubt about it.
    gregoriusmmagman1979flyingdpBeatsbshankdewmecornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 20
    And, boom. 
    magman1979Beatscornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 20
    I was LOL'ing so hard when I saw Apple bring him back for a encore reprisal of his old ad role, just priceless!

    And what a way to stick it to Intel! The M1 is their first, and probably entry-level SoC, and it's already poised to hand Intel's (and AMD's) ass(es) to them!

    Can't wait to see what the future holds for Apple!
    gregoriusmwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 20
    XedXed Posts: 2,860member
    That was a great inclusion and solidifies my hypothesis that Apple sees this as a way to get even more Windows users to switch to Mac.
    gregoriusmwatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 20
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    lkrupp said:
    Absolute genius. Intel has to be grinding its teeth over this. And if they try to retaliate by slowing down the supply chain it will just accelerate Apple’s transition plan. It’s lose-lose for Intel, no doubt about it.
    Intel is not going to do that. Their contract with Apple will include eye-watering penalties if they fail to deliver.

    No, their biggest problem is that others might look at what Apple is doing and start wondering if they can do the same with an ARM chip and Linux.
    edited November 2020 bshankwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 20
    Ironic how this is still relevant today. 

    flyingdpgregoriusmcornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 20
    elijahgelijahg Posts: 2,842member
    This was a great finish, the ads were hilarious at the time and no doubt were instrumental to many people switching 
    gregoriusmbshankwatto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 20
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    That was a fantastic finish!

    It's crazy how well a man can embody what the PC is perfectly.
    bshankStrangeDayscornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 20
    Rayz2016Rayz2016 Posts: 6,957member
    A great end to the beginning of the end of an era.
    bshankJapheyBeatsdewmeroundaboutnowcornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 20
    docno42docno42 Posts: 3,761member
    It was the ultimate one more thing.  Well played, Apple.  Well played!
    cornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 20
    lkrupp said:
    Absolute genius. Intel has to be grinding its teeth over this. And if they try to retaliate by slowing down the supply chain it will just accelerate Apple’s transition plan. It’s lose-lose for Intel, no doubt about it.
    Intel is not going to do that. Their contract with Apple will include eye-watering penalties if they fail to deliver.
    No, their biggest problem is that others might look at what Apple is doing and start wondering if they can do the same with an ARM chip and Linux.

    The problem with that is that none of the other PC makers have the volume to drive the development of the chips not to mention they don't have the design skills to make those ARM chips.

    watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 20
    auxioauxio Posts: 2,760member
    camber said:
    lkrupp said:
    Absolute genius. Intel has to be grinding its teeth over this. And if they try to retaliate by slowing down the supply chain it will just accelerate Apple’s transition plan. It’s lose-lose for Intel, no doubt about it.
    Intel is not going to do that. Their contract with Apple will include eye-watering penalties if they fail to deliver.
    No, their biggest problem is that others might look at what Apple is doing and start wondering if they can do the same with an ARM chip and Linux.

    The problem with that is that none of the other PC makers have the volume to drive the development of the chips not to mention they don't have the design skills to make those ARM chips.

    True for PC manufacturers, but care to wager on Samsung's next move?
    cornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 20
    BeatsBeats Posts: 3,073member
    auxio said:
    camber said:
    lkrupp said:
    Absolute genius. Intel has to be grinding its teeth over this. And if they try to retaliate by slowing down the supply chain it will just accelerate Apple’s transition plan. It’s lose-lose for Intel, no doubt about it.
    Intel is not going to do that. Their contract with Apple will include eye-watering penalties if they fail to deliver.
    No, their biggest problem is that others might look at what Apple is doing and start wondering if they can do the same with an ARM chip and Linux.

    The problem with that is that none of the other PC makers have the volume to drive the development of the chips not to mention they don't have the design skills to make those ARM chips.

    True for PC manufacturers, but care to wager on Samsung's next move?

    To make more knockoff Macs and mock Apple.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 20
    This was genius. Great to have him back. Made it worth watching!
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 20
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,132member
    I had the biggest smile on my face seeing the return of this character.  It would have been nice to see Long's character - maybe a younger-version as the new Apple Silicon version.  Such great memories with these commercials. :)
    dewmeanantksundaramcornchipwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 20
    No, their biggest problem is that others might look at what Apple is doing and start wondering if they can do the same with an ARM chip and Linux.
    Hahahaa.. still singing the "Linux FTW" song that for the last TWENTY years has failed to deliver on the "regular user" desktop?  Keep dreaming, troll.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    darkvaderdarkvader Posts: 1,146member
    Xed said:
    That was a great inclusion and solidifies my hypothesis that Apple sees this as a way to get even more Windows users to switch to Mac.

    At this point, with Apple's idiotic decision to do a pointless architecture change, they're going to be lucky if they don't have a LOT of Mac users switch to Windoze.
  • Reply 18 of 20
    darkvaderdarkvader Posts: 1,146member
    I was LOL'ing so hard when I saw Apple bring him back for a encore reprisal of his old ad role, just priceless!

    And what a way to stick it to Intel! The M1 is their first, and probably entry-level SoC, and it's already poised to hand Intel's (and AMD's) ass(es) to them!

    Can't wait to see what the future holds for Apple!

    Yeah, AMD is really running scared.  Oh, wait.  Not so much.


    Maybe instead of wasting effort on the slow M Mac silliness, Apple should have just come out with some Ryzen Macs.


  • Reply 19 of 20
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 8,004member
    camber said:
    lkrupp said:
    Absolute genius. Intel has to be grinding its teeth over this. And if they try to retaliate by slowing down the supply chain it will just accelerate Apple’s transition plan. It’s lose-lose for Intel, no doubt about it.
    Intel is not going to do that. Their contract with Apple will include eye-watering penalties if they fail to deliver.
    No, their biggest problem is that others might look at what Apple is doing and start wondering if they can do the same with an ARM chip and Linux.

    The problem with that is that none of the other PC makers have the volume to drive the development of the chips not to mention they don't have the design skills to make those ARM chips.

    Huawei has been running ARM based chips for years in servers/HPC/AI and even had plans for a desktop PC running a 7nm Kunpeng chip and UOS for the Chinese market.

    The problem with that plan has been the US sanctions (fabrication issues) but not volume, design skills or capacity.

    This was the original reference board they designed:

    https://e.huawei.com/en/products/servers/kunpeng/kunpeng-desktop-board
    edited March 2021
  • Reply 20 of 20
    XedXed Posts: 2,860member
    darkvader said:
    Xed said:
    That was a great inclusion and solidifies my hypothesis that Apple sees this as a way to get even more Windows users to switch to Mac.
    At this point, with Apple's idiotic decision to do a pointless architecture change, they're going to be lucky if they don't have a LOT of Mac users switch to Windoze.
    If you’re going to troll at least put a little effort into it.
    spheric
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