Justin Long is NOT Cool (think Dodgeball, think Herbie)… nor does he make us want to purchase an Apple (think “Get a Mac”). In a recent eMarketing MBA course at UC Berkeley, one graduate student even felt disrespected and offended by Apple’s ongoing advertisement campaign:

“The Get a Mac campaign is a current (2006–present) television advertising campaign created for Apple Inc. by TBWA\Media Arts Lab, the company’s advertising agency. Shown in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Japan, the ads in the campaign have become easily recognizable because each ad follows a standard simple template: against a minimalist all-white background, a man dressed in casual clothes introduces himself as a Mac running Mac OS X (“Hello, I’m a Mac.”), while a man in a more formal suit-and-tie combination introduces himself as a non-Macintosh personal computer running Microsoft Windows (“And I’m a PC.”). The two then act out a brief vignette in which the capabilities and attributes of Mac and PC are compared, with PC—characterized as formal, stuffy and overly concerned with work—often being frustrated by the more laid-back Mac’s abilities. Some recent ads have shifted focus away from comparing features of the computer systems to a more general comparison. The most recent ones, however, are mainly concerning Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows Vista.

The original American ads star actor Justin Long as the Mac and author and humorist John Hodgman as the non-Mac PC, and are directed by Phil Morrison.” Source: Wikipedia

What the controversial advertising campaign does teach us is that traditional advertising (television spots) mixed with Web 2.x (i.e. twitter), namely word-of-blog / type, creates a unique forum for bi-directional communication and dialogue. Check out these creative, yet clashing video advertisements courtesy YouTube:

“Hi, I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” Full TV Advertisements (15 total combined)

“I’m a PC” Full TV Advertisement

Laptop Hunters $2000 – Sheila gets an HP HDX – Full TV Advertisement

So who wins – Mac or PC? Or is it really, choosing your poison???

Yay!

Microsoft is offering a free download of Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC). Use Internet Explorer to download it – http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/download.aspx

This RC version will expire on June 1, 2010. However, starting on March 1, 2010, your PC will begin shutting down every two hours, effectively making it unusable (?).

Note, while a release candidate is considered a more stable version than a "Beta", this software should be used with caution:

"Information about Windows 7 is preliminary and subject to change. Some product features of Windows 7, such as the ability to watch and record live TV or navigation through the use of "touch," may require advanced or additional hardware. The features and functionality you find in the pre-release product may not appear in the final version of Windows 7. If we change the software before it’s released, we’ll change this information accordingly. We’re not making express or implied warranties with this information."

I’m not sure why people are so against Windows Vista; I have Windows Vista Ultimate installed on my laptop and love it!!! No blue screens, no frills, no problems.