The international language of Apple.

October 17, 2002 3:57 PM

The international language of Apple. The same music, the same look, the same clothes. The ads may be in Japanese, I may not understand a word, but if I didn't already own one, I'd feel compelled to Switch.
posted by blefr (46 comments total)

How do you say "bummer" in Japanese?
posted by matteo at 4:09 PM on October 17, 2002

Ugh I wish I hadn't.

The last Apple computer I had before I bought an iMac last year was an 80's issue MacPlus - the one with a screen the size of a postcard. Not a whole hell of a lot going on, but what it did, it did well. I used this until the early nineties. Since then I haven't had a personal computer, so I've used Windows at work and the computer labs at schools.

My iMac has been some kind of forced zen patience experiment. Even without third party software, the machine crashed like a mother. Getting Apple to cover parts under its one year hardware warranty was an exercise in customer service haggling and runaround the likes of which I've never seen.

I used to be a hard core Mac/Apple fan, particularly susceptible to the anti-Windows/Gates slant, but as a casual user and one who doesn't want to become a computer programer, I'm definitely switching to something else next time.
posted by birgitte at 4:13 PM on October 17, 2002

What? No Ellen Feiss analogue? Hmph.
posted by WolfDaddy at 4:15 PM on October 17, 2002

This FPP sounds like a switch ad.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!
posted by Stan Chin at 4:16 PM on October 17, 2002

Adfilter?
posted by UnReality at 4:19 PM on October 17, 2002

I love these ads. It's weird how some of the mannerisms are the same. They must have all been coached.
posted by perplexed at 4:19 PM on October 17, 2002

One review that's quite a rant I've gotten going there - probably should have left it at, 'I'm not happy with the iMac' and taken a deep breath.
posted by birgitte at 4:22 PM on October 17, 2002

There are only two women out of eight ads, which seems low, as I thought the american switch campaign was split about 50-50. How are women and computers viewed in japanese culture? I've got no idea if that ratio is normal or unfair.
posted by mathowie at 4:25 PM on October 17, 2002

(I meant the mannerisms compared to the American English versions. That one girl moves like Janie Porche)
posted by perplexed at 4:35 PM on October 17, 2002

I love these ads. It's weird how some of the mannerisms are the same. They must have all been coached

wait, between this, and the post the other day about the microsoft stock photo gaffe, i'm getting confused.

These people "switching" aren't real people -- right?

i mean, ellen feiss wasn't really "writing good paper", was she?
posted by fishfucker at 4:38 PM on October 17, 2002

The Apple switchers are real people. Microsoft's testimonials are created out of clipart and marketing bumpf.
posted by timeistight at 4:44 PM on October 17, 2002

The ads may be in Japanese, I may not understand a word, but if I didn't already own one, I'd feel compelled to Switch.

So, the mere image of some unknown peson, and the Apple logo, makes you want to go get one?

Sorry, but, what a sap.
posted by Ayn Marx at 4:51 PM on October 17, 2002

The Apple switchers are real people getting paid to expound upon the glories of Mac. The commercials are all full of crap. What I've learned from the Apple switch commercials is this:

• Apple computers do not need drivers
• Apple computers can easily create a fully funtional network despite having no inherent network services besides AppleTalk(and AppleShare) and no real security.
• Apple computers never crash (which I know is crap)
• Tony Hawk likes Apple. (I see they've got the experts on board.)

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Macs, I'm thinking about purchasing a PowerBook myself. I just think that being lied to in an Apple commercial is no different being lied to in any other advertisement. When Apple lies, people just don't want to see it for some reason.

On preview, what Ayn Marx said.
posted by eyeballkid at 5:01 PM on October 17, 2002

>i mean, ellen feiss wasn't
>really "writing good paper", was she?

Well now we'll never know.

damn /\/\1<rO$0f-|-!!
posted by holloway at 5:07 PM on October 17, 2002

There are only two women out of eight ads

And they don't even look stoned
posted by matteo at 5:07 PM on October 17, 2002

BTW, is it true that Macs come with Office X already installed, for no extra cost?

Because it would be crazy to first pay to switch hardware and OS, and the have to go spend at least another grand to replace all the software you're used to using.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:12 PM on October 17, 2002

I use a Mac because I'm too fucking lazy to find out how to configure a PC. My mac's gently undulating icons convince me that I'm running a computer and that I know what I'm doing. If I was smarter, more motivated, better funded, and more techno-friendly, I'd build my own box, set up my own network, configure my own UNIX, and broadcast pirate radio. And I'd sniff out some wireless internet too. All y'all wired-up people in the US and Japan can switch, but just leave us losers our Macs, kay? We're their real consumers, a target audience of idiots who like things done for us, and graphically so.

I am a mactard and I know it. *clap your hands*
posted by RJ Reynolds at 5:14 PM on October 17, 2002

How do you say "bummer" in Japanese?

The girl in green, Momoko Kikuchi, also a student, is the closest to Ellen in that group. Momoko was writing email to her friend in English on her previous computer when it froze up after she had written everything. (Used to happen th my Macs on occasion before OSX Jaguar.) I figured she was gonna unleash a string of slangy insults, but she didn't, just the angry sound like an exasperated sigh, which is universal.
posted by planetkyoto at 5:20 PM on October 17, 2002

We're their real consumers, a target audience of idiots who like things done for us, and graphically so.

Not for nothing, but the impression I get of the folks in those American Mac ads is that they are not the brightest bulbs in the pack.

There may be all sorts of good reasons to use a Mac, but selling it as the techno-equivalent of TV dinners and books on tape doesn't really grab me.

I have to figure all these people are AOL users, too.
posted by Ayn Marx at 5:28 PM on October 17, 2002

I've made the switch... to Commodore 64.
1 PRINT "AND THEY DON'T EVEN LOOK STONED"
2 GOTO 1
RUN
posted by eddydamascene at 5:45 PM on October 17, 2002

Oh, hell, I'll bite:

* Apple computers do not need drivers

At least you don't need to download them from vendors' Web sites and install them yourself.

* Apple computers can easily create a fully funtional network despite having no inherent network services besides AppleTalk(and AppleShare) and no real security.

Mac OS X includes FTP and Web servers, and makes Unix networking so simple even you could do it — and it's more secure out-of-the-box than most Linuxes. Shit, you don't even need wires! And by open-sourcing the Rendezvous auto-discovery code that's in the current version, Apple has made it possible for any group of computers to form a fully-functional network with no configuration. You know, once other OS vendors catch up.

* Apple computers never crash (which I know is crap)

My heavily-used old Powerbook hasn't crashed in a year — since the day I installed OS X.

* Tony Hawk likes Apple. (I see they've got the experts on board.)

Geez, he owns 50 percent of Birdhouse, the second largest skateboard and apparel company in the world, with annual sales over $10 million. Since my primary asset right now is a box of Kentucky Fried Chicken, I'll listen to any advice he wants to give me.
posted by nicwolff at 5:50 PM on October 17, 2002

Tony Hawk, to nicwolff: "Sell your chicken, buy a board and learn to shred, duuuuude."
posted by mr_crash_davis at 5:57 PM on October 17, 2002

I'm a pretty much 100% windows guy, so please don't accuse me of astroturfing, but - the people in the (American) 'switchers' ads are all real people - Mark Frauenfelder is one of 'em - and they weren't paid. I'm not going to be switching, but I think that's pretty cool.
posted by GriffX at 5:59 PM on October 17, 2002

At least you don't need to download them from vendors' Web sites and install them yourself.

Ah, yes, driver acquisition through osmosis. Where are Mac drivers then?

Apple has made it possible for any group of computers to form a fully-functional network with no configuration. You know, once other OS vendors catch up.

So now Mac has built in local security rights for files and directories like *nix or Windows? I didn't know that, or is that not true? I wasn't talking about FTP or Web. I was talking about a LAN, like our dopey friend in the switch commercial. Are you telling me that my I can advise an accounting firm to dump all of their XP clients and 2k servers and use Macs instead? Yeah, right.

My heavily-used old Powerbook hasn't crashed in a year — since the day I installed OS X.

And neither has my XP machine. My wife's Mac running OS9 however is another situation.
posted by eyeballkid at 6:05 PM on October 17, 2002

Mac OS X includes FTP and Web servers, and makes Unix networking so simple even you could do it ...

I could, but could RJ Reynolds? I think that's the point here.
posted by WolfDaddy at 6:05 PM on October 17, 2002

So now Mac has built in local security rights for files and directories like *nix or Windows?

eyeballkid, OS X is UNIX.
posted by D.C. at 7:39 PM on October 17, 2002

I know OSX is FreeBSD. I also don't think our e-z network friends in the switch ads are going to be using chmod. If it doesn't point and click, it doesn't happen. Not to mention the fact that, as far as I know, there is no Directory Service for Mac either. NDS? AD? Sure, I can set up a little peer to peer in my office and share files with minimal or no configuration. What makes that different than XP and APIPA?
posted by eyeballkid at 8:00 PM on October 17, 2002

Heh. Open Directory.

Okay. I'm down. Kick me.
posted by eyeballkid at 8:03 PM on October 17, 2002

eyeballkid: Where are Mac drivers then?

Mac peripherals connect via Firewire or USB, since those are standard on every Mac, and those drivers are part of OS X. PCMCIA drivers are built-in, &c. In general, you just don't have to go driver-hunting.

So now Mac has built in local security rights for files and directories like *nix or Windows?

Mac OS X is Unix (BSD to be exact). Of course it has drwxrwxrwx-style permission on files and directories. No, your accounting firm probably can't dump their Windows clients and servers, because the professional accounting tools are Windows-only; how sad for them. So when Apple does a "Switch" ad featuring the CTO of an accountancy, you can rightly scoff.
posted by nicwolff at 8:05 PM on October 17, 2002

if it isn't i/p battles it is mac/windows battles.
posted by birdherder at 8:07 PM on October 17, 2002

Jeez, eye, it's no fun schooling you if you're going to read ahead in the textbook and make teacher look stupid.

Yes, Open Directory is Apple's LDAP-based directory service, compatible with Microsoft's Active Directory and Kerberos, and which is integrated through OS X's Address Book with their mail and scheduling tools (which, unfortunately, aren't that good yet).

Gee, now I have this strange feeling we'll be seeing you in a "Switch" ad in a few months...
posted by nicwolff at 8:17 PM on October 17, 2002

Reading about Open Directory tonight, you may be right. Just tell me if I look stoned.
posted by eyeballkid at 8:21 PM on October 17, 2002

I have to figure all these people are AOL users, too.

Um, most internet users are, at least if you listen to AOL. So i would say if Apple wants to reach its target audience, Joe-i'm-sick-of-my-computer-crashing-schmoe, then they seem to have the right people in their campaign, don't they?
posted by schlaager at 8:22 PM on October 17, 2002

Oh, and of course OS X has elegantly simple point-and-click editing of permissions on files and directories.

eyeballkid, I assume it's easy to tell when you're stoned, since your whole body gets bloodshot. (Given your name I picture you like Eye 'N Eye, the submachinegun-toting Rastafarian eyeballs from Freaked.) You really will make an excellent "Switch" ad!
posted by nicwolff at 8:39 PM on October 17, 2002

I'm so embarrassed. I love the Switch ads so much, even though I'm violently anti-switching. I think it's so nice these people are so happy about their computers.

planetkyoto, thanks for your information about Momoko Kikuchi! I was so curious about that ad. She rocks.

And, wow. Webhero Ben Brown, among others, made a fake Switch ad, which plays the Django Reinhardt version of the song "Brazil" in the background! Woowoo!
posted by jennanemone at 8:50 PM on October 17, 2002

←
posted by holloway at 9:28 PM on October 17, 2002

*kicks eyeballkid*
posted by Yelling At Nothing at 10:08 PM on October 17, 2002

?

aha! of course. scratch everything i just said.
posted by jennanemone at 10:10 PM on October 17, 2002

though i loved ben brown's spoof, my favorite was always the drunk gamers switch ad.
posted by lotsofno at 10:51 PM on October 17, 2002

Okay, so sure, i've always found Asian women very attractive - but I think Momoko Kikuchi just became my personal Ellen Feiss. ;)
posted by djwudi at 11:21 PM on October 17, 2002

What's a driver?
posted by RJ Reynolds at 11:22 PM on October 17, 2002

Er, I wasn't being snarky. It was just a related link.
posted by holloway at 11:31 PM on October 17, 2002

I have to figure all these people are AOL users, too.

Not this guy.

if it isn't i/p battles it is mac/windows battles.

But these are fun!
posted by timeistight at 12:48 AM on October 18, 2002

heh, i didn't even notice holloway's link was to the post where i originally saw the drunk gamer's link...
posted by lotsofno at 12:50 AM on October 18, 2002

All I hear all day is Macs crashing around me. The MacHuggers I know vehemently defend their preference when, at the same time, they're usually returning something, fixing something or bumming about how they can't use certain internet programs because there's no Mac version.

I understand the loyalty to a product that did certain things first, but it seems like at some point you either go with the flow or become a weird curmudgeon. Like insisting on driving around a beat-up old car because it used to be superior in its day. I wish someone could really explain the MacHugger philosophy to me, I just don't get it.

On a lighter note, here's the Will Ferrell Switch ad!
posted by sparky at 9:13 AM on October 18, 2002

I am a long time Wintel user (since Windows 3.0), and I am finally very happy with the system I am running. XP is solid.

However, I find myself very intrigued by the Switch ads, cool hardware, and OS X...
maybe if apple ruled the world we would all wear black turtlenecks, seek out independent film festivals, and spend our days surfing metafilter while sipping $5 lattes; but I fear that if Microsoft devoured its competition with a product as inferior as Windows 3 or 3.1 (when decent apple and OS/2 os's were available) then nothing will dislodge them now that they actually have a great OS and I will have to remain here in the real world where I surf metafilter from a basement office in a mid-sized company, eating cold-cut sandwiches for lunch.
posted by canucklehead at 9:56 AM on October 18, 2002