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Editorial: Gulp By David Leishman dleishman@maccentral.com
“Wake up in the morning, there’s a snap around the place; Wake up in the morning, there’s a crackle in your face; Wake up in the morning, there’s a pop that really says: Rice Krispies for you…and you…and you.” — “Snap, Crackle, Pop” a mid-60s radio spot by The Rolling Stones
Advertising is a strange business. And while Mac fans have joked that 2004 won’t be like 1984, now it’s clear that it also won’t be like 1974, either.
Thirty years ago, Columbia Records ran an ad in music culture magazines that featured a racially diverse group of earnest looking college-age folks who were passing around what appeared to be a hand-rolled cigarette. The headline read: “The Man Can’t Bust Our Music.”
(At about the same time, Mick Jagger, lead singer of the Rolling Stones rock band, spoke to a BBC interviewer and exhorted distributors to “keep the price of bootleg records down!”)
Twenty years ago, of course, Apple’s Ridley Scott-directed “1984” commercial featured one courageous, determined woman who challenged and disrupted the dominating high priest of the “new world order.” And did it so memorably that the commercial’s praises are still being sung.
Now, Pepsi Cola and Apple have joined to offer a “music giveaway” of “100 million free songs” from the ITunes Music Store (ITMS). But since you have to buy a Pepsi (or a corporately-related beverage) with a winning bottle cap, this is a contest rather than a giveaway, and it’s not free at all.
The new campaign’s first ad, to run during Sunday’s Super bowl, features a cast of reformed teenagers — teeming with zits, braces, and infectious smiles — who used to download music illegally, but were sued by the Record Industry Association of America and now have seen the light. They’re still downloading music “for free,” but now they’re doing so through the good auspices of Pepsi and Apple.
Don’t misunderstand me; I’m glad these kids aren’t ripping off artists any more. But using them to highlight the reinvigoration of the “Apple-Pepsi connection,” which originally brought John Sculley to Apple and cost Steve Jobs his job, makes me shudder. I may not be a “teach the world to sing in perfect harmony” kinda guy, but I do like to look for the better side of my fellow beings, and misleading advertising isn’t found on that side.
As with the Stones’ spot quoted above, this ad dilutes the enthusiasm and honesty of youth. I, like many others, am left to ask: “Mr. Jobs, do you want to change the world or sell sugar water?” He in turn might ask: “Do you want faster Macs, cooler products, and a profitable Apple?”
Of course I do, but this Faustian bargain is hard to accept. After all, I’m a Mac user. Ah, advertising! I guess I’ll go pop the top of a Coke and enjoy the real thing.
Apple News
Apple launches iBook Logic Board Repair Program
Apple on Wednesday announced the iBook Logic Board Repair Extension Program to cover the repair or replacement of the logic board in specific iBook models manufactured between May 2002 and April 2003. The program is available for the following models: UV220XXXXXX to UV318XXXXXX, which includes the iBook (16 VRAM); iBook (14.1 LCD 16 VRAM); iBook (Opaque 16 VRAM); iBook (32 VRAM); and the iBook (14.1 LCD 32 VRAM).
Pepsi, Apple coordinate iTunes promotion
Apple releases January Security Update
Apple exec: iTunes Europe launch runs into hurdles
‘Apple Confidential 2.0’ hits the stands
Final approval granted for G3 Mac OS X settlement
Visit MacCentral’s Apple Hardware and Apple Software forums.
Hardware News
Canon debuts EOS-1D Mark II digital camera
Canon on Thursday introduced a new professional digital SLR camera, its EOS-1D Mark II, which will ship in April for US$4,499. It sports an 8.2 megapixel CMOS sensor, twice the resolution and buffer memory of the original EOS-1D, and it’s able to capture 8MP JPEG images at 8.5 frames per second in continuous bursts of 40 frames, or RAW images in continuous bursts of up to 20 frames.
NEC-Mitsubishi offers LCD1960NXi display
Mobility extends PowerBook, iBook power supplies
Nikon debuts new cameras, lens, speedlight
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Software News
Mac game company CEOs discuss piracy
CEOs from three leading Mac game publishers — MacSoft, Aspyr Media and MacPlay — participated in a MacCentral roundtable to discuss how piracy affects the Mac development community and to refute the most common arguments that pirates use to justify their actions.
Dantz offers Retrospect 6.0 backup software download
Discreet ships Mac Combustion 3
AirPort Software 3.3 available from Apple
Fix what ails your fonts with FontDoctor 6.0
New versions of QuarkXPress 6 XTensions from Badia
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Around the Web
Business Week highlights the Mac and interviews Steve Jobs
Business Week’s February 2 issue devotes its cover and three stories worth of ink inside ( cover story, Jobs interview, analysis ) to Macs, Apple and Steve Jobs. And the coverage is universally positive, going so far as to point out that “If Steve Jobs plays his cards right this time, Apple could end up with a big chunk of the digital-entertainment market.”
Virginia Tech moves supercomputer to Xserve G5
The Mac at 20: An Interview with Bruce Horn
Microsoft seeks XML-related patents
Elvis master recording tape to be cut up and sold
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