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Honest guy.

But really, who cares? And why is this news?

I don't even care if it's news or not, as long as it's not another fscking Zune article I'm happy.

i care. it is news to those not experiencing sour grapes.

If you want me to cook the meal, you should let me shop for the groceries.

I like cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese.

he thinks thier "tired" and need to end?

they are great, need more, each are a slap in the face to people that use windows on a daily basis, it's comedy gold

I agree with erk. And I hate Jeff Bercovici

Justin isn't an English major, clearly.

"Justin isn't an English major, clearly."

and you are clearly an idiot.

pffft.

Some people subscribe to the theory that it doesn't matter what people are saying about you as long as they're talking about you. Can't say that I entirely agree, but it IS interesting how much buzz these ads have generated. Can't say that about every big-name ad campaign for sure.

I do wonder, along with many other Apple supporters, why Apple doesn't at least show their products in their advertising (a 1.5 second flash of iMac at the end of a one-minute commercial does not qualify as showing the product); but on the other hand, Apple seems to be opening an Apple Store smack dab in the middle of every big shopping district on the planet, and their stores (every one I've been in, at least) are always mobbed with potential customers.

So Apple is not exactly hiding their products from potential customers; and if it's true that half of all store purchases are made by first-time Mac buyers, then it appears that Apple is really rolling and lots of tv advertising (regardless of the content) helps to keep the momentum going. Afterall, most people evidently are dumb enough to believe that something must be good if they see it on tv. Whatever.

The whole ad campaign is really very well conceived and executed, ihmo. These smart little vingettes quickly illustrate significant aspects of the Mac/PC contrast circumstance in easily recognizable contexts of familiar user experiences. Long looks just fine in his present incarnation and I would surmise that his character has plenty of room for future embellishment.

Am I missing something?

Great news! The ads work and Apple is getting their money's worth with Justin.

So much for rumors.

OK, the Justin Long site has gotten overwhelmed and the link the to thread no longer works. They put his posts up on the home page instead. New URL for Justin Long's comments about still being a 'Mac'.

hi. i'm justin long and i'm annoying and i make it seem that all mac users are dopey.

Since I never knew who this guy was before the ad campaign started... I'd like to know how in the hell I can get a job like that. Easy to do.. get paid well for it. Even Justin seems to get that he's overpaid. I may not be an 'actor' but gimme a break. These short, short scripts are not exactly rocket science. And I'm thinking fresh faces would not hurt (for the Mac) - let's keep John as the PC.

...and just to stop any future rumors by Microsoft, Justin is NOT planning on buying a Zune.

Gee where did all the fly-by-night Machead critics go who were saying in the last few days that Justin Long was an unfunny, "hoodie-wearing" punk and good riddance? Looks like their criticism had nothing to do with Long: anyone who breaks with the Mac "body", is not of the body and must be destroyed. As soon as it is confirmed that it was only a rumour and they are still of the body after all, then everything's okay again, right? Hypocrites, meet mirror.

Plain common-sense truths that people whose minds have not been twisted by what they use to type with readily understand:

* Justin Long ("I'm a Mac") appears to be a genuinely cool laidback guy in the style of the current youth culture. This is true of his character in the ads and is probably also true of his own personality. Something wrong with that? Anyone who suggests there is has got to be grinding an ax of some kind.

* John Hodgman ("I'm a PC") appears to be a complete idiot in the commercial, but in a fairly funny way that shows him to be a good comedian and therefore, very likely, also a cool guy. Was anyone expecting something different? Why is this a big story? Did anyone really expect them to go out and find a genuine PC user who is also genuinely dorky and entrenched and makes the requisite point for the commercial. Even if they found such a person with good comedic skills, why would he agree to shill for the Mac? Of course Hodgman is a Mac user! Thus his appearance ... in a Mac commercial! And yet we are endlessly fascinated with the idea that the 'PC guy' is a Mac user. Cute. Meaningless.

* Hodgman and Long are an impromptu stand-up team. Long is the straight guy. If he tried to be as funny as Hodgman, it wouldn't work, because that's not the way that kind of comedy works. Long deserves respect for graciously playing the right role for the work and not putting his ego front and centre. These are basic things about entertainment that pretty much anyone knows. Why do tech critics suddenly become entertainment idiots, below even the average human understanding of the difference between an actor and the role they're playing, or of the way stand-up comedy works? Again, because they have an axe to grind.

Is there a day coming when all us readers can stop pretending to be idiots so we can receive messages we want to hear from people who assume we don't care and won't notice that they have ignored reality for a headline.

What a relief! I can go on living again.

Justin Long says he has not stopped doing Apple ‘Get a Mac’ ads

Does anyone besides hardcore Mac geeks care?

Does anyone besides hardcore Mac geeks even notice the ads, much less WATCH them?

Does anyone get the pointlessness of these ads appealing to only hardcore Mac geeks?

It's amazing that the hip-culture iPod spots are for the same Apple as the snide, boring "Get a Mac" ads. If I were a PC user I'd be more insulted by Apple than curious in Mac.

Steve J, the "Get a Mac" ads have the creativity and quality of something from Microsoft. Both Apple and yourself can do far better.

Wanted everyone to know that Justin Long just updated his statement on his home page.

He removed the parts about Apple paying him too much money, cleaned up the formatting/readability a bit, and condensed his statement about him continuing to do Mac ads.

Also he talks a lot about his movies, including working with Bruce Willis in the new Die Hard 4 film he is currently shooting.