Novell releases Get a Mac spoofs
Apple's Get a Mac ads have inarguably struck a chord with both the advertising and our culture. People clearly either love 'em, hate 'em or wanna spoof 'em, and one only needs to comb our archives or check YouTube to see what we mean. Recently, Novell (yea, the Linux guys) tossed their hand into the mix with their own spoofs which debuted at their BrainShare conference (which you can attend virtually). The first video, linked here at YouTube, plays off the Win/Mac rivalry and pokes fun at how the industry often ignores Linux and its surprising (to some) user base size. The second video, embedded in this post, is arguably funnier, as it does a great job of poking fun at the way Microsoft and Apple market their products while pointing out open source software's advantage of being a community effort. They're both good for a chuckle and a nice effort from Novell, or whoever actually put them together.
Thanks, geezer.
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Bambino said 3:56PM on 4-08-2007
I'm sorry to be a bit close minded but I don't get them... maybe it's just me today.
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Johnny Thrash said 12:41PM on 3-22-2007
Pleather! LOL... ROFL
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spencermc said 1:23PM on 3-22-2007
Lame. Everyone knows it's really like this:
http://fuhrerchan.be/ma/src/1157960476967.jpg
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dan1el said 1:06PM on 3-22-2007
as if the strong part of Linux is only that you can change GUI every other day....shouldn't be the argument.
I like that they choose a female for representing linux, they are hard to understand and configure too.
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Christopher Lloyd said 1:36PM on 3-22-2007
Ah Novell! Netware was my first love in network administration. Then I got a divorce and a restraining order. Even with amazing advances in Linux it's still not ready for prime time yet. This ad is a great example of how Novell has lost its way in recent years. I've watched it 3 times and still don't know what they're talking about.
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Wojtek said 1:26PM on 3-22-2007
@spencermc: I just wanted to add the very same photo... LOL
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MariusAZ said 1:31PM on 3-22-2007
This is lame. It's funny cause I don't seem to have any problems whatsoever running almost any *nix software on my Mac including KDE apps. I would consider Mac OS X to have a huge advantage over Novell considering you have the best of both worlds in one OS.
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Sarah said 3:16PM on 3-22-2007
I like that they choose a female for representing linux, they are hard to understand and configure too.
Yeah, because we also know it's just as easy to stereotype linux as it is women too!
/sarcasm
jees, any more sexist comments you want to drop dan1el?
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Mike Harris said 2:24PM on 3-22-2007
I like her saying "it might work on you" to the Mac: a nice tip of the hat to Mac OS X's Unix core.
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Thomas Deliduka said 1:54PM on 3-22-2007
Dude, did you notice that she is larger then them in the second video? It's like they filmed her separately to be more prominent.
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Alex said 2:18PM on 3-22-2007
This is the same novel which has special relationships with microsoft. They have no right to represent the Linux community.
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Michael said 1:56PM on 3-22-2007
Digg it
http://digg.com/apple/Novell_releases_Get_a_Mac_spoofs
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Ted said 1:56PM on 3-24-2007
"Even with amazing advances in Linux it's still not ready for prime time yet"
Neither is Windows, but that doesn't stop Microsoft from selling it... ;-)
Actually, as a 8-year Linux user, I can say that Linux was ready for prime-time when I started using it. Granted its not always user-friendly, but it is very programmer-friendly, customizable, and stable. Just the way I like it. :-D It is my desktop OS of choice and will stay that way until something better comes out. In the meantime, I use Windows as my arcade machine and Mac OS X for my laptop and creative endeavors.
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Erik Dasque said 2:54PM on 3-30-2007
Pretty funny when you know the two linux heads at Novell. Miguel de Icaza bought his wife an iBook because Mac OS X is what his better half, the average user can use. Also Nat Friedman loved his G5 tower but hated the fact that he couldn't do these things on the Linux desktop his team was creating.
This line of though pretty much drives the pair for most of the Linux desktop (Gnome) enhancements. Every feature is about besting the Mac or at least trying to do as well.
Thirdly, a similar spoof, focused on Microsoft with a LOTR background came out last year. Less than 6 months later Novell was in bed with Microsoft.
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mayo said 3:49PM on 3-22-2007
@thomas (8.) If you notice their feet, she actually stends in front of them.
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Aaron Davies said 4:16PM on 3-22-2007
i'd hit it
had to be said
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dylandigits said 5:12PM on 3-22-2007
@ #16: no, your sexist comment really didn't need to be said at all. wish you hadn't, in fact. thanks for taking the initiative, though.
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Peter Garner said 5:18PM on 3-22-2007
Is it just me, or does the girl bear a striking resemblance to Ellen Feiss?
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Garrick said 5:52PM on 3-22-2007
Yeah, i don't know about Novell Linux, but Novell GroupWise is craptastic!
We can't get it to talk to any other apps.
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Josh* said 7:21PM on 3-22-2007
I too would hit that!
Just to annoy dylandigits. Really, I didn't know it was sexist to divulge who you would or would not like to have sex with. Every day's a school day
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