We've gotten a few tips over the last 24 hours suggesting that 'Mac' -- actor Justin Long, of the I'm a Mac, I'm a PC ad campaign -- made a shopping trip to a Cupertino-area Best Buy and surprisingly, in a bit of a CLM, pooh-poohed the available Apple hardware:[Best Buy's John] Beck said that he showed Long a variety of machines, however he was not really interested in the products that Apple had. "He said that he's got a few of them at home, but doesn't really use them much. He said that you can't really get any good games for them and that he doesn't like the mouse since it only has one button. He also said that his started crashing a lot ever since he got the latest updates for iTunes."
Leaving aside the question of whether a Hollywood actor is clever enough to grok the Mighty Mouse's right-click capability or using Boot Camp for gaming, it just so happens that all the instances of this story lead back to this Joking Around blog post. Joking Around, which provides amusing fake news ("Making up the news -- because real news is boring!"), is not an actual news source. TUAW giggled at the "Closet PC User" story (although the one about Apple patenting the click is funnier) but in truth we have no idea what platform Mr. Long computes on. It's his business whether he is in fact a PC user or not -- and we think it best to let such personal secrets remain behind closed doors.
[Actually, we're pretty sure he uses a Mac -- but it's still his business]
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-25-2008 @ 5:06PM
RWhitney said...
Well, that was dumb.
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 5:30PM
jd said...
Fun story... however, living in Cupertino--I can tell you that none of the Best Buys in the area carry Macs. iPods--sure... but no Macs.
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 5:50PM
JK said...
Actually the one at Santana Row does now. In the back, 1st floor, with the PC hardware. There's a new Apple area with their iMac and laptops. Not sure when it showed up but it's there now.
4-26-2008 @ 7:32AM
Ed said...
Come on, who buys their macs at BB?
4-25-2008 @ 5:40PM
mentalsticks said...
And Hugh Laurie is not a doctor but a British comedian!
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 5:49PM
Steven Ametjan said...
I can't say what system Long uses, but I know that Jerry O'Connell is, or at least was a Mac person. I was in Apple Store on 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica waiting to get my hapless iPod fixed, and happened to be right behind him in line at the Genius Bar.
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 5:53PM
poormacuser said...
This is not only old news, this one has been out before, there was a previous article here as to what computers Justin did not use. None. Now he is a Mac user. http://www.tuaw.com/2006/08/14/justin-long-on-get-a-mac-ads-being-harassed/
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 5:54PM
slapppy said...
Errr, Drew will soon fix those Macs. I read that she's a proficient Mac user herself.
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 6:01PM
Mart said...
OTOH, John Hodgman (PC) is a confirmed and card-carrying Mac user.
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 6:06PM
Scott said...
PC (Hodgman) was on This American Life a while ago talking about a trip into a NYC Apple Store "to buy a cable" - so no real confirmation of Mac use, but makes it seem likely. Also, Boing Boing TV did a story on his new book where he is clearly writing on a Mac.
BTW, his description of the reaction when he entered the store: "General Store-wide Freakout."
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 6:18PM
Eleventeen said...
Hodgman is a well known Mac user. He's seen using a Mac on an episode of BBTV.
Here's a pic of him by Xeni Jardin:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/xeni/1835169012/
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 6:20PM
JohnPQ said...
I can't blame Justin. He really isn't an "A" list actor (more like C), so like most of us, he probably can’t afford a Mac Pro. It's a shame that Apple doesn't make more headless Macs or pump the Mac mini to its full potential. See that Apple. You’re even losing the guy that plays a Mac in your commercials. It's sad!
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 6:29PM
Fred said...
Yeah, that's an intelligent observation, friend. Of course it has nothing to do with the story really past the point you're making that the guy who plays Mac is really a moron (if the story is true)
4-25-2008 @ 6:21PM
Chad Zeluff said...
Every movie i've ever seen Long in (oh wait, just the one where he forms his own college), he and all of his buddies use Macs.
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 6:31PM
Fred said...
Maybe this is the Justin Long from ten years ago? It showed up during the time machine commercial and is spouting all the old lame reasons to not get a Mac? Honestly, who gives a shit anyway. Hodgman is the star of those ads and "Mac" only spouts crap we already know and he's a pretty snarky douche about it too.
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 6:50PM
Howie Isaacks said...
Oh well. It's his business what he uses but, one would think that he has connections at Apple that would hook him up if he's having problems.
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 7:42PM
Ian said...
It does still drive me crazy that the laptops don't come with two buttons. Two-finger tap=right click is a poor substitute. It's been driving me nuts for years. Why in the world don't they just do it??
Mighty Mouse is also terrible, I gave it a month and threw it in a drawer, replacing it with a $15 3-button Logitech. Problem solved.
Reply
4-25-2008 @ 9:16PM
MikeP said...
You could always rest two fingers on the track pad then click the button for a "right" click. You already have on finger there, so it is not hard to drop a second one. Hope this helps.
A fun article BTW.
4-26-2008 @ 7:40AM
Ed said...
You don't have to click the button, tapping 2 fingers works fine. (Although I just found out that you can do it that way, too.) It feels much more natural to me than reaching down to find the right click button. If only the Boot Camp driver supported the 2-fingered tap.
4-25-2008 @ 9:30PM
Yuusharo said...
Is this really a big deal? I'm a mac user and let's face it, gaming on the mac sucks. Even with boot camp, a lesser-priced PC can run games far better than most of the computers on Apple's line. And the mighty mouse... well, what can I say about that POS?
The Mac vs PC ads are gold. Even Steve Jobs would be nuts to kill that campaign just because one of the actors owns a couple PCs as well as Macs. Shockingly, the two can co-exist with each other you know.
Reply