Filed under: Cult of Mac

If you saw Thursday night's new episode of Matt Groening's Futurama on Comedy Central (and let's take a moment to relish those beautiful words, 'new episode of Futurama' -- mmm, yes), you got an earful of biting satire focused on the enthusiasm of a certain company's customers and their appetite for new, shiny things. As Engadget reported, the episode was unsparing in its portrayal of a world where underpaid laborers dealt with the toxic leavings of other planets' consumerist tendencies. Ouch.

Apparently, not everyone found it amusing. As Mac|Life's Roberto Baldwin noted, one of the clips from the show on the Comedy Central website has been selectively muted; when the Mom character says "Introducing the all-new eyePhone 2.0" in the original episode, now there is silence. Wouldn't you have liked to have been an eavesdropper on that phone call.

Thanks to everyone who sent this in.

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway: You gotta love Woz.

Apple's co-founder Steve Wozniak is well known for making himself extremely accessible to his fans and admirers. We're sure he can get his hands on any gizmo he wants. Despite this, he waits in lines and hangs out with fellow Apple fans.

When the iPad launched, Steve lined up for his tablet and in the process got to know Parth Dhebar, creator of Simple Reviews. Parth is a high school student and when he needed a ride to the iPhone 4 line, Woz picked him up. The pair joined the rest of the customers who were camping out, where Woz signed autographs, talked with fans and drove his Segway around the empty mall (does he go anywhere without that thing?).

Sounds like fun! Do you have an interesting line story or set of photos? Send them to our @ask_tuaw twitter stream. Thanks!

In a shocking turn of events, tonight's Jimmy Kimmel Live (12:05 am Eastern on ABC) will be an unexpectedly 'very special' episode. As seen in the clip below, and as reported on the show's Facebook page, a freak power outage took out the studio cameras and production control room on Monday night -- leaving Jimmy to improvise a camera setup using his MacBook Pro instead. The laptop was under a cover, but despite the frequent on-set practice of masking the logo, you can clearly see the glowing Apple through the case back. The show ran a rerun last night, but the laptop-live show will air tonight.

Ahem.

I hate to be the one to point this out... but Jimmy's network, ABC, is a Disney division. Disney, in turn, owns Pixar; naturally, Pixar's chairman sits on Disney's board and happens to be the largest single shareholder in the entertainment mega-conglomerate. Yes, folks, both Mickey Mouse and Jimmy Kimmel work for Steve Jobs, in a manner of speaking.

We already know that Mac plugs and Apple references are business as usual for Pixar (in fact, there's a flat panel iMac prominently featured in Toy Story 3)... could a Mac-saves-the-show stunt be extra publicity for a teensy Apple product launch this week? [See below -- looks like "no, it isn't."] Not that the iPhone 4 particularly needs the help.

We'll try to get an answer out of ABC's press relations team in the morning to determine whether this is a true story of comic ingenuity. or a very elaborate Apple ad. Update: True/Slant had a reporter at the show, and they did in fact start quite late after power problems; Kimmel was apparently in no mood for these shenanigans. The New York Times posted a brief interview with Kimmel where he said the stunt was not an Apple promotion; in fact, he was concerned Apple might take the whole thing the wrong way.

Good news, everyone! Cupidtino, the Mac dating site that we posted about a little while ago, has finally moved into open beta. Now anyone can go on over there, make a profile and start meeting Mac-minded single men or women looking for a partner. Anyone with a Mac, that is -- the site is only accessible via one of Apple's devices, of course. Once you set up a profile, you can add pictures, post about when you "became a Mac," add your list of gadgets, or go looking for the Mac nerd of your dreams. The pickings are pretty slim right now -- I found about 71 lovely ladies in my age range. Search is currently limited by country, as there probably aren't enough people on the service to get any more granular than that.

But the good news is that in my objective single male opinion, there were some good-looking Mac fans to find. If you happen to spot someone you think might be the "one more thing" of your life, you can "Mac her" (tamer than it sounds, basically a "poke"), send a message (free for now, the page says), or find the nearest Apple Store between the two of you, so you can meet up and make eyes at each other over the iPad table.

I don't know if we really need another dating site (unless you think being a Mac fan is a major dealmaker), but it is cute, and given what we know about Mac users, maybe we do really deserve each other. I set up my profile on the site -- if I happen to Command-F the girl of my dreams, I'll let you know.

PC vs. Mac flamewars are older than the web itself, but it seems like the more popular/successful Apple gets, the more heated the argument gets on both sides. Almost any debate about the relative merits of one platform or another is guaranteed to degenerate into an all-out shouting match.

In the midst of all the fighting and name calling, the oddest thing happens: almost every time, you'll see a lot of the same points being raised by both sides again and again. Some of these points are so tired and worn out, they've reached cliche status.

In online debates, there's an informal rule known as Godwin's Law, whereby if you invoke references or comparisons to Nazis or Hitler, you've automatically lost the debate. I say the items on this list have become so worn out they've reached automatic rhetorical failure status on their own. I know that every time I see one of these points appear, I immediately stop any serious consideration of any other arguments from the person who brought it up.

I'm focusing on Apple haters and their cliches for this article, but don't get the idea that Apple users aren't just as guilty of cliche-ridden arguments when they argue against using Windows. If, for example, you're an Apple user and you do any of these things:

-- Cite the Blue Screen of Death (or BSOD, as he's known to his closest friends) as a point against Windows
-- Insert a dollar sign into Microsoft's name (Micro$oft, M$)
-- Use "clever" alternate spellings of Windows (Windoze and other less family-friendly revisions)
-- Call Internet Explorer "Internet Exploder"

you're employing a heavily-cliched, Godwin-esque talking point, too.

Read on for the seven deadly cliches of anti-Mac attacks.

What happens when you tweet a silly off-the-cuff remark about wanting a Country/Objective-C song called "Retain My Heart (Or you might point to an invalid memory reference)"? Magic. That's what happens. Absolute weekend-ready magic!

Italian Mac aficionado and brilliant songsmith Andrea "Camillo Miller" Nepori jumped into my e-mail in-box and delivered exactly what I had asked for: a heartfelt country rendition of what has got to be one of the lamest geekiest puns I've ever made.

Nepori tells me that he recorded the music on his iPhone, adding a little reverb and compression in GarageBand before sending it on over to TUAW. A big round of public acclaim for the next biggest geek hit! Bravo! Download your own copy here (mp3) or listen to the embedded version in the continuation of this post.

The little Objective-Country pun? Thanks to Neil Twist.

Say it ain't so, Carrie!

Our friend Christina Warren reports over at Mashable that the second Sex and the City film is featuring product placements from Hewlett-Packard rather than from Apple, including an entire site dedicated to the movie.

As Christina points out, Carrie's Mac was practically its own character in the original Sex and the City TV series. The episodes were bookended by Carrie typing away on her PowerBook (a Pismo was mostly used). The laptop was the focus of its own episode when the motherboard fried and Carrie's boyfriend at the time tried to replace it with the first generation iBook, referring to it as a "purse."

At age 25, moving across the country from my family for the first time, Carrie and her PowerBook were both a comfort and a symbol of power to me. They represented the modern, independent female journalist and I wanted to be like her. Okay, so I could never have the hair or the figure, but I did scrape together $175 to buy a used G3 PowerBook off of Ebay. When I did my second cross-country move, this one solo, I recorded my journey on that PowerBook and was pleased with my inner Carrie.

The move by Sex and the City's producers appears to be motivated by HP's aggressive product placement program, and I'm sure that a good chunk of money was saved by having Carrie leap to Windows rather than upgrade to a 27" iMac and the latest MacBook Pro. It really is a shame, and I know I'll wince a little inside when I go see the movie. For me, Carrie Bradshaw will always be a Mac girl.

I'm surprised this hasn't happened sooner -- Cupidtino is a brand new site that promises to hook you up with a fellow Cult of Mac member for romantic entanglements. That's right -- they claim to be the first "Mac-inspired dating site," destined to bring single and like-minded Mac fans together. Trying to meet someone at the Genius Bars can be so expensive and time-consuming, and all of those boys and girls on OkCupid just don't get it when you try to explain why the Unibody MacBook is such a great step forward and why the iPad isn't just a big iPod touch. Enter Cupidtino -- the site was started up by three San Francisco tech developers, and while it's only in pre-launch mode right now, you can sign up for a closed beta (and don't worry, as one of TUAW's only available bachelors, I did -- let the hilarity ensue).

When you sign up, you're asked which Macs and Apple devices you own, and so far, those are the only qualifications. But if my potential lady friend owns an iMac, that should be good enough, right? I can already picture us, having a romantic dinner at some local Italian place, charming music playing in the background while we share a bottle of wine, talking quietly about our favorite customized Automator services. Ah, sweet romance!

[via TechCrunch]

In his latest post at AskTog.com, Bruce Tognazzini highlights the similarities between Steve Jobs's approach in bringing to market the original Macintosh, the iPhone, and now the iPad. For Tognazzini, known as "Tog" in computing circles, the success of these products is a byproduct of this approach. Like the original Mac, the original iPhone shipped with only a handful of apps. The iPhone also lacked common features on other smartphones, such as copy and paste, searching, MMS support, and contact search.

Also, like the original Mac, the iPhone was created by a very small group -- most of them young and driven -- who worked in an ultra secretive environment. The small team environment meant that some capabilities had to be left out of a first release in order to focus on the most important features. The tradeoff, however, produces a superior user experience instead of a "rambling labyrinth of disjointed features." The result was a core that could be built upon for years without the need to start from scratch.

While Tog doesn't mention it, this focused and "essential feature" mindset also serves a marketing function. It gets people talking. Think about how excited you were when an iPhone firmware upgrade presented you with something new, such as copy and paste. Remember, too, how much buzz this generated in the media and how Apple touted these features.

These highlights and more, including details on the decision to add arrow keys to the Mac, are detailed in Tog's post.

Bruce Tognazzini's knowledge of the Mac stems from his experience at Apple. During his 1978 to 1992 tenure at Apple as employee #66 (Steve Jobs is #0 and Steve Wozniak is #1), he founded the Apple Human Interface Group and acted as Apple's Human Interface Evangelist. He went on to work at Sun Microsystems, led the design of WebMD, and is currently a principal at the Nielsen Norman Group.

There's been much buzz these past couple of days around the leaked images and videos of the 4th generation iPhone. Despite the current hubbub, secrecy is at the heart of the Apple ethos, and it serves two primary purposes: to protect trade secrets, and to create a buzz. When products leak, it's like finding out about your own surprise party. Most of the fun is gone.

Hell hath no fury like Steve Jobs finding out about leaked Apple products. Over the past decade, Steve has had many reasons to unleash his anger about leaked products; let's take a look at the rogue's gallery.

There's something about Apple's products that just makes people want to cuddle them -- we've talked about lots and lots (and lots) of Apple products turned into pillow form. Here's another: Drew Olanoff's (from Blame Drew's Cancer) mother made this iPhone pillow for him while he was recovering from chemotherapy. It's handmade and super cute -- I especially like the stylish icons, including the textPlus icon, which is Drew's own iPhone app.

There's also a stitched Home button (which you can see in the full picture), and there's even a pocket on the side, sized just right for an actual iPhone of course. Awesome.

[via Unpluggd]

Have you ever wanted to eat Steve Jobs? On second thought, don't answer that.

Ken over at TheCooksDen has sculpted an edible Steve Jobs' head out of two blocks of mozzarella and some pepper. It's actually pretty impressive in a Hannibal Lecter kind of way. Ken, who admits he's a Mac fanboy and a foodie, thought that there was no better way to show his appreciation for his much-loved Apple products than to create a tasty sculpture in the form of Apple's venerable leader.

Well all right then.

He doesn't stop with just Steve's head either (as if you were worried about that). Ken offers three other recipes – all using Steve's head in some way – to show off your Apple gastronomy. The concoctions include the Apple Cheese Plate, the Spicy Steve Nachos Supreme, and my favorite, the iPad Thai. The full ingredients list and cooking instructions are on the site. So, what are you waiting for? Get cooking!

[TUAW is not responsible for any loss of lunch/nightmares incurred due to viewing the photo above. Yikes. -Ed.]

We've had more than a few inbound requests today, via email and Twitter, asking a slightly obsessive but completely understandable question: When can I pre-order my freakin' iPad?

True to form, the simple answer of "March 12th" is not adequate for the real early adopters, and they ask again: Yes, I know that, but what time can I push the button? When does the pre-order page go live on store.apple.com? Do I need to stay up all night, refreshing the page?

We understand. We know where you're coming from. We asked Apple PR to help you plan your day tomorrow, and they responded:

"Customers can pre-order online at apple.com at 5:30am Pacific time on Friday, March 12."

There you have it. 5:30 am PT, 8:30 am ET, and for those of you who happen to have US credit cards & shipping addresses but are currently elsewhere around the globe, here's the global clock. Now please have a nice cup of tea, sit down with a favorite book, and remember that it's still three more weeks until your new iPad hits your electrostatic digits.

If you happen to have gotten caught up in the phenomenon known as the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, then you know that the computer of choice for these world-class computer genius hackers is made by Apple. I screened the film version of the story, and MacBook Pros are visible throughout as the the tool used to solve mysteries. It's a good film as well, as far as taut thrillers from Sweden go. In fact, I found it a refreshing take on the thriller (with a little social commentary thrown in) and was unsurprised to find it was based on a highly-regarded novel.

The lead character, Lisbeth Salander, actually uses her MacBook Pro to hack into all manner of places, just as Macs have managed to appear in all sorts of movies. There's even a Flickr group dedicated to chronicling the appearance of them in film and TV. If you got a kick out of Hackers back in the day, Lisbeth will be a little familiar, but she's a nice modern spin on the "cool hacker" type.

TUAW is part of a "blog hunt" for clues to win prizes for the movie, and you can find out more on the next page...

It couldn't happen, they said. It wouldn't work, they warned. But gmjhowe over at Instructables did it anyway: he converted his old 1984 Macintosh into a machine that could run Snow Leopard. And he laid out some pretty good instructions on how to do so yourself. His two rules are as thus: don't hurt the old Mac in any way -- besides its value as a collector's item, the thing still looks great. And don't skimp on costs -- you could probably do it a little cheaper than he did, but why would you? This is a one-of-a-kind project, and he went all out.

Because of that, his instructions get a little technical (he actually replaced the innards rather than just trying to fit a Mac mini in there or something similarly easy). So this isn't a very good project for a first-timer for sure. But if you've got a little DIY experience, or just want to see what it looks like to take apart an old Mac and refill it with modern PC parts (he went Hackintosh on the OS), you should definitely check out his writeup. I wouldn't use the computer as a workstation any more -- because, come on now, who can really do any serious computing on a 9-inch screen? -- but as a music server or just a conversation piece, it's great.