“You Look Exactly Like Linux”
If operating systems were cars, there are plenty of examples of what kind they would be, but what if the analogy were extended to people. What would they look like? One idea is to make the head of the company serve as a proxy.
Apple didn’t stray too far from this idea in choosing the actors for the “I’m a Mac / I’m a PC” commercials. After all, Steve Jobs dresses similarly to the young man playing the Mac when delivering his keynote speeches, and the actor playing the PC looks vaguely like Bill Gates. Most of the spoofs I’ve seen mine this same vein. But what about Linux? Only the series from TrueNuff TV includes Linux, and I enjoyed these the most. These ads highlight the message that Windows and OS X have much more in common as competing proprietary systems in contrast to Linux as the open-source “outsider.” Check out “Upgrading” to get a glimpse of their characterization of Linux and then “Security,” in which BSD is mistaken for Linux. “You look exactly like Linux.”
I’m also looking forward to seeing how “Mac” does today when Steve Jobs previews the next version of OS X at the WWDC. Hoping for a little proprietary excitement and maybe, just maybe, “one more thing.”