pad wars continue



So back in 1984 Apple aired what is now seen by many as an iconic advert introducing the Mac to the world.



Fastforward 16 years to this years superbowl (where ad spots are reported to be achieving $3 million per 30 sec spot) and the folks at Motorola  Xoom have been less than subtle in referencing the earlier advert. Now however it's all those 'automaton white buds in year ears' folk who are brainwashed bar the independent Xoom user who is expressive and free in his actions and deeds.



The message here is that the Xoom product transcends group (sheep) identity and imbues the user with the 'power' to remove the white earbuds, go it alone and forge relationships and commit to actions that go beyong 'group thought'.

I have seen some online commentary that describes the reference to the earlier Apple ad as ironic, this I disagree with as it's only ironic to those who don't understand what the original commercial was about, i.e. the stifling of people's imaginations in order to lock them in to inferior products (the metaphor here being the propaganda used to prop up the inferior governance depicted in Orwell's book). Breaking the propaganda paves the way for superior products. Freedom here doesn't come from open systems, it comes from better systems.