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Author	Topic: Stupid Computer Sightings
Zwilnik Assimilated Posts: 399 From: London, UK Registered: Dec 2000	posted July 15, 2002 13:26 Several of the Mac magazines regularly run articles on 'Mac Sightings' in TV, Film and the press. It seems to be a mostly Mac thing, but I'd like to open it up to all platforms by 'adjusting' the parameters a little. i.e What's the most stupid placement or usage of a computer in TV, film, press etc. that you've seen recently ? (I'm looking for dum ad men stuff here rather than 'the XP adds suck'). Recently in the UK there have been ads for the Audi TT sportscar, showing various shots of the designer tripping out to Jimmy Hendrix while designing the car (tagline 'Designed under the influence of Hendrix'). Nice little ad, except... The designer is using a G4 Cube (so far so good) and it looks like (can't be certain, it's a fleeting shot), just looks like he's got either a book or an external hard drive sitting on the top of the Cube! As most Mac users can tell you, the top of the Cube is where all the hot stuff comes out from the convection cooling, and if you put anything on top of it, you'll have a G4 Puddle in a very short time. If Audi's designers are off their heads enough to do that with their Cubes then I'd hate to think how unsafe the car is. Silly ad men! ok, over to the rest of you geeks. what's the funniest/silliest you've seen ? IP: Logged
littlefish Super Geek Posts: 100 From: Edinburgh, UK Registered: Nov 2001	posted July 16, 2002 01:36 I remember in a film- can't remember although I think it might have been Mission Impossible 2, a scene with a gunfight where after about 5 minutes of heavy machine gun fire between two sides, the only thing left standing pristine in the middle was a G4 tower. (speaking of which-check this out) http://www.intuitor.com/moviephysics/mpmain.html#mac10 Also, despite the heavy dell influence with swordfish, when they needed a tasty keyboard, they used a mac one. IP: Logged
ilovemydualg4 Assimilated Posts: 373 From: GASP THE 3RD DIMMENSION Registered: Mar 2002	posted July 16, 2002 03:18 Infomercial for that damn little pen camera. digital still/video. it is sitting on top of a monitor which clearly has mac os projected onto it, but doesn't support macs...... ------------------ my geek code Hazards: "There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty, miss that, though, and you're pretty much doomed." IP: Logged
Minsc Geek Apprentice Posts: 48 From: The mist-veiled mountains where the butt-kicking denizens of goodness dwell Registered: Apr 2002	posted July 16, 2002 13:28 There was this Michael Douglas/ Demi Moore movie way back when where he was suing because she fired him after he wouldn't continue doing the wild thing with her. Anyhoo- there was this whole thing with a "VR" environment that their company developed that would allow for multiple real-time users each with their own life-sized avatar which was completely photo-realistic and accurate in it's likeness of them. So what did they use this astounding technology for? A VIRTUAL RECORDS ROOM. That's right, you could strap on the gear and walk into the room and open up a virtual folder to read a virtual document. Friggin' morons. ------------------ You and Boo and I... Hamsters and Rangers everywhere! Rejoice! IP: Logged
g026r Newbie Larva Posts: 4 From: Registered: Jul 2002	posted July 16, 2002 15:00 quote: Originally posted by Minsc: There was this Michael Douglas/ Demi Moore movie way back when where he was suing because she fired him after he wouldn't continue doing the wild thing with her. Anyhoo- there was this whole thing with a "VR" environment that their company developed that would allow for multiple real-time users each with their own life-sized avatar which was completely photo-realistic and accurate in it's likeness of them. So what did they use this astounding technology for? A VIRTUAL RECORDS ROOM. That's right, you could strap on the gear and walk into the room and open up a virtual folder to read a virtual document. Friggin' morons. You know what, that sounds like Disclosure (I know there was a movie, just not sure who was in it...) In which case, the Michael Crichton novel it was based on should be considered the source of that lovely bit of VR silliness, as I seem to remember it being pretty much the same idea in the book. (The "you log on and go into a virtual records room" thingy) IP: Logged
+Andrew Alpha Geek Posts: 260 From: Boston, MA, USA Registered: Aug 2001	posted July 16, 2002 15:55 For some reason, magazine ad artists love slapping MacOS screenshots on photos of PC laptops. Looks damn silly, since it's obviously fake. IP: Logged
Bregalad Alpha Geek Posts: 316 From: Vancouver, BC, Canada Registered: Jan 2002	posted July 16, 2002 16:46 quote: Originally posted by +Andrew: For some reason, magazine ad artists love slapping MacOS screenshots on photos of PC laptops. Looks damn silly, since it's obviously fake. I agree it looks silly, but the reasons for it are obvious. Most publishers use Macs so the screen shots will come from one. Ad that to a stock photo and you've got a virtual Mac in your ad. I haven't seen any dumb computer placements lately, but I have seen some weird commericals from Telus that feature Mac equipment being used by domestic pets and wild animals. IP: Logged
rw Super Geek Posts: 250 From: Kirkland, Wash. (US of A) Registered: Nov 2000	posted July 17, 2002 06:25 There was some movie with Sandra Bulloch ("The Net", or some such title) where all the good guys used Macs and all the bad guys used PCs. A little overdone for product placement, I thought, but it cracked me up. Of course, only Mac-heads notice these things anyway, so it never does Apple any good (or, hopefully, any bad). I also loved the way the X-Files flip-flopped. One week, everybody in the FBI used Mac, next week everybody used a PC. I guess it's a security thing -- each week FBI employees all completely destroy their computers and get new ones. IP: Logged
GameMaster Highlie Posts: 523 From: State of insanity Registered: Mar 2002	posted July 17, 2002 06:53 It's not a computer, but a PDA (Sharp OZ750?) was on VIP, and they showed it doing things that it can't possible do... I was laughing because I have one, and it is basically a toy, and the show gave it the power of a miniature computer IP: Logged
Zwilnik Assimilated Posts: 399 From: London, UK Registered: Dec 2000	posted July 17, 2002 06:53 I was quite impressed with the product placement on Blade. All the rich and evil vampires had new Macs, while Blade and his underfunded sidekick were making do with old Macs. Nice touch of 'realism'. IP: Logged
Super Flippy Super Geek Posts: 172 From: South Carolina Registered: Jan 2002	posted July 17, 2002 12:42 We get the "Hold Everything" catalog, which sells a lot of decorative computer desks. Occasionally, they'll show a photo of a desk with a cinema display and mouse on top, no CPU. Sometimes, they show an old iMac or Gateway Profile, but they always remove all the cords! Apparently, these desks come with a built-in wireless power supply . IP: Logged
Minsc Geek Apprentice Posts: 48 From: The mist-veiled mountains where the butt-kicking denizens of goodness dwell Registered: Apr 2002	posted July 18, 2002 06:40 Here's a stupid one for you... I saw a laptop on my bosses desk! ------------------ You and Boo and I... Hamsters and Rangers everywhere! Rejoice! IP: Logged

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