He’s begging for attention.
Screenshot by ZDNet
There you were rejoicing at the return of the signature Apple chime.
Or perhaps you were marveling at the adroit power of Apple’s new M1 chip.
However, after Tim Cook had said his goodbyes, the Silicon chipped Apple event was over and the Apple logo had resumed its shine, Bill Gates appeared.
Well, not the man himself, but his embodiment in actor John Hodgman.
Those who regularly vape may not remember Apple’s superb, utterly insulting — to Microsoft — ad campaign called “Get A Mac.”
Hodgman was the poorly dressed, slightly greasy embodiment of the PC geek, juxtaposed with the relaxed cool of Justin Long’s Apple.
On Tuesday, there was Hodgman again. A little older, a little greasier.
“One more thing. Hi!,” he began.
Oh.
He continued: “I’m a PC. Is there time for questions because I have one? Why, why, why make all these advancements?”
Well, to sell more computers, John.
“Oh, you’re so quiet now,” said Hodgman, referring to Apple’s very welcome removal of the fan in its new laptops.
What’s the big deal? PCs are machines. Machines are supposed to make noises. That’s why Apple brought back its chime, right?
As for longer battery life, Hodgman’s solution is to simply plug in your machine.
Finally, he attempted to show how fast PCs still are. By standing still and waving his arms.
He was out of breath. “My battery’s drained. I gotta go plug in,” he explained.
This wasn’t exactly the funniest example of Apple’s Hodgman-based art. Some might have even found it a touch strained. Yet it’s still a homage to the rise of Macs and the stumblings of the PC.
Why, not so long ago I asked a Best Buy salesman what the best Windows laptop was and he pointed me to a MacBook.
It’s curious that Apple would want to suddenly twist its knife into PCs after spending quite a long time not bothering. In recent years, Microsoft has chosen to mock Apple a little more often.
I suppose, though, that in our remote times, Apple wanted to raise a chuckle. And, for those who stayed beyond the logo, Cupertino managed that. Just.