Macworld/1984
Probably the best thing to come out of Steve Job’s keynote at Macworld 2004 - a modified version of the famous 1984 Macintosh ad. This ad was widely shown for the first time at the 1984 Superbowl. It was directed by Ridley Scott, and introduced the original Macintosh system. The ad is widely regarded as a classic, and was highly successful. It was named the “Commercial of the Decade” for the 1980s by Advertising Age. The ad shows how the Macintosh would free the people from the Big Borther.
The change made to the ad is that the runner carrying the sledgehammer now also carries an ipod (neat!).
On January 24th,
Apple Computer will introduce
Macintosh.
And you’ll see why 1984
won’t be like “1984″.
The $249 ipod mini was a disappointment though (with expectations high for a price more like $99). Most people would rather spend another $50 to get the 15G one. But then, no one has ever been able to explain Apple’s strategies. I guess I’ll just breakdown and get the 15G one… Wait a minute, maybe thats what Apple wants!
January 7th, 2004 at 4:29 pm
From an adweek.com 1998 article, http://www.adweek.com/aw/creative/top20_20years/top20_03.jsp
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“But the most often-made claim about the spot, that it only ran once, is a myth. It aired on a local station in Idaho in late 1983 and, after its 1984 Super Bowl premiere, the spot ran in the top 10 markets, in movie theaters and in West Palm Beach, Fla., the headquarters of IBM’s PC unit.”
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January 7th, 2004 at 8:51 pm
Thanks for pointing that. One more interesting piece of trivia is that the ad was aired once in December 1983 on a remote TV station in Idaho in the wee hours of the night (just before the TV station closed for the night). This was to make it eligible for any advertising awards of 1983, while ensuring that not many people got to see it before the superbowl.
January 8th, 2004 at 8:01 pm
Hi Ankit,
Got your website URL from a comment you had posted on my blog. Looks like we have pretty similar interests.
Have you read “From Pepsi to Apple”? It gives an amazing feel for what it was like working at Apple and yes, it does mention the 1984 AD..
I loved Memento and Pulp Fiction and am looking forward to watching 21 Grams and Requiem for a Dream. What is your take on Mulholland Drive and David Lynch?
And about Kill Bill, the visualization and the music were the only redeeming factors. TOI and others gave it 5 star rating for “Stylished Violence”. In my opinion, Gladiator was better if all you are interested in is gore.
But then, no two persons can have the same interpretation of a movie like Kill Bill. What someone likes, others may not like. Regardless of my views on Vol One, I have a feeling I will sneak in for the Vol Two screening.
Are you a fan of Sci-Fi and Fantasy genre? Who are the authors you read? I am dying to lay my hands on A Song of Fire and Ice.
Cheers,
Dhar
January 8th, 2004 at 8:40 pm
Sumit, Thanks for the comment.
I havent read “From Pepsi to Apple”. I’ll try to get it on my next visit to the library.
Mulholland Drive was a favourite of mine for a long time. I wrote a short essay on it back when I was trying to make sense of it - I’ll see if I can find it and post it here. Havent seen much more of Lynch (I’m trying to lay my hands on the complete “Twin Peaks”).
I’m not that heavily into sci-fi. Only the usual Asimov, Clarke, Tolkein stuff. A Song of Ice and Fire has been pre-empted by Selby’s amazing “Last Exit to Brooklyn” these days. Pretty heavy, dark and wierd - unlike anything I’ve read before - more on that later.