The ads are adapted from a near-identical American campaign – the only difference is the use of Mitchell and Webb. They are a logical choice in one sense (everyone likes them), but a curious choice in another, since they are best known for the television series Peep Show – probably the best sitcom of the past five years – in which Mitchell plays a repressed, neurotic underdog, and Webb plays a selfish, self-regarding poseur. So when you see the ads, you think, “PCs are a bit rubbish yet ultimately lovable, whereas Macs are just smug, preening tossers.” In other words, it is a devastatingly accurate campaign.

And Brooker ads: “I hate Macs. I have always hated Macs. I hate people who use Macs. I even hate people who don’t use Macs but sometimes wish they did. Macs are glorified Fisher-Price activity centres for adults; computers for scaredy cats too nervous to learn how proper computers work; computers for people who earnestly believe in feng shui.”

Here’s the rest of his article.

Remember Michael Keaton’s movie about a family who was forced to split himself into clones to fulfill all his obligations? Well, Apple ripped off that movie’s main idea for their new Get a Mac ad. In other words, Apple cloned “Multiplicity,” a movie about cloning.

The new Apple TV spot itself is a little baffling. Time Machine copies your hard drive every hour, but everyone who uses Leopard knows you’ll need an external backup for Time Machine.