Remember Apple's famous 1984 commercial? That is one of the most brilliant TV commercials of all time, which isn't surprising- Ridley Scott directed it, and Chiat/Day produced it. It is a superb piece of filmmaking that still gives me chills, even in the lo-fi YouTube version.

And then the spell wears off, and I remember that Orwell was a prophet, and the athlete wearing the Apple shirt should have a penguin logo on it instead of the Macintosh logo.

It is often said that Linux and FOSS need some slick marketing. But do they? I think this is another example of wanting to copy the wrong things, like EULAs and activation keys. The popular Apple vs. PC commercials, so beloved of so many, to me are "Two Dweebs Meet." They deserve each other. Microsoft's Bill and Jerry commercials are clever and a radical departure from their traditional amazingly inept and stupid TV commercials (Lordamercy, what genius gave the OK to those pervy guys in blue butterfly suits?), but they're still advertising dung polish.

I think maybe we're doing fine down here in the grassroots.