Few people are questioning the direction of Apple's new "Think Different" snail ad (at least judging by the press coverage, as well as the AtAT viewers who have responded to our survey so far). Everyone seems to think that hard-hitting, factual, product-based comparisons are exactly what Apple needs right now (and has needed for years). And that "everyone" includes Apple prophet Don Crabb, whose reaction to the snail ad is posted in his weekly column over at MacCentral.

Don's take on things isn't much different from the responses we've seen from AtAT viewers as a whole. Macs are faster, and it's about time that Apple finally started telling people that. Now if Apple will only continue telling people about other Mac advantages, there's a chance that people outside of the current Mac community might start buying Macs. According to a recent piece on Mac OS Rumors, the snail ad is just the first in a series of three product-based commercials that Apple recently completed, so hopefully we'll soon see more of the same.

Here's an interesting little fact for you all that really put things in perspective for us: after the first day of our Snail Ad Survey, we did a little analysis of the comments that faithful AtAT viewers had been contributing. Several responses included the phrase "It's about time!" and variants, so we did a count. Turns out 18% of those who responded said "about time," "about freakin' time," "about <expletive deleted> time," etc. Hopefully Apple will take the hint that these hard-hitting, highly-visible product ads are long overdue.

Now that the-company-formerly-known-as-Claris has cast off all products but its cornerstone database and re-emerged as Filemaker, Inc., We at AtAT were wondering what its first move would be. A promise to fix the lingering bugs in Filemaker Pro? A commitment to make the engine threaded for improved performance? Maybe an announcement that it would finally be adding the SQL or ODBC hooks that developers have been begging for since time immemorial, which would allow the elegant and flexible Filemaker interface to serve as a front end for large corporate Oracle databases and the like? Nope. According to a press release, Filemaker, Inc.'s giving us a coffee mug instead.

That's right-- during Filemaker's "Work Like a Pro" promotion, purchasers of Filemaker Pro are entitled to receive a free gift, like a "stainless steel coffee tumbler valued at $30." Hey, Filemaker, we've got all the mugs we need; can we trade in the yuppieware tumbler for conditional value lists, dynamically-sortable portals, and event-triggered scripting?

Now don't get us wrong-- we like coffee mugs. ("I believe in coffee, coffee for everyone.") In fact, the free Claris travel mugs we scored at the last MacWorld Expo in Boston are a lifesaver during the morning commute, and tasteful as well (and now, probably collector's items, too, given the reorg). And a stainless steel coffee tumbler sounds even nicer. But we sincerely hope that Filemaker, Inc. plans to fix the many shortcomings of its database product, so that more people can enjoy its numerous-- and wonderful-- strengths.

We had to share this with you: Faithful viewer Brian Boyars of TIGCMUMUG (the Insanely Great Carnegie Mellon University Macintosh Users' Group) told us about a fence at his university that is frequently painted to advertise "events and other random stuff." Well, on January 24th, 1998 (the fourteenth anniversary of the Mac) his users' group painted the fence with the six colors of Apple, complete with a "Think Different" tag and a nearby trashcan labeled "Intel Inside." Check out the photos here, but be warned that the load time is long.

Not only did we find this a somewhat touching (if strange) tribute to our computer of choice, but also it got the gears turning about guerrilla advocacy techniques. Let's take, for instance, the entirely hypothetical scenario in which there were AtAT viewers zealous enough about the magic of the Mac that they'd commit, say, misdemeanors to further Apple's cause. In this entirely hypothetical world, wouldn't it be interesting if six-color Apple logos started springing up all over the place, rendered in spray-paint on the sides of buildings? Or, say, right over the bunnymen on a Pentium II billboard? Picture, if you will, the smiling Mac OS logo stenciled under the "Where Do You Want To Go Today?" slogan on a subway-posted Microsoft ad...

...Of course, AtAT doesn't condone graffiti for any purpose. But it's a neat thought. And the nondestructive version of this tactic-- tricking out the Win95 systems at the local computer store/cybercafe/public library/college cluster with wallpaper that says "I wish I were a Mac"-- might be just as fun.