There's no doubt about it-- the new "Bunnies" commercial is a smash hit, at least among AtAT viewers. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with only a few minor criticisms (such as, why not include the URL of the Apple site on the end screen with the "Think Different" slogan?). Nobody seems to doubt that Apple's really getting its money's worth with this ad. In fact, it's good enough to inspire isolated incidents of general lunacy. You may recall that in yesterday's episode, we facetiously suggested that you might want to call up some Wintel manufacturer's order line and innocently try to place an order for a system with a G3 processor, just to make 'em sweat. Little did we realize the lengths to which some AtAT viewers will go in order to waste a little time. Faithful viewer Dustin from Alaska had this to say:

Upon seeing the idea on your website today (3/12) I decided to call Dell. Punching in the number for "home and small business" I was immediately connected to a salesperson. I asked, "How much does it cost to get a computer with a G3 processor in it?" The salesperson answered, "I've never heard of the G3... What is that?" I said (acting innocent), "Well, I saw a commercial on TV last night for a computer that had a G3 processor that was twice as fast as a Pentium II. I know I want the fastest computer out there, so I thought I'd call Dell to see how much it would cost." The salesperson answered, "Well, we don't sell anything like that." I said thank you, and hung up the phone, barely able to contain my laughter. If Dell gets enough calls like this, perhaps even from people thinking that Dell might actually sell a G3, public perception could be seriously changed-- and directly in Michael Dell's face!

Now, we were kidding when we made the initial suggestion (really!), but reading this made us think that, hypothetically, such a ploy wouldn't necessarily be all that bad as a guerilla advocacy tactic after all. Even if it didn't make Dell worry about the public learning about the G3, wasting their time and toll-free phone charges serves as a petty revenge against Michael Dell for his previous comments about shutting down Apple. While we at AtAT could never condone such a measure, it's interesting to to note that sometimes petty revenge is the best kind. ;-)

It's starting to feel like Apple actually has a retail presence! We've told you already that this weekend CompUSA is officially launching the Apple "store within a store" boutiques at its 149 superstores across the nation. While that's sweet news, an inside source reported to us that the regional retailer Fry's Electronics is debuting its own Apple "store within a store" in their new Sunnyvale, CA location. This unveiling is apparently only the first in what will hopefully be a trend, as Fry's stores everywhere move towards the Apple salon store strategy. The press release has the time and location-- if you're in the area and can make it down, you can even gawk at an original Apple I.

According to our source, "apparently, the CompUSA model worked like gangbusters, and other retailers want in now, too." We can see the appeal-- our local Microcenter store has had a large Apple showroom since it opened, and it seems to do the lion's share of Mac-related business around here. Then CompUSA reported that after just a couple of months, the "store within a store" strategy had increased the Mac portion of their total sales from 3% to 14% in converted locations. Why wouldn't Fry's want to jump in and give it a try, as well?

We don't have Fry's out here in Boston, but we have every hope that they succeed in this endeavor. We're also glad to see that Fry's is confident enough in Apple's future to tempt fate by opening this new store on Friday the 13th. Brave souls.

A few months ago when IBM announced its technological breakthrough in using copper in computer chips to improve performance, we rejoiced. After all, IBM is a member of the AIM alliance, and they make PowerPC's. Combining the copper technology with the advanced designs of the PowerPC seemed like a sure way to bring even more power to the Mac platform. The only problem is, we're a good year away from seeing copper chips in shipping Mac systems.

However, that doesn't mean we have to wait that long to see what a copper-powered Mac can do. According to InfoWorld Electric, at next week's Seybold conference, Steve Jobs plans to demonstrate an ÜberMac running a prototype 400 MHz copper PowerPC at its core. We can only imagine that that puppy will scream. With any luck, he'll run a couple of benchmark programs like MacBench and ByteMark so we can get a sense of just how fast these copper chips can be.

Of course, just knowing that there's a Mac out there that MacBenches at, say, 1500 will only make the wait all that much more painful. Hmmm, perhaps it's best not to know what we're missing.