As you all know, the Super Bowl isn't just the Big Game-- it's also the time when a whole bunch of nifty new commercials debut. People who have zero interest in the outcome of the game itself tune in anyway just to catch the new ads. Apple, however, for whatever reason, has chosen instead to show a commercial that's already been seen. Granted, it's never been broadcast on television (and it fact it was originally never meant to be shown on TV), but Apple claims that a quarter of a million people have downloaded the QuickTime version of the "Internet commercial" from their web site. And they further claim that it was the "thousands of emails" they got in response that prompted them to show the ad during the Super Bowl.

Now, granted, even if we assume that every single person who downloaded the HAL 9000 ad showed it to at least one other person, we're still only talking about maybe a half million viewers. That's a tiny drop in a really big bucket, given that the Super Bowl pulls in about a hundred million viewers. Still, for maximum effect, it behooves Apple to ensure that as few people as possible have seen the HAL commercial before it hits the airwaves this Sunday. That's why, as Je MacUse (one of our personal favorite Mac sites, by the way) points out, Apple's HAL page has undergone a subtle transformation: the commercial is no longer available for download. In its place is a short audio-only movie featuring the voice of HAL intoning a hilariously out-of-character monologue: "Hello, Dave. You know how much I enjoy our conversation. But I'm busy preparing for the Super Bowl right now. Please return after the game."

Is anyone else picturing the HAL 9000 mainframe slipping into shoulder pads and a helmet? Perhaps we've found the next big animated progression for the Bud Bowl: ditch the computer-generated 3D beer bottles, and suit up a bunch of computers to duke it out on the field. Imagine helmeted iMacs and Yosemites going up against a collection of beige Wintels. And since HAL 9000 would be on the Apple team, with a linebacker like that, I don't much fancy the Wintels' chances. Perhaps it would generate plenty of footage for Fox's upcoming special, "Football's Goriest Supercomputer Sports Injuries." Ooooh, that's gotta hurt...