Another Super Bowl has come and gone, having bestowed its annual mixed blessings upon your friendly AtAT staff. Pro: the laundromat was nice and empty. Con: drunken louts driving like maniacs trying to complete beer runs while missing as little of the game as possible made road travel especially treacherous. Pro: losing the annual office pool reminds us that we're correct not to play the lottery. Con: no X-Files, and the Simpsons didn't come on until almost 11PM. The big Pro, though, of course, was that this year marked Apple's return to advertising during the big game; the 60-second HAL 9000 commercial aired during the first break after kick-off, pointing out to millions of viewers that the Macintosh is particularly well-insulated against the upcoming year 2000 bug.

We didn't actually get to see the commercial on TV, as yours truly was busy dealing with aforementioned drunken road louts while trying to maneuver the AtATmobile to the nearest Trader Joe's, and if you missed it, too, you may be interested to know that Apple has reposted the QuickTime version-- and there's even a nifty new closed-captioned version for those among you who dig subtitles. But be careful to whom you show it-- you don't want to touch off a widespread panic, or anything. Faithful viewer Dan Downey points out a Seattle Times article, which quotes Institute for the Future director Paul Saffo as saying that Apple's Y2K-themed ad is "irresponsible" because it feeds the fear that Y2K means the End of the World As We Know It™.

Now, don't get us wrong-- we certainly don't condone any unnecessary alarmist rhetoric about Y2K or any other impending potential "issue." We just think it's a little overly-sensitive to think that such an obviously tongue-in-cheek commercial could have long-term negative consequences. After all, it's not like this was Jeff Goldblum urging the populace to pull their funds out of the banks and stock up on canned goods and firearms, here-- it was a computer, and a fictional one at that. And if Mr. Saffo thinks that your average football-loving tube jockey shouldn't worry about Y2K, well, we have to disagree. It's a serious problem, and it will very likely affect everybody (yes, even those of us with Macs) in significant ways. For examples of how many people are trying to ignore the problem, check out the Duh-2000 site, which tabulates the stupidest Y2K quotes and bestows monthly prizes. Our favorite, while not exactly political in nature, is the winner for Stupidest Vendor Compliance Statement: "The current release is year 2000 compliant, and the next release will be even more year 2000 compliant." HAL would be proud.