Seriously, you’re not surprised to see John Hodgman — aka, PC from those Get a Mac ads — using an iPhone in the New York subway are you? After all, Apple does pay his bills.

[Thanks, tbeam]

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Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/microsoft/Microsoft_s_new_ads_Seinfeld_and_Gates_out_Hodgman_lookali’; According to a report from in the New York Times, the next phase of Microsoft’s latest ad campaign is set to begin — sans Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. Apparently, the new ads do away with the unusual (and somewhat ill-received) banter and “real life” experiences of the two celebrities, and trade them for an earnest embrace of… Apple’s “PC” character. Apparently, one of the new ads even begins with a John Hodgman lookalike stating, “Hello, I’m a PC, and I’ve been made into a stereotype.” Beyond the flip on a rival’s depiction of its brand, the campaign will feature cameos from Eva Longoria, Deepak Chopra, Pharrell Williams, and even Gates — though Seinfeld doesn’t make the cut. While we’re curious to see what the company cooks up in the new ads, it does strike us as somewhat odd that the supposed narrative Microsoft was establishing with Gates and Seinfeld has abruptly been abandoned in favor of these new spots. Is this a decision which was made long ago, or did the largely negative / confused reaction to the last set of ads force the company’s hand? We only have its official statement to go on: “We will be executing the second phase of our advertising campaign tomorrow, as planned from the start.”

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

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Filed under: Cellphones

Our latest micro-series, Screen grabs chronicles the uses (and occasional misuses) of real-world gadgets in today’s movies and TV. Send in your sightings (with a screen grab!) to screengrabs at engadget dt com.

Last night’s Daily Show discussion on the nation’s impending recession prompted John Hodgman (aka PC) to bust out his Uncle Rico-esque time machine to take a peek into our collective economic future. We’re still trying to decide whether it’s richer in irony that (not unlike Jon Stewart) Hodgman an iPhone, or that he pulled it out and used it upside down Charlie Sheen / Bionic Woman style. Video after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: The Hodg-man emailed — it wasn’t intentional. Apparently he was worried about breaking the antique stock-ticker and was distracted. Although we’d like to think it’s because he just used a real life time machine — for reals. Either way, there you go.

Continue reading Screen grabs: disoriented, time-traveling Hodgman takes call on upside down iPhone

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