From the I/O fest — Google tries to out-1984 Apple

Evil never had to look too hard to find work. It did just fine hanging out with dictators and oil companies.

Still, it never hurts to pick up some extra cash. So, as you probably noticed, Evil recently entered the marketing biz.

It showed up at Google’s recent I/O conference, playing the part of Apple. It was a juicy role, exposing Apple’s plot to suck the last bits of independent thought from our brains. Evil represented Apple’s tightly controlled mobile platform vs. Google’s wide-open Android platform.

But clearly Evil is not signing exclusive contracts these days. Just weeks before, it grabbed the lead role in Adobe’s new “We (heart) Apple” campaign. Adobe, like Google, has issues with Apple’s unbridled lust for power, and needed Evil to cast Apple in the proper light.

It’s ironic that Evil is working against Apple these days, considering Apple actually gave Evil its start in advertising 26 years ago. Evil proudly stood up and played the part of Big Brother, a surrogate for big bad IBM, in the famous 1984 launch commercial for Macintosh. Apple and Evil were all buddy-buddy in those days, so in a way it’s sad to see Evil turning on its old friend like this. But hey, if there’s one thing you can’t do with Evil, it’s trust.

I’m not normally big on conspiracy theories, but part of me wonders if Google has signed Evil to this deal just to protect itself. After being attacked for invading privacy with Google Buzz and being investigated for monopolistic practices in Europe, Evil was already giving Google that knowing wink. Creating a new partnership to go after Apple might just be the protection Google needs.

I can’t help feeling that Evil is secretly scratching its scaly head over this whole situation, and is probably just “doing it for the money.” After all, the fact that Apple and Android have different philosophies is what gives people true freedom of choice. Slamming Apple for not being like Android is pretty pointless.

Kudos to Evil for reinventing itself, but I’m not sure where it will go from here. There’s always Microsoft, I suppose. But they may be too like-minded for it to work…