As a lifelong Mac user and avid supporter of Apple Computer, I've been happy with the company's recent surge of success, which started with the release of the iMac this past summer. Expanding on the "colored computer" trend it's created, Apple is now selling five new "flavors" of iMacs (strawberry, grape, lime, blueberry and tangerine) and has redesigned its line of G3 machines -- each one is topped off with a snappy blue case before leaving the factory.

With all its new products and successful marketing, Apple has reaped large financial rewards, recovering from the past couple years of losses. Perhaps with Steve Jobs back at the helm, the company is again realizing that a major portion of success depends on the world of advertising. For the most part, Apple's ads are good. More importantly, they're effective.

But just how effective will the $3.7 million spot during yesterday's Super Bowl XXXIII be? Like most Apple ads, the commercial was simple: The camera zooms in on the red "eye" of the HAL 9000, the computer from "2001: A Space Odyssey" and the voice-over (HAL's voice) explains (in retrospect) that Macs, unlike their PC counterparts, "were" prepared for the Y2K bug. "Only Macintosh was designed to function perfectly," says HAL.

Somehow I doubt this commercial will go down in history with the same pride as did Apple's original ground-breaking Macintosh commercial in 1984. This recent one just wasn't very good; it lacked the punch necessary for any successful advertising campaign.

I'm glad I'm not the person responsible for the chunk of change it cost Apple to air the ad.

-Gabe

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But the trip is really much more. It is an acknowledgment of the burgeoning political power of Latinos in California, and it is an attempt to heal wounds caused by the policies of former Gov. Pete Wilson, whose attempts to limit illegal immigration and dismantle affirmative action were viewed by many Latinos as patently racist.

Now, Davis has an opportunity to tap more heavily into Latino support in California. By currying favor with Mexico, Davis hopes to strenghten his political alliances with Latinos in California. Ever the politician, Davis is looking forward to 2002, when he faces re-election and he will need all the support he can get. Latinos represent the state's largest single minority group, about one in four of all Californians, although their vote proportionally is much smaller in comparison with their numerical strength.

On trade issues, the truth is that the governor of California -- or any other state, for that matter -- is limited in developing commercial links with another nation, even a border neighbor. The heavy lifting in trade agreements is handled at the federal level, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, a pact on which Davis is neutral. Davis has billed the trip as a vehicle to strengthen California's commerce with Mexico, but the value of the trip likely won't be commercial -- it will be the re-establishment of positive relations between the state and Mexico.

Former Gov. Wilson was villified in Mexico for his perceived hostility to Latinos. His governorship was marked by poisoned relations with Latinos, and that legacy was in part responsible for the overwhelming defeat suffered last year by Republican gubernatorial candidate Dan Lungren, whom Davis smothered in a landslide.

But even though a governor has little real power to cement trade alliances, the governor of a state the size of California enjoys prestige and a symbolic cache, and anything he does to improve relations between the state and Mexico are likely to win him glowing media coverage in both California and Mexico.

In the end, that's what Davis wants -- good press. And this trip is likely to give it to him.

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