Insanely great news — but expectations will be through the roof post-The Social Network.

Yet another subtle, but important advantage Apple has over competitors: their products are all over popular television shows and films — and Apple doesn’t pay a dime for such placement. The creative talent uses them because, well, they use them.

I mean, did you see Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol? It’s one big iAd — but again, not paid for by Apple. (Though Pixar alum Brad Bird may have played a role in that.) It’s a billion times better than any ad. It’s something money could literally not pay for.

This is also interesting, Peter Burrows and Andy Fixmer reporting:

In the 1990s, Apple’s PowerBook laptops included a company logo on the lid that faced the user sitting at the computer. When the lid was opened, the logo was upside down. Holtzman knew this was inconvenient to filmmakers and had stickers printed to cover the actual logo and have it appear correctly onscreen. A few years after Steve Jobs returned in 1997, he flipped the logo for good.

Hard to believe the logo was ever upside down, but I remember it. It looked incredibly stupid.

Two things:

1) Benedict Cumberbatch landed his role in the upcoming Star Trek sequel by shooting his audition on his iPhone in a friend’s kitchen on Christmas night and emailing it to J.J. Abrams.

2) Sherlock starts again in the U.S. on May 6 on PBS.

Pretty damn funny. Well done, Darth.

I imagine Fox will follow closely behind to complete the offering.