Neil Curtis has a lot of time on his hands. Rather than just accepting the wool being pulled over our eyes by the Man, he decided to get totally Zapruder on the new iPad commercial and found all sorts of problems with the video, including a number of messy little transitions (the main actor, for example, turns from female to male) and UI interactions (items still moving after they’ve been released).
If Apple expects us to accept the world as it appears to their sinister ad team, they have another thing coming. Neil and others like him will crack their lies wide open, whether they want it or not. Good thing Apple didn’t try a moon landing or we’d have their heads.
In all honesty, these glitches are quite funny and odd and, sadly, I suspect someone at their agency is about to be fired this morning.
Notion Ink Adam over the iPad!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQvefuCHZds&feature=related
hell yeahs… I’ve never had any interest or desire to buy any tablet/slate/whaterver…. until I saw the Notion Ink
yeah..Notion Ink Adam rocks
http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/will-notion-inks-adam-be-the-new-ipad/
Snooze. NI’s Adam is just another tablet built for geeks, and it will fail like all the other tablets built for geeks. The iPad will succeed from it’s ecosystem. The Adam will be too little, too late.
Just saw this ipad spoof on the digg FP yesterday, it’s incredibly well done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgqnOqfehJE&feature=player_embedded
Another spoof.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ayx2mzm1QVw
I’ll be looking for a similar critique of the Crunchpad, aka Joo Joo.
A look back at iPads predecessor, Newton MessagePad, and how the ads for that one looked :-)
http://www.wiredreread.com/2010/02/before-ipad-there-was-messagepad.html
Anyway as for the post, it appears where dealing again with the iPad debacles, so let’s get it on!
Except that the transition between male and female are, well, intentional, so that everyone can identify themselves with the user(s) of the iPad.
Too much free time, not enough thinking.
Seriously, talk about trying to make something out of nothing!
Cigarette Smoking Man will disappear us all before then.
Haaaaa… whoever made this is an idiot. John Biggs, by extension, is an idiot for reposting it. Nobody is getting fired. The Ad was well received by everyone who hadn’t seen one before, and the thing will sell like Hot-Cakes.
Next in the News: Reality TV is not based on reality.
later: Unicorns, How come we see them in story books but not in the woods?
The slo mo version here makes me want to buy one more than the actual version from Apple. Go figure.
I’m no apple fan boy and I think the ipad is riddled with problems (flash support anyone) but I didn’t think this ad crossed any lines or was anything unusual. Everything they showed the product does, no one’s going to be getting fired for this
NB: the clothes are meant to change numnuts as it represents different people using the product.
+1 – I’ve been pretty vehement in my criticism of Apple, and the absence of Flash is not only insulting to users, but indicative of Apple’s arrogance. However this is a storm in a teacup. Nobody is getting fired for this.
As I was posting a reply to another comment here, Flash crashed on me. I will be very happy if Flash dies a quick and painful death.
And I’m not sure how laving Flash off is insulting to users. You’ll have to explain that one.
And here’s a good summary of the necessity of Flash on the iPad:
http://daringfireball.net/2010/02/flash_saga
There are technical reasons which preclude the use of Flash on Multi touch devises. I will leave aside that Flash is ram sucking, battery depleting, buggy proprietary software which is always several versions behind MS Windows version on the Mac.
Flash needs a roll over of a curser to work and this requires a mouse. The iPad does not have a mouse so it can’t use Flash. QED
They did cross a bit, but it’s been noted before on their iPod commercials. Everything is “instant” and super fast. IRL, it’s not. I don’t know what you do though – it’s a commercial after all.
Also, that photo rotating itself when the iPad is rotated from portrait to landscape is fake. The iPad has to be held up in order for the sensor to detect that. It can’t sit on a table and just be rotated.
Um, have you used one? The speed of this thing is the one constant everyone can agree is mindblowingly responsive.
“Also, that photo rotating itself when the iPad is rotated from portrait to landscape is fake. The iPad has to be held up in order for the sensor to detect that. It can’t sit on a table and just be rotated.”
I gather you haven’t used an iPod Touch or iPhone, have you? It doesn’t take much tilt at all for the unit to recognize which side is ‘down’ and rotate the display accordingly. As for the overall speed of the device, while I may accept that some scenes were intentionally manipulated (the Google Earth to book page, for instance) the speed of the page turning itself isn’t, nor is the graphic example from Pages impossible, since I’ve witnessed Pages doing the same sort of thing on my iMac dragging an image with my mouse. After all, Pages will work to accommodate the image and text within the page being manipulated based on rules you set up beforehand or during the course of finalizing.
In all, quite literally there is nothing wrong with the examples made in this commercial. It accurately represents what the iPad can do while simply using a number of cuts to switch from one scene to another; nothing different from what was done 60 years ago in TV advertising.
Another shameless self promoter. Curtis is just as bad as Apple. How much did he pay Tech Crunch to feature this stupid story. Get a real job!
Umm, I’m not really an apple fan, but to their defense, what “main actor”? I see multiple people in multiple locations.
Also, are the transitions really glitches? Why wouldn’t they cut some out so they can cram a few more shots in a 30sec commercial? I’d rather see features not transitions.
Nothing new…better spend your time in something else Neil.
That slomo video isn’t worth anyone’s time. It doesn’t reveal anything about the iPad that we already know. The text commentary that appears in the video is riddled with bad grammar. Also the guy who made it doesn’t seem to understand what a “cut” is in a video – when the entire background changes and the person using the iPad changes then that means we’ve cut to a different shot of a different bit of functionality. And even if he did understand that and was just trying to be funny, well he failed. And don’t get me started on the silly baby noises…
Apple is not cheating you idiot.
Its an editing style smart guy. You are not supposed to take it as one scene, one timeframe and one person interaction with the device.
This is why there is different people holding the device , so geniuses like u wouldn’t get confused.
Someone has some anger issues. How dare he besmirch Apple in any way. :)
fair enough :)
They eventually put a message like “some sequences speeded up” or something on iPhone commercials, after it was pointed out that they were mis-representing the abilities of the product.
I would think the same thing is applicable here – the instant-start movie for instance.
My only conclusion from watching this video is that Neil Curtis is a dick.
loool
Fully agree with you!
Or maybe the target audience for the video are anal-retentive assholes who lightly ask for people to be fired, and Neil was just helping them.
The iPad is a shiny turd (and I’m no Apple hater btw, love their stuff and own lots of it) but this video is moronic on so many levels that we’re all dumber for having watched it.
Wow. This is the most bullshit story ever. So Neil has never seen an ad where multiple users use the product. Or maybe he doesn’t know what a “cut” is?
And doesn’t everyone already know that the display in the iPad is a mock-up to make it look better?
Most ridiculously… Did I see this Neil criticize the model for doing a GOOD JOB in keeping the iPad in the center of the shot? Wow.
Great job, TechCrunch. I doubt that anyone at the agency is going to get fired, but I wouldn’t be surprised if John Biggs would for this ridiculous plug.
I could slow down these videos and appear also as a “genius” with my great “discoveries” but could I get TC to publish them as “omg wow someone’s gonna get fired rotflmao”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otydDXGwv2g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4xeQIs5sdM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JPTaoDwOz4
and many more…
Hmmmm,
Wow. All this hype over the itampon still?
When the $95 Android tablets come out will their device still even be relevant to other than idiotic fanboi types?
LOL yeah, right after the $100 notebooks for all the poor third-world kids. Enjoy waiting. And as for the lame dated-as-fuck itampon joke, *yawn*.
Nah, the joke is still good and, I for one, will use it every time I see a turd with one of these giant iPhones looking like an idiot. After all, the worst will happen is that I get hissed at or, at most, get snapped by a fruity man-scarf.
Joey,
Here’s some reading for you about the $95 tablets. Trust me the itampon joke will never get old. Perhaps for the people who want to shell out $800 for a device that can’t even do flash it might be old. I can’t wait to rip on the first person I see “fingering their itampon”.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/06/firstviews-95-android-windows-ce-pc607v-tips-a-craptablet-ic/
I would bet that 99% of all commercials are like this from any company, not just Apple.
Four-letter words have their time and place and this is one. Fucking retards. That’s my take on people obsessing over a commercial.
If news are slow, try slicing your wrists.
…since when does a Tech site double as an Ad critic?
Since the writers of TC seem to double as constant Apple-naysayers and Google-rimjobbers.
John,
I am looking forward to reading your dire predictions about firings after you see your first car or beer commercial on TV.
Working on it.
john biggs should be fired from techcrunch
http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/02/17/the-making-of-a-great-commercial/
Look – if old spice can make a horse appear under a half-naked man through a little slight of hand and some CG tricks then someone at Apple’s ad agency can make sure the majority of iPad interactions in a 30 second clip make physical sense. The Matthew doth protest too much, methinks.
The editing style does make sense in its entirety.
When u look at the whole ad u realise that its not REAL-TIME interaction with the device instead its a freaken MONTAGE of many functions on the ipad.
Having different people interacting with the device should remove any confusion of real-time interaction, and the need to “make physical sense”
Your argument left me questioning the caliber of TC writers.
On the other hand it did drive traffic and comments on the article.
good luck
Oh… look at this btw… the incredible image that moves by itself oh… come on TC…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JPTaoDwOz4#t=8m
I like the added irony (or satire) of playing Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot’s ‘Je T’aime’ through the video, a song, among other things, of getting fucked in the ass
It’s Jane Birkin, not BB. And the title is “Je t’aime moi non plus”. And I don’t know where you heard the ass thing ?! Gainsbourg is saying: “I’m coming and going between your kidneys”, literally.
The song is indeed about fucking. Ask a French person, or read about it on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Je_t%27aime…_moi_non_plus
OMG, this is a lame story.
Remember that this device is targeted for the “general population” who won’t notice (or even care about) these details.
More technologically savvy users have Android anyway.
TraceMist,
Nice try at sounding smart. Too bad you ain’t.
Where is your data backing up your statement? Just because you say it doesn’t make it true.
Furthermore, you imply technologically savvy users are better. In actuality, they can be time wasting nerds configuring and tweaking to the nth degree without getting any meaningful work done.
Good luck with your narrow view of the general populace arrogant prick.
Good job tearing down someone else’s comment without actually contributing anything to the conversation.
Proving someone wrong doesn’t make you automatically right.
(yes, I know this comment is no better, but at least it has a point)
Living proof that all arrogant, smug, tech nerds aren’t in the Apple camp folks….
And they will sell millions of them.
Move along.
What, that commercial switched from a male to female hand!
That’s it, no one should buy this now.
Apple haters are really pathetic. How about instead of doing all of this nonsense work on an Apple ad, you scrutinize the cartoon that MSFT presented, otherwise known as the courier.
Sorry, what have MS got to do with this ridiculous non-story?
You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?
Those are CG hands anyway.
Actually, the audio in the slow-mo is amusing.
Not enough news to rip on Apple TC? This is low… even for you.
Still upset about the death of the CrunchPad?
It’s people like this making posts like this that make the internet fucking suck.
Ipad is a joke ..
How f***ing bored do you need to be to post something like this? Is ChatRoulette losing its appeal already?
it’s pretty common to add videos on tv and other screen in post production.
the problem is that usually people don’t control those items with their hands, so nobody see the difference
I suspect that someone at TC deserves to be fired this morning.
Totally agree!
this post sucks dick
dad? I told you to stay off the computer.
What a dumb video. And what an even dumber article.
-1
This article, and the video are a total waste of bandwidth. Guess you people just can’t help yourselves.
…
Will someone tell me who’s smart idea it was to place white commentary text on a video where most of the time the background and images are in white. The eye-strain caused in trying to understand what the hell is being wise-cracked about pretty much negates the mediocre wise-crackery!
The writer of this piece needs to learn that the correct phrase is “they have another THINK coming,” NOT, “they have another thing coming.” If you’re going to write professionally, you might want to learn the difference. Here’s a reference to explain it:
http://grammartips.homestead.com/anotherthink.html
Zounds! That’s the first time I ever saw that. We didn’t get that in our professional writing school.
Judas Priest disagrees.
The quality of journalism on this site is atrocious. I mean, even Engadget would be embarrassed posting stuff like this.
Amateurs
No ones getting fired you silly goose! Those are not imperfections or glitches.. in every frame a different person is continuing the ‘interaction’. thats how it should be.
the whole point of the ad is to show how seamless the interactions are for different people. girl, guy, casual, on the couch, in the kitchen etc etc.
You’re definitely right, this kid Neil Curtis has too much time on his hands -you guys even more for writing an entry about it. haha
I can’t believe I just wasted my time watching this video. There was nothing even remotely funny about it. If anyone should be fired, it’s the TechCrunch blogger who posted it.
Glitch? Someone at their agency is going to be fired? You?
Nothing misrepresented in that commercial. Commercials have been around along time, and most can interpret them without trying to rustle up a finger of blame.
Our team just founded a new venture building ERP software written exclusively for the iPad. It’s going to be huge.
He who lives in glass houses…
Quick, someone make a slow-motion video highlighting the spelling & grammar mistakes in this video.
The iPad really isn’t a giant iPod touch, it’s actually a super awesome sex change device, as evidenced by this ad.
Stephen Hawking called.
He wants my time back.
I highly doubt anyone from the agency will get fired over this. These are minor nit-picks, they don’t change the commercial or the value of the commercial at all.
Sheesh.