Has anyone considered the feelings of these bulky notebooks, growing up in a world that values computers so small and thin that they fit in envelopes?!? Worry not, little laptops.
[Via Waxy]
Posts with tag parody
Found Footage: MacBook Air makes thin in again
Has anyone considered the feelings of these bulky notebooks, growing up in a world that values computers so small and thin that they fit in envelopes?!? Worry not, little laptops.
[Via Waxy]
Found Footage: They iScrewed me again
If you listen to our talkcast, you'll already know that Apple makes their product release decisions based around my own personal experience -- every time I buy an Apple product, Steve stands up and releases something even newer and cooler soon after. Of course, as the parody says, if you want to own something that doesn't ever get better after you buy it, there is always an alternative.
[Via Macenstein]
Zune on Woot for $20 less, Woot offers rebate (and parody)
Gosh, I love Woot.com. Not only are they based in my original hometown (St. Louis, MO, also home of Fried Ravioli and the Bowling Hall of Fame), and not only do they have some great deals on their site (they sell just one item per day, usually at lower-than-normal prices), but they are insightful and funny people. Take, for example, today's item-- it's a Zune (that non-Apple mp3 player that you may have heard of). When Woot offered the Zune a little while ago, not only did they make headlines, but Apple fans really enjoyed it-- it took Microsoft's mp3 player a full 23 hours to completely sell out, even at the low price of $150.And now, as reader Jon points out, Woot is giving Apple fans another chuckle. Not only is today's Zune on sale for $130 ($20 less than before-- and it is sold out as of this writing), but their description text is a pitch-perfect parody of another mp3 seller who's had to announce falling prices on one of his products. And they've even offering a coupon back to their previous Zune customers-- as they say, "we want to convincingly pretend to do the right thing for our valued Zune customers."
It's Jobsian parody worthy of Fake Steve. Very nice job, Woot.
Thanks, Jon!
The zunePhone
Mark sent us this silly mockup of a zunePhone that his coworker made, complete with the signature commercial music for the iPhone (which is actually called "Perfect Timing (This Morning)" by Orba Squara, available on an iTS near you). What's up with that hand? Did he actually animate it using stills from the real commercials? If so, A for effort, even if it does end up looking a little strange.
The flashing 12:00 makes me laugh (as does what happens to the Polaroid after it's done developing), but otherwise, this phone is pretty much what you'd expect from Microsoft-- a blatant copy, only done messier, tackier, and much, much later. Good times.
iPod easter egg in Starcraft II
Of course, it's one of many, many Apple parodies, but this one's extra special, because not only will Blizzard's game be huge when it finally releases (and all Blizzard fans like myself know that'll be a few months after "when it's ready"), but the same disc will install both on Windows and our beautiful OS X. At a time when other companies are getting props for joining forces with Apple, it should probably be noted that Blizzard's been with us all along-- from Diablo to World of Warcraft, Blizzard's games have always been Mac friendly. So while there will be many easter eggs in Starcraft II, I'll wager, we like this one the most.
Thanks, AJ!
Found Footage: Calamari retro
So, say you're watching Pirates of the Caribbean. Mmmm... Did somebody say, "Calamari?"
Before there was the iPhone, there was iHome. And strangely enough, it worked pretty much the same-- just a little slower, and you could only do it from home, and you had to decide who was going to get the phone book out and look it up. My only question is what exactly he's doing at the beginning. Is he pretending to drive the ship?
Thanks, Stephen!
TUAW File: Apple's iPhone Demo Contacts - perfect for your ad spoofs
Now that you have a usable snippet of the music from the iPhone commercials with which to start making your spoofs, how about a default set of contacts so you don't post anyone's private information for the whole world to see? Thanks to a clever reader by the name of Stephen Kenny, TUAW is now hosting this copy of the 60 phony contacts set up in the demo iPhones in Apple Stores. In case you're wondering, yes: this means you too can have John Appleseed in your iPhone!
The primary idea here is that you can simply sync these contacts perhaps as a group (or the only group) to your iPhone and only use those when
Without further adieu, here is the 5.2MB zip file containing 60 contacts that won't mind being spotlighted in your iPhone spoof ads. This zip file contains a vCard file, ripe for importing into Address Book (and possibly Entourage/Outlook as well) and synching with your iPhone.
Music from iPhone ads now available - get working on those YouTube parodies
In addition to that wonderful iFuntastic app that allows you to add ringtones and rearrange your iPhone's apps (even after this week's 1.0.1 software update), iPhone Alley has also made available what is sure to become a staple of iPhone culture and parodies the world over: the 'official' music from the iPhone TV ads. After doing some digging, iPhone Alley's Michael Johnston found the song used in the ad - Perfect Timing by Orba Squara (iTS link) - so he chopped out what sounds like the exact portion and made it available for download. Head over to the iPhone Alley post for more info and to download a copy - then get to work on those YouTube parodies!
iPhone: The Musical
David. Pogue. Is. Awesome.Aside from the obvious reasons -- creator of the "Missing Manual" book series, New York Times Circuits columnist, all-around-great guy -- he does one thing no other tech pundit can pull off: he parodies well-known songs and turns them into tech classics. He usually debuts a new one every year at Macworld, and each year they get better and better.
And Pogue's done it again, this time creating an original music video called "iPhone: The Musical" about the drudgery of owning a Phone of Yesteryear, longing for an iPhone, and finally making the glorious purchase. Both the song and video -- some of it recorded with guest singers at the Apple Store Fifth Avenue iPhone launch -- are incredibly clever and humorous, and definitely worth a watch.
You can also check out some of Pogue's older song parodies at his website.
Apple ad spoofs with PC as the protagonist
This one has been climbing up the bloggeist for a few weeks, and it's a fine apertif for the start of the holiday weekend. Copywriter Laurie McGuinness, moonlighting as a commercial parody director, made a series of four Mac/PC ad spoofs in early 2007, with PC as the businesslike, successful protagonist and Mac as the geeky, freelance hand-to-mouth sidekick. (Is it just me, or does the guy playing PC look like a thinner, less crazy version of John Dvorak?)All four ads are viewable on McGuinness' site or on YouTube, and they're mostly moderately funny; one exception is the 'Music' spot, which suggests that iPod users are selfish goobers who don't like to share music. Poor form!
If you've got a favorite Mac/PC ad parody, let me know in the comments and I'll highlight the top choices in a weekend post.
Thanks, Beth!
Found Footage: Creepy iPod "Ad"
Well, this will certainly give you pause. It's a parody non-Apple iPod "ad" cum social commentary (of a sort) from Hot Sauce Academy, "a three-person sketch and improv group from New York's Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre." It pretty much speaks for itself, and might make you hide your iPod a bit better when you go out.
Warning: this video is not for the faint of heart and contains a stylized representation of graphic violence.
[Via Digg]
Casual Friday: The Walkpod
It's Friday! Let's celebrate with a little levity.
What happens when out-of-touch Sony offers to collaborate with Apple? Why, the WalkPod, of course! This portable device combines new and old concepts of "music in your pocket."
Knowing Sony, it'll cost $599.*
Thanks, Owen!
*Just to be clear: This is a joke.
Found Video: "Steve Jobs" and iPhone on SNL
"Steve Jobs" appeared on Saturday Night Live last night to talk about the iPhone and it's even better than we thought. Apparently it holds 2 billion, with a 'b,' songs! And it even has an on/off button and a clock! Oh, yeah, and don't forget to download The Office in iTunes.
Thanks Travis!
Zune/iPod spoof video from...Microsoft?
The other day, I posted about a Zune video riff on "I'm a Mac", fully convinced that it was a fanboy production. After all, you can't "squirt" video from one Zune to another (at least without resorting to the "rename-it-as-a-jpeg" hack) and it takes more than a single button hit to send data, and so forth. Lots of inaccuracies.
So I was surprised to find out on the semi-official Zune Insider blog that the spoof video actually came from Microsoft itself. The video was first screened at an internal Microsoft meeting, and had the Microsoft people "rolling". Like the "Microsoft designs the iPod package" video, it was meant for an internal Microsoft audience, but someone leaked it to Youtube.
Video: David Pogue proves Vista doesn't copy OS X
In the short NYT video which goes along with his print review of Redmond's newest OS, the always amusing David Pogue takes it upon himself to debunk that the old saw that Microsoft just copies Apple. For instance, David points out that unlike Spotlight, which is located at the top right of the desktop, Vista's equivalent search feature is located at the bottom left. Certainly worth a chuckle at Microsoft's expense.[Edit: Sorry about problems with the link. It should be fixed now.]
