Slashdot Mirror
Apple's 'Planet of the Apps' Reality Show Is 'Bland, Tepid, Barely Competent Knock-off of 'Shark Tank' (variety.com)
On Tuesday, Apple made its debut into the world of original television programming with "Planet of the Apps," a reality show that brings app developers in a competition to try to get mentoring and assistance from hosts Jessica Alba, will.i.am, Gwyneth Paltrow and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk. Contestants describe their proposals as they ride an escalator down onto a stage where the judges sit, and then fire questions at the app developer. The problem? Critics aren't pleased. An anonymous reader shares a Variety report: Apple's first offering, "Planet of the Apps," feels like something that was developed at a cocktail party, and not given much more rigorous thought or attention after the pitcher of mojitos was drained. It's not terrible, but essentially, it's a bland, tepid, barely competent knock-off of " Shark Tank." Apple made its name on game-changing innovations, but this show is decidedly not one of them. The program's one slick innovation is the escalator pitch. You read that right; I didn't mistype "elevator pitch." The show begins with an overly brief set-up segment, which doesn't spend much time explaining the rules of the show, and which also assumes that a viewer will know who host Zane Lowe is, though a reasonably large chunk of the audience won't. Soon enough, app developers step into a pitch room with a very long escalator in the middle of it. As the four judges listen (often with looks of glacial boredom on their faces), the aspiring creators have one minute of escalator time to tout the product they want funding for. After the app makers get to the bottom of the conveyance, the judges (or "advisors") vote yea or nay. As long as one judge has given the developers a green light, they can continue making their pitch.
Jessica Alba,
Hot actress. What does she know about apps.
will.i.am,
O.K.AY.
Gwyneth Paltrow
It's not the 90s anymore. And she doesn't have those gorgeous legs anymore.
and entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk
OK. Nice job on what he did with the store he inherited from his dad. But the rest of what he did? Mark Cuban lite.
Sorry Apple, you had this crazy wacky visionary guy who co-founded you and when he died, so did your mojo.
Have you guys thought of IT services and offshoring the actual work to India? I heard it's the thing to do these days!
People didn't want what Cuban produced. It was a failure. He just got lucky selling it to stupid Yahoo for $5.7 billion which then shuttered it. He was in the right place at the right time in the middle of a bubble.