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Apple's 'What's a Computer?' Ad is Annoying People: Business Insider (businessinsider.com)
Can an iPad replace your computer? It has been the topic of debate for years, with plenty of people advising against it. Apple sure begs to differ. It has been running a commercial in which it predicts a world where a computer is extinct and a child with an iPad doesn't even know what the word "computer" means. Business Insider reports that plenty of people are finding that commercial annoying. From the report: "Does this commercial tick anybody else off?" writes one commenter on a snippet of the commercial that was posted to Facebook. "I want to smack this kid. What's a computer? You know what a computer is you disrespectful smarta--!!" Plenty of other social media posts, some with thousands of retweets, have made the same observation.
_ALL_ads are annoying!
I fail to see how this makes news on slashdot oh wait it's anti apple that might be how
It's not even anti-Apple, we already know Apple only makes toys for the mentally impaired.
It is so smug and self aggrandizing. The very essence of Apple. Exponential smugness.
It's because the kid acts like an arrogant rich twit who can't look away from his screen for three seconds to have a decent conversation with someone. He looks like a poster-boy for smartphone (or tablet in this case) addiction.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
All those non tech geeks writing swift code on their ipads because hey, what's a computer?
"I'm glad you asked, kid. A computer is any device that's Turing-complete".
I am sure that there are many other solipsists out there.
This ad even annoyed my teenage daughter. We are a very pro-Apple family, so itâ(TM)s not because we dislike Apple. But she feels that of course the kid knows what a computer is, and that the ad makes kids look stupid or oblivious to the world around them and she doesnâ(TM)t like that stereotype. Even if you donâ(TM)t use a âoecomputerâ - you certainly can know what one is. A better response would have been something witty about progress, maybe like âoeThis is more than a computerâ or âoewho uses computers anymore?â or something. This is all even before we get into the fact that from a technological standpoint, an iPad *is* a computer...
There's annoying, and then there's what they apparently did here, which is 'say something stupid'. It's closer to trolling than anything else.
It's stupid because:
1. A 'tablet' is actually a 'tablet computer'. Just because it doesn't come with a keyboard and mouse doesn't mean it's not a computer -- and you can connect a keyboard and mouse to it if you want regardless.
2. There will always be many, many applications where the power and flexibility of a full-size desktop computer are necessary or desirable. Now, someone will come along and say "Tablets will become more powerful to the point where desktops and laptop/notebook computers are irrelevant", but that's just plain wrong, too, because more traditional form-factor computing devices will also get more powerful simultaneously.
Really, the basic, incorrect assumption here is that a 'tablet computer' is some totally different device compared to any other computer; it's not, it's just a different form-factor that doesn't include a keyboard and a pointing device (not counting the touchscreen interface) by default -- and you can add them easily.
...how Apple had to cancel the "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC" ads because everyone thought Mac guy was an insufferable douche and liked PC guy better.
That pisses off a lot of Mac users. See the MacRumors forums if you don't believe me. Mac mini was last updated in 2012. It was downgraded in 2014. Apple is on the verge of killing the MacBook Air even if their new butterfly keyboards are crap, they're so obsessed with USB-C that they're dropping USB-A even though a lot of people still ASK for them. Don't like the overpriced MacBook? Buy an overpriced MacBook Pro instead! It's like they think everyone is as rich as americans. Mac Pro? They released a freakin' no-future-upgrade-path of a cylinder tower instead. Would have been cool for a Mac mini, pointless for pros.
Tim Cook really does seem to think iPads can replace computers, including Macs.
But most people with a Mac need to have it, just as PC users need their PC. Whatever your choice of OS, computers are tools to work with, not toys to consume data.
If a stupid tablet was enough, we'd buy tablets!
#DeleteFacebook
A hundred years ago, authors wrote books/manuscripts with pen/pencil and paper. Neither pen, nor pencil, nor paper requires a desk. An author can easily operate a pen, and write a book from a park bench, or lying on the floor. Police detectives can write in their paper notebook while walking the streets of any city on-foot.
And yet, with the mobility of pens and paper, authors still had writing desks, and police still did written reports from a desk.
The keyword in "desktop computer" isn't "computer", it's "desk".
A desk is a marvelous thing. It's an organizational structure. It's a focus. It's big. It's dedicated. It's productive.
If you can do anything from an ipad, then you can do six anythings concurrently on a desktop with one large screen. You can do 18 anythings concurrently on a desktop with three large screens. And if one of your "anythings" involves another something -- like an object, or another person, or a product sample, then your desk supports that kind of additional item.
And if one of your "anythings" involves real collaboration with three other humans, in one place, as most creative tasks do, then a big desk in a big room with a big screen allow three humans to function in parallel (as opposed to series).
If you can accomplish your task in a 12" screen, then enjoy your flattened 1980s original imac. 12" doesn't get much accomplished these days. It does, however, do the same thing that it always did.
Your ipad is harder to read than an old newspaper, more awkward than an old book, bigger than a walkman, has worse sound than a record player, and is more delicate anything that's ever been handheld before. It's wonderful and amazing for all sorts of other reasons, especially for varied functions, but it is absolutely worse at each individual effort.
Jack of all trades, master of none. If you don't plan on excelling at anything, the ipad is the perfect device for you.
Some advice: when you hire a contractor to build your house, don't hire one who comes with a swiss army knife. You want the guy with the big rusty hammer, and the big box of screw drivers.
Funny that you use that example. A few months ago, a house guest tried to print to my wireless Brother printer from their iPad. They kept whining that it was just prompting them for "an AirPort device". They were never able to print.
It's stupid because:
Your points are mostly true, but they are not why the ad is stupid, and insulting, too.
1. The "smart kid" who is using the Apple device knows what a computer is, she'd just playing stupid for pretend. You can't be older than 5 and not know what a computer is, and many sub-5s probably know, too.
2. She just plain rude. Her next door neighbor is attempting to have a conversation with her, she knows that the question means ("what are you working on?"), but she flippantly dismisses her and continues tapping away on her computer after hardly acknowledging the existence of the other person. A more polite response would be to show her neighbor the cute bug document project she's working on and act like a real human with the person who lives next door.
Congratulations, advertising team, for an ad that teaches me that Apple users are rude morons.
Actually...
"barely tolerate" is when one sits silently through an annoying situation,
"bearly tolerate" is when one stands up tall and menacing, then proceeds to tear to shreds whatever they've found annoying.
it is only after a long journey that you know the strength of the horse.
I'm thinking that YOU missed the point here. If your thermostat has an OS and separate processor and memory... it's a computer.