Technology in itself is neither good nor bad, but some technology tends more to the bad or the good. There are some theoretically good uses of, say, thermonuclear bombs – see the final scene in Armageddon, but be sure not to watch the full film. Condoms could make some heavy-duty water balloons. And the internet allows me and millions of others to write words that hopefully reach a few people and offer a smidgen of truth.
I-pads? Well, they have some worth, and one can read books, listen to podcasts, or music, even, dare I say, compose treatises or music, even if mostly what they’re used for is watching silly videos – or worse.
But, really, what was Apple, and Tim Cook, thinking with this ad, difficult to watch, not least the wanton destruction of the trumpet and piano:
It seems they presume we really do want us – or think we ourselves want – to live in two-dimensional virtual AI hell-scape, like those three Krypton baddies from that early Superman II film, floating through the etherspace.
One commentator summed it up: Who needs human life and everything that makes it worth living? Dive into this digital simulacrum and give us your soul. Sincerely, Apple
If I’m going to create or play music, I want a real piano, guitar or fiddle – and we may take some solace they didn’t crush a violin. Something that puts blisters on my little finger and thumb, a la Dire Straits. Would the Mona Lisa be the Mona Lisa on an electrified screen? Give me paint, or give me death, Caravaggio would have cried! 80’s era actress Justine Bateman asks the question we’re all thinking, Truly, what is wrong with you?
The short answer is that there’s lots wrong, and not just with Apple. We’ve lost touch with reality, with tactile stimuli and the messiness of matter, as Aristotle would put it. Stuff, glorious stuff! Chesterton’s chalk and Belloc’s boat, and all the rest of it.
A glimmer of hope: Someone did mostly fix the video – the only problem is that the i-Pad’s still intact.
Hey @Apple, I fixed it for you (sound on) pic.twitter.com/OwVnYNgXhT
— Reza Sixo Safai (@rezawrecktion) May 8, 2024