“Someone from Apple is going to pick up the phone and yell at Best Buy over this stunt. Oh wait, somebody already did,” Christian Zibreg reports for 9 to 5 Mac.
“Asus is to blame here, really,” Zibreg explains. “Wanting to create a buzz around its Android-driven Eee Pad Transformer tablet, lousy marketeers came up with this stupid iPad bashing idea, a telling sign of the lack of creativity.”
Zibreg reports, “The Android Spin blog first spotted the offending banner which was taken down shortly, most likely after a complaint from Apple. It depicted an iPad lookalike duct-taped to a keyboard with light lettering that read ‘Like That.’ Right next to it was a Transformer, with the ‘Only Better.’ tagline in strong typeface.”
Read more, and see the Asus banner that Best Buy removed, in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Fred Mertz” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Can Asus’ Eee Pad take on Apple’s iPad? – June 1, 2010
Asus Eee Pad ‘iPad killer’ to launch in July (with photo) – April 23, 2010
I’d rather have an iPad duct taped to a keyboard.
The stupid thing is, that you don’t need that ether. Doesn’t the iPad come with bluetooth connectivity?? This single aspect is what makes this advertisement so weak.
It’s amusing when people bitch about it not having a keyboard and I pull out my bluetooth Apple keyboard. They all seem so surprised by the concept.
I’d rather have that duct tape than that Android ASUS Transformer keyboard with a mouse thingy..
If you look closely, it’s taped to a Windoze keyboard.
EXTRA FAIL!!!
Right on, CrissyOne!
I can’t help being amused, remembering that when the first rumors started that Apple was preparing a tablet without a physical keyboard, a lot of Mac users posted on MDN deriding the idea. Bad idea, they said. It’ll never fly, they said.
When the iPad appeared, they discovered that the iPad demonstrates that clamshell laptops are really a clumsy design, if you want to sit in a chair in front of the fireplace and check your email, or read with the device on an airplane tray table.
Want to write the Great American Novel on an iPad? Sure. Just put the iPad on a stand and pair it to a Bluetooth keyboard.
ZAGG mate™ makes a Bluetooth keyboard for the iPad. My wife got me one for Christmas. It also doubles as a cover. Don’t use it much. I thought if while on vacation, I was responding to a lot of e-mails from work, it could speed this up a little. The may have one for the new iPad2. I don’t know.
So, if you want a keyboard for your iPad, get one.
In about sixteen days, Apple will report its 2nd quarterly numbers and it will be a no surprise how “hugh” the iPad 2 numbers will be!!!! The “other” tablets can only dream or make up some weird ads! … Go Apple AAPL stocks Up!
They rip off the innovation of the original, then trash it. Repulsed by not only the wannabe products, but also the mentality of the companies behind them and even the ignorant consumers who don’t know the difference, and don’t care.
So long Jerry ShenI, we hardly knew ya’
Jerry Shen’s real name: Ho Phat. His wife’s name: Phat Ho.
“ASUS Pee Pad”?
LMAO!
ASUS – better?
Hey ANUS, post some sales numbers…
I’ll wait.
Are these the same morons that made an Eee Pad “Transformer” video ad that ripped off characters and setting from The Big Bang Theory, and hoped it would go viral? I like TBBT, and that ad was unfunny and pathetic to the point of embarrassment. Whoever came up with that idea should be hit over the head, repeatedly.
Good to know Asus’ ad agency is pumping out one dud after another.
Best Buy sucks. We bought multiple Macs there (4) because of their accident insurance. Apples sells Apple Care which I have used in the past, but the prospect of accident insurance (with kids around) seemed good . . . until we had to use it. Their service is the worst and they are not good a fixing/cleaning up their own mess. My wife’s MacBook Air went in for repair and they returned it with sticky-tape on it, missing screws in the bottom and nothing resolved. We sent it in for a second time and they fixed it but damaged the power cord+brick. We are still waiting on a replacement from them which is finally shipping to their store instead of our house (we live 50 miles from them). Their service is the worst. It’s not worth the accident insurance, just get Apple Care and be careful with your laptop. 🙂
Retail store warranty not working out the way it is advertised??
Really is a sucker born every minute.
Bestbuy is one of the best retail electronic stores around. What people fail to realize is that you never look to them for product knowledge, never have your equipment serviced or installed by them and for the love of God, stop buying service agreements.
Till BestBuy arrived, when buying a TV you had to talk to a sales person, walk to the casher and pay the bill then stand on line waiting to pick up your product.
At Bestbuy, you can walk in, grab a cart, grab your 50′ LCD TV, push it to the front of the store and pay. Other than the single “no” you have to say to the casher to decline the service agreement, you don’t even need to open your mouth.
People don’t realize that all service is NOT created equal.
I was in Bestbuy the other day.
An older couple were looking at buying an iPad 2.
the “salesman” was so bad, he was saying that they cant sell them an extended warranty on the ipad cause of problems with Apple’s out of the box warranty.
He then went in to the Best buy technology buy back BS they are pushing now.
I would have just walked away, except he was saying that Apple copied Google with some of the ideas for the iPad 2.
I had to jump in, explained to the couple that they had better go downtown to the Apple store. Told them the salesman had no clue what he was talking about, but knew how to rip them off with the buy back crap. He told them that they had to buy the CCK to get a USB keyboard to work with the iPad… as i was berating the salesman, i grabbed the Bluetooth KB hooked up to the iMac right next to me, and synced it up to the demo iPad 2. as his jaw dropped when i typed on screen with it… (and then tried to explain that only the Apple KB could work, he first said the iPad had NO bluetooth capability like the Android tablets) the couple figured out i was trying to help them and started asking me questions about the iPad. I explained to them that the salesman was as knowledgeable about the iPad as the Spec card sitting in front of it.
Long story short, i was asked to leave. and the Couple asked me for directions to the Apple Store. They didnt know there was one downtown.
I swear, every time i walk into bestbuy i overhear some bestbuy sales guy saying that something can’t be done.
Oh yeah, they said you also can’t print from the iPad. had to email it to your home computer first.
I asked him what AirPrint was. had no clue, so i pointed him to the HP printer behind him. you know, the one with the “print from your iPad” sticker on it… Also showed him the print option in the photo app. He couldnt explain what the “print” option was.
I thought the ad was cute. I’ll have to get some duct tape and try that when my iPad 2 arrives in a couple weeks.
Oh, wait… I have an Apple bluetooth keyboard.
On a side note: Yay! I just figgered out that I can haz Dvorak keyboard in iOS, if I select Dvorak under *hardware* keyboard, and use a standard bluetooth kb.
I wouldn’t mind a DV software keyboard either, but for extensive touch-typing I’m going to use the BT kbd anyway, so I is pleased.
What’s the advantage of a Dvorak keyboard over an Enderle keyboard?
The Dvorak only types the same 5 paragraphs.
The Enderle types around in circles when cornered.
🙂
Beautiful!
Can you capture the essence of your observation in a photograph? I’ll bet it would sell thousands on this blog alone! (Love your site, BTW)