This past weekend, Saturday Night Live took aim at Apple iPhone FUD – Fear Uncertainty and Doubt – in the form of a comedy skit performed by guest host Christina Applegate as “Caitlin Owens” along with CNET’s “Josh Savage,” Wired’s “Adrienne Trerzoli,” and Gizmodo’s “Dennis Metcalf.”
The panel took on the “disaster” otherwise known as “Apple Maps,” the so-called “purple haze” (SNL missed a prime opportunity to cut to the angels Jimi Hendrix and Steve Jobs hanging out atop an iCloud making a cloud of their own), and the fact that the iPhone 5 is just “too thin and too light.”
During the discussion, some unexpected guests show up: “three peasant laborers” from Foxconn. The “Tech Talk” panelists are treated to a stark reminder of how insignificant first world problems are to the rest of the world:
Direct link to video via NBC.com here.
I decided to watch the show this week to see what the sketch was like, and as always it amazes me that this show is on the air. The apple sketch was ok at best, but the rest was just awful. You typically get one or two sketches per week and the rest is just painful. I’m assuming it must be really cheap to make.
Same here, I think it’s time to throw in the towel,
It was time to throw in the towel 20 years ago.
I miss Weekend Update with Norm MacDonald.
Firing Norm MacDonald was SNL’s best decision ever.
…or so the Germans would have you believe.
I do, too. Also liked Dennis Miller in that spot.
really?? I used to think dennis was totally cool. but that WAS in like 1986.. before I had hair on my balls.
the guy’s a total waste of space.
Really?
Hair on your balls?
You prob first noticed the hair when your balls finally descended.
Did you tell yo mama about it? Bet she was proud (maybe).
I’ve watched SNL for decades and have noticed the ‘style’ of humor to change with time. It is still the same as it’s always been – some skits funny, some not so. I find the majority of the skits to be quite entertaining. Just don’t expect it to be/stay the same from year to year as cast members come and go.
Really? This was hilarious!
Cynics.
Pretty clever:
AntennaGate
FlareGate
MapsGate
And the host:
Applegate!
Man, . . . I didn’t see that coming!
Great call.
I thought it was hilarious
Ouch!
I agree with Adrian…every time I point my camera straight at the sun, or straight into car headlights at night, there’s a purplish lens flare. What IS that?? How are we supposed to take decent photographs of the sun with this piece of crap?
Patience. The iPinhole is coming.
Yes. I get the same thing with photos of arc welding. Really upsetting.
Just shows that MDN can’t enjoy a good laugh at Apple expense.
How does it show that, genius?
You obviously did not get the sketch. They were not making fun of Apple they were making fun of all tech journalist who have made stupid complaints over stupid reasons.
Funny. Would be much funnier if it was about an Android phone. But funny nonetheless.
Funny… not really. No company ever want to be the butt of someone’s jokes. Apple needs to deal with these issues and 2 of which will be almost impossible to remedy. You guessed it, camera purple haze and fit and finnish which is just crappy. Maps are fine and improving. iPhone 4S is still the best smartphone in the world and is simply perfect in every way. The 5 is going to sell well but what effect will it have on future iPhone sales if is deemed to be sub standard.
The skit is funny. The issues are not.
“Kool Aid NY1” or is thi just “edward” the usual Troll by a different name?
Why don’t you read the replies of professional photographers on this purple haze issue.
If the cameras these guys talk about in the reply section have this purple flare also, there may not be a fix for it. It just IS.
As for the outer finish, it isn’t perfect, and the problem will likely be addressed in the future, but most people use a cover anyway. Or buy a white one, which I hear is problem free.
Yeah, Apple really needs to improve fit to sub-micron levels rather than the mere micron standards it has now for the iPhone 5. Apple is such a slacker!
And lens flare! Don’t get me started! Apple, get off your butt and make a lensless camera, frog od’s sake!
I wouldn’t worry about “finnish” issues. Let Nokia worry about that.
Kool Aid, did you buy a cheap Chinese knock-off? The fit and finish on my iP5 is spot-on, and I’ve taken several dozen photos with it, including using the panorama function, and shooting into the sun, and I’ve seen no purple lens flare; unlike the huge purple blobs that appeared on any photo with the sun in on my iP3, and to a lesser extent my iP4. Flare, and coloured blobs, is a fact of life with any camera where an excessively bright light-source is in the frame.
Anyone who’s surprised at it happening knows zip about photography and lenses. Why do DSLR lenses have those fancy tulip-shaped hoods on, if not to combat the problem?
Anyone have a link that works outside the U.S.?
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/10/15/iphone-5-video-snl-skewers-the-apple-pundits/?source=yahoo_quote
Works in Canada, for now anyway.
Kool Aid – If your comments are meant to be humorous, in response to the SNL skit, then your sarcasm font isn’t working.
If you are just ranting about iPhones, then go troll elsewhere. Comments to this article should be on whether you thought the SNL skit was funny or not.
Me? I thought the skit was funny – which as mxnt pointed out are few and far between on SNL
Is Diabetes a product? lmao!
What’s even funnier… or sadder, is that, as the SNL skit is making fun about how stupid, annoying, and oblivious the complainers are, there are people in this thread who just watched the skit and are continuing to complain.
In essence, what you people are posting is, “That skit was great, complainers are such entitled, spoiled brat, loser, morons… But, seriously, Apple needs to address these issues, there’s just no excuse for all of the problems.”
Hello, McFly!! Anyone home?!?!
Just ’cause they’re first world problems, doesn’t mean they aren’t problems that should be looked at.
There’s a difference between a spoiled 6-year old brat throwing a fit because they didn’t get an iPhone for Christmas, and pointing out that some things about that iPhone aren’t up to Apple’s usual standards.
I like the Chinese worker take the best from the skit!
Points the finger back at us lol
The thinness of the iPhone 5 is truly an engineering marvel. No one else can design a phone as thin as that with the same tech inside
The diabetes line is just brutal. True, but brutal.
First world problems are not insignificant.
Everyone has their own problems. If third world countries were first world countries they would complain over such problems as well. Significant in comparison I guess but still problems. I don’t face the problem of not having food on my table every day. I face other problems. Everyone has their problems.
“Does Diabetes count as a product?” Hiliarious….
Reblogged this on Apple Video Reviews – iPhone 5 Tips & Tricks, iPod Touch 5G & iPod Nano 7G Video Reviews, Unboxings & More!.
Great post, thanks!