Colbert's 'Late Show' skewers cost, content of Apple's new design book
On Thursday night's episode of the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the show aired a parody of Apple's design videos to make fun of the company's new coffeetable book, Designed by Apple in California.
The skit refers to the product as "the most advanced book" Apple has ever made -- the "Apple Book" -- with 450 pages of high-resolution images of devices "you probably already have in your basement," made using technology from 1440.
"We were able to take an experience that was instantly familiar and...charge $300 for it," according to the video's parody of Apple design head Jonathan Ive.
The segment also laughs at Apple's tendency to play up minor features with a reference to "touch page" technology, and ends with the quip that "you know it's the future because...no headphone jack."
The real book was released on Wednesday in $199 and $299 editions, differing only by their dimensions. Its photos document 20 years of design, from the original iMac through to the Apple Pencil. Ive himself actually appears in a video promoting the project.
The skit refers to the product as "the most advanced book" Apple has ever made -- the "Apple Book" -- with 450 pages of high-resolution images of devices "you probably already have in your basement," made using technology from 1440.
"We were able to take an experience that was instantly familiar and...charge $300 for it," according to the video's parody of Apple design head Jonathan Ive.
The segment also laughs at Apple's tendency to play up minor features with a reference to "touch page" technology, and ends with the quip that "you know it's the future because...no headphone jack."
The real book was released on Wednesday in $199 and $299 editions, differing only by their dimensions. Its photos document 20 years of design, from the original iMac through to the Apple Pencil. Ive himself actually appears in a video promoting the project.
Comments
>:x
If you don't understand that, then you don't understand Apple. They don't design things to be cheap and thrown away. They design things to last... to be functional works of art. This book is not only a testament to that, but the very embodiment of that underlying mantra.
The fact that Apple put the sign there themselves means they deserve every kick they get.
Coffee table books are always quite expensive too.
Most people .talking about this have no clue and are not the target audience for this.
They probably never bought a book over $30..
Man, Colbert's show is now a piece of shit.
....still, I wouldn't mind having one in my library.
(for you millennials: library - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library)
It's failing.
I for one do not understand the hate. Is it because people fear Apple becoming complacent? Having said that, what they've achieved is quite remarkable. If not for Apple, we'd still have to deal with mediocrity. Apple is the new Bauhaus. A book is a fitting tribute. Or dare I say closure? Here's to the next 20 years.
>:x
The Mac Pro is too niche to bother updating, but the opportunities in the coffee table book industry are worth pursuing?
The issue here is that this book is a giant waste of time for any Apple employee with any meaningful responsibility for anything (like, for example, Jony Ive). It's vanity, it's navel gazing, it's a distraction. It's not something that a person focused on changing the world would do. It's something to do at the end of a career, or it's something to outsource.
If this is how Ive wants to spend his time these days he should really just retire, or maybe become an advisor. Let someone else step into the role of lead designer.
Back to the drawing board! The embarrassing thing is that even Apple is better at making fun of itself. Remember that one keynote where they had all of those skits that had every Apple fan in stitches? Or how they began WWDC 15. FAVORITE.
It's a reminder to everyone of who invented technology and a slap to the face to all the copycats. I love it!
You didn't go to college did you?
It wasn't that funny. My favorite book technology video is this one:
Medieval helpdesk
2) Textbooks can easily cost hundreds of dollars, but I contend they are too expensive. Each year they make very minor changes, say it's a new revision, and schools buy the new versions which students spend a fortune buying. Standard textbooks shouldn't cost more than your classes.
3) Anyone that thinks Ive is spending a lot of time on this and is somehow shrugging other duties, like the Mac Pro, isn't think about how a company like Apple with 115,000+ employees operates.
4) Apple, like pretty much every large company, makes a plethora of other products. Go into their corporate store and you'll see innumerable items with the Apple logo on them that you can't buy elsewhere.
5) It's just a book. I'm not buying it. You probably have no interest in buying it, either. No need to get upset about its existence or imply that it's not worth its price because it holds no value for you.