Pre-release Apple iPads subjected to abuse on late night TV

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Apple's iPad was slapped, banged on a table, licked, had a coffee mug placed on top, and even used to make salsa, of all in the name of comedy it during Thursday night episodes of The Late Show with David Letterman and The Colbert Report.



Letterman's nightly "Top Ten" installment was the top 10 questions to ask yourself before waiting in line for the iPad. The Late Show host then pulled out an actual iPad, and attempted to demonstrate its ability to automatically rotate before he accidentally hit the lock button on the device and turned off its screen.



Letterman then slapped the iPad, banged it against the table, and shook the device in a humorous attempt to turn it back on. Unable to turn it back on, he even jokingly tried licking it, earning laughter and applause from the audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater.



"The radiation this thing gives off is incredible," he joked. "You're supposed to wear a lead apron when you operate it."



Later in the episode, the first guest, Sam Worthington, noted he doesn't know how to use an iPad, and then placed it under his coffee mug as a very expensive coaster.







The device also showed up on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, where comedian Stephen Colbert joked that he gave up a kidney to receive the device early. He also noted that the latest issue of Newsweek featured the iPad on its cover, likened to an advertisement Apple didn't have to pay for. "Unlike," he noted," the Amazon Kindle on the back," pointing to an advertisement for Amazon's competing e-ink reader.



He noted that the iPad features the same touchscreen technology and runs the same applications as the iPhone. "And just like the iPhone, you can't make calls with it," Colbert said in an indirect jab at wireless carrier AT&T.



Like was the case with Letterman, the hardware didn't escape Colbert's hands without its share of abuse either, as the late night host used the device to create "salsa."



The self-centered satirical character even gave all of the members of his live studio audience a picture of himself holding the hardware as an April Fool's joke.





It wasn't Colbert's first experience with an iPad: Soon after the hardware was unveiled, he pulled one out of his jacket while hosting the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.



The iPad has been making the rounds on TV this week, also showing up in primetime, being the focal point of an episode of the ABC comedy Modern Family. The character Phil Dunphy wanted Apple's new device for his birthday, and thanks to his son he got one. Dunphy then blew out virtual candles on the device.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 76
    That's amazing product placement.. both free and paid. I wonder who called Amazon and tipped them off they had better take out the back cover... hehe...or was the back cover already amazon to begin with? Hmm.. I'm curious on the symantecs.
  • Reply 2 of 76
    mrkoolaidmrkoolaid Posts: 106member
    Sacrilege! The FFC should revoke their license. Apple bashing should not be tolerated. You never see people mocking Microsoft like that on national TV.
  • Reply 3 of 76
    chronsterchronster Posts: 1,894member
    Tomorrow's the big day lol. I'm planning on going down to the mall to see what kind of crowd there is. I'm out here in Iowa for work for a few months, in West Des Moines which has a lot of high paying computer jobs, so I have a feeling it will be nuts.



    I'll take a picture and post it here
  • Reply 4 of 76
    applerulezapplerulez Posts: 108member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post




    Letterman's nightly "Top Ten" installment was the top 10 questions to ask yourself before waiting in line for the iPad.



    Three of the questions related to "What the heck good is this thing?" I wonder if the Product Placement dollars were well spent with Letterman.
  • Reply 5 of 76
    "Oh look - the screen does both black and gray..." ~ Colbert



    That is pure comedy folks - pure comedy... too funny!



    The most nervous tech companies in America today: Adobe - as iPad proves you don't need Flash; Amazon - Kindle sales will drop like a rock ("Do I want a full color screen with internet, video, ebooks, email, apps etc for $499 or a gray-scale screen for $490 and all it does is show ebooks?").
  • Reply 6 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleRulez View Post


    Three of the questions related to "What the heck good is this thing?" I wonder if the Product Placement dollars were well spent with Letterman.



    All pub is good pub. People who watch Letterman know he's a jokester, no one takes that seriously. People got a brief look at it and a little of what it does mixed in with humor- gets the product out there and that's what Jobs wanted.
  • Reply 7 of 76
    magic_almagic_al Posts: 325member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleRulez View Post


    Three of the questions related to "What the heck good is this thing?" I wonder if the Product Placement dollars were well spent with Letterman.



    It actually went better than I would have expected. I wouldn't have bet on him actually launching an app.
  • Reply 8 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Magic_Al View Post


    It actually went better than I would have expected. I wouldn't have bet on him actually launching an app.



    I'm sure a lot of people were surprised to even see the iPad turn on (Letterman) after being banged, shaken, licked and generally abused.



    It was good placement... enough to get a lot of people curious.
  • Reply 9 of 76
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    That was funny.
  • Reply 10 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mesomorphicman View Post


    All pub is good pub. People who watch Letterman know he's a jokester, no one takes that seriously. People got a brief look at it and a little of what it does mixed in with humor- gets the product out there and that's what Jobs wanted.





    Even Bad publicity is Good publicity.



    An old saying from my days at IBM: "If you screw up, then screw up big... people won't remember what you did, but they'll remember you!"





    Colbert's was great, as expected. Letterman, on the other hand... it is the best he's ever done, IMO.



    *
  • Reply 11 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mrkoolaid View Post


    Sacrilege! The FFC should revoke their license. Apple bashing should not be tolerated. You never see people mocking Microsoft like that on national TV.



    What the heck is an FFC?
  • Reply 12 of 76
    nasdarqnasdarq Posts: 137member
    just watched the letterman episode; was funny
  • Reply 13 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    What the heck is an FFC?



    Federal Fud Commission!



    ^
  • Reply 14 of 76
    antkm1antkm1 Posts: 1,441member
    Not sure if any of you watch Tosh.O on Comedy Centeral. If you want to talk sacralige, Tosh also got a "demo" iPad a few weeks ago and he basically took it out of the box, proped it up on a conference room table, took out a golf club and let if fly! And didn't even turn it on!



    For shame! all in the name of comedy, i guess...



    http://macblips.dailyradar.com/video...-with-an-ipad/
  • Reply 15 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    That was funny.



    Yes, both were hilarious. Priceless product placement.
  • Reply 16 of 76
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    Federal Fud Commission!



    ^



    Not a great week for Apple-haters....
  • Reply 17 of 76
    dr millmossdr millmoss Posts: 5,403member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dick Applebaum View Post


    Federal Fud Commission!



    ^



    Any relation to the EFC?



    (Elmer Fudd Commission)
  • Reply 18 of 76
    nasseraenasserae Posts: 3,167member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by antkm1 View Post


    Not sure if any of you watch Tosh.O on Comedy Centeral. If you want to talk sacralige, Tosh also got a "demo" iPad a few weeks ago and he basically took it out of the box, proped it up on a conference room table, took out a golf club and let if fly! And didn't even turn it on!



    For shame! all in the name of comedy, i guess...



    http://macblips.dailyradar.com/video...-with-an-ipad/



    That was not a real iPad. You can tell the moment the thing appeared on camera.
  • Reply 19 of 76
    mactelmactel Posts: 1,275member
    I'm sure the iPad would make a delicious salsa. Those devices are getting so thin they'll eventually have to call them the iKnifes.
  • Reply 20 of 76
    damn_its_hotdamn_its_hot Posts: 1,209member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NasserAE View Post


    That was not a real iPad. You can tell the moment the thing appeared on camera.



    (Is that a real [iPad]... I mean

    Is that [an Apple iPad]

    Or is that a Sears [iPad]?

    Hmmm... No foolin...)



    My apologies to Frank Zappa.
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