iSmash

A few weeks ago you may remember some ripples in the technology world at the unveiling of Apple’s latest ‘we make computers simple’ money spinner – the iPad. Much musing and discussion took place at the time regarding its position in the industry, what impact it might have on the publishing world, the limitations of its functionality and the fact that the name makes it sound like a feminine hygiene product. For what it’s worth, as soon as I found out you could only run one thing at a time on it I lost interest, but then my relationship with new technology is a fairly fickle one anyway.

The news this week is that the iPad went on sale in the US over the weekend, meaning reactions from real consumers would follow. The most prominent and, it has to be said, extreme of these are contained within the following two videos, their rather bizarre content already making them viral hits. This first one introduces the world of ‘Will It Blend’, one that I’d not heard of before and not one I’m sure I ever really needed to know about. It is a rather clever idea from the manufacturers of a blender product, one has to admit, if the number of people watching the videos is anything to go by. It’s also quite interesting to see what actually does happen when you smash something like this up – something I’ve always been tempted to do before but have always been stopped by the part of my conscious concerned with economics:



This second one runs on a similar theme but without the corporate interest behind it. The only question really raised here, for me, is, if you don’t like Apple/iPad, why spend £300 on one, in order to smash it up? Just...I don’t know...don’t buy one. Surely that would have been a more effective reaction? It all seems to be being filmed on iPhones though, I note.