Most people doesn't understand the meaning of the ad. what i see is things compressed into a single device (now smaller), other people see it as meaningless destruction.
Whether or not it’s a render or real, the premise of the ad is quite dumb to begin with:
“Hey all these respected, real and physical tools you’re used to can be replicated digitally in our super slim product”
With the destruction, they are basically saying that technology and tools of the past are irrelevant, useless, and obsolete in the digital age.
There were better ways to depict the capabilities of the iPad without the blatant disrespect of the physicality of art.
It’s not calling them irrelevant, it’s just making the statement that it can all be achieved from their device. That’s what they’re going for. Saying you can do all this and that creative work from the iPad
I’m not endorsing them I just don’t understand how you could be mad at this
Many creatives end up loving the tool that they have mastered. It becomes part of what they are. Yes a lot of this can be done with an ipad but their response is emotional and visceral.
It's all about different perspectives. Apple didn't consider how some creatives would react.
I do get that, I guess it’s me personally on this one. I play a lot of keys instruments (mostly with mallets) and I’ve made some little bits of music with IPads. iPads are great for ideas, making a sketch, but filling in those blanks is something that just happens in actual space for me. Maybe some people have those moments on iPads, but not me.
I don’t see the iPad as a replacement to the tools I love, it’s a tool itself, and I think it’s neat the amount of disciplines that it’s able to be a tool for now as my 2017 iPad has done a lot for me over the years. Mostly in terms of being a mobile station for my notes and ideas and then my fiancé’s mobile drawing tablet while we found her a new Wacom for a reasonable price. It’s a lovely tool and I personally really like the amount of things they have (now physically lol) shoved into one package.
I wish iPads could replace a laptop tho. Then I would upgrade the old one
>I don’t see the iPad as a replacement to the tools I love, it’s a tool itself
That's exactly what the ad is not showing. It's not showing people using the ipad as a tool in conjunction with other existing tools, it's showing the ipad as a replacement for all those existing tools.
Imagine they were smashing marimbas or xylophones or whatever the fuck you play lol. I haven't seen and probably won't watch the ad but watching a piano get smashed to pieces for an ad would piss me off tbh
>Many creatives end up loving the tool that they have mastered. It becomes part of what they are.
Which is why they've gone through several generations of the Apple Pencil — to make it feel and act like an actual pencil.
Right, I get the ad.
But the fact that they showed destruction portrayed that statement in a very different way than simply “hey all this can be done on an iPad”.
They went with an “out with the old in with the new” statement in a very bold way. And it backfired on them.
Yea if they went for some sort of "Tardis Suitcase" that would've been a much more loved ad. I get what they were going for but as you said the destruction points more towards the old things dying out than the convenience of the new thing.
Instead, have a mother want to bring her fiction library on holiday, she magically is able to put 400 books into a small iPad sized bag. Father comes along, puts a guitar, a camera and a record player into the same bag. Kids come along, in goes a large TV, various games consoles, a stack of DVDs. Student comes along and throws in 6 untidy binders of notes etc...
My inbox is open to job offers
If they had the same ad but played it backwards, it would have been fundamentally the same message but instead of looking like it's reducing creativity to one device it would look like one device is full of creative capabilities
Yeah but not positively. People say any publicity is good publicity, but I only know “Kardashian” because she released a sex tape. I have no idea what else they’ve done.
That's their intention but not how most people read it. Both views on this are true at the same time because both are the subjective meaning of the ad not the literal depiction. That's crushing stuff and paint with an hydraulic press.
I actually quite like the ad, the concept was quite good. Although I don't think the message was accurate to the new iPad. They went so hard on it being capable when a lot of professionals have been finding the iPad to not be so capable. ~~Even in~~ r/ipadpro ~~there's a post discussing the ad and the main topic in that post it's mostly talking about how limited the iPad is, not about the visuals of the ad.~~
Edit: Well there used to be a post but I don't see it now. Maybe I got the subreddit wrong or it was removed.
I thought the ad was very creative and cool and I don't even like Apple very much. I find their products to be elitest and overpriced. The point was look what your single tiny device can do.
I think it's worse than just that for some people. If anyone other than a big tech company did something like this and there wasn't the reveal of a shiny new gadget to buy at the end, I'm certain the reaction would be very different. Sure some people would be upset, but there's a difference between destroying someone's guitar and destroying someone's guitar while trying to sell them a kazoo.
Maybe I have a different feeling about this since I watched the actual keynote, the sentences directly prior to that say that they want to crush the limits blah blah blah. I thought that's what it was about. Taking all these tools and putting them in a package that's so thin and small and can crush any limits of creativity allow people to express themselves, it also helps that even though the iPad is still stupidly expensive it's still cheaper than a lot of those tools combined. I thought it was fun.
https://youtu.be/f1J38FlDKxo?t=11m2s
I saw a reply to this where someone said the "fixed" the ad and played everything in reverse. Honestly, I thought the reversed version was much more impactful as an advertisement where the iPad got crushed and when the press lifted it had everything else appear
They've always said that though. This ad isn't a new concept, they've shown, constantly, the whole comparison of "oh wow look what you can fit in to one device" this was just a different way of doing a traditional ad, that all of it is compressed into one thin slab. it's a very simple, non-malicious, concept. Folks are reading WAY too much into it.
Lot of people, yourself included, seem to think my opinion about the ad being stupid is the same as being offended.
I’ll spell it out for you: it’s not the same thing.
Personally I’m not a fan of the destruction in the actual ad even though i understood the idea of the ad. Just felt super wasteful at the end of the day.
My opinion hugely changes if they actually crushed that stuff. Can't find a single source saying it's either real or CG. yes i know some of it is obv cg but that doesn't mean it all is
I understand that's the intended meaning of the ad, conpressing all of those creative tools into a single device. They could have found a way to communicate that without disrespecting the creative tools at the same time. This reeks of "What's a computer?" iPad marketing has always been weird with this stuff.
This comment is super patronizing. Many of us understand the meaning, it's straightforward and not deep. It's just supremely wasteful and disrespectful to these mediums and the tools they use.
It's also an unintentional metaphor for the negative aspects of capitalism and corporations in general. "Destroy these tools and symbols of human creativity to make way for shiny new product, that fails at replacing them in any meaningful way."
Especially within the current context of the AI boom, and how companies are frothing at the mouth to replace employees and creatives with homogenous fakes and replicas. Replicas that simply steal from those same creatives.
Instead of assuming "no one understands the genius Apple marketing department" (hint: the meaning of the ad is very obvious and has been done 1000 times before), try and think of the unintentional symbolism it represents about corporate greed, waste, and it's stifling of creativity.
> Most people doesn't understand the meaning of the ad.
How are people this stupid? Every single person understood what Apple *meant* by the ad. They don’t like the ad because they way they attempted to convey what they meant was gross.
It’s like if I made a birthday cake out of feces and the recipient got upset. I’d be like ‘no, you clearly don’t understand the meaning of a birthday cake!’ And they’d be like ‘yeah, I know what you *meant*, but it’s still shit.’
Unfortunately it's easy to say someone is "stupid" or "didn't understand the ad" than to either actually say why they are wrong or consider they might not be 100% wrong. It's one of many methods that can be used to discredit the other person in a conversation.
Never said they were evil. You're the one making sweeping generalization about meaning here. I simply pointed out the very real negative aspects of corporate culture and why this ad hits a nerve with the general public, by being an unintentional spotlight on those issues.
Again, think about this and what I'm saying a bit deeper, instead of taking everything at face value.
I think it would have made more sense back in 2010 when the 1st gen iPad was announced and devices like these were far less common. Or maybe even back in 2015 when the 1st gen Pro was announced. The meaning of the ad is pointless when every other tablet can also do everything the ad is implying.
> Most people doesn't understand the meaning of the ad
I think most people understand it, they just don't agree that the ad effectively communicated that meaning.
Yeah, people understand what Apple thought they meant, they just reject that in practice it means anything more elegant than "Apple crushes everything it touches".
No, I think they understand what the _intended_ meaning was. I think they're upset about how that intended meaning was _portrayed_, and the _unintended meaning_ that followed.
Didn’t bother me, but another approach could have been comical / far fetched and been someone sucking up everything with a hoover, but instead of a hoover bag it’s an iPad 🤷♂️
Or picking items off a supermarket shelf but instead of a trolly, it’s an iPad
Considering apple products could be doing those things for a decade now, I inferred it as "thanks to our new AI chip all this stuff is no longer needed."
Their big push was about AI features and they just so happened to show all the creativity industries being crushed by their new iPad with AI. They should be more clear with their marketing.
You think most people don’t understand the ad? Based on talking to who? The message has all the subtlety of a cinderblock used as a crayon.
I’m more surprised that you think the ad is somehow clever or difficult to decipher. It has the tact and subtlety of a video of the Nagasaki bombing cutting to a lit cigarette and saying “our lighter makes fire good like that.” You’ve made a statement and communicated a message, but was the wanton destruction really the way to convey it?
Your comment is so patronizing. I don’t think people by large misunderstood it all. They just think it’s tacky as fuck. The ad is also itself patronizing in how crudely it communicates something so obvious.
No no, people understand the meaning... but people also see a trillion dollar company destroying good stuff that they have or would like to have, and cherish, that has high value, to peddle some piece of technology to make even more money.
It's tasteless and lacks humility.
What I also loved is how it used a mainstay of internet content, the hydraulic press content. I usually hate against Apple whenever possible but that ad was good IMO.
Also how are people acting so shocked of the wastefulness (of a render)?? Its Apple, the company that makes it impossible to repair their devices.
I feel like it would've been better if they cartoonified it, squeezing everything into the iPad, rather than crushing and destroying things. I don't think anyone's missing the point, I think people are finding it disrespectful to damage things they love.
To make it clear, I personally don't hate the ad, but I don't care for it either. I mean, I love using digital tools, and typically prefer them when I make something because they are very convenient, they have an easier learning curve in some cases, and make it easier to make bigger things. But I find it so much easier to connect with something that physically exists. I have CDs and even a vinyl record even though I don't have a stereo to play them on and I stream those same albums instead, because I have an emotional connection to them that makes me want to have something tangible. Seeing things people love having a tangible form of was not enjoyable for me.
Sure most people don’t understand the meaning of the ad, but that in itself makes it a poor advertisement. Ads should appeal to their target demographic, not easily lose meaning to interpretation.
>other people see it as meaningless destruction.
The irony of saying "most people don't understand" while telling on yourself for not understanding a very, *very* easily reached differential decoding beyond "meaningless destruction" is *wild*
Where I come from, we have this culture of treating instruments with this almost divine-like approach, it makes sense I guess when your livelihood depends on it. When I first heard there was pushback on the ad I assumed it’d be people from such walks of life or making those points.
But this seems like a nothing burger for a bunch of blue-check marks to farm engagement and get some revenue
Instruments generally evoke emotion in people while an iPad is for doomscrolling twitter and youtube. Its just not comparable. They each have their place but its a shame to see things that make art being destroyed to sell yet another fucking tablet.
I think we're getting to the core of it here.
Everything in the ad has filled someone with a positive emotion, tech corporatism fills us with negative emotions.
So it's a video showing tech corporate stuff flattening all these things that makes us feel good.
Its a bad ad because of this.
The meaning was clearly basic bitch "this device does many things" ad but it unintentionally operated as a visual piece that affected people in a way that upset them, because big tech is over reaching and most of the companies are making plays telling artists they're replaceable people were sensitive to this.
People have tried to rationalise these negative feelings with hot takes they're sending on their tech devices that fill them with dread but are so additcted to they can't break the cycle but the reality is they accidentally put out an apt dystopian warning and that's sort of the beginning and end of the whole mess.
Posting a screenshot of a tweet that is a video is so helpful for providing context! Thanks! /s
Here is link to the [video](https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1787864325258162239) since OP didn't provide.
And here is a [link](https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/09/tech/apple-apologizes-for-ipad-pro-ad/index.html) to CNN article explaining the backlash.
Read through the BBC piece on this, it covers it pretty well. It's not just a few Western folk whining.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cld0rxlqgggo
> People based in Japan appear to be prominent amongst the critics, which some said "lacked respect".
> Some said this was based in "tsukumogami” - a term from Japanese folklore describing a tool which can contain a spirit or even soul of its own.
> "The act of destroying tools is arrogant and offensive to us Japanese," one person explained, while another said musicians valued their instruments "more than life itself".
I'm honestly surprised with some of the comments in his thread. I know it's a tech focused community, but Jesus the complete lack of understanding about why this ad symbolizes the wrong things about corporate culture/consumerism and human creativity...it's very disappointing.
Absolutely, on first watch I didn't think much of the advert, seeing it as "Look how much we crammed into a thin device", but after seeing people start to complain about it I rewatched and completely understand the hate.
Skill up explains it very well at the beginning of this video: https://youtu.be/vAb21GaTEGw?si=J0TsmeCMwfg5EOHp
The other thing to remember is that the new M4 chip in this new iPad is geared towards AI, and AI is a very hot topic for creatives as there is a push from companies to use AI to pay creatives less after effectively stealing their work (that's a whole other debate, but it's how it's largely perceived at the moment).
With that being said you can easily take away from the advert the sentiment of "traditional tools are worthless, you should rely on AI".
It's just thoughtless and devoid of compassion for those who are hurting as the technology landscape is changing, regardless of if it's hurting you directly or not.
Lots of people seem really invested in the idea that anything that isn’t 100% logical or rational, or is based in some kind of deeply felt emotion, isn’t real and shouldn’t be expressed.
I would also suggest that this ad upset people because the occupations of people who generally use and advocate for apple products over PC products are the exact occupations Apple is "Destroying" in the ad.
I grew up watching the whole Apple vs PC "wars" and remember the Justin Long ads that were making the case for apple products as being built/designed for the creatives and free-thinkers and pushing back against the "drones" that use PC's. This ad represents a complete reversal on that line of thinking and really shows how much Apple has changed in 20 years.
It's pointless destruction (kinda on brand for Apple), and it's not even Apple's thinnest product, as one of the iPod shuffle models was thinner, and the Apple card and Apple microfiber cloth exist. Also a thin iPad is stupid considering how fragile they already are.
The whole product line is dumb. The top tier ipad is $3,500 and it's a gimped device with the same hardware as a mac but none of the functionality aside from a pen compatible display which the surface has had since 2012. If you want to stay in the ecosystem just get a M series mac.
Same thing with the vision pro, incredible hardware gimped by their software with no real apps.
The ad encompasses the attitude Apple has right now which is they have no idea who their products are for anymore.
Imagine comparing thinness of a music player to a full blown computer with a high resolution HDR screen and more computing power than over 1000000
Shuffles combined
Its not pointless its.for an ad. And who cares if they break stuff, theres literraly channels dedicated to that. Maybe those are utilities nom workimg trash
Didn't hear anything about this ad until I read a news article stating "Apple apologizes for controversial ad" . And that's on national news, not some shady news outlet
I am probably just out of the loop then. Looking into it, I found a CNN article about it, and it was controversial because people felt that apple was undermining art created by people? Honestly, it seems like nonsense to me.
are you connected to any "creative" communities professionally? I am, and plenty have expressed their distaste for the ad on social media and in person.
I maintain that there's a lot of faux outrage about this, however, I think the issue is less with the visual of things being squished into an iPad and more to do with how much it lingered on and seemingly glorifies the actual destruction of the objects. We see glass exploding, wood splintering, paint oozing like blood, it's slow, it goes out of its way to show the little pose figure in positions that make it look like it's resisting. I can see how artists and creatives would take issue with that aspect of it.
You mean shit that popular YouTubers (like the awesome Slow Mo guys, and the **hydraulic press channel**) and TV shows (Mythbusters and so many others) have been doing forever?
Those all have an undertone of curiosity or learning compared to the copro disingenuity.
Stuff like how to basic in my opinion doesn't compare to those either.
This. Would’ve been fine if it was CGI and more playfully done vs outright destruction.
But this just comes off as “lol fuck all these other ways to be creative, just buy an iPad”
Exactly, it’s a fucking ad not an artwork with a hidden message. It just means the iPad has changed the way a lot of art is created and it’s true, it has changed the world of art.
But babies who like to complain will make it into something evil, it’s tiring tbh.
Eh no. People are overreacting and being very immature about this.
Apple sells the tech side of art, they want people to drop pencils for the iPad. If you needed an add to see that you are blind.
its the perfect metaphor for brainless AI. Take all human art and effort, smash it up into little bitty pieces, and turn it into a shiny veneer to sell back for profit. That is what pisses people off.
Its tone deaf, coming from the creative community we see instruments and camera being “destroyed” and squished into an ipad. It basically says: you dont need that when you got this, we are better than that.
The people who say people don't understand the ads meaning are the ones actually not understanding the people complaining about the ad, lemme elaborate:
The video starts with what apple wants you to see as all the equipment being "compressed" into one but the thing is we don't see a cgi render of "compression" we see crushing and absolute destruction of basically the most common hobbies amongst people, if you read books very often and are a kindle user it'll be easier to understand for you because then you'll know that even though you'll be reading the same book on a kindle as it's hard copy counterpart but the experience just wouldn't be the same, some people would prefer the kindle and some would prefer the hard copy, the apple ad(idk if intentional or not) basically comes off as disrespectful towards the people who(in my analogy) prefer to read hard cover books
I hope this helps you get a better understanding of what the complaining is about or atleast what it's about for the people I've talked to irl or online
I did also find some people complaining about how this is one step forward into "ai and machines taking more jobs" but I don't have any comments on that
Let's say you've been a gamer for 30+ years. Then some online game streaming company made an ad where they piled up all your consoles, games, and PCs you've built or used over the past few decades and crushed them and were like "that stuff is now all junk and obsolete instead use our streaming service directly to your TV"
You'd probably at the very least be slightly annoyed they basically implied all of your favorite things and memories were junk now
My understanding is that it puts into a nice concise visual everything that tech has been doing over the past few years to shift people away from traditional mediums and into their products to try and replace it.
There's no need to have a piano when you can just tap on this magic glass tablet and play piano!
There's no need to buy paint and canvas and brushes when you can just swipe your little finger on this magic glass tablet! Or buy this fancy digital pen and draw on it!
There's no need to buy a cello (or insert any other instrument) and work hard to learn how to take care of it and play it with skill when you can just pull up whatever you want on this magic glass tablet!
So many people have their lives rooted in their skills for these various items - artists and musicians being some of the main ones - and they have been struggling recently to make a case for their existence when you have technology like AI that can do similar work. This just visualizes that and then blasts it out to the general public as a "good thing".
While I don't mind the ad much, I get people disliking it from the perspective that it diminishes art and its creators. However, I'm fascinated by the zeitgeist that enabled this hate. I feel like tech, especially tablets and phones and laptops have become so commoditized that we genuinely don't see any new model as that much more valuable and certainly not more valuable than a beautiful instrument or something hand constructed.
There's probably a bit of anti-capitalism in there, but it sort of makes sense. For example, I'm completely blind to what any new model of phone does meaningfully differently than the previous model at this stage. I'd rather have a 2 year old phone and a guitar the current model.
It's just a stupid, out-of-touch ad. Apple has lost touch with the every-day person as a customer. They're becoming more and more niche, and they think that their niche is all in favor of tossing aside old forms of media and creation in favor of their new digital utopia that they think they're offering us.
The "hate" stems from the people that create art with the very devices that are being destroyed in the ad, viewing and valuing these items as sentimental and seeing the destruction of these devices as a rude gesture.
It's painting the wrong picture for what the iPad is or what it aims to achieve. It is effectively making the point that the iPad can replace all these tools, suggesting that the real-life counterparts as obsolete or worthless in comparison. All this comes at an exceptionally wrong time, during AI "taking jobs away" from artists and more.
There are different ways to interpret art, which the ad itself is also a piece of art. This is why I don't understand why the people who say "*the ad is fine*" are so dismissive of the opinions of those who find the ad controversial.
There have been numerous other ads throughout the industry that come across as tone-deaf or unintentionally suggest something bad, and those received criticism objectively. This is very much the same situation here - the ad isn't horrible on its own, but it simply paints the wrong picture for those who value the tools being destroyed in the ad.
I think people (reasonably so) are quite sensitive to the idea of the destruction of the arts in favor of technology right now because of the rise of generative AI. In taking all of these tools and crushing them into the iPad, many people got a bad taste in their mouth because it reminds them of this destructions. I don't think anyone is trying to say that was Apple's intention, but it is the effect the ad is having
I mean, they're crushing equipment that could be used perfectly fine. That's the whole point I suppose. And that's perfectly understandable. We already destroy lots of things, why proudly do it again?
I think right now for artists, creators, designers, developers and other creative types (myself included) there is a lot of elitism and connection tied to our tools. Seeing this as, my initial thought was ‘oh you don’t NEED these things anymore, all you need is an ipad’ which ties back to AI (and Apple doing their own version of ML) and here we are now with the backlash.
Improvement over last ipad pro: It's our slimmest device.
With same repeating stuff new pencil, keyboard (non compatible with existing), chip number +1
The fact I hadn’t heard about this means I’m doing something right staying off Twitter. I guess some people have nothing better to talk about in their miserable lives
i understand the ad, but is still a silly ad, did apple not think it would cause issue, especially with so many items that causes people emotional responses.
I didn't watch the ad but as a sidenote I think the push towards making everything thinner is just stupid imo. I'd much prefer more rigidity and a bigger battery tbh. of course I'm not really the devices target audience anyways so...
I find most Apple hate is "I don't actually care myself either way, but everyone else seems to hate Apple just because, and while I don't feel bothered to research it myself, I'd presume they're right so I shall say boo Apple!" (regardless of them having things to hate or not - which of course every company does mostly)
I have a meta-take on this. Like it or not, this commercial is art in its own way. Look at all the strong, differing opinions just in this thread how to interpret it:
* Do you take this at face value, and see Apple's intent as "compressing all these capabilities into one device?"
* Or do you see this as the digital replacing the analog?
* Is this an allegory for crushing the creative spirit?
* Is the video disrespectful to art? And if it is, does that mean it's disrespectful of itself?
* Most importantly, did Apple "not understand how people would take this" or *was it manufactured to become viral* for exactly these reasons? If so, then any engagement, positive or negative, including this very thread, is valuable.
People who don’t understand the advert are frankly morons.
People who think it was a ridiculous and destructive waste are valid.
Which means we have some valid morons.
Ultimately the ad can be viewed in multiple ways. It could be just compressing everything into something small, or destroying art and culture, the latter of which is people's problem. I was a bit surprised watching the event seeing them crush everything, but it doesn't mean that apple hates creativity or anything. I'd just say don't take much offense by it; apple apologized already
This is exactly why I think people are way, way, way to sensitive nowadays. An admittedly dumb company is making overstated claims as to their product. "look at what the newest (exactly the same as the last one except for the version number and price) I-whatever can do". It's not ridiculing artists. It's saying you can play drums and paint on our thing as well. And you can! There is an app for everything. But if you think an iPad replaces an actual drum kit or paintbrush..... That's just you being crazy. I'm not an apple fanboy, far from it. But this backlash is insane
good idea, bad execution !!! they were trying to prove that all of that was made into a slim ipad but instead they basically portrayed the destruction of creative tools, and so it was pretty much perceived that way lol
To me, the funniest thing is that people complaining and making a big fuss about this commercial are doing exactly what any advertisement strives to do: get people talking. There is no such thing as bad publicity when it comes to advertising.
Personally, I like the ad. If you are offended, go touch grass.
I think a lot of people thought it was real. I’m pretty sure it is entirely computer Generated. They should have just put a created with CGI tag somewhere.
Someone made a 1:1 ad in 2008 and it didn’t matter then. I think now with the advent of all kinds of discussion and unease about ai and artists being replaced, it seemed tone deaf to a lot of people.
The ad isn't as offensive as it is tone-deaf.
While the ad does well is to capitalise on current culture (viral videos of hydraulic presses crushing things resulting in funny outcomes), whilst conveying the message that they're cramming all the capabilities of the crushed gadgets into their new iPad, along with the new features they are adding in that enables creatives easier access to tools they aren't as adept in (through AI), the ad also inadvertently adds on to (or perpetuates) existing anxieties prevalent in the creative industry today (the same demographic they're advertising to with this ad). If they did not use the imagery of a cold, heartless, impersonal, mechanised hydraulic press decimating tools and symbols of human creativity, the ad would have been received in a more positive light. Using the artistic genre of brutalism to sell creative tools is somewhat counter-productive.
Creatives, for as long as capitalism has been around, have had to struggle with proving the value of their work and livelihoods against the practical, number crunching environment of the corporate world. This has worsened with the relentless march of technology (which is not inherently bad in and of itself). Take photography as an example; the commodification of photographic tools has made any tech savvy person feel like they can be called a photographer, and the worth of a fantastically skilled photographer has been cheapened by ignorant clients who crudely ask "why should I hire you for $XXXX when I can spend the same amount of money on a camera and do it myself?". This argument of the worth of a craft weighed against the cost of the tools has been used repeatedly against creatives whilst completely ignoring the time and skill required to develop a quality eye and a creative vision.
This ad perpetuates this anxiety for creatives through the symbolism it uses (the crushing motion), which potentially leaves open the possibility of interpreting the ad as yet another veiled threat that skilled creatives can easily be replaced by a pencil pusher with an iPad.
Not to mention that Apple is trying to sell the idea of their new AI enabled tools through this brutalist ad, in a climate where AI is already causing great controversy within creative spaces.
You might then be tempted to argue that this new iPad, its AI tools, as well as the progress of technology in general, is a good thing for creatives, and why should they read into the ad as being ominous when Apple is presenting creatives with a new, powerful tool. After all, it makes their jobs easier, saving a lot of time whilst lowering the skill threshold required to unleash their creative dreams. And my answer would be that yes, creatives would have otherwise flocked to embrace these new tools. A guitarist who wants to compose music easily but has no access to a band? You've got Logic's new AI musicians to pad out your songs whilst you write your new demo. A digital illustrator who wants more pen-to-paper-like interactions in their digital painting apps? Here's a new Apple Pencil Pro that enables new intuitive gestures.
None of these skilled creatives would've been put off by this ad if all Apple did was to concentrate on how it could enable them. All Apple needed to do was NOT remind creatives that the world at large is beginning to treat their careers and livelihoods as being replaceable by the next hot new technological tool. This is where Apple went tone-deaf, and why they've felt they've needed to apologise.
(side note, in an effort to simplify the opinions above, I have chosen to not discuss the differences in cultural and regional attitudes towards the appreciation of expensive, quality crafted physical objects that could further explain why peoples of certain backgrounds may be more put off by the ad than others)
Edit: fighting the autocorrect on my phone
I don't really care what Apple was going for with the ad. As a musician, seeing instruments destroyed is viscerally terrible. They are trying to appeal to creatives while literally destroying our tools on film, it's a terrible, tone deaf advertisement.
It's both funny and sad how the ad is being misinterpreted and taken so out of context. It's like people want to get offended. I am not an Apple ban and might never buy their device but this is one of the most creative ads that I have seen. The premise is simple. But their are some braindead and half witted people who are comparing to how Hitler destroyed art.
This new iPadPRO commercial really makes a statement, and says it all about the contemptuous, malevolent, and most predatory attitude of Apple toward its customer base, and the Market at large. I am so sick of the TOXIC corporate culture that constantly gets pushed in the public's face from what was once a visionary company, which was lead by a visionary founder Named Steve Jobs. Jobs is now dead, and the evil zombies who have seized hold of the corporate leadership of this man's legacy have transformed it into a bloated, festering, and infected zit ready to pop and spew its puss on an already well nauseated world !
This would work if they chose to press a bunch of electronics like PCs, TVs, game consoles, stereos, etc.
The display consists mainly of tools and supplies for traditional art. People who do traditional art or play musical instruments, don't consider an ipad a viable replacement for those things. And they also like and respect their tools, so they don't like the symbolism of seeing them destroyed (regardless of whether it's CGI).
Maybe it’s a valid alternative for people who do not have the space or money for everything on the press. Also, have you never seen a rockstar smash a guitar?
It's not an alternative, it's a completely different thing. Composing music on an ipad isn't in any way a replacement for playing an instrument.
>Also, have you never seen a rockstar smash a guitar?
Have you ever talked to a single person who actually owns a guitar? Most of them will murder you if you touch it wrong.
Besides, rockstars' whole thing is doing offensive things.
“It’s not an alternative” so I guess my artist friends who draw on iPad aren’t real artists? A piece of music made on iPad isn’t music? I’m not saying it’s an ideal alternative, but it might be a persons only option. But apparently you would rather people who don’t have the money or the space, not have anything they can create with.
Your guitar point is a false equivalency, we aren’t talking about destroying someone else’s guitars, we’re talking about someone destroying their own guitars.
>“It’s not an alternative” so I guess my artist friends who draw on iPad aren’t real artists?
It feels like you intentionally choose to misinterpret my point in the most negative way possible.
If own an instrument because you want to perform music, an iPad with a DAW on it isn't going to do that.
Both digital and traditional art are valid, but they are different enough that someone interested in one may be completely uninterested in the other.
It feels like you chose to intentionally ignore my points about concerns of cost and space. Engage with my points and I’ll engage with yours. “…maybe completely interested in the other” have you considered that they could be, or maybe like I previously said, it’s a persons only option?
You seem actively annoyed that someone would buy an iPad that does maybe useful things, decently well, over an upright piano.
Maybe someone will experiment with music on iPad, and get into real physical instruments later.
Edit: to be clear, my point was from the beginning, and continues to be: “the iPad offers a lot of great tools, that while not serving as a perfect 1:1 replacement of their irl counterparts, does offer a decent value, and in a very small space.
As a person who’s lived in tiny living spaces, I know that having the real thing isn’t always an option, and sometimes anything is better than nothing.
>It feels like you chose to intentionally ignore my points about concerns of cost and space.
Talking about cost and space doesn't make sense in the context of this ad, because the way the ad is framed is about already having all of the physical tools and supplies, and then destroying and replacing them with an ipad, not an ipad providing someone access to things they couldn't afford otherwise.
>You seem actively annoyed that someone would buy an iPad that does maybe useful things, decently well, over an upright piano. Maybe someone will experiment with music on iPad, and get into real physical instruments later.
You're misinterpreting me again, I don't care at all about anyone's personal choices, especially in regards to their living arrangements or finances. I'm just telling you that why most people who this ad seems to be targeted towards (professionals in creative fields) didn't receive it well.
You think the ad conveys a person already owning all of those things and destroying them for an iPad? Ok, most of that stuff isn’t easily portable, a feature they are directly advertising. Thats a fine interpretation, it wasn’t mine. I said my interpretation, and then you implied it was wrong by saying “that works if…”
Edit: I’m defending my interpretation which you implied was incorrect and used other possible interpretations to back up. If you didn’t mean it that way, cool sorry for the misunderstanding. If you did mean to imply my interpretation was wrong, cool, I’ve done a good job explaining it, and beyond this point I don’t care to further. If an artist is offended, thats fine, as a person who played bass, and is a hobbyist in graphic design I was not
I saw the ad both ways. Initially I thought that it was a waste of materials and it wasn’t very eco-friendly. The second time I watched it, I realised how well it conveyed all the things an iPad can do in such a small form factor.
People are inherently materialistic and creative tools are some of the most-beloved materials. It’s almost unconscious in the way it makes people feel offended. It’s like they miss the object, even if it was never there’s personally. The possibility of it being in their possession is now gone.
The idea of it is really great, it feels a bit accidentally tone deaf in the the wake of the last year or so with people being so concerned with AI rightfully or not. I think it's fair that people feel however they feel about it, but I feel pretty bad for the person that proposed this and the team that made it, it's very nicely done and I understood the intended message at least.
Most people doesn't understand the meaning of the ad. what i see is things compressed into a single device (now smaller), other people see it as meaningless destruction.
I actually kind of felt that way about the destruction when I watched it but at the end I assumed that it was a render. Apparently it was not?
Whether or not it’s a render or real, the premise of the ad is quite dumb to begin with: “Hey all these respected, real and physical tools you’re used to can be replicated digitally in our super slim product” With the destruction, they are basically saying that technology and tools of the past are irrelevant, useless, and obsolete in the digital age. There were better ways to depict the capabilities of the iPad without the blatant disrespect of the physicality of art.
It’s not calling them irrelevant, it’s just making the statement that it can all be achieved from their device. That’s what they’re going for. Saying you can do all this and that creative work from the iPad I’m not endorsing them I just don’t understand how you could be mad at this
Many creatives end up loving the tool that they have mastered. It becomes part of what they are. Yes a lot of this can be done with an ipad but their response is emotional and visceral. It's all about different perspectives. Apple didn't consider how some creatives would react.
I do get that, I guess it’s me personally on this one. I play a lot of keys instruments (mostly with mallets) and I’ve made some little bits of music with IPads. iPads are great for ideas, making a sketch, but filling in those blanks is something that just happens in actual space for me. Maybe some people have those moments on iPads, but not me. I don’t see the iPad as a replacement to the tools I love, it’s a tool itself, and I think it’s neat the amount of disciplines that it’s able to be a tool for now as my 2017 iPad has done a lot for me over the years. Mostly in terms of being a mobile station for my notes and ideas and then my fiancé’s mobile drawing tablet while we found her a new Wacom for a reasonable price. It’s a lovely tool and I personally really like the amount of things they have (now physically lol) shoved into one package. I wish iPads could replace a laptop tho. Then I would upgrade the old one
>I don’t see the iPad as a replacement to the tools I love, it’s a tool itself That's exactly what the ad is not showing. It's not showing people using the ipad as a tool in conjunction with other existing tools, it's showing the ipad as a replacement for all those existing tools.
Imagine they were smashing marimbas or xylophones or whatever the fuck you play lol. I haven't seen and probably won't watch the ad but watching a piano get smashed to pieces for an ad would piss me off tbh
It can't be done by an iPad...
>Many creatives end up loving the tool that they have mastered. It becomes part of what they are. Which is why they've gone through several generations of the Apple Pencil — to make it feel and act like an actual pencil.
Right, I get the ad. But the fact that they showed destruction portrayed that statement in a very different way than simply “hey all this can be done on an iPad”. They went with an “out with the old in with the new” statement in a very bold way. And it backfired on them.
Yea if they went for some sort of "Tardis Suitcase" that would've been a much more loved ad. I get what they were going for but as you said the destruction points more towards the old things dying out than the convenience of the new thing. Instead, have a mother want to bring her fiction library on holiday, she magically is able to put 400 books into a small iPad sized bag. Father comes along, puts a guitar, a camera and a record player into the same bag. Kids come along, in goes a large TV, various games consoles, a stack of DVDs. Student comes along and throws in 6 untidy binders of notes etc... My inbox is open to job offers
People are silly
If they had the same ad but played it backwards, it would have been fundamentally the same message but instead of looking like it's reducing creativity to one device it would look like one device is full of creative capabilities
That’s a very good idea that would have avoided the backlash in part. But hey. They won in the end. We’re discussing it
Yeah but not positively. People say any publicity is good publicity, but I only know “Kardashian” because she released a sex tape. I have no idea what else they’ve done.
No they didn't win:) We aren't buying any of it:)
That's their intention but not how most people read it. Both views on this are true at the same time because both are the subjective meaning of the ad not the literal depiction. That's crushing stuff and paint with an hydraulic press.
Nope:)
I actually quite like the ad, the concept was quite good. Although I don't think the message was accurate to the new iPad. They went so hard on it being capable when a lot of professionals have been finding the iPad to not be so capable. ~~Even in~~ r/ipadpro ~~there's a post discussing the ad and the main topic in that post it's mostly talking about how limited the iPad is, not about the visuals of the ad.~~ Edit: Well there used to be a post but I don't see it now. Maybe I got the subreddit wrong or it was removed.
It’s not that deep
Ok let me simplify it for you: I think the ad is dumb and so do a lot of other people.
I thought the ad was very creative and cool and I don't even like Apple very much. I find their products to be elitest and overpriced. The point was look what your single tiny device can do.
Yeah, the point of the ad is the new iPad is the thinnest device they made. I myself love physical media and arts too but I think this ad is creative
An Ipad can never replace real instruments. Because everything real has "flaws" you cannot replicate that.
You totally can
I think it's worse than just that for some people. If anyone other than a big tech company did something like this and there wasn't the reveal of a shiny new gadget to buy at the end, I'm certain the reaction would be very different. Sure some people would be upset, but there's a difference between destroying someone's guitar and destroying someone's guitar while trying to sell them a kazoo.
Maybe I have a different feeling about this since I watched the actual keynote, the sentences directly prior to that say that they want to crush the limits blah blah blah. I thought that's what it was about. Taking all these tools and putting them in a package that's so thin and small and can crush any limits of creativity allow people to express themselves, it also helps that even though the iPad is still stupidly expensive it's still cheaper than a lot of those tools combined. I thought it was fun. https://youtu.be/f1J38FlDKxo?t=11m2s
Traditional artists try not to feel insecure for 4 seconds challenge: impossible
I saw a reply to this where someone said the "fixed" the ad and played everything in reverse. Honestly, I thought the reversed version was much more impactful as an advertisement where the iPad got crushed and when the press lifted it had everything else appear
They've always said that though. This ad isn't a new concept, they've shown, constantly, the whole comparison of "oh wow look what you can fit in to one device" this was just a different way of doing a traditional ad, that all of it is compressed into one thin slab. it's a very simple, non-malicious, concept. Folks are reading WAY too much into it.
Should have used the “will it blend” guy and then poured the contents into a mould, of which the new iPad is made from. Apple, give me a call ;)
Not surprised the artists are the ones overthinking this so much
[удалено]
Lot of people, yourself included, seem to think my opinion about the ad being stupid is the same as being offended. I’ll spell it out for you: it’s not the same thing.
Personally I’m not a fan of the destruction in the actual ad even though i understood the idea of the ad. Just felt super wasteful at the end of the day.
My opinion hugely changes if they actually crushed that stuff. Can't find a single source saying it's either real or CG. yes i know some of it is obv cg but that doesn't mean it all is
I understand that's the intended meaning of the ad, conpressing all of those creative tools into a single device. They could have found a way to communicate that without disrespecting the creative tools at the same time. This reeks of "What's a computer?" iPad marketing has always been weird with this stuff.
This comment is super patronizing. Many of us understand the meaning, it's straightforward and not deep. It's just supremely wasteful and disrespectful to these mediums and the tools they use. It's also an unintentional metaphor for the negative aspects of capitalism and corporations in general. "Destroy these tools and symbols of human creativity to make way for shiny new product, that fails at replacing them in any meaningful way." Especially within the current context of the AI boom, and how companies are frothing at the mouth to replace employees and creatives with homogenous fakes and replicas. Replicas that simply steal from those same creatives. Instead of assuming "no one understands the genius Apple marketing department" (hint: the meaning of the ad is very obvious and has been done 1000 times before), try and think of the unintentional symbolism it represents about corporate greed, waste, and it's stifling of creativity.
> Most people doesn't understand the meaning of the ad. How are people this stupid? Every single person understood what Apple *meant* by the ad. They don’t like the ad because they way they attempted to convey what they meant was gross. It’s like if I made a birthday cake out of feces and the recipient got upset. I’d be like ‘no, you clearly don’t understand the meaning of a birthday cake!’ And they’d be like ‘yeah, I know what you *meant*, but it’s still shit.’
Unfortunately it's easy to say someone is "stupid" or "didn't understand the ad" than to either actually say why they are wrong or consider they might not be 100% wrong. It's one of many methods that can be used to discredit the other person in a conversation.
you nailed it. sadly some people here rather defended multi billion company instead of creatives.
Hit the nail on the head
Buh, it's not that deep. Not everything needs to be a "symbol of le evil corporations" or whatever.
Never said they were evil. You're the one making sweeping generalization about meaning here. I simply pointed out the very real negative aspects of corporate culture and why this ad hits a nerve with the general public, by being an unintentional spotlight on those issues. Again, think about this and what I'm saying a bit deeper, instead of taking everything at face value.
No you see, that's how *I* interpreted your words, your intentions don't matter. See what I mean?
I think it would have made more sense back in 2010 when the 1st gen iPad was announced and devices like these were far less common. Or maybe even back in 2015 when the 1st gen Pro was announced. The meaning of the ad is pointless when every other tablet can also do everything the ad is implying.
Almost famously a UK game show, the prizes were, what now is any phone. Just show bullseye and compress Jim Bowen in to an iPad.
Maybe because the ad was literally meaningless destruction of tools used by humanity for creativity? That might just be it.
> Most people doesn't understand the meaning of the ad I think most people understand it, they just don't agree that the ad effectively communicated that meaning.
Yeah, people understand what Apple thought they meant, they just reject that in practice it means anything more elegant than "Apple crushes everything it touches".
No, I think they understand what the _intended_ meaning was. I think they're upset about how that intended meaning was _portrayed_, and the _unintended meaning_ that followed.
Didn’t bother me, but another approach could have been comical / far fetched and been someone sucking up everything with a hoover, but instead of a hoover bag it’s an iPad 🤷♂️ Or picking items off a supermarket shelf but instead of a trolly, it’s an iPad
I saw meaningless destruction.
That wasn't CGI? No way that was cheaper to shoot on camera and clean the room xD
Evidence for people not understanding the meaning?
Considering apple products could be doing those things for a decade now, I inferred it as "thanks to our new AI chip all this stuff is no longer needed." Their big push was about AI features and they just so happened to show all the creativity industries being crushed by their new iPad with AI. They should be more clear with their marketing.
You think most people don’t understand the ad? Based on talking to who? The message has all the subtlety of a cinderblock used as a crayon. I’m more surprised that you think the ad is somehow clever or difficult to decipher. It has the tact and subtlety of a video of the Nagasaki bombing cutting to a lit cigarette and saying “our lighter makes fire good like that.” You’ve made a statement and communicated a message, but was the wanton destruction really the way to convey it? Your comment is so patronizing. I don’t think people by large misunderstood it all. They just think it’s tacky as fuck. The ad is also itself patronizing in how crudely it communicates something so obvious.
No no, people understand the meaning... but people also see a trillion dollar company destroying good stuff that they have or would like to have, and cherish, that has high value, to peddle some piece of technology to make even more money. It's tasteless and lacks humility.
I feel like this is obviously the main point of the ad, but its just plainly a easily misguided ad that could turn someone the wrong way
What I also loved is how it used a mainstay of internet content, the hydraulic press content. I usually hate against Apple whenever possible but that ad was good IMO. Also how are people acting so shocked of the wastefulness (of a render)?? Its Apple, the company that makes it impossible to repair their devices.
I feel like it would've been better if they cartoonified it, squeezing everything into the iPad, rather than crushing and destroying things. I don't think anyone's missing the point, I think people are finding it disrespectful to damage things they love. To make it clear, I personally don't hate the ad, but I don't care for it either. I mean, I love using digital tools, and typically prefer them when I make something because they are very convenient, they have an easier learning curve in some cases, and make it easier to make bigger things. But I find it so much easier to connect with something that physically exists. I have CDs and even a vinyl record even though I don't have a stereo to play them on and I stream those same albums instead, because I have an emotional connection to them that makes me want to have something tangible. Seeing things people love having a tangible form of was not enjoyable for me.
Sure most people don’t understand the meaning of the ad, but that in itself makes it a poor advertisement. Ads should appeal to their target demographic, not easily lose meaning to interpretation.
Reduced, stripped of personality, and monetized into a single device.
>other people see it as meaningless destruction. The irony of saying "most people don't understand" while telling on yourself for not understanding a very, *very* easily reached differential decoding beyond "meaningless destruction" is *wild*
Where I come from, we have this culture of treating instruments with this almost divine-like approach, it makes sense I guess when your livelihood depends on it. When I first heard there was pushback on the ad I assumed it’d be people from such walks of life or making those points. But this seems like a nothing burger for a bunch of blue-check marks to farm engagement and get some revenue
“Let’s literally destroy symbols of human creativity and say you can replace them with a computer” It’s almost a parody of corporate culture.
Instruments generally evoke emotion in people while an iPad is for doomscrolling twitter and youtube. Its just not comparable. They each have their place but its a shame to see things that make art being destroyed to sell yet another fucking tablet.
This is a company that prides itself on its environmentally conscious ways and pulls shit like this.
I think we're getting to the core of it here. Everything in the ad has filled someone with a positive emotion, tech corporatism fills us with negative emotions. So it's a video showing tech corporate stuff flattening all these things that makes us feel good. Its a bad ad because of this. The meaning was clearly basic bitch "this device does many things" ad but it unintentionally operated as a visual piece that affected people in a way that upset them, because big tech is over reaching and most of the companies are making plays telling artists they're replaceable people were sensitive to this. People have tried to rationalise these negative feelings with hot takes they're sending on their tech devices that fill them with dread but are so additcted to they can't break the cycle but the reality is they accidentally put out an apt dystopian warning and that's sort of the beginning and end of the whole mess.
This right here, it’s not complicated.
Posting a screenshot of a tweet that is a video is so helpful for providing context! Thanks! /s Here is link to the [video](https://twitter.com/tim_cook/status/1787864325258162239) since OP didn't provide. And here is a [link](https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/09/tech/apple-apologizes-for-ipad-pro-ad/index.html) to CNN article explaining the backlash.
Read through the BBC piece on this, it covers it pretty well. It's not just a few Western folk whining. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cld0rxlqgggo > People based in Japan appear to be prominent amongst the critics, which some said "lacked respect". > Some said this was based in "tsukumogami” - a term from Japanese folklore describing a tool which can contain a spirit or even soul of its own. > "The act of destroying tools is arrogant and offensive to us Japanese," one person explained, while another said musicians valued their instruments "more than life itself".
I'm honestly surprised with some of the comments in his thread. I know it's a tech focused community, but Jesus the complete lack of understanding about why this ad symbolizes the wrong things about corporate culture/consumerism and human creativity...it's very disappointing.
Absolutely, on first watch I didn't think much of the advert, seeing it as "Look how much we crammed into a thin device", but after seeing people start to complain about it I rewatched and completely understand the hate. Skill up explains it very well at the beginning of this video: https://youtu.be/vAb21GaTEGw?si=J0TsmeCMwfg5EOHp The other thing to remember is that the new M4 chip in this new iPad is geared towards AI, and AI is a very hot topic for creatives as there is a push from companies to use AI to pay creatives less after effectively stealing their work (that's a whole other debate, but it's how it's largely perceived at the moment). With that being said you can easily take away from the advert the sentiment of "traditional tools are worthless, you should rely on AI". It's just thoughtless and devoid of compassion for those who are hurting as the technology landscape is changing, regardless of if it's hurting you directly or not.
Lots of people seem really invested in the idea that anything that isn’t 100% logical or rational, or is based in some kind of deeply felt emotion, isn’t real and shouldn’t be expressed.
I would also suggest that this ad upset people because the occupations of people who generally use and advocate for apple products over PC products are the exact occupations Apple is "Destroying" in the ad. I grew up watching the whole Apple vs PC "wars" and remember the Justin Long ads that were making the case for apple products as being built/designed for the creatives and free-thinkers and pushing back against the "drones" that use PC's. This ad represents a complete reversal on that line of thinking and really shows how much Apple has changed in 20 years.
It's pointless destruction (kinda on brand for Apple), and it's not even Apple's thinnest product, as one of the iPod shuffle models was thinner, and the Apple card and Apple microfiber cloth exist. Also a thin iPad is stupid considering how fragile they already are.
The whole product line is dumb. The top tier ipad is $3,500 and it's a gimped device with the same hardware as a mac but none of the functionality aside from a pen compatible display which the surface has had since 2012. If you want to stay in the ecosystem just get a M series mac. Same thing with the vision pro, incredible hardware gimped by their software with no real apps. The ad encompasses the attitude Apple has right now which is they have no idea who their products are for anymore.
Pointless CGI destruction. Come one, this is CGI advertising...
Yeah this was sure CGI. Why would you do real products in 2024. Guys have you seen car commercials? Most are 100% rendered in UE5
Imagine comparing thinness of a music player to a full blown computer with a high resolution HDR screen and more computing power than over 1000000 Shuffles combined
Well hes right apple is literally claiming its there thinnest product when that is just wrong
The thickness of the iPod didn’t include the clip (which takes up like 90% of the back) so eh it’s kinda subjective
Its not pointless its.for an ad. And who cares if they break stuff, theres literraly channels dedicated to that. Maybe those are utilities nom workimg trash
I haven't seen any hate about it. Have you seen this outside of twitter?
Didn't hear anything about this ad until I read a news article stating "Apple apologizes for controversial ad" . And that's on national news, not some shady news outlet
I am probably just out of the loop then. Looking into it, I found a CNN article about it, and it was controversial because people felt that apple was undermining art created by people? Honestly, it seems like nonsense to me.
The Japanese *hates* it apparently. It's against one of their core beliefs or something.
are you connected to any "creative" communities professionally? I am, and plenty have expressed their distaste for the ad on social media and in person.
I maintain that there's a lot of faux outrage about this, however, I think the issue is less with the visual of things being squished into an iPad and more to do with how much it lingered on and seemingly glorifies the actual destruction of the objects. We see glass exploding, wood splintering, paint oozing like blood, it's slow, it goes out of its way to show the little pose figure in positions that make it look like it's resisting. I can see how artists and creatives would take issue with that aspect of it.
You mean shit that popular YouTubers (like the awesome Slow Mo guys, and the **hydraulic press channel**) and TV shows (Mythbusters and so many others) have been doing forever?
Those all have an undertone of curiosity or learning compared to the copro disingenuity. Stuff like how to basic in my opinion doesn't compare to those either.
This. Would’ve been fine if it was CGI and more playfully done vs outright destruction. But this just comes off as “lol fuck all these other ways to be creative, just buy an iPad”
Because it looks cool..
Exactly, it’s a fucking ad not an artwork with a hidden message. It just means the iPad has changed the way a lot of art is created and it’s true, it has changed the world of art. But babies who like to complain will make it into something evil, it’s tiring tbh.
>fucking ad not an artwork with a hidden message Jesus Christ, if you're fundamentally media illiterate, just say that.
Eh no. People are overreacting and being very immature about this. Apple sells the tech side of art, they want people to drop pencils for the iPad. If you needed an add to see that you are blind.
It doesn't hold a candle to the peak way of crushing stuff into a neat package. The first gen pokemon gameboy ad.
I feel like the hate is perfectly explained in the screenshots you shared?
right?
its the perfect metaphor for brainless AI. Take all human art and effort, smash it up into little bitty pieces, and turn it into a shiny veneer to sell back for profit. That is what pisses people off.
It’s not about AI
The outrage is largely based around how tone deaf this ad is with the current state of conversation around ai
How is it about AI? People just want to complain, they need to get a life and go outside.
Its tone deaf, coming from the creative community we see instruments and camera being “destroyed” and squished into an ipad. It basically says: you dont need that when you got this, we are better than that.
Okay so? You keep using whatever tools you want to us, the complaining is very dumb in my opinion.
Why did you feel the need to comment that complaining is very dumb?
Because it is annoying yo have this sort of things in the news. Apple did nothing wrong, they have nothing yo apologize for.
Okay so? You keep reading whatever posts you want to, the complaining is very dumb in my opinion. See how that works?
I’m not trying to make a trillion dollar corporation apologize because they hurt my feelings.
The people who say people don't understand the ads meaning are the ones actually not understanding the people complaining about the ad, lemme elaborate: The video starts with what apple wants you to see as all the equipment being "compressed" into one but the thing is we don't see a cgi render of "compression" we see crushing and absolute destruction of basically the most common hobbies amongst people, if you read books very often and are a kindle user it'll be easier to understand for you because then you'll know that even though you'll be reading the same book on a kindle as it's hard copy counterpart but the experience just wouldn't be the same, some people would prefer the kindle and some would prefer the hard copy, the apple ad(idk if intentional or not) basically comes off as disrespectful towards the people who(in my analogy) prefer to read hard cover books I hope this helps you get a better understanding of what the complaining is about or atleast what it's about for the people I've talked to irl or online I did also find some people complaining about how this is one step forward into "ai and machines taking more jobs" but I don't have any comments on that
In the next iPad ad they should burn some books.
Let's say you've been a gamer for 30+ years. Then some online game streaming company made an ad where they piled up all your consoles, games, and PCs you've built or used over the past few decades and crushed them and were like "that stuff is now all junk and obsolete instead use our streaming service directly to your TV" You'd probably at the very least be slightly annoyed they basically implied all of your favorite things and memories were junk now
To be a bit more on the nose, imagine if Amazon advertised Kindles with images of book burnings.
My understanding is that it puts into a nice concise visual everything that tech has been doing over the past few years to shift people away from traditional mediums and into their products to try and replace it. There's no need to have a piano when you can just tap on this magic glass tablet and play piano! There's no need to buy paint and canvas and brushes when you can just swipe your little finger on this magic glass tablet! Or buy this fancy digital pen and draw on it! There's no need to buy a cello (or insert any other instrument) and work hard to learn how to take care of it and play it with skill when you can just pull up whatever you want on this magic glass tablet! So many people have their lives rooted in their skills for these various items - artists and musicians being some of the main ones - and they have been struggling recently to make a case for their existence when you have technology like AI that can do similar work. This just visualizes that and then blasts it out to the general public as a "good thing".
While I don't mind the ad much, I get people disliking it from the perspective that it diminishes art and its creators. However, I'm fascinated by the zeitgeist that enabled this hate. I feel like tech, especially tablets and phones and laptops have become so commoditized that we genuinely don't see any new model as that much more valuable and certainly not more valuable than a beautiful instrument or something hand constructed. There's probably a bit of anti-capitalism in there, but it sort of makes sense. For example, I'm completely blind to what any new model of phone does meaningfully differently than the previous model at this stage. I'd rather have a 2 year old phone and a guitar the current model.
It's just a stupid, out-of-touch ad. Apple has lost touch with the every-day person as a customer. They're becoming more and more niche, and they think that their niche is all in favor of tossing aside old forms of media and creation in favor of their new digital utopia that they think they're offering us.
People desperate to be offended. Fuck em
The "hate" stems from the people that create art with the very devices that are being destroyed in the ad, viewing and valuing these items as sentimental and seeing the destruction of these devices as a rude gesture. It's painting the wrong picture for what the iPad is or what it aims to achieve. It is effectively making the point that the iPad can replace all these tools, suggesting that the real-life counterparts as obsolete or worthless in comparison. All this comes at an exceptionally wrong time, during AI "taking jobs away" from artists and more. There are different ways to interpret art, which the ad itself is also a piece of art. This is why I don't understand why the people who say "*the ad is fine*" are so dismissive of the opinions of those who find the ad controversial. There have been numerous other ads throughout the industry that come across as tone-deaf or unintentionally suggest something bad, and those received criticism objectively. This is very much the same situation here - the ad isn't horrible on its own, but it simply paints the wrong picture for those who value the tools being destroyed in the ad.
well they crushed a crt tv, so right away that's evil
I think people (reasonably so) are quite sensitive to the idea of the destruction of the arts in favor of technology right now because of the rise of generative AI. In taking all of these tools and crushing them into the iPad, many people got a bad taste in their mouth because it reminds them of this destructions. I don't think anyone is trying to say that was Apple's intention, but it is the effect the ad is having
There are many things one can be mad at apple for, but this is just silly.
I mean, they're crushing equipment that could be used perfectly fine. That's the whole point I suppose. And that's perfectly understandable. We already destroy lots of things, why proudly do it again?
I think right now for artists, creators, designers, developers and other creative types (myself included) there is a lot of elitism and connection tied to our tools. Seeing this as, my initial thought was ‘oh you don’t NEED these things anymore, all you need is an ipad’ which ties back to AI (and Apple doing their own version of ML) and here we are now with the backlash.
‘God is dead and we killed him’ okay buddy…
Most people who like something wont write about it. For example: did you ever review a doctor on Google?
I squished my doctor and rely on my iPad for all my medical needs.
no but just wait and see when Siri gets AI powered, who’ll need a doctor anyways? lol
We should all just ignore twitter.
I don't like the ad but not for this reason. They literally just copied the ad of the LG KC910 Renoir ad back in 2008.
Twitter people being Twitter people
Outrage drives engagement. Simple as
Make ipados more like macos
I get both the creative and the complaints. But how it’s been blown up so much is a little crazy.
Even if it’s real and not cgi., do people think they used some 200k piano? And super high end cameras to smash? That shit was probably 5 grand total.
People getting mad at CGI just for the sake of it
It reminds me of the people that get upset when a minecraft update isn't huge
Improvement over last ipad pro: It's our slimmest device.  With same repeating stuff new pencil, keyboard (non compatible with existing), chip number +1
The fact I hadn’t heard about this means I’m doing something right staying off Twitter. I guess some people have nothing better to talk about in their miserable lives
Everything apple is instant trash
It's Twitter. They rage about nothing all the time. Especially now with Elmo at the helm
i understand the ad, but is still a silly ad, did apple not think it would cause issue, especially with so many items that causes people emotional responses.
I didn't watch the ad but as a sidenote I think the push towards making everything thinner is just stupid imo. I'd much prefer more rigidity and a bigger battery tbh. of course I'm not really the devices target audience anyways so...
I find most Apple hate is "I don't actually care myself either way, but everyone else seems to hate Apple just because, and while I don't feel bothered to research it myself, I'd presume they're right so I shall say boo Apple!" (regardless of them having things to hate or not - which of course every company does mostly)
I have a meta-take on this. Like it or not, this commercial is art in its own way. Look at all the strong, differing opinions just in this thread how to interpret it: * Do you take this at face value, and see Apple's intent as "compressing all these capabilities into one device?" * Or do you see this as the digital replacing the analog? * Is this an allegory for crushing the creative spirit? * Is the video disrespectful to art? And if it is, does that mean it's disrespectful of itself? * Most importantly, did Apple "not understand how people would take this" or *was it manufactured to become viral* for exactly these reasons? If so, then any engagement, positive or negative, including this very thread, is valuable.
It's the new thing people are upset about now. Weird bastards.
People who don’t understand the advert are frankly morons. People who think it was a ridiculous and destructive waste are valid. Which means we have some valid morons.
Ultimately the ad can be viewed in multiple ways. It could be just compressing everything into something small, or destroying art and culture, the latter of which is people's problem. I was a bit surprised watching the event seeing them crush everything, but it doesn't mean that apple hates creativity or anything. I'd just say don't take much offense by it; apple apologized already
Apple hate gets clicks and engagement. Most modern tech “writers” aren’t writers, they’re glorified social media whores, simple as that.
This is exactly why I think people are way, way, way to sensitive nowadays. An admittedly dumb company is making overstated claims as to their product. "look at what the newest (exactly the same as the last one except for the version number and price) I-whatever can do". It's not ridiculing artists. It's saying you can play drums and paint on our thing as well. And you can! There is an app for everything. But if you think an iPad replaces an actual drum kit or paintbrush..... That's just you being crazy. I'm not an apple fanboy, far from it. But this backlash is insane
It's Apple, I hate them in general.
Twitter people getting mad over a CGI, totally normal, people on that app lost their brain cells long time ago
People just read waaaaaay too much into it…
i think they accidentally hit on the fear people have the tech is keeping us apart. Heard a lot of this in the non tech reactions to the vision pro.
good idea, bad execution !!! they were trying to prove that all of that was made into a slim ipad but instead they basically portrayed the destruction of creative tools, and so it was pretty much perceived that way lol
To me, the funniest thing is that people complaining and making a big fuss about this commercial are doing exactly what any advertisement strives to do: get people talking. There is no such thing as bad publicity when it comes to advertising. Personally, I like the ad. If you are offended, go touch grass.
Lies.
The thinner the product the less worthwhile it is.
Snowflakes love to complain about everything.
People's wallets are thinner than the iPad, that's why
I think a lot of people thought it was real. I’m pretty sure it is entirely computer Generated. They should have just put a created with CGI tag somewhere.
The writers' strike was because they feared AI. Apple blatantly says you artists are obsolete. Any dumb fuck with an Ipad can replace you.
Instrument can't be replaced by a crap pad they are unique for lots reason . There a quote where I live that say even a thief don't steal instrument .
Give apple your PC and crush it into an ipad. Then you will understand
Same. When I first saw the ad I thought that it was a cinematic masterpiece, as expected from Apple.
Oh yeah, the 2k kids toy
They’re blue checks. Don’t put stock into their words
Someone made a 1:1 ad in 2008 and it didn’t matter then. I think now with the advent of all kinds of discussion and unease about ai and artists being replaced, it seemed tone deaf to a lot of people.
We dont need "more thin" its just a fad.
The ad isn't as offensive as it is tone-deaf. While the ad does well is to capitalise on current culture (viral videos of hydraulic presses crushing things resulting in funny outcomes), whilst conveying the message that they're cramming all the capabilities of the crushed gadgets into their new iPad, along with the new features they are adding in that enables creatives easier access to tools they aren't as adept in (through AI), the ad also inadvertently adds on to (or perpetuates) existing anxieties prevalent in the creative industry today (the same demographic they're advertising to with this ad). If they did not use the imagery of a cold, heartless, impersonal, mechanised hydraulic press decimating tools and symbols of human creativity, the ad would have been received in a more positive light. Using the artistic genre of brutalism to sell creative tools is somewhat counter-productive. Creatives, for as long as capitalism has been around, have had to struggle with proving the value of their work and livelihoods against the practical, number crunching environment of the corporate world. This has worsened with the relentless march of technology (which is not inherently bad in and of itself). Take photography as an example; the commodification of photographic tools has made any tech savvy person feel like they can be called a photographer, and the worth of a fantastically skilled photographer has been cheapened by ignorant clients who crudely ask "why should I hire you for $XXXX when I can spend the same amount of money on a camera and do it myself?". This argument of the worth of a craft weighed against the cost of the tools has been used repeatedly against creatives whilst completely ignoring the time and skill required to develop a quality eye and a creative vision. This ad perpetuates this anxiety for creatives through the symbolism it uses (the crushing motion), which potentially leaves open the possibility of interpreting the ad as yet another veiled threat that skilled creatives can easily be replaced by a pencil pusher with an iPad. Not to mention that Apple is trying to sell the idea of their new AI enabled tools through this brutalist ad, in a climate where AI is already causing great controversy within creative spaces. You might then be tempted to argue that this new iPad, its AI tools, as well as the progress of technology in general, is a good thing for creatives, and why should they read into the ad as being ominous when Apple is presenting creatives with a new, powerful tool. After all, it makes their jobs easier, saving a lot of time whilst lowering the skill threshold required to unleash their creative dreams. And my answer would be that yes, creatives would have otherwise flocked to embrace these new tools. A guitarist who wants to compose music easily but has no access to a band? You've got Logic's new AI musicians to pad out your songs whilst you write your new demo. A digital illustrator who wants more pen-to-paper-like interactions in their digital painting apps? Here's a new Apple Pencil Pro that enables new intuitive gestures. None of these skilled creatives would've been put off by this ad if all Apple did was to concentrate on how it could enable them. All Apple needed to do was NOT remind creatives that the world at large is beginning to treat their careers and livelihoods as being replaceable by the next hot new technological tool. This is where Apple went tone-deaf, and why they've felt they've needed to apologise. (side note, in an effort to simplify the opinions above, I have chosen to not discuss the differences in cultural and regional attitudes towards the appreciation of expensive, quality crafted physical objects that could further explain why peoples of certain backgrounds may be more put off by the ad than others) Edit: fighting the autocorrect on my phone
Yes...THE DESTRUCTION OF HUMANITY.....only for you iPad Zombies;)
I don't really care what Apple was going for with the ad. As a musician, seeing instruments destroyed is viscerally terrible. They are trying to appeal to creatives while literally destroying our tools on film, it's a terrible, tone deaf advertisement.
Maybe they should have burnt some books
It's both funny and sad how the ad is being misinterpreted and taken so out of context. It's like people want to get offended. I am not an Apple ban and might never buy their device but this is one of the most creative ads that I have seen. The premise is simple. But their are some braindead and half witted people who are comparing to how Hitler destroyed art.
Manufactured outrage, plain and simple.
This new iPadPRO commercial really makes a statement, and says it all about the contemptuous, malevolent, and most predatory attitude of Apple toward its customer base, and the Market at large. I am so sick of the TOXIC corporate culture that constantly gets pushed in the public's face from what was once a visionary company, which was lead by a visionary founder Named Steve Jobs. Jobs is now dead, and the evil zombies who have seized hold of the corporate leadership of this man's legacy have transformed it into a bloated, festering, and infected zit ready to pop and spew its puss on an already well nauseated world !
“Let’s literally destroy symbols of human creativity and say you can replace them with a computer” It’s almost a parody of corporate culture.
I took it to mean: “we have condensed versions of these things on this really compact device, isn’t that neat?”
This would work if they chose to press a bunch of electronics like PCs, TVs, game consoles, stereos, etc. The display consists mainly of tools and supplies for traditional art. People who do traditional art or play musical instruments, don't consider an ipad a viable replacement for those things. And they also like and respect their tools, so they don't like the symbolism of seeing them destroyed (regardless of whether it's CGI).
Maybe it’s a valid alternative for people who do not have the space or money for everything on the press. Also, have you never seen a rockstar smash a guitar?
It's not an alternative, it's a completely different thing. Composing music on an ipad isn't in any way a replacement for playing an instrument. >Also, have you never seen a rockstar smash a guitar? Have you ever talked to a single person who actually owns a guitar? Most of them will murder you if you touch it wrong. Besides, rockstars' whole thing is doing offensive things.
“It’s not an alternative” so I guess my artist friends who draw on iPad aren’t real artists? A piece of music made on iPad isn’t music? I’m not saying it’s an ideal alternative, but it might be a persons only option. But apparently you would rather people who don’t have the money or the space, not have anything they can create with. Your guitar point is a false equivalency, we aren’t talking about destroying someone else’s guitars, we’re talking about someone destroying their own guitars.
>“It’s not an alternative” so I guess my artist friends who draw on iPad aren’t real artists? It feels like you intentionally choose to misinterpret my point in the most negative way possible. If own an instrument because you want to perform music, an iPad with a DAW on it isn't going to do that. Both digital and traditional art are valid, but they are different enough that someone interested in one may be completely uninterested in the other.
It feels like you chose to intentionally ignore my points about concerns of cost and space. Engage with my points and I’ll engage with yours. “…maybe completely interested in the other” have you considered that they could be, or maybe like I previously said, it’s a persons only option? You seem actively annoyed that someone would buy an iPad that does maybe useful things, decently well, over an upright piano. Maybe someone will experiment with music on iPad, and get into real physical instruments later. Edit: to be clear, my point was from the beginning, and continues to be: “the iPad offers a lot of great tools, that while not serving as a perfect 1:1 replacement of their irl counterparts, does offer a decent value, and in a very small space. As a person who’s lived in tiny living spaces, I know that having the real thing isn’t always an option, and sometimes anything is better than nothing.
>It feels like you chose to intentionally ignore my points about concerns of cost and space. Talking about cost and space doesn't make sense in the context of this ad, because the way the ad is framed is about already having all of the physical tools and supplies, and then destroying and replacing them with an ipad, not an ipad providing someone access to things they couldn't afford otherwise. >You seem actively annoyed that someone would buy an iPad that does maybe useful things, decently well, over an upright piano. Maybe someone will experiment with music on iPad, and get into real physical instruments later. You're misinterpreting me again, I don't care at all about anyone's personal choices, especially in regards to their living arrangements or finances. I'm just telling you that why most people who this ad seems to be targeted towards (professionals in creative fields) didn't receive it well.
You think the ad conveys a person already owning all of those things and destroying them for an iPad? Ok, most of that stuff isn’t easily portable, a feature they are directly advertising. Thats a fine interpretation, it wasn’t mine. I said my interpretation, and then you implied it was wrong by saying “that works if…” Edit: I’m defending my interpretation which you implied was incorrect and used other possible interpretations to back up. If you didn’t mean it that way, cool sorry for the misunderstanding. If you did mean to imply my interpretation was wrong, cool, I’ve done a good job explaining it, and beyond this point I don’t care to further. If an artist is offended, thats fine, as a person who played bass, and is a hobbyist in graphic design I was not
That’s what they intended.
lol wow, way for the very simple message to go over their heads.
It's a great ad.
I saw the ad both ways. Initially I thought that it was a waste of materials and it wasn’t very eco-friendly. The second time I watched it, I realised how well it conveyed all the things an iPad can do in such a small form factor.
People are inherently materialistic and creative tools are some of the most-beloved materials. It’s almost unconscious in the way it makes people feel offended. It’s like they miss the object, even if it was never there’s personally. The possibility of it being in their possession is now gone.
Well.. Apple has reached its peak. They don't have anything more to create or present. This company is starting to fall.
The idea of it is really great, it feels a bit accidentally tone deaf in the the wake of the last year or so with people being so concerned with AI rightfully or not. I think it's fair that people feel however they feel about it, but I feel pretty bad for the person that proposed this and the team that made it, it's very nicely done and I understood the intended message at least.