Most people look to TV programs like The Daily Show and The
Colbert Report for witty political commentary. However, every
once in a while the shows tackle issues that are more pressing
to those of us that have tech on the brain 24-7.
A prime example of this is Stephen Colbert's famous
dissection of AT&T's breakup into multiple smaller companies, and subsequent moves which brought all of the companies back under
the AT&T umbrella. Colbert jokingly referred to AT&T as the
"T-1000 of corporations" due to its ability to meld back
together after being broken into many pieces.
Last night, however, it was Jon Stewart's turn to "bring the
tech" to late night. Stewart
weighed in on the whole Gizmodo/Apple/iPhone
saga seemingly out of nowhere. After proclaiming his love for
MacBook Pros, iPhones, and iPads (which he say also double as an
excellent mirror), he started to viciously poke at Apple for its
actions against Gizmodo editor Jason Chen which he said
received the "meth lab in the basement treatment" from
police. "I'd be pissed too, but you didn't have to go all
Minority Report on his ass," exclaimed Stewart.
"Apple - you guys were the rebels, man, the underdogs. People
believed in you. But now, are you becoming the man? Remember back in
1984, you had those awesome ads about overthrowing Big Brother? Look
in the mirror, man," said Stewart in his best mocking voice. "It
wasn’t supposed to be this way - Microsoft was supposed to be the
evil one! But now you guys are busting down doors in Palo Alto while
Commandant Gates is ridding the world of mosquitoes! What the f**k is
going on?!"
Stewart went on to stick in a few jabs about the lack of Beatles
music on iTunes. But perhaps the most stinging criticism was left for
AT&T which has long
been chastised for reception issues with the iPhone.
I mean, if you wanna break down
someone's door, why don't you start with AT&T, for God sakes?
They make your amazing phone unusable as a phone! I mean, seriously!
How do you drop four calls in a one-mile stretch of the West Side
Highway! There're no buildings around! What, does the open space
confuse AT&T's signal?!
With everyone getting all hot and bothered about
Gizmodogate Part Deux, sometimes it's nice to take a step back and be
able to find at least a tiny bit of humor in the situation.
