Ultrashill

January 16, 2012 10:16 AM

will.i.am introduces the Ultrabook Project (SLYT)
posted by fearfulsymmetry (84 comments total)

I can only accept will.i.am in hologram form.
posted by troika at 10:25 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

That was money well spent, Intel.
posted by birdherder at 10:25 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Innovation!
posted by Threeway Handshake at 10:29 AM on January 16, 2012

B.ig.blue!
posted by chavenet at 10:30 AM on January 16, 2012

This video isn't very interesting, but will.i.am is absolutely fascinating. He's not some random musician, he's a very smart and entrepreneurial guy defining his own image and role in the world. He's used his fame to get access to a lot of interesting San Francisco startups, he's pretty well connected in the tech scene. He's also got his own startups: DipDive and IAMAUTO, maybe others. Part of why he's shilling for Intel is he's their director of creative innovation; it's more than just being a paid spokesman.

Also the Black Eyed Peas are awesome and I challenge anyone who dismisses it as mindless pop. So nyah.
posted by Nelson at 10:32 AM on January 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Challenge accepted, Nelson. Please explain to us how "I Gotta Feeling" is anything but mindless pop.
posted by starvingartist at 10:33 AM on January 16, 2012 [17 favorites]

He is a genius at two things: Creating simple, dumb songs that can't leave your brain (which is not as easy as it sounds) and licensing ad space in every facet of his, yes, music business. Watch one of his music videos from the last 5 years - they're like one big HP ad. Which, if that's what he wants to do with his life, more power to him.
posted by fungible at 10:37 AM on January 16, 2012

he's a very smart and entrepreneurial guy defining his own image and role in the world.

Are you his publicist? He's the dude from that annoying band on the Best Buy commercials.
posted by xmutex at 10:41 AM on January 16, 2012 [7 favorites]

Uh?
posted by azarbayejani at 10:43 AM on January 16, 2012

What's most interesting about this video is will.i.am's weird sort of sideways smirk when the guy asks at the beginning about how technology intersects with "the music business" – and his apparent disavowal of the business part of that. I would have thought that will.i.am, who is not in any sense an enemy of (for instance) "the electronics business," wouldn't mind being associated with "the music business." But apparently not.
posted by koeselitz at 10:44 AM on January 16, 2012

What we need is more corporate rock.
posted by KokuRyu at 10:45 AM on January 16, 2012

I would rather watch dogs eating corpses.
posted by swift at 10:47 AM on January 16, 2012 [12 favorites]

Wow, that's excruciatingly awkward. "My music business? Well, as you can see, my music business is here on this stage shilling your fresh new silicon and are you fucking crazy? Why would you go break the fourth wall like that? Damnit, now I have to get this trolley back on track, so I'm just going to ignore that."

I recently discovered that will.i.am used to go to the same underground raves and afterhours parties I used to go to - which actually makes sense. There's a bunch of people from that time and space that successfully "sold out" and made a career out of what they learned in the underground music scene.

Anyway, it increased my respect for will.i.am. Yeah, he's a corporate tool, but as you can see in the video it seems like the only entity getting ripped off here is Intel, and maybe some of his less clueful and easily swayed fans.
posted by loquacious at 10:47 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Whatcha gonna do with all that chip?!
All that chip up in that book?!
I'm a make make make make slim, sleek, powerful yet power-efficient machines with plenty of opportunites for developers to differentiate. My Ultrabook®, My Ul-Ul-Ul-Ul-Ultrabook®
posted by naju at 10:48 AM on January 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

Oh starvingartist, you would go right to "I Gotta Feeling". It's not my favorite song, honestly. But I respect how it's so deliberately built as a simple pop anthem. I like the way it alternates between tempos and I also love that it's directly upbeat and happy music (check out the Backyardigans cover). What I Gotta Feeling is missing for me is interesting samples, I much prefer the electroesque sounds of songs like Boom Boom Pow. Also the lyrics are pretty dumb compared to songs like XOXOXO: "Girl lets tangle up like a pretzel. Kama sutra loving baby lets go". OTOH the song includes the words "mazel tov", guaranteeing it will be played at every bar mitzvah for the next twenty years. Genius!

And why yes, I am will.i.am's publicist and make millions of dollars just for posting to Metafilter. will.i.am pays me to point out to people his career is more interesting than pop music and advertisements. Sure is easier than shilling a MacBook Air knockoff.
posted by Nelson at 10:51 AM on January 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

I guess the job shilling for BlackBerry didn't work out? Where will they find 2008's hottest Muzak when BlackBerry 10 drops??
posted by narcoleptic at 10:55 AM on January 16, 2012

OK, ultimately this is entirely subjective so it's stupid to argue about it, but here's my opinion.

I Gotta Feeling is the one I assume is their most popular, given how often I hear it. They played it at the Super Bowl, for cripe's sake. That's why I went there. And it. is. stupid. And personally, I think you give them far too much credit for their use of "mazel tov". I don't think they did it to guarantee play at bar mitzvahs for the next twenty years. I think they did it because it rhymes with "off" and they have stupid lyrics.

Boom Boom Pow is also stupid, in my opinion, and the lyrics you quoted for XOXOXO aren't much better.

will.i.am and the rest of the BEP may be very smart people. I wouldn't know, as I haven't met them. But as artists, I find them deeply unintelligent and uninteresting.
posted by starvingartist at 11:00 AM on January 16, 2012

When I read that HTC paid $300m for 51% of Beats by Dre I don't want to live on this planet anymore.
posted by Talez at 11:09 AM on January 16, 2012

Oh starvingartist, you would go right to "I Gotta Feeling"

And why wouldn't they? It's been played non-stop all over the place for ages and it's a terrible song. I bet when they have it sung high-pitched by a cute animated frog and sell it as a ringtone on TV it will be greatly improved. Black Eyed Peas have been terrible for ages, and a huge disappointment considering how much promise they showed when they released "Falling Up" way back when. They are very much purveyors of mindless pop, and its calculated to be mindless pop.

Anyways, endorsements by will.i.am aren't going to sell me a computer so I'm probably not the market for this and I'll bow out.
posted by Hoopo at 11:14 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

BEP are sell-outs in the most magnificent way possible. Their early works are hip-hop masterpieces and all of a sudden... BAM they go from being backpack-rapping tree huggers to shilling Hummers and having a lady pee herself on stage. That's so impressive (and depressing).

Out of all the Good Life LA hip-hop people, they're the ones that "made it"... that's always bugged me a bit. Props for being ambitious; I'm always holding out hope that Will, Apl and Taboo will make another hip-hop masterpiece someday, but I really don't think that's happening anytime soon.

He also tried playing a massive rave here in LA a few years ago... what a failure that was. For all his skills as an earworm birther, he certainly can't rock a party.

I could say so much more.
posted by raihan_ at 11:15 AM on January 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

curiously incomplete post. the black-eyed peas are a well-known marketing phenomenon. the brains behind the outfit, will.i.am, is a genius businessman who has made millions on corporate partnerships. i believe they've been the object of a harvard business school case study. check out this article from the wsj from a little while back.

also, the black-eyed peas are the worst band in world history. how is this even a question? they're made entirely of music anti-particles, and if they ever come into contact with real music, that's the end of the universe.
posted by facetious at 11:17 AM on January 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

It's pretty odd to dismiss will.i.am as unintelligent just because you don't like his music. Consistent pop success does not come about randomly. He wants to be a successful pop star and pop producer, and in those arenas, he succeeds beyond the wildest expectations of almost anyone else living today.

I don't like BEP myself, but it's not as if he doesn't know what he's doing. And even as far as BEP's pop shininess goes, I can think of far worse music. I'd rather sit through an album by BEP than an album by Lana Del Ray.
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:18 AM on January 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

I'd sell out right now if anyone was offering me money to do so.
posted by The Hamms Bear at 11:19 AM on January 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

they're made entirely of music anti-particles, and if they ever come into contact with real music, that's the end of the universe.

Hey, the universe survived Aerosmith & Run DMC teaming up, didn't it?

Err, now that I think about it... you may be on to something.
posted by loquacious at 11:20 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

curiously incomplete post.

I'm mainly here for the making fun.

Also, even as not the biggest Mac fan, I'm pretty sure that if I wanted a MacBook Air at MacBook Air prices I would just go and buy a MacBook Air, and that pretty much the entire rest of the potential market for ultrabooks is of the same mind, so I'm not sure what the point of them is.
posted by Artw at 11:27 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

shill.i.am
posted by davemee at 11:27 AM on January 16, 2012 [8 favorites]

I have no idea who this William guy in the commercial is.

Is this what the kids are all doing?
posted by Stagger Lee at 11:33 AM on January 16, 2012

He may well be shilling, but he is also raising money for inner city communities by doing it.

Also, I'd rather listen to BEP then some whiny-assed acoustic 'real' music singing about something "important". Blech. Bring on the shiny music.
posted by Bovine Love at 11:34 AM on January 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

You will have LADY GAGA or NOTHING!
posted by Artw at 11:35 AM on January 16, 2012 [4 favorites]

Also, this is almost entirely the same thing as Polaroid bringing on Lady Gaga as "creative director."
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:38 AM on January 16, 2012

Hey, the universe survived Aerosmith & Run DMC teaming up, didn't it?

To be fair, Run DMC was still awesome in 1986 and while Aerosmith was past their sell-by date, they were still only hinting at the depths they would reach in later years.
posted by Hoopo at 11:39 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I have no idea who this William guy in the commercial is.

Is this what the kids are all doing?


Stagger Lee: Yep, he's all up in that hippity-hop music you hear so much about. He and his sister, IIRC, make up a band called the Black-Eyed Crows.
posted by IAmBroom at 11:44 AM on January 16, 2012

What he is.

(And his friends call him B.ill)
posted by pracowity at 11:45 AM on January 16, 2012

i never really understood how something like music, can enrage people so and drive them against each other. I mean (maybe not in this thread), but people really lose their marbles when it comes to defending their favourite bands or slamming the ones they don't like.

I'm not judging, lord knows I'm guilty of the stuff myself.

I just wonder why?
Why do we hate the BEPs or Nickelback or Lady Gaga or Eminem? Why do we defend them to the death?

We don't have such an emotional reaction toward other artists, like actors or painters.
posted by bitteroldman at 11:45 AM on January 16, 2012

They had a woman pee herself on stage?!?
posted by ambient2 at 11:46 AM on January 16, 2012

I'm not sure where the post 86 Aerosmith hate is coming from. Permanent Vacation (1987) and Pump (1989) are two of their strongest albums. The Run DMC collab was huge turning point for the band.
posted by euphorb at 11:47 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I can get pretty wound up about painters. My wife can get pretty wound up about actors, refusing to see movies because someone one or another is in it.

Music is, IMOA, one of the most 'emotional' art forms; it seems to really reach deep. It is also extremely old and deeply entrenched.
posted by Bovine Love at 11:48 AM on January 16, 2012

BEP are sell-outs in the most magnificent way possible. Their early works are hip-hop masterpieces and all of a sudden... BAM they go from being backpack-rapping tree huggers to shilling Hummers and having a lady pee herself on stage. That's so impressive (and depressing).

Yeah.

I think the BEP kinda need to listen to this old song and take a bit of their own advice to heart.

In a world of sellouts, they're kind of the kings of the hill. Old stuff? Pretty darned good. Lots of promise. Everything since Fergie joined the band? Man, I can't reach to turn it off fast enough. They make my skin crawl now.
posted by kaseijin at 11:49 AM on January 16, 2012

Tell me I'm crazy, but I swear I read an interview with will.i.am just as BEP was really becoming big. He said in the interview that he was tired of being poor and hungry and having cred, so decided to shill out, make easy music, and just become as rich as possible.
posted by Eddie Mars at 11:50 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I just wonder why?
Why do we hate the BEPs or Nickelback or Lady Gaga or Eminem? Why do we defend them to the death?

We don't have such an emotional reaction toward other artists, like actors or painters.'

Music enters my consciousness passively - I can't help but hear stuff like BEP and Nickleback everywhere I go, in every supermarket and commercial and club and airport when I just want to live my life. If I don't like artwork, I just don't look at it. If I don't like an actor, I can usually avoid crap movies with crap acting. If I don't like music, I can guarantee the rest of the world is CRAZY about it and will force my ears to have to take it in whether I want to or not, it's my punishment for going outside. Why yes I am a miserable misanthropic person why do you ask
posted by naju at 11:51 AM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

When BEP did the halftime show at the Superbowl it defined "Must Not See TV" for me. That is, until this year. Proof, as if it was needed, that no matter how low you go, you can go lower.
posted by tommasz at 11:53 AM on January 16, 2012

We don't have such an emotional reaction toward other artists, like actors or painters.

Some people might, but mostly it has to do with the exposure you have to the object of hatred. Pop music is hard to avoid, and if you don't like it you're going to be irritated by it when you watch TV, listen to the radio, go to the movies, go to the mall, and any number of other things you can do and be exposed to where music plays. I'm sure there are people immersed enough in the world of art that they launch into a screed anytime they see a Rothko or something.
posted by Hoopo at 11:53 AM on January 16, 2012

ambient2: They had a woman pee herself on stage?!?

I love english. This could be taken as "they asked a woman to pee herself on stage" or "a woman peed herself onstage once". It was the latter. Clickity. A simple accident. Probably the "few drinks" played heavily.
posted by Bovine Love at 11:54 AM on January 16, 2012

Some people take music much more personally than most "normal" people. To them, exposure to their own preferred music is an intimate experience, whereas daily exposure to pop music is like a dog whistle marching band swirling around a pack of wolves with hearing aids.
posted by Sticherbeast at 11:58 AM on January 16, 2012

rather sit through an album by BEP than an album by Lana Del Ray.

Open up Intel's New Ultrabook...
And play a video game
posted by benzenedream at 12:06 PM on January 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'd rather sit through an album by BEP than an album by Lana Del Ray.

Talk about your low bars.
posted by blucevalo at 12:20 PM on January 16, 2012

Do people under 40 even think of musical careers in terms of "selling out" anymore? The idea just seems so quaint.
posted by El Sabor Asiatico at 12:21 PM on January 16, 2012

People get worked up about music because it's a shibboleth. When someone tells me my favorite band sucks its a way of saying they are culturally superior. People seem to be taking their hate of Black Eyed Peas pretty seriously in this thread, we've got all the clichés: "They were cool before they were famous", "I liked them when they were still local", "Their music is mindless", and even "who is this famous person I've never heard of him".

The surprising thing for me about the Peas is that I like them at all. I hate pop music, I hate commercial art crossovers, I'd rather be listening to Fuck Buttons or Autechre than some hip-hop/techno fusion band. But I saw that Super Bowl Halftime show and loved it. Then I started listening to their albums and loved them, particularly the last two. It's tightly produced music, and I like the lyrics, and I enjoy all the hooks, and I've come to admire will.i.am's self promotion and career. He's like a nerdy upbeat version of Suge Knight.
posted by Nelson at 12:24 PM on January 16, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm still trying to figure out where the song switches tempos like Nelson said it does. Does the song speed up and slow down?
posted by emelenjr at 12:33 PM on January 16, 2012

will.i.am (wow, I feel dumber for typing his name out with the periods and whatnot) did this, which tells me all I need to know about his musical abilities.
posted by item at 12:43 PM on January 16, 2012

will.i.am's products are so clearly ripoffs of apl.de.app's products.
posted by Apropos of Something at 12:51 PM on January 16, 2012 [3 favorites]

I got news for ya, Nelson, you don't hate those things. You just hate them poorly done.
posted by Bovine Love at 12:53 PM on January 16, 2012

I always used to say show me the way to sell out and I'll do it. It is not nearly as easy as people make it out to be. Of course will.i.am takes it to a new level, but I remember when BEP were a local LA band just like a hundred others, and took a lot of hard work and smarts to get them where they are now.

Also, my favorite BEP song from back in the day. Love that sh*t.
posted by ianhattwick at 12:53 PM on January 16, 2012

Pfft. All you posers cheering will.am.i now never listened to his best songs :

"we can't stop till they think I'm a pink bunny" - will.i.a.m, Dirty Spaceman
"I be regular bitches!" - will.i.a.m, Everybody Poops.
posted by jeffburdges at 12:57 PM on January 16, 2012

koeselitz: "What's most interesting about this video is will.i.am's weird sort of sideways smirk when the guy asks at the beginning about how technology intersects with "the music business" – and his apparent disavowal of the business part of that."

Nah, it's simpler than that. His first thought was that technology is destroying the music business (ie: illegal downloads), but didn't want to say something so negative on stage, so he focused on the creative aspects of technology instead.
posted by Kevin Street at 12:58 PM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

But I saw that Super Bowl Halftime show and loved it. Then I started listening to their albums and loved them, particularly the last two. It's tightly produced music, and I like the lyrics, and I enjoy all the hooks, and I've come to admire will.i.am's self promotion and career. He's like a nerdy upbeat version of Suge Knight.

Really? Because if I never saw the BEP before and I saw that show I'd be permanently turned off them. The levels were utterly fucked and it just came across as four lunatics screaming stupid shit.
posted by Talez at 1:01 PM on January 16, 2012

Metafilter: lunatics screaming stupid shit.
posted by euphorb at 1:12 PM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

I fucking hate the Black Eyed Peas with the fury of a thousand suns, but I have to say I remember them playing the University of Chicago at least as far back as 1996. Which means they've been at this bullshit for over 15 years. It's not like it was given to them. So baby props.
posted by phaedon at 1:13 PM on January 16, 2012

People get worked up about music because it's a shibboleth. When someone tells me my favorite band sucks its a way of saying they are culturally superior. People seem to be taking their hate of Black Eyed Peas pretty seriously in this thread, we've got all the clichés: "They were cool before they were famous"

Are you trolling right now? Shibboleth, my ass. I guess that means I'm snooty and you're the realest, most authentic motherfucker ever, because you like the Black Eyed Peas. The reason I brought up "Falling Up" was because it was a good song and exactly the sort of thing I was into back then, and they're basically a totally different band now. Falling Up sounds nothing like the techno-with-chants the Black Eyed Peas play these days. "Before they got famous" isn't the point, ITS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STYLE OF MUSIC. People here that were into that laid-back Native Tongues-style hip hop liked them back when they were doing laid-back Native Tongues-style hip hop and not arena techno.

You don't have to defend liking the Black Eyed Peas, Nelson. You're allowed. But when you start calling me a snob because I don't is when I get worked up.
posted by Hoopo at 1:47 PM on January 16, 2012

I'm pretty sure that if I wanted a MacBook Air at MacBook Air prices I would just go and buy a MacBook Air, and that pretty much the entire rest of the potential market for ultrabooks is of the same mind, so I'm not sure what the point of them is.

So, either the market will create cheaper ultrabooks, or ultrabooks with more features.
posted by Apocryphon at 2:02 PM on January 16, 2012

you're the realest, most authentic motherfucker ever, because you like the Black Eyed Peas

Thanks! But I don't need you to tell me that. I mean, Murdoch's Wall Street Journal says "the band achieves the near-impossible in these post-Michael Jackson times—making both kids and their parents feel cool". Clearly it's awesome.

Talez: yeah, I really did like the Super Bowl show. The sound was terrible, indeed. But the costumes, the set, the choreography are all just so entirely outlandish. Glo-green people walking in the shapes of arrows! To quote again the arbiter of cool the WSJ, 'the Peas seem to have shot for some hybrid of "Mad Max" and "Tron."'. Sure was a nice change from The Who, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Petty (albeit marred slightly by Slash).
posted by Nelson at 2:05 PM on January 16, 2012

To quote again the arbiter of cool the WSJ,

I don't even know what's real anymore.
posted by naju at 2:09 PM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Apparently, avoiding pop music is either not really that difficult or I actually am a tragic, alienated hermit, because I have absolutely no idea who he is, other than having seen his stupidly punctuated name here and there. I'm, you know, not, you know, particularly impressed, you know, with his, you know, public speaking ability, which, you know, seems astonishingly free of, you know, content or significant thought.

The ultrabook is the new ghettoblaster? Apparently blasting a ghetto no longer requires much in the way of frequencies below, you know, four thousand hertz and stuff. It's thoughtful of him to describe the bold new world of the computerized future that we were doing, you know, midway through the last decade.

Holy balls. He should tell us about W-W-W-Windows 386 next.
posted by sonascope at 2:21 PM on January 16, 2012

Although Black Eyed Peas are most likely the worst act out right now (perhaps a tie with Red Hot Chili Peppers), you should give Taboo's Falling Up a read. It's a compelling tome without a bunch of hard to understand words and it probably cleaned up on the Scholastic Book Fair circuit.

It's good to know that, even the womb, I was injecting the Black Eyed Peas vibe, jumping around, rocking it, getting everyone on their feet. Mom said it was like that for the last 3 months of her pregnancy.
posted by porn in the woods at 2:36 PM on January 16, 2012

So, either the market will create cheaper ultrabooks, or ultrabooks with more features.

The market can't compete with Apple at their price points. Apple have too much of the supply, production process and expertise locked up. Samsung, arguably the biggest replicator of innovation on the planet, tried and came up $100 short in the 13" market with only a higher resolution screen to show for it. They don't have an 11" product to put into the market at all little alone something to compete at $999.
posted by Talez at 2:42 PM on January 16, 2012

http://www.cracked.com/video_17618_black-eyed-peas-have-officially-written-worst-song-ever.html
posted by nímwunnan at 3:06 PM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Although Black Eyed Peas are most likely the worst act out right now ...

Now people, seriously: You don't have to love the BEP, but if you think they are the worst act out there, you really need to get out more. Or just listen to AT40 (which I've done for a few decades now...)
posted by Bovine Love at 3:53 PM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh starvingartist, you would go right to "I Gotta Feeling"

And why wouldn't they? It's been played non-stop all over the place for ages and it's a terrible song.

Whoa...no comment on anything else here, but the huge popularity of a particular song with the public / on the radio does not imply that you should judge the artist based only on that song. Let's say...Bobby McFerrin and "Don't Worry Be Happy".
posted by madmethods at 4:15 PM on January 16, 2012

What's most interesting about this video is will.i.am's weird sort of sideways smirk when the guy asks at the beginning about how technology intersects with "the music business" – and his apparent disavowal of the business part of that. I would have thought that will.i.am, who is not in any sense an enemy of (for instance) "the electronics business," wouldn't mind being associated with "the music business." But apparently not.

Heh. I assumed he was joking about the fact that, you know, for the music business technology of the past ten years has been incredibly destructive.

Anyway, Will.i.am and the BIPs have basically no qualms about being huge sellouts, as far as I know. They've taken selling out to the next level. They're not pretending to be anything other then huge sellouts. I think, certainly with stuff like My Humps it's actually sarcastic.

Of course, it's because of the rampant piracy caused by technology that so many bands are turning towards advertising for revenue.

Tell me I'm crazy, but I swear I read an interview with will.i.am just as BEP was really becoming big. He said in the interview that he was tired of being poor and hungry and having cred, so decided to shill out, make easy music, and just become as rich as possible.

I remember hearing about the same thing, but only in reference.

Also, people superbowl halftime shows are always horrible. Has there ever been a good one?

Apparently, avoiding pop music is either not really that difficult or I actually am a tragic, alienated hermit, because I have absolutely no idea who he is, other than having seen his stupidly punctuated name here and there. I'm, you know, not, you know, particularly impressed, you know, with his, you know, public speaking ability, which, you know, seems astonishingly free of, you know, content or significant thought.

Sorry, to qualify as a hipster in this thread you had to know who they were when they were still good.

Also, even as not the biggest Mac fan, I'm pretty sure that if I wanted a MacBook Air at MacBook Air prices I would just go and buy a MacBook Air, and that pretty much the entire rest of the potential market for ultrabooks is of the same mind, so I'm not sure what the point of them is.

Maybe the fact that not every single person wants an apple and is only 'settling' for something else? Maybe they want a different color, or style?

posted by delmoi at 4:26 PM on January 16, 2012

They make solid gear - even if you're installing something else over the top of OS X none of these air like things seem to have a real advantage.

Me, I'd love to see some nice small light SSD based netbooks, but at a non-insane pricepoint. ASUS Transformer appears to be the closest thing.
posted by Artw at 4:32 PM on January 16, 2012

(The one advantage, for me, the non-AIR ultrabooks have is they have standard two button trackpads rather than an apple non-button jobbie, which I don't really like. But we're getting into the realm of the patheric there)
posted by Artw at 4:35 PM on January 16, 2012

porn in the woods: “Although Black Eyed Peas are most likely the worst act out right now (perhaps a tie with Red Hot Chili Peppers)... ”

No. I'm sorry, Black Eyed Peas and Red Hot Chili Peppers are not "the worst acts out right now." There is stuff out there right now that is pretty much horrific.

Basically, it boils down to this: mediocrity is not the worst thing music can aspire to.
posted by koeselitz at 4:38 PM on January 16, 2012

We don't have such an emotional reaction toward other artists, like actors or painters.

For your consideration, and from just a few days ago too.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 4:40 PM on January 16, 2012

Thomas Kinkade
posted by Bovine Love at 5:04 PM on January 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

(The one advantage, for me, the non-AIR ultrabooks have is they have standard two button trackpads rather than an apple non-button jobbie, which I don't really like. But we're getting into the realm of the patheric there)

O RLY?
posted by Talez at 5:07 PM on January 16, 2012

Me, I'd love to see some nice small light SSD based netbooks, but at a non-insane pricepoint. ASUS Transformer appears to be the closest thing.

You can replace a standard hard drive with an SSD, even in a laptop pretty easily. You can get an 80 gb SSD (with a sandforce chipset, which were the best a while back) for about $100. Pop it in to any laptop and go. Installation is about as complicated as playing an NES game.
posted by delmoi at 5:14 PM on January 16, 2012

I'd rather sit through an album by BEP than an album by Lana Del Ray.

Talk about your low bars.

not a bar - a speed bump
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:15 PM on January 16, 2012

Installation is about as complicated as playing an NES game.

You have to blow on it?

(This is also true for the BEP.)
posted by dirigibleman at 8:05 PM on January 16, 2012

You have to blow on it?

Supposedly that's an urban legend. A lot of times, the contacts didn't connect, so if you remove the cart and put it back in, it's more likely to to work. In order blow on it, you have to do that. Maybe Nintendo didn't want to tell people their product was shoddy, so they told people to 'blow on it' instead.
posted by delmoi at 8:31 PM on January 16, 2012

Also, my favorite BEP song from back in the day. Love that sh*t.

Absolute classic. I was shocked to see what they've become but I just don't pay any attention to it, though admittedly it's hard to ignore when waiting in a Doctor's office. Still Nickelback in a Doctor's office is, I'm convinced, a plot to generate referrals to psychologists.
posted by juiceCake at 9:22 PM on January 16, 2012

I don't really ever remember hearing that much Nickelback back when they were popular. It was on the radio. It wasn't everywhere like with the BIPs, Still I don't really find their music, even now unpleasant. Just kind of boring and trite. I don't mind hearing it ads.
posted by delmoi at 9:26 PM on January 16, 2012

I liked will I am in the wolverine movie. seriously.
posted by davidmsc at 10:24 PM on January 16, 2012

What the hell is that in his sleeve? Is that one of those little security pin things they put on clothes so you can't steal them without setting off an alarm when you leave the store? Because that's what it looks like. And that is weird.

Also I do not get what the big deal is with the "ultrabooks". Apparently, it is a big deal because someone made a MacBook Air clone years after Apple invented it. Slow clap fellas, nice work there. How is this news.
posted by caution live frogs at 7:25 AM on January 17, 2012

Their early works are hip-hop masterpieces

Hip-hop masterpieces? You mean this stuff?
posted by box at 8:32 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]