How to Set Up Night Reading Mode for iPhone or iPad Screens

How to Set Up Night Reading Mode for iPhone or iPad Screens


Night reading mode works great on apps for reading books, like the Kindle eBook app. But not all book apps include the feature. A night reading mode turns the screen’s background dark, while providing white or light-colored text. Users will want to do this when reading in a dark room, so that the backlit screen doesn’t annoy others in bed at night.

 You could also use it while typing in a room where someone is presenting at work with the lights turned down. Using the iPhone Accessibility features, users can turn on a work-around night reading mode of sorts. This changes the entire OS user interface on the iPhone or iPad like the image below. We can set this feature to turn on using the Home button via the iPad’s Settings.

See some other great iOS tips including How to Set Up Multiple Reminders Lists on iPhone and How to Set Up iMessage on iPhone and iPad.

Steps to Turn On the iOS Version of Night Reading Mode 
Open the Settings App on the iPhone or iPad. Open General and scroll down to Accessibility and tap it to open.

Open Accessibility in Settings app under General

Will they switch? The Kid Test: Windows Phone vs. iPhone

Will they switch? The Kid Test: Windows Phone vs. iPhone
Is Windows Phone's unusual user interface enough to win over two boys, ages 12 and 14, who are both iPhone users?
Is Windows Phone's unusual user interface enough to win over two boys, ages 12 and 14, who are both iPhone users?

"Do you have that phone," one of my boys asked me earlier this year, after a Windows Phone ad came on TV. "Yeah, and could we try it?" said the other.

Thus was born the experiment we've run over the past month. Could Windows Phone entice one or both of my kids away from the iPhone?

My boys, 14-year-old Declan and 12-year-old Rhys, were fascinated by the ad showing the distinctive "tile" home screen of Windows Phone, with application tiles being moved around and resized. It looked different, cool, and unique from the iPhone 4 that they both use and from theAndroid phones they've seen me use.

Indeed, it is different -- credit to Microsoft for originality. But that interface, as well as the phone in general, hasn't been enough to make me regularly use my Windows Phone in the way I do my iPhone 5 or the Galaxy Nexus.

I have an HTC 8X Windows Phone that I was given when attending the Windows Phone 8 launch event last year. I use it occasionally to keep up on the platform. But the lack of Google Voice support -- something I've written before that Google should fix -- means I don't feel comfortable going out only with it, as I would with either of my other phones.

That's me and my pretty specific requirements. Would my kids be different? Microsoft agreed to lend them each a review phone, so I could find out. Declan ended up with an HTC 8X, just like me, while Rhys got the Nokia Lumia 920.

Declan and the HTC 8X

No Instagram!
For Declan, any chance Windows Phone had for winning him over was pretty much lost when he learned there was no Instagram app. Yes, we found apps that allowed him to browse Instagram pictures using his own account, settling on Metrogram. But neither that nor any of the apps let him upload images, and that was a big issue.

Apps that add filters to photos like Bubblegum or the built-in Photo Enhancer weren't a solution, either. He (and his friends) don't care much about using filters. It's about the sharing on that specific network. Instagram is their social network, a way for them to connect primarily through pictures.

Twitter, Facebook? Sure, he and his friends all use those. But Instagram is where it's really at, and without the ability to upload, he couldn't participate.

"I can only look at pictures. I can't post anything of my own. It's kind of annoying, if you like to be social," he told me.

"Instagram" app matches in Windows Phone app store

Nokia is pushing #2InstaWithLove campaign to pressure Instagram to make an official Windows Phone app. But Instagram should provide its own app for the same reason Google should provide a Google Voice app -- for security issues.

When there's no official app, third-party apps move in to fill the gap. That puts your users at risk, because it can be unclear if those apps are somehow logging password information. Your brand suffers, too, as people might not know what's real or not in the app search results they get back.

The Verge reported that Microsoft might be working on its own Instagram app. That, along with better policing of the app store, will help with some security issues. But even that app won't allow for uploads unless Instagram provides it with access.

Tiles not so coolHow about what attracted Declan to the phone in the first place, those cool tiles?

"The tiles were what drew me in, but then they didn't work as well as I thought," he said. "They looked cool, but when it comes to using them, it's kind of confusing."

Photo Enhancer app, in the upper left corner

Confusing? With the iPhone, each app icon also has a text label, so you know exactly what it is. But with Windows Phone, you only see labels if the apps are medium- or large-sized, not small. It's not something I thought much about myself, until he pointed it out.

"I have no idea what that's supposed to be. It's some lady," he said, pointing to the Photo Enhancer app. "You have to have them big to have labels."

There were also things he didn't like about the hardware, such as the placement of the volume buttons -- that's not really a Windows Phone issue and more a hardware issue. But it points to both an advantage and disadvantage of Windows Phone. Different models can lead to a different experience.

iPhone (left) vs Windows Phone calculator keyboard

Hurray for the calculator
On the upside, Declan did like how his People tile, when large, rotated to show pictures of his different contacts. He also liked that the screen was nice, clear, and big compared with the iPhone 4. Another favorite was the calculator, for having a backspace key, unlike the iPhone.

It was one of those things I would never think much to consider, since I rarely use my phone's calculator. But as a student, he's using it all the time. Having to clear an entire entry rather than deleting one mistakenly-entered digit is a pain.

Of course, there are no doubt replacement apps that can be found for the iPhone to solve this particular issue.

In love with the big screen

The screen on the Nokia Lumia 920 is even bigger than that of the HTC 8X, and it's one of the things that won over Rhys. He began watching TV shows on Netflix through his phone, something he never did on the iPhone, because the larger screen makes viewing easier.

Like his brother, Rhys wasn't happy to find that some games like Plants vs. Zombies were more expensive for Windows Phone ($5) than for the iPhone ($1). One blamed Microsoft for this; the other blamed the game makers. I don't know who to blame, myself.

Tiles make it 'flowy' and Xbox link is niceAs for those tiles, Rhys does like how they make his phone feel more "flowy" compared with the iPhone. He also quickly resized and moved the tiles around, stuff he learned from the ads alone. He liked how the Facebook tile did live updates of status messages.

He also liked how the Games app linked to his Xbox account. He used that connection to change his avatar look, to send messages to other Xbox friends, and more. "It's nice to see what your friends are playing, or what achievements you've done," he told me.

Leaving the iPhone behind

I knew Windows Phone had captured Rhys entirely when, walking out of the house to go on a short vacation, I noticed he'd left his iPhone behind on his desk. He was all in on Windows Phone, no safety net and not worried at all. In fact, his biggest concern has been having to go back to the iPhone 4.

"Overall, it just felt more unique. It felt as if I had control of the phone and was able to do more things with it," he said when asked to sum up his experience with Windows Phone.

But will the parents switch?

In the end, perhaps the biggest challenge to him and other kids going to Windows Phone is that he and his brother are getting our cast-offs. When we upgrade, they get our previous-generation devices.

For Rhys to go Windows Phone, he really needs me to go Windows Phone. I certainly have no inclination to put him on a contract -- which he's not on now -- just to knock the $400 full price for a Lumia 920 with AT&T down to $100.

This is where newly announced Nokia phones like the Lumia 520 might come in. The phone is first headed to China but is promised to eventually come to T-Mobile in the U.S. At around $180, it becomes more reasonable to consider as a purchase for a birthday or holiday gift, or for kids to save up for it their own.

Then there's the Nexus 4. Both my 21-year-old niece and the daughter of a friend who is about the same age couldn't wait to get one. For me, the lack of LTE makes it a non-starter. But for someone who's young, who doesn't want a contract, the flat price of $300 might be the most compelling smartphone feature of all.

Related to that, I might try this test again with Android phones. But what kicked it off in the first place was the unusual UI of Windows Phone that attracted the interest of my boys.

Ultimately, I found it amazing that for one son, there really was a killer app that killed Windows Phone in its tracks: Instagram. By contrast, the other was hooked by things he can't get from an iPhone -- a large screen coupled with an unusual and fun UI.

A note about commenting

On a personal note, phone reviews are often a magnet for abusive fanboy comments. Both my children weren't trying to be experts in their use of Windows Phone, nor trying to cheerlead for or attack any particular brand. It was just an experiment to see if they found Windows Phone compelling enough to leave the iPhone behind.

Whether you're an iPhone lover, a Windows Phone lover, or an Android lover, you are welcome to comment and point out issues. But please do so in a constructive manner. My boys will naturally want to read the responses themselves, and I'd hate for them to see adults acting immaturely.

Twitter acquires We Are Hunted, readies standalone music app

Twitter acquires We Are Hunted, readies standalone music app
Don t forget that Sound Cloud has Union Square as one of their investors (eg yet another twitter investor)

SCOOP: Twitter is preparing a music discovery app built on technology from a recent acquisition. It could be released by the end of the month.


Twitter acquired the music discovery service We Are Hunted last year and is using its technology to build a standalone music app, CNET has learned.
The app, to be called Twitter Music, could be released on iOS by the end of this month, according to a person familiar with the matter. Twitter Music suggests artists and songs to listen to based on a variety of signals, and is personalized based on which accounts a user follows on Twitter. Songs are streamed to the app via SoundCloud.
Twitter Music, which is set to arrive in the wake of key competitor Facebook overhauling the music section of its News Feed, shows Twitter taking new steps into becoming a full-fledged media company. The app acknowledges the key role music has played in drawing new users to the service -- particularly younger, mainstream users. Pop stars have some of Twitter's most popular accounts, with followings in the tens of millions. The TwitterMusic account has 2.3 million followers -- not a bad perch from which to launch an eponymous app.

Twitter and We Are Hunted did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

An app built for discovery
Unlike Vine, the video sharing app that Twitter released in January, the music app carries Twitter branding. The app's icon consists of a silver "play" button with the familiar blue Twitter bird looking down on it from the corner.

Once it launches for the first time, the app offers a short guided tour. Users with Twitter accounts are invited to sign in so that they can received personalized music recommendations. It's also possible to use the app without having a Twitter account, which could help attract new users to the service.

Twitter Music uses four main tabs. 'Suggested' recommends songs and artists based on a user's follower graph -- artists they are following, and artists that other people they follow are following. #NowPlaying brings in links to songs tweeted by people you follow who tweet using that hashtag. For the past month or so, We Are Hunted employees have been using the #NowPlaying hash tag frequently on Twitter in an apparent test of the forthcoming app. Here's We Are Hunted co-founder Stephen Phillips with a test tweet:

The app has two more tabs: 'Popular' brings in songs trending on We are Hunted, and an 'Emerging' tab tracks up-and-coming artists.

Artists and songs are displayed in an elegant grid design. Tapping on the tile for an artist causes the tile to expand, showing a short biography along with links to any music the artist has stored on SoundCloud, or to song previews from the iTunes store. Users then tap a 'play' button to start streaming the music. So far, the app does not integrate with Spotify or other streaming services.

One aspect of the app artists are sure to like -- users can follow them on Twitter directly from Twitter Music.

The Hunted join the flock

Twitter Music will be powered by technology built by We Are Hunted, which was acquired some time in the last six months, according to our source. Terms of the deal were not available.

We Are Hunted, whose free music discovery service remains available, was created by a group of Australian software developers in 2009. Stephen Phillips, who founded a news aggregation service called Wotnews, built the site along with Richard Slatter and Michael Doherty. A fourth founder, Nick Crocker, has since left the company.

Angel investor Graeme Wood, founder of Australian travel site Wotif, put $3 million into the company in the company's only disclosed investment. On April 17, 2009, they opened We Are Hunted to the public.

The service creates a kind of Billboard chart for online music, monitoring popular songs on blogs, social media, message boards and BitTorrent. Users can stream music, create playlists and share their favorites on social media.

The team has also released a series of music discovery apps for smartphones and tablets, including Music Hunter for iPad and Super Sonic for iPhone. We are Hunted formed a number of partnerships to create other standalone apps, including Pocket Hipster, a novelty app created with the Echonest that poked fun at hipsters while also promoting new music. It was a launch partner with Spotify, where it built an app to let users listen to We Are Hunted charts from inside the Spotify client. As of last June, We Are Hunted said it was getting about 1 million unique visitors a month.

Today We Are Hunted is based in San Francisco. The team is said to be fewer than 10 people. Meanwhile, the founders' bios have been removed from the We Are Hunted site. The We Are Hunted Twitter account hasn't tweeted for two weeks.

What it means
The question for Twitter will be whether a groundswell of users find the app useful enough to displace the existing options for music discovery, which are numerous and popular. Pandora has more than 67 million active users; Spotify has more than 24 million. Facebook made music a key focus of its recent news feed redesign, and Google is striking deals to build a subscription music service of its own. Twitter Music looks fun to browse, but it may find it hard to compete against more full-featured music apps, which among other things allow for offline storage of songs.

Still, Twitter Music represents an intriguing effort to take the many successful artists broadcasting on the platform daily and use them to form new relationships with their fans. In time, it's easy to imagine Twitter integrating ticket purchases or other e-commerce into the app. For now, though, music fans can only watch and wait as Twitter puts the finishing touches on one of its most interesting experiments to date.

Facebook to finally add hashtags, says WSJ

Facebook to finally add hashtags, says WSJ

Catching up to Twitter and other rivals, the company will incorporate hashtags into its network, The Wall Street Journal reports.


Facebook is finally jumping on the hashtag bandwagon, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal today.
Unnamed sources told the Journal that Facebook is working on adding the hashtag feature into the network, but it won't roll out anytime soon. A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment, saying, "We do not comment on rumor or speculation."
Popularized on Twitter, the hashtag has become synonymous with social media. Google+ and even Instagram, the photo-sharing service Facebook acquired last year, have the hashtag function on their networks.
Hashtags, words marked by a pound sign, are used to organize posts by topics or events, or to express how users are feeling at the moment. Users add hashtags to their posts and then can click on them to bring up all the posts labeled with the specific tag.
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Hashtags are useful shortcuts, but all the companies that use them also make their networks searchable by keywords. Facebook is clearly trying to up its game in search with the introduction of Graph Search, so it wouldn't be surprising if the social network finally added hashtags to better organize content.

Beyond the Galaxy S4 hype: What now, Samsung?

It's getting harder to make new products drastically better than their predecessors. Just ask Apple.

Is it too much to expect huge changes with each new phone generation? Judging by the iPhone 5 and Galaxy S4, the answer is yes.

Galaxy S4 details have only been live for about an hour, but reviews (including CNET's take) are already rolling in. The overall verdict seems to be that the phone is more evolutionary than revolutionary. The hardware design has been updated with the latest and greatest but doesn't look too different. Other features are pretty cool, but it's unclear how useful they'll be.

The questions these early reactions subtly bring up is how much Samsung can keep raising the bar, and whether we all expect too much innovation in each new generation of smartphones. Of course, the S4 isn't even in the hands of users yet, but in the world of tech, it's never too early to look ahead. For Samsung, it's vital to do so.

"The rate of innovation was so quick in the last five years that everybody is coming up against this battle of diminishing returns," IHS iSuppli analyst Wayne Lam said. "What are you going to do for me next? How are you going to wow me after you've wowed me so much and inserted all the innovations you can?"

The handset market is very fickle. Look at how quickly BlackBerry, Nokia, Motorola, and HTC have fallen out of favor with buyers. They dropped the ball early on in the smartphone market, which is a mistake that could put some of them out of business. While those companies recently have built great phones, people still aren't buying them. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek earlier this week surmised in a note to investors that Apple could follow the same fate if it doesn't hurry up and innovate.

No one is suggesting that Samsung is in the same position as some of its weaker rivals (and CNET doesn't think Apple is in that position either), but it is something the company must be conscious of. Having one misstep won't bankrupt Samsung, but it could have longer-term effects on its prospects in the key handset market.

The Galaxy S4 is probably the most-hyped product Samsung has ever released, and it overall is a good phone. The device looks a lot like the Galaxy S3, but Samsung updated the components and camera and added a bigger screen. And the software updates really stand out. But will that be enough? And do we really need all those features, which sometimes just seem gimmicky? Also, if users are able to get many of those software features on the Galaxy S3, as Samsung told CNET is the case, what pushes them to buy the S4?

Of vital importance

How critical is this phone to Samsung? In a word: Extremely.

Sure, Samsung doesn't sell just one new phone each year like its rival in Cupertino. Sure, Samsung's Note line of oversize smartphones, also known as phablets, is doing well. Sure, Samsung also makes tablets and televisions and refrigerators, not to mention a lot of the components used in those products.

But as broad at its business is, there's a lot riding on the Galaxy S4. For handset vendors, it's the high-end phone that makes a company's name and reputation. It's what gets people talking and gives them something to aspire to.

It's the device a company can hold up to say -- "This is how innovative we can be. So if you like this, try our other products." It's also where most of the profits come from, not the lower-end, mass market phones.

"It's very important for Samsung to get this right," Current Analysis analyst Avi Greengart said. "They're hoping to build on the Galaxy S3, not coast or revert."

As CNET has noted before, there's an increasing worry that Apple and Samsung's most innovative days are behind them, and that the top two players in the industry are finally succumbing to the competitive pressures and harsh business environment that have punished the rest of the field. Both recently reported record-breaking quarterly results, but it wasn't enough to please the market.

It's hard to tell this by reading the tech press and analyst notes, but the iPhone 5 hasn't been a huge flop. It largely has received positive reviews, and it continues to sell well. According to Strategy Analytics, the iPhone 5 surpassed the Galaxy S3 to become the world's best-selling smartphone in the fourth quarter of 2012. But the company has still been criticized for the device, and ever since the launch, there have been concerns Apple is losing its edge.

Where Apple went wrong with the iPhone 5 (at least according to the tech crowd) is it didn't really add anything drastically different to the device or really update the operating system. It's tough to argue that Samsung didn't include enough new features in the Galaxy S4 (there are more items there than consumers could ever possibly use), but the phone itself isn't doesn't look that different from the S3. It's not hard to imagine a time when people begin to question its ability to innovate -- they're already doing that with Apple.

Samsung isn't doomed if the Galaxy S4 isn't well received by tech enthusiasts. On the contrary, it will likely sell well either way. But the impression that Samsung's innovation train is slowing down may represent the first crack that could widen with subsequent generations of Galaxy S phones. People may buy the Galaxy S4 but not come back for the S5 or S6.

"Samsung should be able to maintain its momentum this time around," Ovum analyst Tony Cripps said. "Next year or the year after will be when the real test comes."

Looking to the future

Samsung has prided itself on becoming one of the most innovative companies in the tech industry, but it's pretty easy to surrender that mantle. Apple's iPhone lost CNET's title of best device of 2012 to the Galaxy SIII. If the Galaxy S4 doesn't seem like a big step forward when all is said and done, that means Samsung could lose some of its oomph.

It could risk damaging the brand it has worked so hard to build. And those other products Samsung wants you to buy? Well, you might think twice if the Galaxy S4 isn't quite up to snuff. The halo effect could be pretty broad.

A tiny IR blaster on top turns your GS4 into a remore to control your TV.

A disappointing S4 launch also could open the door to share gains by rivals. LG has been touting the benefits of its own devices in the past couple days, and it also put up big billboards in New York City's Times Square, right next to those by Samsung.

And Apple's marketing chief, Phil Schiller, yesterday went on the defensive against Android,downplaying the expected competition from the Galaxy S4 and saying Android products are inferior to the iPhone.

These concerns about Samsung may turn out to be a lot of worry about nothing. The company may completely blow people away with the Galaxy S4 and its following products, and it may significantly ratchet up the pressure against Apple and other Android rivals. So far, the device appears pretty impressive, and people often buy phones because of the buzz around the product. There's no shortage of that here.

However, it's also important for Samsung to remain aggressive and not get too comfortable with its position on top. It may wow the market this time around, but the bar will be higher for future devices.

As Gregory Lee, CEO of Samsung's Southeast Asia, Oceania, and Taiwan operations, told CNET today, Samsung will keep adding the best-possible hardware, such as displays and chips, to its products, as well as continue including new features like advanced software capabilities. And it won't forget it can lose its position if it misses a beat.

"In this business, you have to stay humble," he said. "The technology business is a big business. If you get arrogant, you can have downfalls."

Let's see what you come up with next, Samsung. We can't wait.

Samsung GS4 launch: Tone-deaf and shockingly sexist

Samsung GS4 launch: Tone-deaf and shockingly sexist

So you know what, Samsung? You're not helping. Shut up and make me a phone.

I don't get offended very often. But Samsung's long parade of '50s-era female stereotypes, in the midst of an entirely other long parade of bad stereotypes, just put me over the edge. Oh, they announced a phone? You'd barely know it.

Dear Samsung: What just happened?

In the middle of a red-hot conversation about women in technology, the resurgence of the equal-pay discussion, and Sheryl Sandberg reigniting the very concept of feminism in America, Samsung delivered a Galaxy S4 launch event that served up more '50s-era stereotypes about women than I can count, and packaged them all as campy Broadway caricatures of the most, yes, offensive variety.

To be fair, everyone in Samsung's bizarre, hourlong parade of awkward exchanges, forced laughs, and hammy skits was a stereotype. The kid was lispy, tow-headed, and tap-dancing (the little girl did ballet, of course). Will Chase, the emcee-as-actor, was orange and desperate for fame; his in-skit "agent" was clueless, abrasive, self-absorbed and vaguely Jewish. The backpacking guys were horny, the Chinese actor in his 60s was an "old guy." So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that the women would also be a little, let's say, underdeveloped, as characters.

But tow-headed little boys don't grow up to make less than their other-gendered counterparts, and orange-faced actors generally don't get offers of explicit and increasingly violent sexual favors in the YouTube comments on their videos. So, it felt a little unnecessary for the tow-headed kid's mom to be a stage mom all the way. For example. And then, to her, our orange-faced actor emcee reeled off a mother-in-law joke worthy of the worst kind of sitcom laugh tracks. It went on and on.

The Brazilian woman was hot (duh). A bride-to-be arrives on stage with a chirpy, "check out the ring!" The Air Gestures that let you control the phone without touching it are presented as a boon to giggly women with annoying voices whose nails are wet and who don't want to put down their drinks. The comically alcoholic one, DeeDee, then proceeds to demo how eye tracking can pause a video when you look away from the screen... as she looks away at a hunky gardener type who proceeds to take off his shirt.

"While the women are cooling down," says the emcee, "why don't you tell us about S Health?"

By then, it's almost too easy to have there be a joke about marrying a doctor and then the one about eating too much cheesecake oh yeah that one I should have seen that coming. Of course those jokes are in there. Why would those jokes not be in there? We already had a tap-dancing tow-headed kid and a hot Brazilian girl.

I mean, really?

I just can't even.

Again. To be fair. Everything about this phone announcement was a weird, one-dimensional, faux-Broadway-style otherworld where good taste and, in fact, technology were almost completely nonexistent. And you could definitely argue that the delivery and the occasional zinger from Chase suggest that the show was meant to be over the top, ham-handed, and all in good fun. And maybe,maybe that would have worked if it had been well executed. Maybe it would have been funny if the sarcasm factor was just a little higher, or there were a little more edge to the cartoony lights and makeup.

But you know what's even better than better acting, better production, and better script-writing?Dumping the crappy female stereotypes in the first place. In fact, I would have settled for the "slightly better" scenario of including only 1 or 2 crappy female stereotypes. Once you get hit with 5, 6, 8, or 10 in a row, it really starts to feel a lot less hilarious.

I started my journalism career as a sports writer. I've been in the tech industry for 14 years. I'm pretty good and used to being one of a few women in the room, and it generally suits me just fine because there's never a line for the restroom and I can take it. But once in a while, once in avery rare while, something comes along that I just absolutely can't ignore. And this show was one of those things.

Because yes, it is frequently kind of sucky to be a woman in tech. I do a great job of telling myself not to read the YouTube comments and of ignoring or blocking the caveman trolls that make it hard to even want to do this job sometimes, and yes, of pretending that I don't know I make less than men who do less than I do. But don't mistake any of those coping skills for some kind of obliviousness to the fact that the number of booth babes hasn't declined all that much since my first MacWorld and we just keep having these same conversations and troll attacks over and over and over.

Is Samsung scared of being too cool?

Is Samsung scared of being too cool?
Samsung's launch event shows a peculiar drift away from anything that could be labeled cool. And toward something that bordered on not cool at all. Why might that be?



The little blond boy from the latest, oddly bland commercials tap-danced.
There was a mother-in-law joke.
There were actors being forced to spout lines of the same quality as reality show producers foist on overly-lipsticked, neophyte administrative associates.
Somewhere, Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd were weeping into a banana daiquiri.
Samsung's live event to launch its Galaxy S4 was bathed in all the taste of budget-free vaudeville.
As my colleague Molly Wood fulminated, the depiction of women as Stepfordian drunks was quite spectacularly myopic, ancient, and slightly tawdry.
The general level of humor had a sell-by date of September 4, 1959. How can this possibly happen to a brand that has done so much to impale itself into the craniums of the coolerati?
The answer might, perhaps, lie in the fact that much of the recent (and excellent) American advertising has been created by a cool L.A. ad agency, 72 and Sunny.
This is an agency whose principals are well-known for their work on Nike, as well as other famous brands. It's an agency that understands cool.
Its ads were created for the American market. (There is no record on its site of involvement with the Galaxy S4 launch.)
Today's little show was for global consumption.
Something odd happens when corporations decide they're going to do something for the world. They attempt to reach the lowest common denominator, one which even Mr. Bean would hate to plumb.
The folks who work in global tend to fly all over the world and leave just before the stink hits the AC.


All they try to do is make everything as bland, as lifeless and as generic as possible. They normally have the taste level of an inebriated worm -- which is, sometimes, what they are.
This little show reflected everything that is tragic about so-called global advertising. But it doesn't mean that it will have any effect on the sales of the phone itself. (It's not as if the S3 launch event was garlanded with huge amounts of wit either.)
From what I could see, the Galaxy S4 has any number of fascinating aspects -- though I've always struggled with the perception that Samsung phones feel a little too plastic for my own leather-and-minimalist taste.
What it might mean, though, is that Samsung is scared of being too cool.
You can't be cool forever. The very definition of cool means that you shouldn't see too much of it. If everyone is cool, then no one is. This is one of the issues with which Apple is currently grappling.
So perhaps at the global level, Samsung is desperate to be all things to all people. This might be at the root of what what its global executives believe is, well, family entertainment.
If what they served up today was entertaining to you, then I am very happy for you.
But this was less fringe theater and more cringe theater.