Charlie Rose sacrifices face for MacBook Air
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Mar 18th 2008 2:48AM
posted Mar 18th 2008 2:48AM
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No shame I suppose... he shows no need to "save face" for such a ridiculous purchase.
Actually, he needn't have protected his MacBook Air at all. The thing is rock solid and tough, and can easily withstand a few drops.
This sounds like a typical Apple publicity stunt.
If he really did buy a Macbook Air and he really did allow himself to get injured to protect it - THEN HE IS AN IDIOT.
So you're telling me that all those kids who came to school with black eyes, and all those wives who came with black eyes and bruises, who i've been assuming were getting beaten by their dads/husbands, really did fall?
Who'd have thought they were telling the truth when they said they fell. I still think it's hard to fall on your eye :P.
The guy in this article is an idiot. I'm sure he makes more than enough money to buy a new one.
@Ellianth
Do you even know who Charlie Rose is? You're the fucking idiot.
Does ANYONE know who he is? I sure don't, and I watch plenty of TV.
On another note, I've smacked my knee a hundred times while trying to keep electronics from hitting the ground. Never my eye though...how is that even possible? Nose? Sure. Eye? Give me a break. To hit your eye, the only way I can imagine, is if both hands are above your head, holding the macbook air as you face plant with one side of your face pointed down, which then magically hits the corner of something, right in your eye. That scenario makes him a complete idiot, because that type of fall right on your face could mean thousands of dollars in reconstructive surgery later :p not to mention that you'd look like a complete moron during.
Wow...bravo sir...protecting a replaceable (insurance?) piece of electronical equipment, that you could probably say is a business purchase anyway....instead of your own face.
ba dum pissh
Meh... If I spent 2000 dollars on something I would probably choose to protect it as well...
that's exactly what i'm thinking.
My eye can heal itself.
Word. I have been in a couple situations where it was either me or my camera. My camera is unscathed, and my skin has healed. Charlie Rose, I'm with you - protect your Air, you made a smart choice.
I didn't buy an Air and I don't have a black eye. That's two positives.
I agree. As much as I would love to see an Apple product-especially the MBA-smashed to bits, I would have done the same things...flesh heals, electronics don't.
Is it just me or this article/blog post poorly written?
I don't understand a damn thing.
Sorry if this offends you, Thomas Ricker, but you've got bad puns and allusions out the wa-zoo. One would think this is crap like The Inquirer.
don't really get it either
Basically... Guy trips, protects macbook air instead of his face. Macbook air not domage but has blood... live goes on
I was personally offended by the sentence fragment and the double hyphen that wasn't converted to an em dash.
Thomas Ricker is a moron and really does not know how to write. Common sence and good writing skills seem to be lost on him.
They must not pay him too well. He is a news anchor and gets paid for his face to be on TV, but he chooses his MBA over that face.
If I were him, I say screw the notebook - just buy another one on his way to work.
people who can "afford to just buy another one" are the last people who WILL just throw money away like that.
that's probably why they have money: because they're not going to just willfully throw it away.
besides, would a brand new computer have all his data on it? your "if i were him" has no base in reality at all.
Who cares? I'm sure he tried to avoid hurting his laptop and his face and it didn't quite work out. For all you know he might have broken his wrists if he had just dumped his macbook and reached for the ground with his hands.
And seriously, it's not like he was horribly maimed, he has a bruised eye that'll heal up in no time.
MacBook Air this.. MacBook Air that..
Enough with it already
Err... they haven't mentioned the MBA in quite some time compared to the actual amount of news they report.
Away troll! Back under to the bridge that you came from!
Ah, so that's why they report every solid alliance device that spews from the factory... to dilute the Apple news!
Kidding, kidding, things seem to have got a lot better in the last couple of weeks, a much more balanced selection.
I for one miss our MBA overlords.
Not on your life........
Apple couldn't buy this type of publicity... Or, wait a minute, did they just do that?
OH GOD IT'S ALL A CONSPIRACY TO GET APPLE PUBLICITY WHATEVER SHALL WE DO?!!!?!?
Yeah, they bought it... "MBA users are total idiots. It just works..."
I love the idea of Steve Jobs going around beating up news anchors
This post is incredible in its absolute lack of any useful information regarding anything gadget related. Is Charlie Rose being called an "air head"? The post's language is not clear. The blogger must have been half asleep when he wrote this.
There must be a better way to portray Apple products in good light for no reason. Engadget is simply hunting for far-fetched excuses.
"There must be a better way to portray Apple products in good light for no reason. Engadget is simply hunting for far-fetched excuses."
A - How does this portray Apple products in a good light?
B - This is an unusual story involving a famous gadget and a famous person... sounds blog-worthy to me. You are reading a gadget blog, not CNN.com's tech page.
C - Something tells me that if this story was about how Natalie Portman lost an iPhone in her vagina, not as many people would be complaining here.
he should put that on ebay, i mean you could go get a mac book air, or, for a few extra benjaminz you could get a mac book air covered in charlie roses blood!! you could like... clone him or something, and we could have twice the interviews with people we've never herd of!
Wow two bad decisions this man has madeinvolving a Macbook air.
The first one being getting one at all.
Really? Who are you to tell him what his NEEDS and REQUIREMENTS are for a Laptop?
On Xmas eve I slipped while holding my canon 30D & was faced with the quick decision, smash the camera, or smash myself against the pavement. I chose the latter, & ended up with fractured ribs..
It hurt alot, my camera was unharmed, so I guess it was worth it, even if it took me 2 months to recover..
wow how'd you end up doing that?
I'd probably would have done the same thing. Those things are expensive
xmas eve... I was drunk & acting like an idiot. Got some great shots though... :)
These kind of posts are highly suggestive. If the damage isnt permanent then I'd take a hit to my face over a broken $2000 laptop anyday. Any sane guy with an average job in the world would do the same.
Its much easier to recover from a bruise then to earn 2 grand.
I wouldn't because I have something called home insurance which also cover any accidental damaged to my gadgets.
"Any sane guy with an average job in the world would do the same."
Charlie Rose isn't exactly working down at the docks 9-5.
Even people with well-paying jobs would probably choose a black eye over losing $2,000.
I don't care how much money you make, i think the vast majority of people would answer the same to the question: "would you rather have me smash your $2k laptop with all your data on it, or punch you in the eye?"
doesn't seem like a tough question to me. (...you know, if it's not someone known to kill people with a single punch.)
Is this the new "I walked into a doorknob"?
This is certainly funny, but I really wish the injury had been Wii related.
are you kidding? That old news!
He's lying. He didn't protect his MacBook Air, he got beaten up. Maybe his wife hit him with something.
Well the picture with engad's article makes it look like he got hit BY a macbook air... and that's what I thought the article was about, the slightly ambiguous title not helping much...
Hmm, with a SSD drive, and assuming it was in a somewhat padded bag/sleeve, it might not have been laptop death (how tall is Mr. Rose?). But then again, the laptop screen is still very vulnerable. I've seen plenty of laptops take a fall, have the hard drive still function okay... but the screen will usually be pretty much done for.
But since his laptop was obviously closed... maybe not. Who knows. I suspect no one is really willing to do this expensive of a test, however...
Again with the hating!!
Ricker's just telling us about this (actually pretty funny event) where someone who has to look very respectable for his job chose to sacrifice his _face_ for a gadget. Forget that said gadget was a macbook air and remember that this is en_GADGET_ we're all reading!
"Ricker's just telling us about this (actually pretty funny event) where someone who has to look very respectable for his job chose to sacrifice his _face_ for a gadget. Forget that said gadget was a macbook air and remember that this is en_GADGET_ we're all reading!"
Ask yourself a simple question.
If this was a Dell or an HP or a Lenovo or any other laptop or product other than one from Apple, would Thomas Ricker even have bothered posting this?
If an anchor man had ended up with a black eye? Would be even more news because we'd all think he's insane (more than we do now...)!
@ Fred
Give it a break, if a prominent personality on TV like a Charlie Rose got bruised-up trying to save a gadget, Engadget would cover it.
"Give it a break, if a prominent personality on TV like a Charlie Rose got bruised-up trying to save a gadget, Engadget would cover it."
No they wouldn't.
In the past month they did two post about celebrities and gadgets.
1) John Stewart (sp?)
Why? Because he pulled out an iPhone at the Oscars
2) This story because it involved a MBA.
3) Bonus - a story that appeared on Gizmodo:
"Clips: Sinbad is Still Alive, Also a Gigantic Mac Nerd"
Again celebrity story posted for no other reason other than an Apple product was involved.
if you can find those same type of stories with another companies products, then I'm all ears.
As I recalled, both the iPhone and WII was guest staring in that article (Ryan Block): http://www.engadget.com/2008/02/25/iphone-wii-guests-at-this-years-oscars/
And what does Gizmodo have to do with Engadget?
But really who cares! I see an article on a company I don't care for I skip past it. I don't click on it complaining every single time. Could be your continued complaining is helping to generate more hits, in which case you will continue to see more Apple news.
@ Fred,
Even if it does have something to do with Apple (which, by the way, the Jon Stewart/Oscars post also had the Wii featured), what difference would it make? If they hadn't posted this, would your world--or the world in general--be any different? There's obviously gonna be interest in this post, simply because A) It's a guy who got scuffed up in the face for a high profiled laptop & B) It's just plain funny!
Lest us not forget this is enGADGET BLOG. Last I remembered, a blog has a right to be a bit biased. No?
And again I will ask a simple question, and Im hoping that any of you can answer with a yes or no.
If this was a Dell or an HP or a Lenovo or any other laptop or product other than one from Apple, would Thomas Ricker even have bothered posting this?
2nd question:
Can find those same types of stories with another companies products being the focus?
Honestly I think you guys know the answer, but it just wont look good for you to write it out.
Phew! I thought for a minute Engadget was going to struggle to keep up with its daily stream of flippant non-stories related to Apple products, but you certainly pulled this one out of the bag!
"Man falls over in street" turns into another product placement for the MBA.
Priceless!
He needs one of those manila envelopes
They should do a recall of those dangerous MacBook Air.
He "slipped."
Battered husband syndrome.
I don't even like the MBA all that much and I'd do the same thing. I'm not sure what type of person insults someone that takes a black eye over possibly losing two grand. Now in reality I think that's just how it happened and he plays it off as if he had the chance to make a choice while in reality he flopped on his face and didn't hurt his laptop.
Err that last sentence is full of fail, but whatever, I got the point across.
My theory is that it's an evolutionary trait that we protect what's in our arms when we fall because it used to not be electronics--it was our kids. And, I doubt we really have much of a conscious decision about doing this. I'd love to know how many people this has happened to who have actually been able to discard whatever is in their hands and save themselves from falling.
And please, Creationists need not respond...
Explain how this "evolutionary trait" comes into being. So there's some basic human ancestor, and through a chance mutation, a couple of these creatures gain a mental anomaly that causes them to protect their children. Now every one of these creatures ends up protecting themselves instead of their children except the mutants, who are either the sole survivors or whose mutation is miraculously a dominant trait. We know many species protect their young, but the reason needs to be deeper than "evolution." Evolution isn't a thinking entity. Why are creatures who eat their young still in existence, if the environment has wiped out those who don't protect their young? Evolution has incredible scientific potential, but when you put out some idea without first applying rigorous thought, not simply come up with reasons once someone's challenged you, you make evolutionists look like religious fanatics.
Well, not to get into a scientific debate here, and you're more than likely more educated about this subject than I am, but it doesn't seem far fetched to believe there is an advantage to ones offspring living to reproduce if somehow the parent is able to protect them from a fall while sacrificing their own bodies to do so. It would be an evolved reflex--we have many, such as blinking when anything comes near our eyes to protect our vision--and many species have these sort of reflexive traits.
And yes, cannibalistic species exist but those are usually traits that are more likely to allow their offspring to reproduce than if those species did not eat their young, for whatever evolutionary reason per that specific species (it would have to be examined on a case-by-case basis). The mantis is everyone's favorite to look at in this regard, but research (my own, actually, many years ago) has shown that if there is other food nearby the female will choose that instead of eating the male during reproduction. However, that doesn't mean that there haven't been enough circumstances over the millennia that have allowed many more mantids to be born when the mother eats whatever is nearby to keep up her stamina than those whose mom's just starved during the long period they're reproducing. I know that's a simplistic view of evolution, but this isn't Science, it's Engadget.
Regardless of the product, I'd probably have done the same thing. I'll be damned if I'm going to ruin something I just dropped 1,500 dollars on just because I'm too scared to get hurt. Its the principal of the thing, really.
Plus, he may not have known he was really going to fall. I think that his instincts probably kicked in to save what was in his hands. Most everyone's done it- we just didn't have to show our face on PBS the next day.
Effing spot on, Charlie!
(and no, I'm not a Mac owner or fan)
Here's one hand: I can see people that don't have a chunk of money doing this....your body will repair itself, the Air won't...a nice bit of savings probably went into it - and, "I fell and my laptop broke" isn't covered under it's warranty I'm sure.
On the other hand: It's Charlie Rose, I'm sure he's made some 'throw away' money (duh, he bought the Air), so you'd think that if it broke, he could just go buy another one. Why suffer the pain to save a piece of 'NEW' tech when you can just have it break and buy another?
So I'm a bit split on the issue. I don't know if I should think he's an idiot or commend him for protecting his property at the expense of his well being.
To ensure the protection of a $1k+ purchase of /any/ kind, regardless of it's mac/win affiliation, I wouldn't hesitate at all to take the impact with my own body.
In fact, for myself and a number of friends from high school marching band, it's almost second nature to instantly brace for an imminent fall by drawing in valuables (be they plastic gadgets or brass instruments). Sure the gadget/horn won't bleed, but it won't heal itself, either.
Hilarious. Charlie Rose now has street(geek?) cred in my book.
I don't get the whole fascination with thin, especially as, in this case, it comes with a lot of sacrifices. Kudos to Charlie Rose though.
When I used to deliver appliances I told my partners to always keep their hands on the corners. "Hands will heal, but walls will not".
I know an agent that would love to sell you some worker's comp insurance...
If I fall and hurt myself, I have insurance and sick days...Smash my laptop and that's it. Easy for me to decide.
I was going to post something about being crazy for choosing my health over a material thing like a laptop, but then i looked at my wrist and saw the movado watch i worked my ASS off to buy when i was 18 (took almost a year to save enough for it) and decided i would sacrifice my face for it. So maybe i understand. But Charlie Rose here makes good money, because he is easy to look at, so he is a fool.
My theory is it was eliot spitzer's laptop, and Rose's wife caught him with it.
See what I did there? You all thought i was going down personal anecdote blvd, but i took a hard left on topical street.
What a poor ass excuse for a black eye!
1. He wasn't protecting his Air, per se. He was protecting the $2000 he spent on it. Those of you calling it a ridiculous purchase are, of course, talking out of your ass. You don't know the man's finances or motivations, and it's none of your damned business anyway.
2. As for the argument that "he can easily afford to replace it," let me give you a little advice: Wealthy people do not get that way by tossing money away for no reason. Perhaps he _can_ afford to replace it. That doesn't mean he should chuck it away lightly. So he gets a few scrapes...I wasn't aware that minor injuries were suddenly lethalities.
Self-important boobs.
That is the correct answer. And for those of you who have some sort of problem with other people owning a Macbook Air, 1) Get the hell over it you babies, and 2) whenever anybody mentions a Macbook Air, just replace it with an X300 in your mind. The X300 costs more, so in a story like this it should be obvious what the motivation was for saving it.
He completely understood that he heals... his $2000 macbook does not...
Smart guy...
Faces heal. Electronics do not.
Doh! Great minds think alike? Maybe I just type too slowly.
1. Kudos to Charlie Rose, I'd of protected $2000 too.
2. Diss to Charlie Rose, you bought a MacBook Air.
3. Who the hell is Charlie Rose?
And finally, I've gone to great lengths to protect gadgetry as well. I got one of the very first Ipods. On the way out of the store, a guy knocked it out of my hand and into the street, I dove in to save it from an oncoming cab. Then, I sat there whilst onlookers fondled and ogled the device, remembering I was in pain only as paramedics began giving me morphine....
Good Lord. I love this site and red it daily. But the Mac bashing and hatred for Apple on this site's comments pages are finally too much for me to take! What the H@LL is wrong with you Apple Haters? Are you sorry nobody is covering Dell? Gateway? HP? When those companies do something worth noting, I am sure it will be reported as it has in the past. Ah, never mind, who cares.
HOWEVER, Rose worked most if his life for PBS. The US Public Broadcast System. Publicly funded TV. Do you think he makes THAT much money that a 2000$ brand new laptop means nothing to him. Come on. And I agree that even if he did make lots of money, so what? Most intelligent people realize that money is EASY to make, but DIFFICULT to keep. Protecting money already spent is step one in the latter.
Yikes.
Do you guys do promo for apple, i think we've all had enough
Apple all the way :)
LOL. I would have saved it too....