The BlackBerry Storm ad that might have been
By Paul Miller 
posted Feb 26th 2009 6:25PM
posted Feb 26th 2009 6:25PM
[Thanks, Michael]
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"nothing can touch it" with regards to a touch screen device seems a bit wrong-messagy to me.
Just needs MC Hammer now.
@ john
lol! good point!
also, if the "bullet" enters from the left, then the impact "wound" would create a crater in the apple, not an outward explosion. photoshop!
Actually, that's exactly what an apple looks like when shot with a high caliber round. The bullet hits the apple with such force that the area around the entry "wound" is forced away from the bullet and out from the apple's surface. I don't know the exact physics behind it, but that's why entry wounds for high caliber rounds are always so much bigger than the round itself. It expels material outward, away from the target.
Now, this is probably me just taking your comment way too seriously, but of course it was edited. But they simply replaced the bullet with the blackberry. What happened to the apple is all real.
I certainly hope you were being somewhat sarcastic.
My guess would be that is actual footage of an apple being shot, with the bullet being digitally transformed into a berry.
"Try and touch it." might have been a better tag line. Cool ad though.
I think what they meant was "Nothing can touch it and get the desired response", or "nothing can touch it without accidentally shutting it off or unintentionally hiding important apps"
Signed,
RIM fan, keyboard/keypad activist.
All you "that's what really happens to an apple when shot" guys are insane! Or YOUR being extremely sarcastic.
I think it's a great ad. But this is a multi-layered composited effect and not even close to the destruction that happens to an apple when a real bullet goes through it. Check this video for reference...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJHDsMACC6w
@Max
Why the heck were you shooting apples?
PEOPLE- The driver shot apple, just rewind it and look real hard... it is there....
So what do we have now - a multiple BlackBerry conspiracy?
@Josh Ladella: I haven't personally fired a high caliber rifle at an apple, but I've seen many videos demonstrating and read many articles on gunshot wounds, whether it's fruit or otherwise. I have, however, shot a 30-06 rifle through a pop bottle, which achieves a similar effect, though not as cool at normal speeds.
@badweasel:
If you watch the video that you linked to very closely, you'll notice that the apple initially does exactly the same thing as the one in the ad, including material being jettisoned, the "petaling" of the skin around the entry and exit wounds, and the general swelling of the apple as a whole. In the commercial, all that is lacking is the final portion in which the apple would explode. If it isn't real, it's a very faithful recreation of the event. I mean really accurate. Even down to the angles of the blast cones of the jettisoned material is remarkably close.
Also, I have a more accurate bit of reasoning for the jettisoning of material in the opposite direction of the bullet at the point of entry. It's due partially to the bullet's conical shape, partially due to the fact that the apple is mostly water. The reason why apples, and indeed most of the water-based targets in @badweasel's video explode so violently when hit with a high caliber round is that water cannot be compressed, so the water displaced by the round passing through the apple is pressed outwards, creating a very energetic shockwave the results in the violent expansion of the entire apple. As for the blast cone at entry, the tip of the bullet pierces the skin of the apple, then proceeds to force the flesh out of its path of travel, imparting kinetic energy into it. Because of the conical nature of the bullet, and the fact that it pierced the skin, the path of least resistance for the flesh is out along an angular path, as defined by the slope of the tip of the bullet, in the opposite direction from the bullet's direction of travel. Essentially the same thing happens at the point of exit, except in a somewhat opposite order, and the blast cone's angle is somewhat different, what looks to me to be the complementary angle of the entry blast cone.
This is all a very basic description, based on a very basic understanding of physics. I'd love any input as to whether all of this is correct, or any additions that could be made. Sadly, though, I think that this is extremely non-sequitur, and perhaps should be laid to rest.
@badweasel
You should watch the video you reference. The discussion was wether or not there was a indented crater at the bullet's entrance point, or an outward explosion. Your video clearly shows at 0:20 that in the case of a real apple and a real bullet, there is indeed an outward explosion and not an indent.
We could discuss the various calibers and loads and what they each would do to an apple. (for instance, a subsonic .22 does go through an apple without completely destroying it) Or we could further discuss the sizes and densities of various apple types. But in the end, this ad a reasonably accurate depiction of what happens when a bullet is shot through an apple.
why you make a joke about a mother-in-law?
An image almost exactly like this was used as an album cover ten or fifteen years ago...
Anyone remember that? Who was that?
It's a pretty famous photo:
http://www.eyecatchypics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/stopping-time11-1819.jpg
Oh my word!!! I would have thought that the reader base of engadget would have more then a handful of braincells to rub between them!!! The "cant touch it" comment is clearly a pun, ie its implying that no other company can come close to how bad ass the phone is. Each company has its benefits im sure. Granted i cant see why any one would EVER waste there hard earned pennies on a iPhone, tied to a crappy contract for 18 months, forced to use itunes (easily the worst bit of software out there), no decent email support, crap camera etc etc. The storm has its issues also, but nothing that cant be fixed with a firmware update.
Simple fact is apple are out for world domination and far to many people are bending over to them.
As for the apple exploding on the entry wound, please go google it before declaring to all the other engadget readers your complete IGNORANCE.
Also, just to sound like a total hypocrite, in the end they are ONLY phones and this ad is flipping funny and i wish RIM had aired it, just to piss off apple!
Up your apple! :D
A mac owner and a 8900 owner!
"Oh my word!!! I would have thought that the reader base of engadget would have more then a handful of braincells to rub between them!!! The "cant touch it" comment is clearly a pun, ie its implying that no other company can come close to how bad ass the phone is"
Clearly you are the idiot here. The original comment was obviously meant to be snarky and sarcastic...
I liked it.... I thought the blackberry looked good to eat.
am i the only one that seems to see that the blackberry (storm) is destroying the apple (iphone) ?
@cy21
wait. i didnt see that. please elaborate.
Are they saying that the Storm beats Apple (iphone)? Cause everyone agrees thats BULL.
I liked the add a lot too, pretty simple and it certainly sends the message that they wanted to..
Not only is the Blackberry tearing through the Apple, but note also that the music is cut short when the Blackberry hits the Apple. Note that this very same music (Black Angels "Black Grease" from the album _Passover_) was used on the T-Mobile website to introduce the G1 the day that phone launched. (T-Mobile has since changed the G1 webpage and the music.)
Did they fill that apple with cotton or something?
that was quite a good ad lol
i liked it
I liked the few notes from Echoes :D
Good call on Echoes!!!!
Great ad... and also a great avatar KAIKAI :)
Very nice ad, indeed, but epic fail in the end, where you can hear the blackberry actually smash into the wall!
Shouldn't it say, "Nothing can click it"?
Now that, my good sir, is awesome :P
although IMO, they should have had more in it.
Clever ad, but not much to back it up.
Now, if the pre sliced through an apple...
Pretty sure slicing food was patented by Apple when the MacBook Air came out...
if that ad ever aired, there would be a lot of criticism from the public.
fact: people love Apple, whether they own one or not.
It's not much different than all those Mac/PC ads Apple creates.
At least Microsoft's answer to those were not controversial.
Fact: I don't love apple.
Fact: I'm an Apple lover.
Fact: I'm of the opinion that ad was funny as hell. I love stuff like this.
Fact: The new guy cuts his own hair. :Fact
Fact: Not everyone is an apple fanboy.
Fact: Bears. Beats. Battlestar Galactica
Nomi, thank you...
I was waiting for that
Fact: Unfortunately that's true.
Also Fact: Lysol kills 99.9% of household germs.
Thats not funny Jim. identity theft is a serious problem.
Fact: I love Apples, but I'm not human
WTF they should have totally aired that. Awesome.
We all know if they had ran that, Apple would have clapped back hard. They would have had a commercial of someone trying to use the BlackBerry storm saying "you're right, no one can touch it" and that would have been game over.
I wish they had ran it because I would have liked seeing Apple's reply. I picture the cute little berry sitting there and then the apple falls from off screen and splatters his juicy little guts all over the place.
@Slyvanus
your right
RIM knew that the Storm is destined to lose against the iPhone because of the lack of WiFi.
That is why this ad never aired.
@Sylvanus
God, I really don't want to start seeing "Hi, I'm an iPhone...And I'm a Blackberry..."
What a bunch of pussies. This ad should have been aired, regardless.
"The world's first touch-screen Blackberry?" So there are other companies that make Blackberry but RIM happens to be the first one to make a touch-screen one?
Yeah, I noticed that stupidity too.
What? What doesn't make sense about that? It's the only touchscreen blackberry.... that is a true statement. They say first, but first doesn't imply it's not the only one. Its the first because they will make more, there is nothing wrong with what they said...
-Taylor
Yes. RIM's really pushing the market for blackberry-branded devices. Pretty much everything they do is a world's first.
oooh i get, the blackberry destroys the "apple" iphone
youre right. if they aired that apple would come back at rim with a gazillion lawers. i want gun that shoots blackberries!
It's a cool add; too bad it's for a horrible phone.
*ad, excuse my stupidity.
They should have included Wi-Fi. I mean it's not like it never crossed their minds. Bad decisions.
Hey spin, maybe you should use one with updated firmware before make a silly comment like that. Pity the fool that relies on reviews. Oh, and in 3 months of ownership I haven't needed Wifi once. But I have been happy to have a camera with a flash, copy and paste, tethering, video cam, external music controls, and so on.
@MONKEY:
I didn't rely on reviews. What I found when I tried the Storm was the worst touch screen interface of any present-day cell phone.
"before *you* make a silly"
exactly! the phone is horrible
Meh, maybe you find it to be a terrible interface, but I've used both the Storm and the iPhone quite a lot, and I prefer the Storm. First of all, you NEED to upgrade the firmware. If you were using the launch FW (which you probably were) then I can see why you hate it. I'm running 4.7.0.99, and the difference is remarkable.
And one last point - it's amazing what a little practice can do. If I'd made my judgement on the Storm after messing around with it for 5 minutes, I would think it was worthless as well.
I think the message here is really clear. I like the ad, though.
The message is very clear. RIM can't stand seeing Apple continually laugh all the way to the bank so they're trying to drum up business for their own device.
The idea of the berry going through the apple is genius. They should run it with a different ending when the Storm is actually competitive. "Nothing can touch it" is also a bit misleading, seeing as how horrible the storm's software is compared to the competition's. I like the Bold more anyhow.
I see what you did there.
"Nothing can touch it." So the Blackberry Storm = M.C. Hammer of phones. Notably absent are the parachute pants.
I like it. It's better than those mundane ads they ALWAYS use with all the pictures, video, beach-ball and crap coming together to form a Blackberry while lame ass music plays in the background. And it's better than some smug sounding asshole talking about how awesome the App Store is on the iPhone but he fails the mention the greatness of iFart. Neither companys' ads do anything for me.
"Except you, you can touch me..." - Peter Griffin
HAHA, they probably waited to release this add until they saw what kind of pablicity it got and if it was an iPhone killer. When they realized it was no where close (what could they expect with an OS that crashes more than not when first released) they decided not to air it!
Oh RIM, you make me laugh.
"Nothing can touch it"??? LOL, ..."The worlds first touchscreen blackberry...but nothing can touch it"
Hrm... all these people that just had to comment on that. I got it, was it really that difficult?
I think RIM did it on purpose. It's called a pun. as in - it's their first touch screen and no other phone manufacturer can come close to its awesomeness? Unfortunately, not very true. But, there ya go.
...and what the hell is pablicity? it's "nowhere" in the dictionary.
airing this would have been awesome...
after 50% of the phones got returned, and apple aired it's own "half didn't want to touch it" reply ad.
*ad and *publicity wow, I cant spell tonight
Excellent add!!! but an interesting point was raised, comparing the Blackberry to Apple is pretty confrontational.
i guess before you start slinging the shit... you should maybe make certain your product even works as intended. argue all you like with apple's choice on how things are done... but at least their works. of all my clients that ran out to buy one (38 i think was the last count)... only 1 has one anymore. and he carries a "backup" razr or something just in case. the rest returned them and went back to older models. i think a couple switched to att for an iphone, but not any significant number.
Did you seriously just compare the bugs in a 3 month old device with the bugs in a year-and-a-half old device? How's that short-term memory treating you? Because the iPhone was riddled with bugs when it came out. I guess that doesn't count in an Apple fanboy's universe.
Oh, and if you want to talk about bugs...let's talk about Apple's iPhone/iPod touch album art bug that remains unfixed after at least a half-dozen firmware updates. Seriously...how difficult is it to do album art? Guess it's pretty difficult when your programmers have their heads up their asses.
One thing that can be said about RIM that cannot be said about Apple: they fix their shit. Apple just adds more features to distract people away from the bugs they can't remedy.
Too bad the Storm wasn't all it was cracked out to be.
They probably pulled it because representing that their product "destroys" the competitor is to acknowledge that their competitor is a threat (which they definitely are). I think this ad would have made them look really dumb considering the problems the Storm has had. I'm no fanbouy and I have owned RIM products for longer than Apple so not like I have anything against either, just sayin.
That is awesome.
Damn it I wish they ran that ad.
Anyone else thing it looks like those car commercials that are on the air now where the bullet morphs into a car?
Yeah def, those are Acura ads
Love the sound effects...should have been aired.
Yeah why in the hizell didn't they run it? only phrase comes to mind from the movie Dumb and Dumber "Pusssssyyyyy! Pussssaaaaaeeee!" :]
That was totally awesome. The ad, not the reality the statement.
"...the reality of the..."
And then a huge Palm smacks all these fruits effortlessly and throws them out of the Windows, where they are gathered by Androids and processed.
Androids who are lubing up and getting on Sybians?
Those are by far the funniest of comments +1
Fuck you guys. I like my Storm. NO, it's not the iPhone. YES, I wish it's app store was better. YES, it has problems that could be fixed with a simple software update. But I still love it. And if I got an iPhone now, it'd feel weird to me, just like an iPhone user would feel weird using the Storm.
Glad you like it. Question for you though. How do you use it if you can't touch it?
The BB app store is out? When did this happen? I thought it was officially coming out in March.
I'm with ya--I love my storm too. But it can be frustrating at times. But now that Verizon has unlocked the GPS on the storm, it has more value for me now and google latitude is the shit. Also, typing on it in portrait is so much easier and accurate than typing on the iphone-for me at least.
So... how come the Blackberry makes two exit holes? When you shoot something the entry wound is quite different from the exit. And in a fruit as small as an apple sufficient ballistic force would cause it to completely explode. Now if they had gotten the ballistics right and had the apple blow up I'd have to say WIN. But since they didn't that only leaves one alternative...
... learning who Doc Edgerton was, and looking at his pioneering stroboscopic photos.
Excellent ad!
It's one of those that make you go why the hell didn't I think of that?
Too bad the phone is a lemon.
Yea too bad the phone is much shittier than the ad.
I am still waiting for Verizon Curve 8900.
Why is the apple exploding outwards in both directions when being punctured by the blackberry? Should it not fold inward on the side it was struck and explode outward on the side the projectile blackberry exits the apple?
Nah, that's pretty much how it looks. Google for high speed photography. There is no room for the apple to fold inward - basically the bullet pushes into the apple until the material is squished too much and it explodes around the bullet. It's not quite as even as this ad shows but it does do it.
-Taylor