The global coronavirus pandemic has changed much of our way of life in 2020, and that includes tech events. We’ve seen Apple and Samsung take their product launches online, along with the entire IFA tech conference. What used to be live, potentially unpredictable events have given way to glossy prerecorded infomercials with almost no chance of disaster. What’s the fun in that?
To fill that gap, I’ve collected footage from some of the best tech demo fails throughout history. From Microsoft’s blue screen of death to Michael Bay walking out on a Samsung conference, I’ll be going through my timeline to look at some of these truly awkward moments in tech.
With no real sign of the COVID-19 crisis abating, Silicon Valley may prefer the greater control that comes with a prerecorded event, but all this comes at a cost: Tech companies can take themselves too seriously at times and these mishaps and faux pas are a way of humanizing them. When that metal ball shattered the Cybertruck window, it instantly became a moment. The attention may by embarrassing, but it’s attention nonetheless. If every potential presentation is polished and lifeless, then everyone loses out.