You can generally depend on Apple for clever and well-produced ads, but on this case it missed the mark is the latest, which presents a tower of creative tools and analog items literally squeezed into the shape of an iPad. Many people, including myself, have had a negative and visceral response to this, and we must always discuss why.

This doesn’t just occur because we witness things being destroyed. There are countless video channels dedicated to crushing, burning, exploding and customarily destroying on a regular basis objects. Plus, everyone knows that some of these incidents occur daily at transfer stations and recycling centers. So that is not it.

And it isn’t that these items themselves are so priceless. Sure, a piano is price something. But we see them blowing up in motion movies on a regular basis and we do not feel bad. I like pianos, but that doesn’t suggest we will not do with no few old, unused pianos. Same with the remainder: it’s mostly junk that you could buy on Craigslist for a couple of bucks or on the dump without spending a dime. (Maybe not an assembly station.)

The problem is not with the movie itself, which, considering the individuals who shot and shot it, is actually thoroughly made. The problem is not the media, however the message.

We all understand the supposed point of promoting: you’ll be able to do all of it on an iPad. Great. Of course, we could also do that on the last iPad, but this one is thinner (by the best way, nobody asked for it; now the cases don’t fit on this case) and by some imaginary percentage higher.

But what all of us understand, because unlike Apple’s promoting executives, is that the world we live in is that the things that get fragmented here represent material, tangible, and real. And what is true has value. A worth that Apple clearly believes it may possibly crush into one other black mirror.

This belief is disgusting to me. And apparently for a lot of others as well.

Destruction of the piano within the music video Or MythBusters episode it is actually an act of creation. Even destroying a piano (or monitor, paint can, or drum set) for no reason is wasteful at worst!

But Apple is destroying these items – all you would like is a small device from the corporate that may do all this and more, and doesn’t need annoying things like strings, keys, buttons, brushes or mixing stations.

We are all coping with the results of the mass shift of media towards digital and all the time online technology. In some ways it’s really good! I feel technology has played an enormous role.

But from one other, equally real viewpoint, the digital transformation seems harmful and compelled – a technotopic, billionaire-approved vision of a future during which every child has a man-made intelligence best friend and may learn to play a virtual guitar on a chilly glass screen.

Does your child like music? They don’t need a harp, throw it within the trash. An iPad is enough. Do they like painting? Here’s Apple Pencil, pretty much as good as pens, watercolors, oils! Books? Don’t make us laugh! Destroy them. The paper is worthless, use one other screen. In fact, why not read in Apple Vision Pro, on even faker paper?

Apple seems to forget that it’s things in the actual world – the very things that Apple destroyed – that give value to fake versions of those things in the primary place.

A virtual guitar is not going to replace an actual guitar; it’s like considering that a book can replace the creator.

That doesn’t suggest we will not value each for various reasons. But Apple’s ad sends the message that the long run it wants won’t include paint bottles, knobs to show, sculptures, physical instruments or paper books. Of course, this is the long run he has been working on for us for years, he just didn’t put it so bluntly before.

When someone tells you who they’re, imagine them. Apple is very clear about what it is and what the long run needs to be. If this future doesn’t gross you out, you are welcome.

A disorder indeed.

Fake AI photos of Rihanna at the Met Gala fooled social media users into pondering she was walking the red carpet.

According to , Rihanna missed the event, which took place on May 6, because of the flu. However, her “photos” continued to flow into on social media. Deepfake images presented an incredibly realistic photo founder of Fenty Beauty. She wore a wealthy white dress decorated with flowers matching this yr’s theme, “Garden of Time.”

However, upon further evaluation, it turned out that the photos were a hoax. Rihanna wasn’t the only victim. The Associated Press reported that other singers reminiscent of Katy Perry have fallen victim to artificial intelligence generators. Her AI photos gained traction to this extent where Perry needed to disclose to her mother that the photos weren’t real, posting a screenshot of the conversation on her Instagram Story. Rihanna herself has not commented on this matter yet.

The photos are the result of generative artificial intelligence, typically used to create photos that might not otherwise have been created. While this is not the first time this technology has been used against celebrities, more nefarious uses have led to problems in the past. Sexually explicit photos of Taylor Swift went viral earlier this yr, prompting X to dam searches for them.

As the use of AI increases, so do the potential consequences. Currently, regulations are still developing to guard individuals from the harmful effects of this technology. US teens deemed ‘image-based sexual abuse’ use AI ‘nudification’ app to abuse young girls. Fake nude photos are one other way revenge porn perpetuates itself, prompting lawmakers to take motion as AI image generators develop into more available.

Despite the relatively innocuous nature of the Met Gala image fraud, the incident actually raises the growing problem of unregulated AI images, especially when the masses are unable to tell apart the real from the fake.

Google on Wednesday launched its digital wallet in India with local integration, almost two years after it relaunched the app as a digital wallet platform in the US

As TechCrunch reported last month, Google Wallet will run in India alongside the prevailing Google Pay app, which is able to remain the corporate’s payment app in the country. In February, Google replaced its Pay app with Wallet in the US.

“Google Pay isn’t going anywhere. Google Pay is our primary payment example,” Ram Papatla, CEO and director of engineering for India at Google, said at a press conference in New Delhi. “The wallet is specifically tailored to address non-payment use cases.”

Google Wallet will enable Android users in India to store and access boarding passes, gift cards, event tickets and loyalty cards. You can add all of it via a QR code, barcode or link shared in Gmail, or via the dedicated Add to Google Wallet button available in partner apps.

The app may also store public transport tickets and means that you can create passes from any image containing a barcode or QR code, equivalent to airline boarding passes, luggage tags or parking receipts.

Initially, Google Wallet will work with 20 brands including PVR Inox, Flipkart, Air India, MakeMyTrip, Pine Labs and Ixigo. It has also roped in local transport operators equivalent to Kochi Metro, Hyderabad Metro, VRL Travels and Abhibus. Additionally, the corporate has partnered with system integrators Wavelynx and Alert Enterprise to enable users to store and access corporate IDs.

According to the newest data from Counterpoint shared with TechCrunch, Android continues to dominate the smartphone market in India with a market share of 93%. In 2023, of the 152 million smartphones shipped to the country, 140 million were Android-based. The smartphone penetration rate this yr was 70%, up from 66% in 2021, in response to the research firm.

All this provides Google a solid reason to launch Wallet in India. However, it might face competition from Samsung Wallet, which the South Korean company offers as an all-in-one digital wallet and payments app. Apple also has a Wallet app for iPhone users in the country, although the app doesn’t have many local integrations. WhatsApp messenger also means that you can get virtual boarding passes and travel tickets from platforms like MakeMyTrip and state metro train operators.