Apple turned its livestream on early and things got super weird
Think '80s horror movie interspersed with bizarre performance-art stunts. What does it all mean?
Look, Apple could have done what it normally does: Turn on its livestream in time for its event at 10 a.m. PT Monday when the event actually starts.
But nah. Why not mess with everyone, set it live hours early and make it look like a 1980s horror movie on VCR.
The livestream is for Apple's upcoming product event -- an event we expect will cast light on Apple's new video streaming service, news/magazine subscription service and rumored credit card.
But right now, weirdness is occurring. Deliberate weirdness. Weirdness of the potentially viral kind.
If you click through to Apple's official livestream site, you'll find that it already went live and was streaming an empty theater, occasionally shifting camera angles.
It's bizarre.
Just to make it clear, Apple is streaming a CRT-stylized CGI version of the keynote theatre with different camera angles and every now and then they throw in something weird around the room or onscreen to troll us with. Think Five Nights at Freddy's, but Apple https://t.co/LO2yPRrYXC
— Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) March 24, 2019
But that's just the beginning of the strangeness. Might mess around and get Chris Evans, of Captain America fame, to call in during the livestream. Cool cool cool. No doubt.
Captain America is calling in on the Apple livestream lol https://t.co/aZ3Y3H7anL pic.twitter.com/Cb1ACh4CT6
— Benjamin Mayo (@bzamayo) March 24, 2019
So basically it seems like Apple is creating a bizarre performance-art stunt. Here's possibly the best part so far: a dude wandering up to the stage, doing a quick sound check, then reciting Emily Dickinson poetry. As you do.
Earlier on the Apple Livestream some guy walked up, did a mic check, and read some poetry. This is so bizarre. pic.twitter.com/G6ECQQB8Fo
— Retroity (@Retroity) March 24, 2019
Also, this happened. Yep, that's the singer/actress Sara Bareilles singing Exposé's "I'll Never Get Over You Getting Over Me."
Things settled a bit when Apple put the interface for its CarPlay navigation on the screen. It showed the long journey on Interstate 5 North, from Los Angeles to the Steve Jobs Theater in the Apple Park campus in Cupertino -- Hollywood coming to Apple HQ -- before cutting to the company's logo.
The near-silence of this apparent car journey was calming.
What does it all mean? Your guess is as good as ours. Does it contain hints for what's to come at the Apple event? Most likely. There's been audio footage from Ron Howard, M. Night Shyamalan and others. Almost certainly this will tie into the entertainment portion of the event.
The event kicks off 10 a.m. PT Monday. You can find everything you need to know about it here.
Originally published March 24.
Update, March 25: Adds the cut to the Apple logo.