Samsung Launches Galaxy S4 With Baffling, Overproduced Broadway-Style Show | Hacker News Reader

Samsung Launches Galaxy S4 With Baffling, Overproduced Broadway-Style Show

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41 pointsderpenxyne44 comments

This seems somewhat common now. First Qualcomm's Kafkaesque E3 keynote, then the PS4 launch (which is seeming sane now), and now this. What goes through these people's heads when they put these things together? Do they have so little faith in their products that they think they need to outsource these things out to people more clueless than them? Or are all these ideas cooked up by some high up exec that everyone is afraid to defy? Or is it group think? I just don't understand how anyone could watch this ahead of time and think "this is perfect for our launch". Especially because I think the features of the new phone are actually pretty impressive. Just show those... like on a slide or small demo. That's all you need.

> Qualcomm's Kafkaesque E3

These are three things that do not belong together at all in my mind. What do you mean by this?

I think it was a reference to Qualcomm's bizarre keynote at CES 2013. The Verge produced an article about the highlights:

http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3850056/qualcomms-insane-ce...

What was wrong with the PS4 launch? Except for the cool introduction video and a few minutes of the expected PR BS about the "Playstation experience" it was purely ordinary talk and demoes of the new features/games by the people in charge of them. It often got quite geeky at times actually.

I really enjoyed the PS4 launch, I was actually surprised at how little fluff there were. I really don't understand what you disliked with the launch, I think it was a really good example of how launches should be done in the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmaxC1V5gNM

A lot of pundits bashed the PS4 launch for not showing the PS4.

I'm skeptical how big a deal it was because the kids I game with online couldn't stop talking about the PS4 that night and not one of them mentioned the "controversy" about not showing the PS4. If I was Sony and I inked a deal to get Blizzard games on my console I'd schedule an event the next week to tell the world about it. Huge coup.

Those pundits were uninformed - it was generally expected that the console itself would be revealed later, just like with the PS3.

What kind of product launch is that?

They revealed the controller -- you know, the way you actually interact with the thing. They revealed some games, and some gameplay footage. They disclosed the specs of the hardware.

I fail to see why it mattered even a little bit if we saw what exciting variety of plastic block the console itself looks like. For the most part, it's meant to stay out of sight!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rJDn0jRnUQ

some british satire on what was wrong with the PS4 launch.

This is ghastly.

Bachelorette party: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I...

They literally have seven grown women on stage chirping over a calorie counter, eyefucking an actual topless man, making cheesecake jokes, and doing a lush mommy dance number.

Well… at least now I wont think as bad of IEM (gaming tournament) and their "entertainment" anymore.

Samsung is trying really hard to think of new stuff. The group play was acceptable (of use may be once a year) but making different phones part of a surround sound was absolutely ghastly. The only way to show it also has to horrible.

I saw about 5 minutes of it streaming and had to turn it off, it was awful.

It's pretty amazing how advanced the smartphones were back in the 1950s.

Lately, these events are a source of press and discussion. Now you've got articles centered around the phone and articles centered around the event. It's marketing.

It's showy, it's exaggerated, it's fun. Although I've preferred their previous events where they focus on the device, this one is being marketed towards being a personal companion, and with that comes a lot of personal demonstrations.

It's not classy, or maybe not as classy as they'd hoped. But it's launched now and people are talking about it. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

Now sis. This is a Tony award nominated stage director serving up ninety minutes of missed cues, DOA humor, tortured narratives, miserable dialogue, and energy-sapping bloat.

But whether it was supposed to be delightfully exaggerated or genuinely awful is besides the point: this shit disrespects the customer, pollutes an already diffuse brand message, and draws attention away from the product.

They're talking about the launch: they're NOT talking about the phone. Is that what Samsung wanted?

There's also the turn-off factor: quite a few people will basically say: "Screw Samsung. They're asses."

It's the worst launch show I've ever seen, by far. Corny, tacky, misogynist, and not a single line anyone said sounded natural.

"My nails are wet!" "Sticky fingers!" "Sunscreen!" "I really don't want to put down this drink!"

> "I really don't want to put down this drink!"

Samsung targeting the problem drinker market there.

Not clear how being so drunk that you can't focus works with their eye tracking software.

I liked some of the features of the new Galaxy S4, but this show put me off so much. They were trying SO hard to make it 'cool', but it was getting more and more awkward with every new scene. That's why at some point I just couldn't take any more of their 'humour' and turned it off.

I don't like Galaxy's look but I quite like some of its features and I think they should re-think their next presentation very carefully and try make it look less cheap.

I am curious as to what in the Samsung Galaxy S4 looks cheap to you?

I think he meant that the launch show looked cheap; which is kind of ironic considering the fact that they booked out Radio City Music Hall...

Exactly, the whole presentation looked artificial to me. Like they were forcing themselves to be liked, instead of just being natural.

W.r.t the device - as I said, some nice features but I am not a big fan of plastic phones. It might sound funny, but I like that I can 'feel' my iPhone when I'm holding it.

I'm not the OP but I was in the show and was able to use them after it finished. Yes its a nice phone but in comparison with other phones out there (HTC One, Xperia Z, even the iPhone 5) the S4 looks cheap. Its the product of "lets see what we can stuff in there, the more the better".

The testing conditions weren't ideal but half of the features (translation, scrolling without touch, etc...) are still half-baked, or they definitely look like they are. And Touchwiz as UI seems really bad now that stock Android has become so appealing in design.

So yeah, its a really powerful phone with good potential ideas but the package, looked as a whole, looks cheap.

Where do I get a job making stupid crap like this? Obviously no oversight and probably pays better than what I do now.

I couldn't help but think this as well. Intentionally bad or not, someone likely got paid an exorbitant amount of money to come up with this, and I'd have done it for half of whatever that amount was.

I'm inclined to believe that they saw the equally ridiculous Qualcomm CES 2013 opening[0] and were inspired by it

[0]http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/8/3850056/qualcomms-insane-ce...

Not sure why anyone's baffled, "big overproduced skits" has Samsung written all over it. Or have you forgotten about Zoll?

http://www.engadget.com/2011/01/06/live-from-samsungs-ces-20...

I just don't get this. There is no amount of production that is going to make me care about a phone, or any other type of tech, any more than I already do. If anything it makes me want it less. Stop trying so hard to make tech "exciting" for an hour.

I couldn't agree with you more.

Yes, this was cheesy and over the top, but hey, it's Radio City, it's New York, it's theater!

The tongue-in-cheek show might not be everyone's cup of tea but it was a refreshing change from the usual routine.

Also it kept me entertained/interested long enough to learn about some of the new software features and their potential use cases.

Change, yes, but refreshing is probably not the word that comes to my mind. To each his own, I guess.

Why can't Samsung release one penta-band UMTS version of each GSM phone?

Releasing an international version and several U.S. versions segments the market, slowing down 3rd party ROM development particularly for the U.S. versions. Carrier ROMs are bloated, non-standard android environments, and lag behind the latest version. That situation is unacceptable; no new Samsung Galaxy phones for me.

Samsung's processors are not powerful enough for LTE, at least that has been the reasoning in the past. I'm guessing the new lower power Octa cant push LTE, and being that LTE is still pretty much a US thing we get different SoC.

"Why can't Samsung release one penta-band UMTS version of each GSM phone?"

Presumably lack of demand.

"slowing down 3rd party ROM development particularly for the U.S. versions"

Not Samsung's problem.

"Carrier ROMs are bloated, non-standard android environments, and lag behind the latest version."

And there's a distinct class of devices that run stock Android. And in all likelihood this class will continue to be outsold by an order of magnitude by this device and its non-standard carrier ROM that lags behind the latest version.

"That situation is unacceptable"

To a tiny minority.

Samsung execs: "Americans love Mad Men, Two And A Half Men, and reality shows. Turn them into a product announcement presentation."

I was completely distracted by the awful dialogue and performances. What a terrible way to show your flagship gadget.

This was quite helpful since I base most of my purchase decisions on the entertainment value of the launch event.

Bizarre. I was constantly reminded of this old soundgarden video; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efc7njKAfgo

Oh man, this was the funniest thing I've seen all year. Yes, it was bad. It seemed almost intentionally so. I definitely enjoyed it.

Samsung is baffling. No surprise here.

No skydiving??

Damn, the S4 packs a lot of really cool stuff, as someone who had finally lost the desire to upgrade phones, it made me pause (though really, my Galaxy Nexus with CM10.1 is faster than I need it to be). But this was just WOW-level embarrassing. And TouchWiz is still ugly, especially given how nice stock Android 4.2.2 and even Sense 5 is.

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