Woo-guy

The typical widely broadcast of church went out the other day, for the typical scheduled music-centric Apple event a couple days ago. I haven’t viewed it, but heard a brief clip on the Buzz Out Loud podcast in where God shows his new gift to man, the iPod Nano.

Yep, typical Apple form. Say what you like about the iPod, it’s Apple’s saviour.

I get the distinct feeling that since the unveiling of the iPhone way back, God has liked the sound of people cheering in amazement. Sure, it used to happen when he unveiled new laptops and the like, but the iPhone event seemed special. Nobody had ever seen anything like it before, and it had brilliant ideas. Yes, it used existing technology but it was polished into something sexy.

But since then, everything Apple has unveiled at these press conferences, people have seen it before. They expect it. Apple has blown their minds and it’s hard to get excited about yet another touchscreen device.

I get awkward watching keynotes with Jobs these days. He’ll stand on stage, showing off a feature that he clearly thinks is tops, and the audience will remain stone cold silent. There’s this moment of awkward as Steve stands there beaming down upon his parish and the response seems to be a large, “… and?”

This, I think, has given birth to Woo-guy.

He’s there, I think, to plug that gap where Jobs delivers a punchline, and nobody responds. That silence is his cue to Woo up and fill that void. Normally, an audience would cough and the performer would move on, but not at Apple events. No. When there’s no sense of wonder at the product, Woo-guy jumps up and makes sure the congregation knows when to cheer.

He features briefly at this keynote

You can also hear one enthused clapper early on, when the entire audience seems to be politely acknowledging.

I mean… cheering a simple clip? Really? Is it that amazing that you can clip the Nano onto your person?

I look forward to hearing Woo-guy at future keynotes, and I sincerely wonder whether this guy also follows God into meetings to make sure that everyone is in a state of suitable quiet awe for when Jobs walks into the room.