As I watched another brilliant episode of the latest Portlandia season (one of my faves) on Netflix, it dawned on me that Fred Armisen has created some hilarious parody sketches about technology in recent years, which I refer to time and time again. Here are some of my favorites:
The Cloud (and the River) (Portlandia, 2016)
https://twitter.com/ifc/status/687770065790320640
This Season 6 clip inspired this post. In the quirky episode, as Fred tries to figure out his age and “where time has gone,” he decides to gather evidence (floppy disks, zip drives, and old Nokia cell phone pics) to put on the Cloud. The Mac PCx employee informs him that he can only keep his data on the cloud for 6 months. From there, it will go to The River and then, among other things, “your keyboard will get really hot.”
Google Glass (Saturday Night Live, 2013)
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/weekend-update-randall-meeks/n36353
In this Weekend Update skit, Fred’s character, Randall Meeks, gives a hugely exaggerated review about Google Glass, while wearing Google Glasses. It’s “THAT easy” and “great because no one knows you’re doing it.”
Dropping your iPhone (Portlandia, 2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPL7Snp38rA
In Season 2, Episode 3, the intro sketch is Carrie (played by Carrie Browstein) dropping her iPhone in slow motion. As it’s falling to its supposed death, an emotional montage of the relationship between Carrie + her iPhone plays (past, present and future) the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Technology Loop and Mind-Fi (Portlandia, 2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOOHhbLnLIY
I think we’ve ALL been here. Phone’s buzzing, email pop-up notifications, Netflix queue organization, iPad updates, text messaging: HOW DO WE KEEP UP?! The sketch ends ironically as Fred tries a new program called “Mind-Fi” and his brain shuts down. Meanwhile, a mysterious onlooker laughs at Fred’s misery.
Buying a Cell Phone (Portlandia, 2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RLlOkKskBqU&index=8&list=PLHvrFWnIpC6iJhhz-KKMPJe1BUFv_Ju9D
I LOVE this one, and I think we can all relate in terms of customer service, here. Kumail Nanjiani (you may know him from Silicon Valley, another show about I.T.) is SO good at portraying that super annoying, condescending, passive aggressive customer service salesperson. Here are a few other Portlandia clips in which he plays similar characters.