YouTube Succumbs To Apple Reality Distortion Field, Zaps Vids Of Devs Booing $999 Monitor Stand
There was plenty of applause and copious cheers at Apple's WWDC event earlier this week, where it unveiled several OS updates, a burly refresh of its Mac Pro, and a fancy 6K monitor. Apple also announced a $999 Pro Stand, but to a different reaction—boos and groans swept over previously excited developers in attendance. In the aftermath of the event, it seems Apple is seeking to silence YouTubers who focus on that particular part of the keynote.
Some videos on YouTube that highlighted the boos and groans have been taken offline. It appears as though Apple has been sending takedown requests to YouTube, on the basis of copyright infringement.
We can't recall Apple ever doing this before, as it pertains to video clips of its events. According to The Register, which noticed the video removals after one it had embedded in one of its articles was blocked, there are many other videos of the event that are still being shared on YouTube and Twitter. The difference is, most of those videos don't mock the $999 monitor stand.
For something completely different, Apple have blocked several videos of the crowd mocking their US $999 monitor stand at the launch speech, on copyright grounds.
— Paris (@DavidParis) June 5, 2019
There are, however, still some clips that remain, which focus solely on the crowd reaction to the expensive monitor stand. Among them is a humorously altered video that replaces the boos and groans with sarcastic laughter.
If Apple is indeed sending takedown notices, as appears to be the case, it is facing an uphill battle—we imagine that the video clips (and more memes) will keep on coming. And for now, at least, that section of Apple's keynote video on its own website has not been spliced. You can check it out by heading here and skipping to around the 1h42min mark. That's when Apple announces the $199 VESA stand and $999 Pro Stand.
Unsurprisingly, both Apple and YouTube have not commented on the situation.
