This future world may, therefore, be somewhat disturbing. Apple’s Beats By Dre seems to have an inkling of what’s in the air. In a collaboration with menswear brand Union, Beats By Dre offers a chilling scenario in an elevated form of advertising. The video begins with a view of a garden through a window. A drone appears to be on patrol. (Perhaps, to you, this is already normal. You need to own a patrolling drone to counter any flying machines that might invade your personal airspace.) Inside the house is rapper Vince Staples. His dialogue reeks of the surreal. Sample: “So I’m, like, engineer. Let’s clarify the spectacular.” We’d all like to do that. If we knew what it meant. But we’re here to talk about the new Union x Beat Studio Buds. So let’s get the product sell over with. “By implementing pi to its root and multiplying x to the third, it elevated the sonics to this level,” says a man who could be a dad, a guru, or an engineer on his day off. Or all three. These are clearly extraordinary buds. Vince, though, needs to muse: “The root of pi is the root of life.” I feel sure you’ll want to analyze that for a while, but we have a drama to follow. A woman enters. Is she a family member? Is she the local soothsayer? Is she another engineer? Is she all three? She says, “Did you notice anything with Drone?” I offer a capital D, as Drone appears to be a member of the family, too. “It’s been creepy since you’ve been obsessed with those headphones.” Dad/guru/engineer doesn’t believe a drone could be jealous. He thinks it’s just the solstice. But then Drone appears, and your whole body will shiver with the fright of a thousand lightning flashes. Drone, you see, isn’t happy. Not at all. Drone is jealous. You may continue to be enthralled by the sonics of these allegedly special headphones. I will continue to be concerned about the future of humanity. Especially given Drone’s final words, having jealously, menacingly flown around the living room: “Drone not creepy.” Artists have already offered stirring portents of how the likes of Alexa will infiltrate human decision-making. Do you think this Drone will always be a happy-go-lucky family member? Or do you sense emotional disaster close at hand?
