iPhone ads: TV versus reality

When I saw that first iPhone ad pop up on TV a few weeks ago, I stopped in my tracks. While I had seen lots of pictures and read lots of write-ups about the phone and its features, this was the first time I had seen fingers on the screen demonstrating its capabilities.

The smooth, flowing nature of the interface is what struck me as the most interesting. Could this phone really operate this beautifully? After all, just opening an e-mail application on my Moto Q could be a minutes-long affair, waiting for the program to load. Never mind multitasking or switching to another program to check out a (mobile) Web page. The longer my regular cell phone was on, the slower it would get. All bets were off if I was playing music at the same time that I was doing anything else.

Maybe now you know why I was so skeptical that the iPhone would really work as promised in the four ads that aired in pretty heavy rotation leading up to its launch. So I present you with this video: my version of a magician's "continuous camera shot." While the fancy fingers in the ads do their part, I'll attempt to run the same tasks. See for yourself if there was some fancy editing on Apple's part, or if the ads were the real deal. I think you'll be somewhat surprised.