So I thought this was going to be a reasonable take on how tablets are being used in music production. I'll be honest, I've never met anyone who's using anything other than an iPad, but I'm prepared to believe they exist. So the "article" launches straight into a sales pitch:
A good choice would be a high-end tablet such as a Sony Xperia Tablet Z, which has a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor which, he says, will "eat for breakfast" powerful apps like the well-respected FL Studio Mobile. FL Studio Mobile is an app which lets you compose and save multitrack studio projects, whether you're inputting MIDI notes with a step sequencer or adding effects.
I've never heard of the "well-respected FL Studio Mobile" but, hey, I don't use Android. I was looking forward to reading about some of the other apps on the platform. Apparently there aren't any. Not a single mention of another app, on any platform. No mention of iPad or iPhone at all, despite there being hundreds of sequencers, drum machines, synthesisers, effects processors, composition tools and so forth on iOS. No mention of the high end studio and live mixing desks designed specifically for iPad. No mention of the guitar effects pedals, microphones and digital instrument interfaces that proudly tout iOS-compatibility.
Then we get this:
Carphone Warehouse has launched a short film, as part of its Smarter World campaign, to inspire people by showing the possibilities of smartphones. The film reveals how musicians are using tablets and smartphones to improve their performances. Music producer Darren Sangita, the DJ who worked on a collaborative track for the campaign, says tablet technology is a "dream" to work with.
"I used to work in studios with huge 48-channel decks and two-inch tape machines that cost £150,000. That technology has now been shrunk down to a touchscreen – so you've got everything from synthesis to drum machines, real-time effects and modulations, multi-track recording capabilities and playback."
Sounds good, and Sangita goes on to gush about how "tablets" and "touchscreen" are revolutionising the music industry. Strangely, he doesn't mention any platform, nor any apps. I followed the link to the short film Carphone Warehouse has made, showing Darren in action. Full of iPads (and other devices). The app he specifically talks about is named on screen: Sugar Bytes Turnado —Only on iPad.
Well done CW, you've managed to write an article about music production (which, in mobile, is dominated by iPads) and only mention the devices you specifically need to flog. Perhaps you're getting paid handsomely to shift them. You didn't even have to find more than a single Android app to talk about, and you couldn't be bothered to find a producer who prefers it.
And in The Guardian, masquerading as a proper article? You should be ashamed of yourselves.