Apple's live stream of its big product launch event failed repeatedly on Tuesday.
The glitch-prone broadcast -- available only on Apple's Safari browser -- flashed between scenes of the Apple presentation, at which the company announced its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and often crashed altogether. A woman’s voice translating Apple executives’ speeches in Chinese loudly overlapped the original English-language audio. The stream also only worked in Apple’s native Safari browser.
All I see in my mind's eye during this Apple live-stream is a guy dripping in sweat, frantically patching cables on old-timey switchboard.
— Merkotron 5000ºC (@mattmerk) September 9, 2014
SO happy I learned Chinese yesterday
— samir mezrahi (@samir) September 9, 2014
Maybe the livestream keeps jumping back and forward on purpose to really drive in all the specs. #AppleLive
— Petteri Ponkkala (@Petteri1) September 9, 2014
Some Twitter users figured that Apple CEO Tim Cook, who posted a rare tweet earlier in the day to drum up excitement for the event, may be able to help them in their time of live-stream desperation.
But he was busy, you know, being excited: