Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/09/01/video-editor-used-prerecorded.html
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Dammit. That is so brilliant. Now that it’s news, there is no way I can try it at work.
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it’s 2020 and as such everyone is sadly familiar with video conference software. Therefore it’s clear to the unwilling connoisseur that they are using google hangouts web client for the conference calls instead of zoom as in the title.
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Zoom is the new Kleenex … even though my family buys generic store brand facial tissue
… . I would tell my child – you need a Kleenex for your runny nose.
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Bah, IT’s been doing that for years
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The silly thing about this is that it seems he still basically attended the meetings, he’s there triggering prerecorded messages without his camera being on, which is the same as just reading a prepared statement. He did a lot more work than if he just went to the meeting. Or did I miss something, was he actually out jogging or something during the meeting?
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I sometimes watch MSNBC and shows like Morning Joe, which use panel discussions with their commentators even though they’re also in-studio even before covid. Sometimes my mind would wander, and I’d scrutinize the set behind the talking heads. There’s one set that they frequently used that has 3d printed models of various DC monuments and landmarks. Another background that they often use is a shot of a newsroom with several people working diligently on their computers. I paid such close attention that I noticed that one of the people seemed to take a sip of their water bottle every couple of minutes. I decided that she was either meticulous with her hydration regimen or MSNBC had a segment of video that they just played on a loop. I could never detect the telltale blip of when the video began or ended, until I realized that they just had a shorter segment that they just played forward and then in reverse, over and over.
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Well, mix this with some NLP, GPT-3, and deep-fakes, and audio AI and you are getting somewhere.
Oh, Jesse, Jesse, Jesse. Maybe the scam worked because no one ever notices you. 
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we’re already a step ahead with all those facial filters on insta and snap!
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In a supreme plot twist, it was then revealed that everyone in those zoom meetings had been doing the same thing for the week. This reinforced the lingering suspicion held by everyone that nothing useful ever happened during a meeting, but that a sufficient quantity of computers could still perform the meeting dependably if so called upon.
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The Jetsons also predicted repetitive stress injuries (RSI), when Jane Jetson came down with “pushbuttonitis”. She also sang about the “push button blues” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIlAMmCl3Cw
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Ferris got there first! j/k
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Isn’t that the norm for scheduled group meetings? 
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Indeed, Zoom is quickly becoming genercized. The problem is twofold from a trademark perspective: One, becoming a verb (e.g., to google something or zoom with friends), and two as you note, becoming the de facto name for the category (e.g. dumpster fire).
No one has it tougher than SPAM™ on the trademark dilution front!
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You missed that this wasn’t actually a serious attempt to automate having to go to meetings or save time. The purpose of the video was to briefly showing you how you can make an idle loop, and then to entertain you with a cute practical joke that he plays on his co-workers using this knowledge.
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You missed where he said exactly that at the end—that it’s really only useful for meetings where you don’t participate, and that he didn’t save any time or stress. It was mostly a “can it be done” thing, not an “is it useful” thing.
