Popular YouTube singer-songwriter Jonathan Mann has uploaded a humorous Apple-related tune that is currently doing the rounds on social media and tech blogs.
Mann originally rose to prominence among Apple watchers for catching the eye of Steve Jobs, who opened his iPhone 4 press conference by playing to the audience Mann’s 2010 “iPhone Antenna Song”, which criticized parts of the media for its “Antennagate” fixation. But it’s unlikely Mann’s latest song will receive a similar reception in Cupertino.
Titled “I Am Pressing the Spacebar and Nothing is Happening“, Mann’s new song centers on the singer’s hatred for the “butterfly” keyboard on his MacBook Pro.
Apple introduced a revamped butterfly-mechanism keyboard on its first-generation 12-inch MacBook, and later on the 2016 and 2017 MacBook Pro, which featured flatter keys built using a second-generation butterfly mechanism. However, a significant number of customers have run into issues with both versions, the most common being sticking keys – the theme of Mann’s latest song.
In the music video, Mann’s chorus sees him persistently pressing the space bar of his 2016 15-inch MacBook Pro, frustrated that it no longer works.
He refers to the MacRumors Buyer’s Guide to express how long he waited to upgrade, and that his “very expensive” MacBook Pro is only about a year old, and yet here he is, victim to an unresponsive spacebar.
Mann laments that Apple has informed him that his machine will need “extensive surgery for a speck of dust lodged beneath the butterfly” mechanism – referencing Casey Johnston’s article in The Outline about a piece of dust breaking her MacBook Pro.
Mann’s solo continues by explaining that Apple’s arguably awkward-to-follow keyboard-cleaning instructions didn’t work for him, leaving him feeling like an idiot.
If you don’t fancy listening to this potential earworm, the full lyrics to the song can be found below.
I’m pressing the space bar / I’m pressing the space bar / I’m pressing the space bar / I’m pressing the space bar / And nothing is happening / This computer is about a year old / And it was very expensive / I had been waiting to upgrade / For a long time / And now you’re telling me / It would need extensive / Surgery for a speck of dust / Lodged beneath the butterfly / I found your instructions / They were not helpful / I bought this can of air / I feel like an idiot