MyPad Is All You Need

The Simpsons, S24E06

After Homer was feeling down about his recent bad luck, he won a Mapple myPad and found happiness using it excessively in his daily life.  When he destroyed it from a myPad-distracted accident, Homer was depressed again until he found a message written on a tree in sap.

I think that in general stories about Homer using some kind of technology or sophisticated device is pretty good because everyone knows that Homer is an idiot and will use it in a funny way.  I can't help but be reminded of the episode where he bought a new computer and quickly tossed it in the trashcan after failing to master it within a few seconds.  Homer today can operate an iPad knock-off like a pro, using it to entertain as well as a working tool.  My favorite part was when Homer used the translating app to have a conversation with Mr. Burns:

[Mr. Burns] Simpson!  Unhand your Edison slate and bring your gold-brickery to a caesura![Translator] Put down your myPad and get back to work.[Homer] Sorry, boss.[Translator] Your remonstrances are a welcome boon and surely will redouble my diligence.[Mr. Burns] Excellent![Translator] Awesome![Homer] Woo hoo!
[Translator] Pip-pip! 

Another quote that I liked was a little later was when Marge was getting concerned about him using his myPad for anything that he could:

[Marge] Homie… it looks like you’re putting all your eggs in one basket.
[Homer] What would you have me do?  One basket for each egg?
[Marge] Hmm, I guess you’re right.  I guess I’ll have to scratch that off the list of things I say.

That part made me rethink that phrase.  Haha.

Some other scenes that that worked for me was when Homer threw Bart back into the lion's den after Bart had tricked him, Homer playing a distracted driver game, and Steve Mobbs scaring Homer into submission by bring up Hewlett-Packard products.  The last one was a little clever.  I mean, I hate HP stuff (although I stay clear of Apple stuff because it's a little cult-ish nowadays), so if someone were to bring up that point to me, I might jump to push the submit button as well.

The last thing that I liked was a quote from Dr. Hibbert:

This is the part of the job I hate most.  Talking to crazy people.

I feel like any job that has some level of customer service, you'll feel that way.  There's always some crazy people that come along.

I don't know how I feel about that little segment at the end where all the ads and products from the Simpsons World were alive.  It wasn't bad, but it was just weird.  Obviously they had to fill in a few more minutes, so they threw that in.  I would have preferred something that was related to the previous story.  But it was a little interesting to try and catch all those ads like Buzz Cola and Mister Sparkle that were shown over the years in this show.

This wasn't a bad episode.  I was surprised that the message on the tree was done by a sleepwalking Homer and not Flanders, though.  I mostly enjoyed Homer overusing his myPad to the point of destroying it.  Plus, he was able to overcome the funk he was in without having to rely on an electronic distraction.  That was a good message I could appreciate.  It's not the strongest commentary on the issue of people"s reliance on technology nowadays, but I still liked that they gave an effort.