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Tech

A Quick Lesson on the Disruptive Possibilities of New Technology, Courtesy of IHOP

Remember when electronic music was like some weird gas sprayed on society by aliens?

This nearly half-century-old commercial went viral (or at least Buzzfeed viral) a few years back, but it's got me thinking lately about how assimilated synthesizers eventually became. Even pop-country circa 2013 is rife with electronic tones, however brutally plain. Remember, in 1969, when this commercial aired, the technology was still brand new and faddish; Moog synths had been circulating in pop culture for only about two years and had yet to be even seen in live performance, though they were pushing themselves into studios with names like the Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel.

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You could consider the above commercial a snapshot of disruptive technology in action: a new thing, suddenly popular, but still uncertain enough to produce … this.

Reach this writer at michaelb@motherboard.tv.