We Have A Few Questions About The Nine Inch Nails iPhone App

Christopher R. Weingarten | April 7, 2009 1:00 am

launched a video to promote the launch their sexy new iPhone app. All the Digglets are squealing and Wired is pissing its robot pants—and rightfully so. This thing is sweet! It has magical Google Earth powers that let you find NIN fans all around the globe to argue about which version of the “We’re In This Together” CD5 is the best. It lets you listen to streaming music all day long. For some reason, it lets you look at pictures of the show you are at! But after watching the eight-minute-long (!) video, we’re still wondering a few things.

1. The music and photos and graphics look totally sweet! But will this app be useful when your phone isn’t pressed up against someone’s wireless connection? 3G is so slow in some places that if I try to read Twitter when I take one step too deep into Prospect Park, my phone shivers, coughs and explodes. Are cool apps like this anticipating the day when wireless service is everywhere? Is Trent only going to play venues that have free wireless? Does Trent know something about the future of telecommunications that we don’t?

2. What room are they sitting in? Does everything in his house look like Twin Peaks?

3. If Reznor is such a genius sound engineer, how come Rob Sheridan’s mic is so hot that you can hear him lick his lips?

4. What does it mean if more bands start adopting their own version of NIN’s location-finding social networking tools? Will there be an increase in Radiohead fans hooking up and having sad, boring, academic sex? Will trolls be able to actually finally get into real fistfights? Will everyone’s friendships in the future be born on having similar taste in music? Will this destroy privacy once and for all?

5. Why is Trent encouraging people to go to his shows and chat instead of watching his band?

6. I love me some Nine Inch Nails and am psyched to get all Woodstock ’94 with them at Bonnaroo. If I go to this show and just watch the band, am I not enjoying it properly anymore? Am I missing out on the actual experience of the show if I just watch it, or am I participating in an archaic model of crowd response?

Nine Inch Nails iPhone walkthrough [nin.com]