You may remember, waaaaaaaaaaay back in time, we did a story about the Porsche mobile phone, and suggested that it might just be the perfect mobile phone for Richard Hammond, the inveterate Porsche lover. Annnnnnnnnnd, we sat and pontificated, and tried to work out what the best mobile phones would be for the other Top Gear presenters. In the end, we finished up designing a Pandaphone for May, and a Lambophone for Clarkson.
Well, as of last night, we know for definite what mobile phone Clarkson actually has, because we saw it on the telly, coincidentally playing ‘Mrs Robinson’ by Simon & Garfunkel.
Let’s not beat about the bush. It was an Apple iPhone (confirmed by Dan, our pet Apple-fanboy). Oh, Clarkson, why have you done this to me?? Mind you, to be fair, he did say in the paper once that he just wants a simple mobile phone that’s not designed to dazzle people with stuff.
Which sums up my opinion of the iPhone pretty well (see my ongoing series of arguments with Dan, which will only get worse, believe me). I mean, it’s not as if he even has the higher spec Apple iPhone 3G. From the man known for going round corners sideways, going ‘Poowweeeeeeeeeeeeeeer,’ that’s a bit of a shock! As for other mobile phones, we’ve seen various species of Nokia and Motorola in past episodes, but the iPhone just stood out last night since it’s so instantly recognisable amongst mobile phones, for its shiny back and… well, the honking great Apple logo on the back was a bit of a giveaway, as well.
All of this goes to show that even if you know a lot about cars, you might not know a great deal about mobile phones.
And another thing, while we’re on the subject of Top Gear and mobile phones… remember that photo that was ALLEGEDLY of Clarkson, in his car, using his mobile phone, while doing 70mph down the motorway?
ie/ THIS one, that was in the Daily Mirror:
What a load of complete and utter toss! First, you can’t even see what he’s holding; second, you can’t even tell it’s him; third, if they were driving, how the chuffin’ hell did the two people who say they took the photo do it legally, without driving dangerously; and fourth, if he’s doing 70mph, and so is the car that allegedly had the two people in, why is there absolutely NO motion blur on his car or the trees in the background??
Quite frankly, if that were genuine, it’s be the single BEST mobile phone camera on the planet! Dear god, not even standalone digital cameras can produce motion shots with that little motion blur on. You need to be able to change the shutter speed to get shots like that in motion, and no mobile phone has a shutter speed that can produce images without motion blur.
Read that again, then read the logical conclusion:
IT IS NOT PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE, WITH A CAMERA PHONE, TO GET A SHOT AT 70MPH WITHOUT MOTION BLUR! IT JUST CAN’T BE DONE.
So, presumably, the photo was taken in a motorway services, then, and not with a mobile phone at 70mph… so, who do I believe: Clarkson or two people whose evidence doesn’t stand up to even the slightest critical appraisal?
Who do you think I believe…?
Do you think Clarkson used his mobile phone while driving? Or do you believe that the people who took the picture are out to make a name for themselves, and make money at his expense? Leave us a comment and have your say!
July 7th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Not too long ago we learnt that Jeremy has a Motorola of some sort. Oh the celebrity high life, eh?
As for that photo, for it to be a motorway, does anyone else think that the background seems to be a bit too close? What the photographer honestly wants us to believe, is that he was driving a car, got close enough to another one to see that it was Jeremy driving it, had time to get out the camera, take a photo, without him noticing and before he had overtaken them/they had undertaken him? And don’t forget that the paper which published this is the Mirror, who are very anti-Clarkson.
Besides, we know it isn’t true, Jeremy doesn’t 70 on a motorway!
July 8th, 2008 at 9:55 am
You’re absolutely right, I remember him in previous series, using a Motorola V3.
And as for the alleged “Clarkson driving photo”, you raise some rather excllent points there, especially about the proximity of the trees… which are so close that it looks like there’s no carriageway going in the opposite direction! And noticing what URL you have for your name, would you agree that it looks like the photo was actually taken in a motoroway services car park, or is it just me who thinks that?
As for doing 70 on a motorway, you CAN’T get to 70, nowadays, what with the traffic wombles closing them down every 5 minutes!
July 8th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I’m not convinced that it’s a service station, but now you mention it, it could be. It is an odd photo and I would love to know the real story behind it.
As for the wombles, it’s not their fault, it’s the health and safety rules which they have to abide by.
And Jeremy’s iPhone, apparently in one of his newspaper columns he said that he bought it and now regrets doing so because he doesn’t know how to use it!
July 9th, 2008 at 8:04 am
I agree, I’m dying to know where it was actually taken. And if it was on an actual motorway then, to quote Mr Clarkson, I’ll eat my own hair.
Well, true about the health and safety rules, but I distinctly remember seeing a program on Channel 4 about them, and one of the controllers in the big HQ (the burrow?) said that she loved having the power to close down a motorway.
Ah well,we never needed ‘em when I was a kid! (Mind you, that was the early 80’s, we didn’t even hav a homephone when i was a kid!)
As for Clarkson and the iPhone, he should give us a ring, we’ll sort it out for him. Plus, we’re near his hometown, so it’ll be like nattering to an old friend. Well, kind of. And I used to work with someone who knows his mam, so there you go.
I mean granted, I’d turn into some kind of blubbery fanboy, but we’d help with his phone, no worries.