HUMANCENTiPAD

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"HUMANCENTiPAD"
Episode no.	Season 15 Episode 1
Production no.	1501
Original airdate	April 27, 2011
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This article is about the episode. For the eponymous product, see HUMANCENTiPAD.

"HUMANCENTiPAD" is the first episode of Season Fifteen, and the 210th overall episode of South Park. It first aired on April 27, 2011.

Synopsis

Kyle is intimately involved in the development of a revolutionary new product called HumancentiPad, together with the City Sushi Guy and a woman.

Plot

Spoiler warning! Plot details follow.

iPads are the new popular item across the United States and everyone has one, except for a jealous Cartman, who is caught pretending to have one by Craig, and Kenny who also does not have one because he is too poor to have one, so he watches his friends play with theirs instead. Kyle is chased through the town and gets kidnapped by Apple employees, who claim their actions are legal under the newest version of the iTunes terms and conditions, which Kyle agreed to without reading, and is thrown into a prison cell with a Japanese man and a Caucasian woman. Meanwhile, Cartman embarrasses his mother, Liane, at Best Buy, loudly accusing her of "fucking" him (as in fucking him over but saying things like, "Why don't you go across the street and buy some condoms? Because we should at least be safe if you're gonna fuck me, Mom!") for offering to buy him the cheaper "Toshiba HandiBook" rather than the iPad, due to the high cost of the latter. After he tries to get the police involved, by mooning the customers and in a rare moment of strictness, she refuses to buy him anything and takes him home in her car instead by grounding him for his actions.

At a gathering of Apple employees, Steve Jobs unveils the new product for which Kyle and the other two were kidnapped, the HUMANCENTiPAD, comprising of the three kidnapped subjects on all fours, wearing only white cloths around their waists and sewn together mouth to anus. The Japanese man is in front, with an iPhone attached to his forehead; Kyle is in the middle; and the Caucasian woman is at the rear, with an iPad attached to her butt and powered by the trio's feces. Jobs intends to teach the creation to read and walk, but becomes frustrated when Kyle continues to sign agreements that are put in front of him without reading them first. Jobs goes to great lengths to get the creation (especially Kyle) to learn read, including tricking it into believing to be rescued and brought to a hospital for its members to separated only to reveal that it was a simulation inside an Apple Store the whole time and it was to be put on display. Back in South Park, Gerald goes with the boys to the Apple Store to seek advice from "the Geniuses", who, after performing several rituals, conclude that they can make Kyle's agreement void if Gerald, a PC user, signs up with Apple and creates a family account.

Meanwhile, Cartman appears on the Dr. Phil show to publicly accuse his mom of "fucking" him. The audience takes his side despite her protests that he is lying; and as a consolation gift, he is given the first ever HUMANCENTiPAD as Jobs unveils it to the public. Shortly afterward, Gerald and Apple employees confront Jobs on the scene and demand that Kyle must be released, since his agreement to the iTunes terms and conditions is no longer valid. Kyle and the two others are taken away to be separated and Cartman, enraged at having his dream taken away so quickly, shouts at God to stop "fucking" him. A sudden bolt of lightning strikes him, sending him to the hospital. The last shot is Cartman lying in a hospital bed battered and bruised and in casts crying. Liane is seen beside him flipping a magazine, seemingly unaffected by her son's state (possibly because he humiliated her in a public store and on national television).

Critical Reception

AV Club gave "HUMANCENTiPAD" a "B+" rating saying: "And as with so many of South Park’s satires, “Human CentiPad” avoided blandly repeating the broader Apple jokes of the past primarily by zeroing in on a single ridiculous aspect—that of those goddamn “User Agreement” screens that barf up 50 pages of slight contract revisions every time you’re forced to download a minutely tweaked copy of iTunes. Any Apple user exhausted by that Software Update icon always bouncing in their dock could probably sympathize with Kyle, who simply clicks the “Agree” button without reading what he’s agreeing to—a carelessness that shocks those around him, because everyone reads those agreements (“How else would you know what you’re agreeing to?”) and, ultimately, leads to him getting his mouth sewed to the anus of a Japanese man."

IGN gave "HUMANCENTiPAD" a "7.5" rating saying: "Item 2 is certainly covered in this installment. The ridiculousness of User Agreements and those who don't read them is a point well made, and we should all be a wee bit more cognizant of exactly what we're agreeing to (although the enforceability of unreasonable terms in EULAs can always be judged by the courts). But the bigger issue here is one of putting your faith in a corporate giant that may not have your best interests in mind.

With that said, my first criteria was not quite met. I didn't find this all that funny. It invoked a smile here and there, but for the most part my funny bone was left untickled. Now, comedy is often simply a matter of taste (and there are certainly those out there with bad taste), and I'm sure some viewers thought this was the most awesome thing since the awesome train came to awesome town but I was left unsatisfied."