By Katie Marsal
Published: 10:00 AM EST (07:00 AM PST)
Apple's iPad was slapped, banged on a table, licked, had a coffee mug placed on top, and even used to make salsa, of all in the name of comedy it during Thursday night episodes of The Late Show with David Letterman and The Colbert Report.
Letterman's nightly "Top Ten" installment was the top 10 questions to ask yourself before waiting in line for the iPad. The
Late Show host then pulled out an actual iPad, and attempted to demonstrate its ability to automatically rotate before he accidentally hit the lock button on the device and turned off its screen.
Letterman then slapped the iPad, banged it against the table, and shook the device in a humorous attempt to turn it back on. Unable to turn it back on, he even jokingly tried licking it, earning laughter and applause from the audience at the Ed Sullivan Theater.
"The radiation this thing gives off is incredible," he joked. "You're supposed to wear a lead apron when you operate it."
Later in the episode, the first guest, Sam Worthington, noted he doesn't know how to use an iPad, and then placed it under his coffee mug as a very expensive coaster.
The device also showed up on Comedy Central's
The Colbert Report, where comedian Stephen Colbert joked that he gave up a kidney to receive the device early. He also noted that the latest issue of
Newsweek featured the iPad on its cover, likened to an advertisement Apple didn't have to pay for. "Unlike," he noted," the Amazon Kindle on the back," pointing to an advertisement for Amazon's competing e-ink reader.
He noted that the iPad features the same touchscreen technology and runs the same applications as the iPhone. "And just like the iPhone, you can't make calls with it," Colbert said in an indirect jab at wireless carrier AT&T.
Like was the case with Letterman, the hardware didn't escape Colbert's hands without its share of abuse either, as the late night host used the device to create "salsa."
The self-centered satirical character even gave all of the members of his live studio audience a picture of himself holding the hardware as an April Fool's joke.
It wasn't Colbert's first experience with an iPad: Soon after the hardware was unveiled, he
pulled one out of his jacket while hosting the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.
The iPad has been making the rounds on TV this week, also showing up
in primetime, being the focal point of an episode of the ABC comedy
Modern Family. The character Phil Dunphy wanted Apple's new device for his birthday, and thanks to his son he got one. Dunphy then blew out virtual candles on the device.
