With the new Terminator Salvation movie hitting the theaters this week, now's as good a time as any to check in on SkyNet. No, we're not talking about the scary computer system that takes over earth and spews out Arnold Schwarzenegger robots in the Terminator films. We're talking about the real-life SkyNet, based just down the road from Denver.
That's right: SkyNet exists. It's a giant, flexible video billboard developed by Centennial-based ADTI Media Incorporated that seems pretty cool -- except for the fact that somebody decided to name it after one of the most frightening technologies in all of science fiction. Now, we don't consider ourselves marketing geniuses or anything, but that's not what we'd call good product positioning
What's worse, ADTI planned to show off SkyNet by strapping it to the side of the Colorado Convention Center last summer and turning it on -- during the Democratic National Convention. Yes, they wanted to run the gizmo they named after an Armageddon machine in the middle of the biggest event in Denver history. Of course, local bigwigs were all for it.
But then, not long after it was installed, and still a few weeks shy of the DNC, SkyNet was quietly taken down. It could've been that something had malfunctioned, or maybe someone realized that the fate of mankind might, just might, hang in the balance. We were never able to find out for sure, since when we called ADTI to inquire about it, the best a flummoxed company representative could manage was a nervous-sounding assertion that "SkyNet is great! SkyNet is awesome!"
Way to reassure us.
So what's the deal with SkyNet these days? Has its plug been yanked for good? Apparently not: According to ADTI's flashy website, SkyNet is still going strong, ready to broadcast video billboard ads all over the freakin' world.
Forgive us if we're not tripping over ourselves to place an order.
