Tribal Laptop

The Dani are nowadays no longer an isolated people, as they were when they were contacted in the late '50-ies. Wamena, in the middle of the Baliem valley, has an airport which serves many tourists nowadays.

My guess is that it is simply a posed picture for the ad campaign. The composition of the picture is too neat for it to be a spontaneous shot picture.

Oh: the dismebodied arm belongs to a child hidden behind the man in the center.

"My guess is that it is simply a posed picture for the ad campaign"---> for Sony....

It looks Photoshopped to me, there is no shadow under the laptop,above it seems to look a little blurred and something about the laptop itself doesn't look right (too sharp perhaps).

The fact that the laptop is seen straight-on with absolutely no perspective distortion is suspicious to me.

I thought it was photoshopped too, but if you look at the bigger version of the photo on Gizmondo, it's easier to see... looks real to me. And it's not like this is such a strange idea - there's all sorts of photos out there of people living in tribal villages posing with modern technology.

It looks like a pretty horrible photoshop to me. Even the large version looks odd, it just isn't sitting in his hands right.

I'm sure traveling journalists loan their gadgets to the people they encounter all the time, but this photoshop ain't an example of it.

The lighting on the laptop doesn't look the same as the lighting in the rest of the scene.
Otherwise, I'd say it's real. People pretty far back in the jungle now have laptops and cell phones (even if they still don't have plumbing or electric lights).
About a year ago, I talked to a man who had spent some years as a Peace Corps volunteer working with Dayaks (tribal people not too different from the New Guineans shown here) in a remote part of Borneo. He said that, although there is still no road going to that village, he frequently receives e-mail from the headman of the village, who has a laptop and wireless modem in his log-and-thatch longhouse.

if you zoom in , there seems to be smudging" and the laptop looks to "crisp" wit the rest of the picture.
Do yo mean "disembodied arm"?, because the hand(s) on the sitter's left shoulder are cupped on the boy's chin.

In stating National Geographic, I recall from my youth of looking at issue after issue, images of some "tribesman" peering through the photographer's camera lense . and elsewhere other pictures showing "the natural ""savage"" utilizing "modern gizmos/disposable goods,ect." for different purposes (vanity mostly).

Does it widen the rest of the "world's eyes" or make them go, "Aww, silly savages.haha"?

then again, it could be real.
what difference does it make?

LaMa: "posed picture for ad campaign"
That's interesting

oh, I meant to say "smudging around the laptoptop, and the computer, itself, is too clear with the rest"

so, Alim Boeanna may have taken the pic and somebody else added the laptop. Speak indonesian? ask him on his friendster page..and what was there to begin with?

The arm isn't disembodied, and the big guy isn't wearing a head dress. The "head dress" is really just the harriest kid in the village. You can clearly see he shaves his arm. He probably does not want bear arms. It's too contreversial.

Looks like an Obama family portrait...

The "photoshopped vs real" issue is interesting when the image, if real, is remarkable or unique. If the image could easily be real, who cares if it's photoshopped or not? It's not memorable either way.

CJB, here's a bandaid for your skinned knuckles... didn't Mom tell you not to drag them on the ground? When you take a family portrait, do you pull aside the face cover, or do you just leave the pointy white hoods the way they are? Bigot

Hey Hairy! Sorry for not being politically correct. If I offended, it hit home, but was meant as nothing more than a cheap dig... Believe me, I've been on this site since Alex started it (I believe my first comments were under the username huckabuck), and seen a lot worse commentary than some inane comment I posted... At least I use my real name on this site, as I have nothing to hide, as NO OFFENSE is EVER INTENDED!!! That's more than I can say for the idiots who make their comments, and hide behind some stupid username cause they don't wanna have anybody know who's posting their idiotic drivel. Every LIBERAL out there makes their uninformed comments about Bush or Mc Cain, and because THEY don't like the individual, they think it's OK... Well, I just joined the "party", but in a different light than what you stand under (obviously)... Lighten up!!! Get a life!!!

sorry, pal... Any life that includes bigotry is a life in the dark... Get a light

You holier than thou LIBERALS got a lot to learn about the definition of some of these words you throw around. You OBVIOUSLY have no idea what a bigot is!!! Just because you decided to redefine the word doesn't mean it's right... Like I said before (in a lighter tone), you LIBERALS throw your hateful opinions toward everybody else that doesn't fit your way of thinking, and then when somebody else makes a statement that doesn't agree with the way you'd say it, you want to execute 'em in the townsquare... No apology here, I already told you it was a lighthearted comment and nothing else... FYI, the black folks make WORSE comments about each other in EVERY form of their "entertainment", and you LIBERALS call it "breaking down the barriers" when another race listens to it, just so long as us white folks don't REPEAT anything we've heard them say, or we're a bigot and a racist. Well, you can kiss my lily white butt...

I don't like Christopher. Hope I speak for most people on this site.

Chris, if I was truly "liberal", I'd have a greater tolerance for your bias and generalizations... but I'm conservatively protecting the country I live in by speaking out against mindsets that divide us and keep us from realizing our true potential... I know you have some point here, Chris, but keep that hood on and nobody will notice

Ya know something Hairy? The more you persist this argument with YOUR inane drivel, the more you show your true colors. Anybody that reads your comment will notice that you take no shortage to making stupid commentary from everything to religion to politics... You ain't the TRUE LIBERAL you want us to believe you are by sticking up for a cause behind an assumed name, that you most likely don't even believe in... Give it a rest, and go back to slamming religion like you are so well known for...

Chris, have a nice Sunday, and be sure to remember to wet down the lawn before you burn your cross this afternoon... hate to see your "lily white ass" or your white robe singed

Alex comments "..were the exact same scene with Caucasian women.."

OR (I would say)

"the exact same scene with Caucasian men wearing 18" penis sheaths".

Um, Christopher? No one is taking your side of the argument. Are you aware of this?
Stop putting random words in caps, too. You sound like even more of a idiot. If that were indeed possible.

(Hairy your comebacks are damn awesome)

I'm curious, Chris... do you honestly define yourself and your culture by a color? What "white" person in the South can claim they have no non-European blood somewhere in their lineage? What "black" American can claim they have purely African blood? Who in America embraces a culture unaffected by other cultural sub-groups? You sound young; you don't have Sports, Entertainment, or Musical Personality Favorites that are of African descent? You can't define yourself as an American, but have to rely on skin color? Dude, this is 2008... We watch Kung-Fu movies, eat Chinese take out, work at Taco Bell, get there in our Subarus, listening to Snoop Dog, and hanging with our friend Jose... You're going to be quite busy screening out non-European influences, not considering that 90% of the crap that you touch everyday is made in China... see? I made an observation without making a racist comment about our Chinese brothers, or someone who considers themself to be some separate, and possibly superior sub-group of citizens... Honestly, Chris, that Obama crack of yours was out of line, you admitted it, so move on... I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, and grant that someone will overhear you making some stupid comment like that in public, and slash your tires, kick your trash cans, knock over your girlfriend, and insult your dog

I think its sad that their are people with such a lack of a life that they go on sites and have internet fights

I don't like Christopher either. Why would he make such an obviously racist comment and then tell everyone else to "lighten up"? Let's hope he doesn't come back.

Tim, how is it less sad to make an inane comment about an argument?

hey, now... no argument here... I didn't like Chris' Obama joke, and he didn't like being called a bigot... we agree that we disagree... no need to argue over that, right Chris? He's free to say whatever he likes, and I expect I'm free to make my own observations... I hope Brother Chris will consider my words, and I promise to consider his... that's only fair. Sorry to disappoint any fight fans, but I vote for a friction-free Museum floor, so we can all dance without getting burned

I think the photo is not real, because the smudges are showing, and the cigarette the small boy is smoking has the bad shadows. Also, I think this Chris is not too funny, and Hairy just needs to get the room with pads, right? I would be cranky too if I had a very small head and hair in the bad places, so don't get me there, okay? Rrrraoul

Aw, tired puppy.

This is the first time I've seen HH making serious comments. HH, you're the reason I bother to read the comments at MoH in the first place.

i dont understand. you post these things but is there, or isn't there an area of follow up finalizations and/or updates.am I not seeing something obvious? should i look around for "easter eggs"?

it makes me think that something should extend outward if this site is about readers doing the rest of the work.

I know attention spans on web sites and blogs are day-to-day change overs..but isn't there some way to keep up with the further strand of reality?

Simple thoughts on what possibilities may exist.

This photo is obviously fake. where's some distant tribe in nowhere land going to get a laptop!?!? Also the lighting differences are the other giveaway here.The lighting isn't even close to being correct.this is a very poor quality fake that I hope no one falls for.However,this would not surprise me if this was a somewhat racist and rather insulting advertisement for the sony vaio. I feel this is insulting because it makes ancient tribe rituals into advertisements

~Zhye Kyfr Chang P.S greetings from Moscow the weather is lovely!

I vote for Hairy Houdini.

HAHA that disembodied arm is totally coppin' (sp) a feel on that lady's boob...i dunno if anyone noticed that.

yeah the photo doesn't look real to me. it's too sharp, like people have stated before.

Is this for real...? I'm Freaked out.

It is photoshopped, there is no shadow and lightning does not fit.

Hello everybody, I'm Alim. the photographer that pic. i tell you everybody, that pic is real. nothing retouch with photoshop. i take that pic to much, not the only one.
i tell everybody, Mr. Yali (bring laptop) he is Cheif in village. he alredy come to Tokyo (Japan) two times, after last visit (japan foundation) give Mr. Yali Laptop & Blackberry for communication. Mr. Yali every week go to wamena (city in papua) for recharge Battrey (accu) for the electric laptot and blackberry.
if everybody any questions, please send to my email. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
thanks for comment.
regards, Alim Boeana

It is easily viewed that picture is photoshoped. But I like the post. Loved the caption already..funny!