TVSquad

Last night, I did my usual flipping around the late-night landscape, doing what I usually do: checking to see which of the talk shows has the hottest guest in the skimpiest outfit. Last night was a bonanza, with the ever-so-squinty Renée Zellweger chatting with Dave and the oh-so-adorable Jenna Fischer gabbing with Jay.

Something struck me as curious when I watched Leno's talk with Fischer, though. When she mentioned how much she loves getting messages on her BlackBerry, calling the message light the "red light of love," Leno responded with a story about NBC giving him a BB "when I first started this job." Ever straining to be the "regular guy" of the late-night world (he told Fischer that his entire casual wardrobe consists of jean shirts and jeans), he said he'd open the vile device, disable it with a soldering iron and give it back, claiming it stopped working. NBC eventually stopped issuing him BlackBerries, fearing that his magnetic aura or something like that was shorting them out. Thus Jay was able to keep his proud Luddite street cred intact.

One problem... Jay started hosting The Tonight Show full-time in 1992. The first BlackBerry was introduced in 1999. Video of the chat is after the jump.



Now, I know what Jay was probably getting at; he was probably issued a pager or a brick-sized cell phone and decided to stay in the world of the unconnected. Since he's such a technophobe, he figured every device that beeps, vibrates, or rings is alike. So he decided to call whatever the device he was issued a BlackBerry, as if that was some sort of generic catch-all name.

Jeez. You know, Jay, it helps to be at least slightly tuned in to what's going on in the world, and that includes technology. You don't have to possess a BlackBerry or an iPhone, or even know how to work one. But at the very least, you should know what one does, no? Otherwise, it makes you look old and out-of-touch.