Recorded with a Potato
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About
"Recorded With A Potato" is a phrase commonly found in YouTube comments criticizing the resolution of a video that appears heavily pixelated, blurry or otherwise corrupt. The phrase can be also used as a snowclone in which potato is replaced with another object that is ill-equipped for video recording, such as a toaster, calculator or microwave.
Origin
Though it is unclear exactly when or where the commenting fad began, one of the earliest mentions of the phrase appeared in the title of an instructional video about removing a PC’s limitations[1] uploaded to YouTube in April 2008.
It is likely that the title was retroactively edited to include the phrase after the fad took off, as a number of tags in the video’s description include popular video game and movie titles released in 2010. The earliest archived instance of the phrase appearing in YouTube comments was posted on a playthrough video[2] depicting a group of World of Warcraft players attempting to defeat the boss Illidan Stormrage.
Precursor
Episode 2 in the 5th series of the British comedy series "'Allo 'Allo!," aired on September 10th, 1988. This episode, entitled "The Camera in the Potato," featured a spy camera hidden in a potato.[16]
Spread
By September 2011, the phrase began to appear outside of YouTube in response to a video of Mortal Kombat 9 mods on the Test Your Might forums.[3] The next month, "Recorded with a potato" was referenced as a precursor to the phrase "recorded with a toaster"[4] in its Urban Dictionary definition.
In November and December 2011, the phrase was used in comments on the Break[5], Yahoo! Answers[6] and gossip blog Oh No They Didn’t.[7] Throughout 2012, the phrase continued to be used on video game-related message boards and forums including Dragon Nest[8], Call of Duty[9], Day Z[10] and Minecraft[11] as well as on GameFAQs.[12] In May 2012, a Facebook fan page titled "Recording With a High Quality Potato"[14] was created, but it has not been updated since its creation date. On August 16th, an entry for “recorded with a potato” was submitted to Urban Dictionary.[13] As of September 2013, there are more than 10,000 search results on YouTube for “recorded with a potato.”[15]
Notable Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] YouTube – Removing limitation on PC
[2] YouTube – KILL ILIDAN WITH DEATHTOUCH^^
[3] Test Your Might – Modding MK9? WTF lol
[4] Urban Dictionary – Definition for "Recorded with a toaster"
[5] Break (via Wayback Machine) – Was this recorded with a calculator?
[6] Yahoo! Answers – Why does everyone comment on the like/dislike bar on youtube so much now? (unavailable)
[7] ONTD – Looks like it was recorded with a potato.
[8] Dragon Nest Forums – Pure Ice Build gameplay warning! recorded with a potato (unavailable)
[9] Call of Duty MW3 Forums – AN EXPERIMENT I TRIED TO SEE JUST HOW CHEAP THE AKIMBO FMG9'S ARE.. (unavailable)
[10] Day Z Mod Forums – How to down Heli with a lee enfield :)
[11] Minecraft – MINECRAFT XBOX 360 GHAST GLITCH
[12] GameFAQs – Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure: Character Ratings Topic – Final Standings
[13] Urban Dictionary – recorded with a potato
[14] Facebook – Recording With a High Quality Potato
[15] YouTube – Search results for "recorded with a potato"
[16] Wikipedia – Camera in the Potato
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