April, 2010

technology — 6 Comments
28
Apr 10

Ode to the floppy disk

The Observatory’s flag is at half-mast today.

Our old friend, the floppy disk, has just received some highly upsetting news. On March 11, 2011, Sony will be pulling the plug once and for all.

It’s a sad ending for the little plasticky thing we once put on such a high pedestal.

The floppy was always on standby. It rode in our shirt pockets, adding nary an ounce. It had a playful sense of humor, hiding in places we could never find.

It packed twice as much into its muscular body as those flimsy 5.25-inch floppies ever did.

Yet still, there was always this undercurrent of disrespect.

We’d call it floppy, even though it wasn’t. We’d write on it. Messily. Then trash it because it didn’t look so good.

After years of companionship, we left it for that “other disk.” The Zip was a momentary pleasure, yet it blinded us.

Floppies were fruitful, multiplying like rabbits. They’d pay us back at the rate of $5/shoebox at garage sales and flea markets. Then one day, even the Salvation Army wouldn’t take them.

Farewell, dear friend. You deserved better than this. May you find the happiness on eBay that you were denied in that ratty case I kept next to my computer.

advertising — 7 Comments
26
Apr 10

In search of Nook’s elusive award

It’s always annoying when the truth gets in the way of a perfectly good marketing plan.

On Friday, I received an email hyping the “Award-Winning” Nook e-reader from Barnes & Noble. (Snippet above.) I couldn’t help but wonder what award the Nook has won. Since there were no clues in the email, I clicked through to the Nook page.

This is where I found the line to the right. It didn’t exactly clear things up. Is “best of the best” a quote from CES, or is the whole line a quote from CES?

As I would soon discover, the answer is: neither.

I found a CES 2010 wrap-up at Financial Times naming the big winners. Nook was noticeably absent. I visited the official CES 2010 site. Nook isn’t on the winners list, or even the nominees list. PC World highlighted the best of CES 2010, “from genuine 3D technology to slick new e-readers” — but those slick new e-readers didn’t include Nook.

This was starting to feel like the best hidden award in history. Still not ready to toss in the towel, I went back to where I started: the Nook home page. This time I clicked on Reviews. Silly me. It was there all along, right at the top of the list:

“Best of the Best” — 2010 Consumer Electronics Show

The quote is attributed to CES just as all the other quotes on the page are attributed to their respective magazines or sites. But this turns out to be beyond misleading, and just plain sleazy. Click on this quote and you get a snippet from the third-rate website G4. In their opinion, Nook was one of the “best of the best” from CES 2010. Apparently, they are the exclusive holders of this opinion — and it is clearly not an award.

But wait! There is one lone award on this page after all. Nook won “Best New Gadget of 2009″ at the TechCrunch Crunchies awards. Okay, not exactly a biggie. But technically enough to let them call Nook an “award-winning” device — and help foster the illusion that it’s also won big at the CES show.

A hearty shame-on-you to Barnes & Noble, its agency and anyone else who has a hand in this CES “best of the best” skullduggery. Nice work dragging our industry down a few more notches.

Meanwhile, if anyone out there has actually given the Nook an award, please identify yourself. Nook could use a little help.

technology — 4 Comments
22
Apr 10

Hunting for iPhone prototypes in the wild

My heart goes out to the Apple engineer who chose the wrong moment to have a memory lapse, and screwed up an Apple product launch like no one has ever done before. I’m sure it will be a birthday he remembers.

I do believe the story is exactly what it appears to be. A genuine mistake by a young guy who must be very, very, very sorry at this moment. I don’t buy the evil-Apple theories. (“This is an Apple plot to create more buzz!”) However, I do believe there’s another part to this story that isn’t getting any press.

This guy isn’t working alone. If Apple is testing the 4G iPhone outside of the lab, surely they’re not entrusting the whole operation to one 27-year-old, beer-drinking, Facebook enthusiast.

Trust me, the 4G iPhones are among us. In bars, restaurants, cafés and on the street. Who knows how many there are, but they’re out there — just waiting to be discovered. It’s not likely you’ll find one abandoned on a barstool (it never hurts to check), but if you look hard enough, you may hit pay dirt.

So be vigilant. You may well become the next person to spot a secret iPhone. Fame and fortune awaits. Here are some tips to help you snare the big one:

1. Look for an iPhone interface on a phone that looks way too blocky. That’s a clever disguise from those sneaky Apple engineers.

2. Look for the most nervous-looking phone user in the room. Does he/she seem to glance left, right and behind before using it?

3. Ingratiate yourself by buying the suspect a drink. Then say, “Hey, can I play with your iPhone?” If the person leaves quickly, follow in pursuit. You’ve got a live one.

4. Pretend you’re one of them. Stealthily sit next to the phone user, look subsersive and speak in hushed tones, “How’s your 4G doing? Mine’s working out great.” You may get an incriminating response.

5. Listen to other people’s conversations whenever possible. If you hear something like, “Wow, I’m really digging my new secret 4G iPhone prototype,” notify Gizmodo.com immediately. It’s payday.

Good luck, and happy hunting.

One last tip: if you haven’t yet had your fill of iPhone prototype silliness, Scoopertino has a different spin on it today.

(In case you’ve been in an isolation booth these past few days, here’s the story of the lost iPhone.)
strategy / technology — 3 Comments
19
Apr 10

Sony shoots its brand in the foot

I wouldn’t exactly call myself a Sony Vaio enthusiast. However, I do have a general sense of the Vaio brand. Right or wrong, my perception is that Vaio represents much of what’s good in the PC world — solid PCs with a sense of style.

This, of course, is the power of a brand. A good one gives even outsiders like myself a sense of its positives. That’s a very valuable thing.

But last week the Vaio brand was suddenly attacked — by none other than Sony itself.

The company has announced that it’s going to split the Vaio laptop line into Division One and Division Two. (Maybe Sony was that impressed with Microsoft’s Kin One and Kin Two?) Laptops from Division One will be designed and built by Sony. Laptops from Division Two will be designed and built by other manufacturers.

Say again?

Not to worry, says the deputy president of the Vaio business group. The design of those non-Sony Vaios will still be approved by Sony. Therefore, they will have “a taste of Vaio” and “the style of Vaio.” This structure will allow Sony to perfect its new technology in Division One, then pass the know-how over to Division Two.

As it was explained, this dual-division approach is more efficient than creating a new brand, and less of an investment. It is for the sake of the customer that Sony is “enhancing the identity of Vaio more and more.”

Ah, I get it. Sony will be enhancing the identity of Vaio by renting out the name to other manufacturers, and by putting the Vaio logo on machines they don’t even build. Clever.

Not that Sony has demonstrated tremendous branding brains in recent years, but this move seems to defy logic. If the company is that determined to create a tier of lower-cost Vaios, you’d think they’d have the resources to simply build it themselves.

It’s pretty basic: if Vaio represents Sony’s PC goodness, it can’t simultaneously represent a handful of other manufacturers as well. This is a move made by efficiency experts, not marketing experts.

strategy / technology — 8 Comments
16
Apr 10

Microsoft unveils Thing One and Thing Two

Microsoft President of Entertainment and Devices Robbie Bach, holding his new pride and joy

Actually, it’s Kin One and Kin Two. I had my heart set on a “next of kin” joke, but I came up empty.

No matter, Microsoft has been throwing out plenty of straight lines this week with the Kin intro. These two phones are aimed at “the social generation” — further defined as the 15-30s who are “social networking enthusiasts.”

As such, the world of Kin is not a very grown-up place. It’s built with parts of Zune and the possibly soon-to-come Windows Phone 7. These phones are designed especially for the young ’uns — you know, with all that cool stuff the kids like to do.

They offer “the Zune experience,” except for one glaring omission: apps. So there will be no game-playing around these parts. Flash? Uh-uh. Kins are simply designed to be the perfect tool for social networking. Except for one other glaring omission: instant messaging.

But then that’s understandable, because they only connect to the Internet every 15 minutes. That interval is unchangeable (though you can force a manual connection). Hey, what’s a 15-minute delay between friends.

Watching the video demo, the interface does have some interesting features for its intended audience. And both models have pretty good cameras (although no photo or video editing). You can upload to any site that Microsoft chooses to enable — which currently does not include Twitter. Well, who uses Twitter, really.

To me, the two Kins just feel like a misread of the market. They don’t seem to be all that good at the one thing they’re supposed to do. More important, I question the need for a “kiddie” phone in the first place. The social networking crowd has plenty of great smartphones to lust after already, all of which provide a ton more capability. A Kin may be enough for a 15-year-old, maybe. For the 30-year-old, no way.

One thing these models will offer is an excess of logos. They’ll come wearing the badges of Windows Phone, Sharp and either Verizon & Vodaphone. I’m not sure if they’re all trying to take credit — or just spreading out the blame.

advertising / creative — 17 Comments
14
Apr 10

MacBook Pro: at a loss for words

Under no circumstances take this as a criticism. This is a big, empathetic hug from a kindred spirit who knows the pain. Writing ain’t easy.

Imagine you’re the hungry writer at Apple who gets the job of introducing the new line of MacBook Pros. This is your moment. No more writing Snow Leopoard pages buried six links deep. You’re the guy who is going to introduce the laptops every pro has been lusting for. You couldn’t even sleep last night, being all giddy about today’s briefing. And now the meeting’s about to begin…

The Keynote presentation is Apple-flawless. The product manager takes you through all of MacBook Pro’s new features, one by one. The presentation is dramatically building to the “key message” — the magic thought that is to pervade all marketing materials for the updated product line. It’s not just any thought. It’s been blessed by Steve himself. It will be your guiding light as you write your little heart out.

You lean forward in your chair as the last feature slide begins an impressive origami transition, and finally the key message reveals itself: It’s the fastest MacBook Pro ever.

Everyone else in the room seems to be eagerly taking notes. But you’re the one who has to write the damn web pages. So you get up your nerve to look this gift horse in the mouth and ask,”Excuse me, but is that it? It’s faster?”

“Exactly,” says the product manager.

You suddenly feel some other person inside your own body, someone who’s a lot feistier than you, and that person grabs your microphone.

“Wait a second,” you hear yourself say, “isn’t that the same message we used when we introduced the previous new MacBook family? And the one before that? And the last five generations of iMac? And every generation of Mac Pro???”

“Sure is,” says the product manager, with a forced smile, “but you’re the writer — have some fun with it.”

The fact is, there’s nothing tougher than having to go to the well, time after time after time, to come up with a new way to say the same old thing. And in the technology world, just about every product refresh is the same old thing. More, better, faster. This time around, we get The fastest, most powerful MacBook Pro ever. Times three. Uh huh. Like there’s any surprise that the new MacBook Pros are faster than the old MacBook Pros. Or some precarious thrill to the fact that three MacBook Pros are being replaced by the same three MacBook Pros.

They should make one of those Budweiser radio commercials about a new “American Hero” — the writer who must somehow turn a completely unsurprising product positioning into a headline that will stop you in your tracks. It takes guts, stamina, and the ability to trash your own work repeatedly until you come up with something you might actually be proud of.

I’ve thought long and hard about getting a new MacBook Pro this year, but I think I’m going to pass. I’m crossing my fingers that next year’s models will be even faster.

advertising / technology — 14 Comments
12
Apr 10

Searching for meaning in iPad

What could possibly follow an entire week of iPad-related posts — but yet another. Bear with me please. Just one more.

Now that I’ve had a week to chat it up with fellow iPad owners, probe those who have resisted temptation and those who are so far temptation-free, one reaction to iPad stands above the rest to me: an awful lot of people just don’t have a clue how they’d use it.

This is stirring an ancient memory.

Back in Apple’s earliest days, when they were promoting the steam-powered Apple II, the company had a similar problem. While that newfangled personal computer thing was intriguing, people simply didn’t understand how it fit into their lives. So Apple ran an insert in major magazines with the headline “Will someone please tell me what a personal computer can do?” (or something close). Inside, it listed 100 uses that would blow your mind — like writing a letter, storing recipes, shooting aliens, wild things like that.

Obviously this is a very different time, and people are infinitely more sophisticated about technology. They don’t need an education about the kinds of things they can do with an iPad. But iPad does shake up the time and space factor. Many can’t quite tell how it fits into their lives. In effect, they’re asking “Will someone please tell me when, where and why I’d use an iPad?”

This is a perfectly human reaction. It’s positive in the sense that it confirms how new iPad really is. That lost feeling can’t help but fade as more imaginative apps appear, and as real people (not reviewers) begin to share their personal experiences.

My only concern: a campaign that only features people sitting on a couch doesn’t answer too many questions. I hope the message gets richer.

advertising / creative / strategy — 2 Comments
9
Apr 10

No campaign lives forever

There’s a sad story circulating about Apple’s Mac vs. PC campaign. In an interview, Justin I’m-a-Mac Long says he “thinks they might be done.”

Who knows how true that is. But just in case, let’s pause for a moment of appreciation. Apple has had some amazing single advertising moments, but as a complete campaign, this is the granddaddy of them all. It started in 2006 and Apple/Chiat has been churning them out ever since. The list of Mac vs. PC spots on Wikipedia was so long, I didn’t want to hurt myself counting.

Obviously it wasn’t about quantity. This campaign succeeded on multiple levels. In the past, Apple had often searched for the right way to slam Windows (anyone remember “the hard way vs. the easy way”?), but traction was tough to come by.

Mac and PC had exactly the right personalities. Although the deeply anti-Mac crowd sees Apple arrogance in every message, the characters were charmingly human. This campaign has allowed Apple to pummel their competition brutally, but do it with the sweetest smile.

It has also been supremely effective. It made the differences between Mac and PC part of our public conversation. That was the modest goal at the start, and it succeeded beyond Apple’s dreams.

Few campaigns can last four years without going terribly wrong, becoming completely irrelevant or just losing the public’s interest. Mac vs. PC remained fresh. When a new commercial comes out, it still gets talked about.

Readers of this blog know that I have criticized the iPhone campaign for its three-year run. Yet I’m sitting here lavishing love on a campaign that’s run even longer. What’s with that? Easy to explain. First, I’m a bad person. Second, this has to do with a campaign’s depth, not its longevity.

Mac vs. PC has continuously evolved in interesting ways — every commercial makes a different point. There’s tension. Costumes change, we see new props, guest characters, etc. Even with your TV muted, you can tell you’re seeing a new spot. The campaign also thrives in the digital world. The Mac vs. PC web banners are far more entertaining than the pages they live on, always finding ways to surprise us.

Contrast that with the iPhone commercials, which basically use the same template every time out. They’re pleasant, informative, very Apple — and they deserve to die.

That’s because “good enough” has never, ever been good enough for Apple. The company has no problem killing off a successful product to replace it with something better. That’s been its attitude about advertising as well.

The iPhone campaign totally works. Sales are through the roof. But there is a huge difference between “it works” and “holy cow.” Apple has never believed in coasting with its ads, it has always evolved in unexpected ways. It’s part of their DNA.

iPhone ads just don’t distinguish themselves anymore. It’s become difficult to tell one from the next. Considering the huge role iPhone has in Apple’s future plans, and the narrowing gap between iPhone and its competitors, it’s actually surprising that iPhone advertising remains so formulaic.

So a tip of the hat to Mac vs. PC and its creators at Chiat/Day. If the campaign really is soon to end, I hope they have one hell of a send-off party. Maybe this will give them added incentive to start casting for the “I’m an iPhone, I’m a Droid” campaign.

advertising / creative — 3 Comments
9
Apr 10

iPad ads revisited

I’m suffering a bit of blogger’s remorse about my comments yesterday re: the iPad marketing campaign.

I was initially reacting to a single ad I had seen (New York Times), and I probably shouldn’t have been so quick to react. One song in isolation is hardly enough evidence to judge an entire album.

Now that I’ve seen the ads going up around town, and I’ve revisited the TV commercial, I think that visions of iPad will indeed be dancing in more people’s heads. That, combined with the intense buzz that’s already out there, will drive more and more people to the Apple Store to see iPad for themselves. What Apple is doing is what it often does: they are visually making the product the absolute star of the ad, to make it as clear as possible how it works and what it will look like in your life.

The TV ad, although way too fast for many, adds an interesting effect when taken in context of all the print ads and posters. You can examine an individual screen in print, get a sense of the quantity of screens in the TV.

A wise man in advertising once taught me that if you’re going to reject someone’s work, it must be because it’s terrible — not because it isn’t what you would have done.

So I won’t quibble about certain elements of this campaign. I will only continue to wish there were more Apple cleverness in these ads. If ever there were a campaign that should make you smile, this is it — because that’s exactly what iPad makes you do.

advertising / strategy — 6 Comments
8
Apr 10

The under-hyping of iPad

iPad ad in Wednesday's NY Times (excuse the bleed-through from the page behind)

Many of our fellow humans were underwhelmed after the iPad launch in January. Overall, they thought it was just too over-hyped.

Personally, I thought iPad was a very big deal. My only lament was that the launch event didn’t feel like a very big deal. It just didn’t seem like we’d witnessed a major moment in history. This isn’t a technology thing, it’s a marketing thing.

Not the end of the world, I figured. Surely things would change once the advertising kicks in. Being one of the most important launches in the history of Apple, something very special must be just around the corner.

Instead, it seems like the over-hype is being followed by under-hype.

The commercial that ran on the Academy Awards was a variant of the iPhone ads we’ve been seeing for three years. And in yesterday’s NY Times, Apple ran a full-page ad for iPad: just one word over the image of someone using iPad to view a photo collection.

If there’s a revolution in here, it’s pretty well hidden.

Looking at this ad, I wondered where the other half was. Maybe there was supposed to be an opposite page, a grid of six iPads featuring one seductive app after another. Or maybe the headline fell off. That one witty Apple line that makes us smile as it captures the importance of the moment. Hell, where’s the word “magic” when we need it?

It strikes me as odd, because iPad already does amazing things, and it will only become more amazing with the inevitable flood of imaginative apps to come. It’s a story of almost unbelievable magnitude — being doled out by the spoonful.

Obviously, there is boldness in buying a large space and keeping it so minimalist. I’m a huge fan of elegance and clarity. I just want to see people raising their eyebrows, ripping out the page and tweeting “cool Apple ad!”

I’ll cross my fingers that this is the first of 20 such ads, and equivalent billboards will be springing up everywhere. But a lot of people (like yesterday’s NY Times readers) only see what’s in front of them. And I’m pretty sure this story is a bit bigger than a photo gallery.

[Update 4.8.10 5:50pm EDT] Okay, more iPad ad sightings are now coming in. Here we have posters for Mail, iBooks and Safari. I’m assuming many different apps will be featured in many locations, which will make the launch feel more like an event. The no-copy approach works well in posters — but I do miss the Apple wit.


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