Posts Tagged: ipad

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.

Bookmark and Share
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.

Bookmark and Share
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.


Bookmark and Share
Technology — 9 Comments
6
Apr 10

iPad hits the road

The timing was perfect. After spending a day with iPad, I found myself taking a 36-hour trip out of town — so it was sink or swim for the little fella. I was determined to put my iPad through the paces in airports, planes, hotels and bars.

No incidents at security, though the guard did demand that I turn it on just so she could play with it.

No incidents at any of my other stops, aside from the fact that everyone wanted to get their greasy fingertips on it.

Not unexpectedly, everything worked as advertised. On the plane, I listened to music, watched a movie and did some reading. Perfect. I roamed the Internet and did my email pretty much everywhere. Sweet. If I had to sum it up, I’d say that iPad is one of those rare bits of technology that just makes you smile. So many things are right about it.

A few things I should highlight. First, typing on iPad is more than usable. It’s actually pretty good. I never warmed up to typing on iPhone, but doing email on iPad is a surprisingly happy experience.

Interestingly, the thing that felt most like the future of computing to me was our old friend, Safari. I never really thought about how much I had to mouse around a web page to navigate before — until I no longer had to do it. Directly tapping links with my finger was so natural, and so fast, by the time I got home iPad had become my favorite way to browse. The fact that I can do it anywhere is icing on the cake.

Last, I think the disappearing OS is one of Apple’s greatest accomplishments here. With iPad, you just do what you want to do. No OS to mess with, no file hierarchies to navigate. Why should an app even be able to see files it can’t open? iPad truly is the computer for the rest of us, and in time will probably become the computer for most of us.

Obviously, iPad is not the device to use for serious creating. But only a fraction of we earthlings create content, and only a fraction of the content creators do their creating on the road. Given my experience on this trip, I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to recommend iPad to anyone as a mobile computer or, depending on your needs, even a laptop replacement. You barely notice it in your briefcase, the battery seems to last forever and it does all of its jobs beautifully.

Of course when I returned home I once again had to confront iPad’s horrendous flaw — the total disdain for privacy I mentioned in my previous post. I had to delete my email account, though I was able to keep my Address Book, Calendars and Bookmarks. I know it’s not Apple’s normal policy to acknowledge such deficiencies, but in this case I wish they’d just fess up and give us the plan. I’d cross my fingers for this week’s iPhone OS 4.0 event, though it’s hard to believe they’d schedule a fix one week after the product’s release.

But let’s not let one flaw rain on our parade. No doubt there will be many improvements to come, privacy included. As it stands, iPad is incredibly fun and incredibly useful. If you have a family, you may need more than one.

Bookmark and Share
Technology — 10 Comments
5
Apr 10

iPad finally comes home

Saturday morning, a very jolly UPS driver pulled up to my house. He said he felt like Santa Claus, because his entire truck was literally filled with goodies. Delivering iPads was his only mission for the day.

My mission, of course, was to suppress my giddiness and experience iPad like any new customer. Here’s how it went.

The packaging was beautifully simple, though not nearly as jewel-like as iPhone. I was pleased to find that my iPad came with a full tank of Chinese electricity. When I powered it up, my heart sank as I saw a series of horrible scratches on the screen. False alarm. They weren’t scratches, they were part of the home screen photograph Apple had chosen for me. Don’t scare me like that, Apple.

From the moment I turned it on though, one thing was clear: it’s every bit as fast as the reviewers have been saying, especially in the screen orientation department. I found myself wishing iPhone would take a few lessons from iPad.

It took only minutes for iPad to melt my heart. It takes no effort to see the mega-potential in this device. There isn’t a single medium iPad doesn’t handle well. I do, however, have one complaint. And it’s a biggie.

Following the launch, I had wondered how iPad would handle “user switching” in Mail. The answer is: it doesn’t. This will be highly disturbing to the many who loved the idea of a “family iPad” that would be used all over the house.

You can have multiple email accounts, but there’s no switching. All accounts are seen by everyone. To make it worse, you can only sync one set of Contacts, Calendars and Bookmarks. So it will work fine for one person, but everyone else will have to write emails without the convenience/necessity of an Address Book.

Obviously, iPad needs its own approach to privacy. Its music, movies and photos are meant to be shared by everyone, and you’d set it up with that in mind. But email is a different animal. It’s too personal. Little Suzie’s best friend shouldn’t be reading mommy’s email. No doubt there is a technical reason why there’s no email privacy in iPad right now. But this needs to be fixed asap. It will be a deal-breaker for some.

Zooming back up though, I’m extremely happy that my UPS man showed up and I’m sure the other boys and girls on his list are pretty darned happy too. iPad is lighting the way to a very interesting future vision of computing, and I’m already anxious to get there.

Bookmark and Share
Strategy / Technology — 7 Comments
16
Feb 10

Ain’t so easy this time

This one may take a little work

Some people look at iPad and see the future. Others radiate less happy thoughts, ranging from “ho hum” to “major dud.”

Gee. Whatever happened to that air of inevitability, that “instant hit” thing that came along with iPod and iPhone?

Personally, I believe iPad will shake things up in a hundred different ways. But even those who agree with me can’t escape the feeling that something is different this time around. That avalanche of positive vibes didn’t quite materialize.

Two reasons for this:

For starters, iPad isn’t here yet. It’s a bit hard to judge this kind of technology by analyzing specs. Multiple multitouches are required.

Far more important: market conditions for iPad are strikingly different from those encountered by iPod and iPhone.

iPod actually sneaked in the back door. Music players were becoming popular, but the category was leaderless and uninspired. Apple swooped in with its irresistible combination of fun, cool and easy.

iPhone’s entrance was the antithesis of this. Thanks to iPod’s success, iPhone was hotly anticipated. This time the category was filled with heavyweights — but the natives were restless and anxious for something better. The competition awaited Apple’s entrance, then started copying their little hearts out. Droid, Storm, Pre, none of them would exist were it not for iPhone.

iPad faces entirely different circumstances. It was also hotly anticipated, but given the success of iPhone’s touch technology and the App Store, it wasn’t too hard to figure out where Apple was headed. A legion of competitors has met iPad with new ideas for netbooks, tablets and hybrids. The fact that some are in concept form is made less pitiful by the fact that iPad isn’t a real product yet either.

Google's take: looks cool, but still vaporous

HP has a neat idea, Google is previewing tablet concepts, the JooJoo tablet is making some waves, and Microsoft continues to taunt us with its Courier tablet.

Apple’s competitors are not uninspired — they’re duly inspired by Apple’s previous successes and motivated never to let such a nasty thing happen again. Though the odds are that it will — simply because Apple continues to enjoy its multi-part unfair advantage:

• Great design/superior software
• The world’s undying attention
• Far better marketing
• 150,000 apps
• A sea of developers chomping at the bit to get in on iPad’s ground floor

Looking forward to all of this becoming less theoretical in the coming months…

Bookmark and Share
Naming / Strategy — 48 Comments
5
Feb 10

iPad: a long time coming (or not)

What did Apple know, and when did it know it?

Ever wonder exactly how far ahead Apple sees into the future? Some have suggested that iPad was in development for years.

You may be tempted to file this under “Things We’ll Never Know.” But in the case of iPad, the answer may not be too hard to divine.

Stand back and let me interrogate the witness on this one:

Q. Good morning. Would you be so kind as to identify the name of iPhone’s operating system when it was launched in 2007.
 A. Yes, that would be OS X.

Q. And explain to the court why you chose that name.
 A. It was to distinguish iPhone from Mac. It was OS X vs. Mac OS X.

Q. I see. And where were you on the evening of March 27, 2008?
 A. I don’t remember.

Q. Allow me to refresh your memory. That was the date Apple released the iPhone Developer’s Kit — and changed the name of iPhone’s operating system from OS X to iPhone OS.
 A. Oh, right. I remember that now.

Q. Uh huh. And when you chose the name iPhone OS, were you aware that Apple was already working on a revolutionary new kind of computer, a tablet that would be based on the same operating system?
 A. I, uh, don’t recall.

Q. You’re under oath, sir.
A. Okay, okay. I remember now. Yes, I was aware of that.

Q. And did you not consider the absurdity of putting something called iPhone OS into a revolutionary product that was not a phone?
 A. Uh… yeah, that did kind of strike me, yes.

Q. Why on earth then, sir, would you not choose a name that would allow just a little flexibility in the future… OS X Mobile, perhaps?
 A.

Q. Hello?
A. Uh … I’ll take the Fifth.

Q. No further questions, Your Honor.

My point is, Apple has always demonstrated tremendous common sense. It’s just hard to believe they’d choose the name iPhone OS if iPad was already on the drawing board. My inner Sherlock tells me iPad wasn’t even a twinkle in Apple’s eye until well after March, 2008. That’s still plenty of time to make one hell of a device — but not nearly as much time as some have suggested.

Bookmark and Share
Strategy — 7 Comments
3
Feb 10

Apple says the magic word

Today’s topic is marketing, not technology. But it’s still about iPad, so you may credit me with dragging this topic out for yet another day.

One of the neat things about Apple is that they put as much thought into their words as they do into their inventions. They come up with key words, normally clear and clever, and use them consistently in all communications. If you’re a marketing afficionado, it is a thing of beauty to see Steve’s topline message played back almost verbatim by the world press.

However, this isn’t to say Apple always gets it right. In fact the copywriter in me winced more than once on iPad launch day.

It started when Steve introduced iPad by using the word magic. It was a little too self-admiring, the kind of word that works better when someone else says it about you, instead of you saying it yourself. And it turned out that the magic was just beginning. The M-word was again invoked by Jony Ive on the iPad video. It now appears front and center on apple.com. It also leads off the official iPad press release. Clearly, magic is high up on the official list of iPad words.

Problem is, magic loses its magic when the magicness is unrelenting. Even more important, you can’t expect the magic word to work if what you’re about to share is anything less than 100% certifiably magic. I do believe iPad will change the world, but the technology and the content revealed on launch day just felt too familiar to many.

The iPad video didn’t help create much magic either. Unfortunately, these videos are starting to feel more like an item on a checklist than a creative element. In videos past, we’ve seen interesting celebrities reacting to the product, or some departure from the ordinary. Here, it seemed to be a bit of video-by-numbers, just the usual suspects cultishly gushing over iPad, calling it beautiful, amazing, breakthrough, phenomenal, etc.

Speaking of superlatives, Neil Curtis has put together a hilarious video that reduces the iPad launch event to its essence. If you haven’t seen it, you must click below. Watching this reminds me of a critique I received long ago for an ad I’d just written. Clearly pained, my boss said “I wish I had a nickel for every adjective you crammed in here.” (I’ve gotten better, I swear.) Methinks Apple could use a visit from the Adjective Police.

Bookmark and Share
Strategy / Technology — 12 Comments
1
Feb 10

iPad: joining the revolution-in-progress

We now return to the revolution — already in progress

Now that I’ve done the research, I’ve narrowed it down to two possibilities. Apple has either (a) created another technology masterpiece, or (b) suffered its most humiliating failure.

The sad fact is, months of over-hype force an instant response. Not enough “new” = disappointment. Attack on the mother ship = knee-jerk defense.

Now that we’ve had a chance to sleep it off, I think we should look at the forest, not the tree. iPad isn’t a revolution in itself — it’s actually Part III of a revolution that started seven years ago. Some of its most important features came well before the hype began.

Apple started down this path with iPod. That’s when the company demonstrated its ability to combine software genius and gorgeous design — and immediately grabbed a 70% market share. iPod was technology you could fall in love with, small enough to fit in your pocket. At the start, it was all about music. Then it matured with photos, movies, podcasts, radio and TV shows.

iPhone was Part II of the revolution. Adding phone and Internet to iPod’s capabilities, the pocket device was now a full-fledged computer. It just didn’t feel like one. The spectacular advance was the multitouch screen, which gave us a whole new way to interact. Competing against a legion of high-powered villains, iPhone was an instant success — because its technology matched up so well with human behavior. Then came the App Store, which gave iPhone and iPod an advantage of monolithic proportions.

At this point, all the pieces were in place: advanced OS, multitouch screen, intuitive interface, Internet, email, music, movies and 140,000 apps. No need to think about file systems, viruses, all those ancient concerns — you could just do what you want to do. For a great many people, iPod/iPhone had become all the computer they really need, except for one thing. It was all in miniature. Cue Part III of the revolution. iPad is the life-size version of the technology that the world’s already fallen in love with. And I suspect it’s a device whose potential may be seriously underestimated.

“Where are the new killer features?” iPod and iPhone have already laid the groundwork for iPad, so yes, parts of it feel familiar. This is both a strength and a weakness. The theory is that the features people already know and love are far more scintillating in the new iPad format. Hard to say until the product ships. One thing we do know: with a bigger screen, more powerful processor and even more responsive multitouch, iPad developers will be having the time of their lives.

“It’s just an oversized iPod touch.” Well, yeah. And that’s the reason iPad has the potential to change everything. iPod touch and iPhone offer a tiny window (literally) into a potentially world-changing way of computing. iPad is built on the same foundation — but blows away the limitations.

“No multitasking? What a joke.” Maybe yes, maybe no. Apple is creating a less complicated, more interactive world. They’re handing us a beautiful screen on which we can easily communicate, watch, listen, share, browse and create. Obviously iPad will continue to evolve. I expect multitasking will appear to some degree soon — and naturally we’ll see bigger screens and faster processors. There’s also that “little” matter of the global revolution in magazines and newspapers we were expecting.

Oh, and don’t go thinking that Part III is the revolution’s finale. By the time it’s over, we’ll be well conditioned for Part IV — at which time the whole idea of laptops and desktops may start to change.

If you’re interested, Andy Ihnatko had a good, level-headed review in the Chicago Sun-Times following his personal interaction with iPad at the launch event.

Bookmark and Share
Naming / Strategy / Technology — 29 Comments
28
Jan 10

iPad: the day after

First the Jesus phone, now this?

Some stream-of-consciousness thoughts about yesterday’s launch of iPad:

Understatement of the day. CNN included this statement in their pre-event coverage: Apple CEO Steve Jobs is said to have taken an active role in the development of the company’s rumored tablet device.

The name iPad. It had been growing on me prior to launch. Back-rationalizing aside (or is that back-pedaling?), there’s a lot of logic to it. My idealized version of Apple just isn’t quite so logical. The good news is: the name is short, heavily branded and looks damn good on the device. Remember, names are only scrutinized at the beginning. After that, they’re just names. (Google? Get out.) And yes, this does give our little friend i a new lease on life.

Home-grown processor. A double big deal. Those who played with iPad after the show reported that it’s wicked fast. Even better, Apple makes the A4 processor themselves. That’s a ton cheaper than buying it from Intel, and clearly the main reason it’s as affordable as it is. Good name, too. I can just imagine the conversation. “It’s Apple’s first processor, so let’s call it A1.” “Nah, doesn’t sound very advanced. A4 is three generations faster.”

Leaks hurt. When product details leaked in advance of past Macworld shows, the event never seemed quite as exciting. Yesterday felt a bit like that — because so much about iPad had been rumored or predicted with fair accuracy. iPhone looked nothing like the rumors had it.

Professional jealousy. I know from experience that all this fanfare and anticipation often grates on other technology companies. “5% of the market share, 95% of the PR,” they moan. Hey, nothing’s stopping Dell from holding a major press event to announce their newest Inspiron.

User switching. iPad feels like the perfect device to keep on the coffee table for the whole family to use. So how does email work when you pass the device to another user? Log off/log on? Fast user switching? Just curious.

Category overload. Steve took special care to present iPad as a third category of product, positioned between iPhone and MacBook. He even concluded the show by asking “do we have what it takes to establish a third category of products?” I get that. Not to be a stickler, but Steve did introduce iPhone three years ago as Apple’s third category of products. Those are the product tabs currently on apple.com (Mac, iPod, iPhone). So how many categories of product does Apple now sell? Three or four? Will the tabs on the website change, or does iPad join forces with iPhone? (Even though it is actually more similar to iPod touch.)

Multitasking. Missing in action. Big problem. Especially when even Droid is out there multitasking its little heart out. iPad runs zillions of apps — but only one at a time. Fix, please.

No camera. Big problem #2. How can you have offer such a natural, trend-setting, socially-minded device without the ability to video chat? Probably some physical reason why, but Apple has bent the laws of physics before.

Where’s iLife ’10? Okay, so I was wrong about this prediction. But now that I am humbled, I do remember how Mac OS X was once delayed for six months because Apple’s software resources were focused on developing iPhone. We have to remember that Apple isn’t Microsoft. (Like that’s tough to remember.) They don’t have thousands of programmers. When they have a major challenge, it’s all-hands-on-deck time. Maybe we’ll get a new iLife by spring? I will continue to predict until I get it right.

Apple logo. Is that big Apple logo on the back facing the right way? It’s correct in portrait position, but it’s sideways in landscape position. The images on apple.com seem to be a 50-50 mix of vertical and horizontal orientation, so there is no right or wrong here. I think it’s time for the world’s first accelerometer-based swiveling logo.

Questionable icon. My eyes, my eyes. What’s with the iBooks icon? Click the right arrow on the iPad Gallery page to see the icon lineup. They’re all colorful and beautifully designed — until you get to iBooks. It’s Zune brown, and feels a few decades behind. Can we send that one back?

Overall: iPad has a lot to love, but nirvana is still up the road apiece. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing — Apple’s starting point is light years beyond the other guys’ ending point.

Bookmark and Share
← Older Entries