iPad is Magical

[chucks]

Anyone else think that describing anything as magical is pretty messed up? 'Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device . . .'

[gsilbers]

Originally Posted by chucks

Anyone else think that describing anything as magical is pretty messed up? 'Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device . . .'

its called marketing...

and yes im an ass

[antichef]

Are they going to release an iTampon? That would be even more magical

[MattiMattMatt]

Originally Posted by chucks

Anyone else think that describing anything as magical is pretty messed up? 'Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device . . .'

completely agree. Not only that, the phrase has too many words. "magical and revolutionary"... it almost sounds like a parody.

[99zulu]

Apparently USB wasn't magical enough for them to include it.

[thenoodle]

I think they also said Logic was the "talk of Namm" or something. Guess I missed that aisle.

[SeanBlack]

Originally Posted by antichef

Are they going to release an iTampon? That would be even more magical

YouTube - MADTV-IPAD

[pdiddy boy]

Originally Posted by SeanBlack

YouTube - MADTV-IPAD

It's ...magical ! LOL

[kreeper_6]

The Apple folk are going nuts over this thing.

[aeonsound]

to be fair, if you took one back to the 1600s you'd probably find yourself tied to a pointy stick fairly quickly

[lowkey]

i mean, c'mon, its not like audio equipment or musical instruments have ever been marketed as having a magical sound, or other such superlatives

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by chucks

Anyone else think that describing anything as magical is pretty messed up? 'Our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device . . .'

Was that Apple themselves? If so they seem to be devolving into the sycophantic, drooling tech writer fanboyz who flood the blogs with such hyperbolism. Honestly, I thought Apple was cooler than that.

Originally Posted by thenoodle

I think they also said Logic was the "talk of Namm" or something. Guess I missed that aisle.

This was some heavy ninja marketing. By not displaying at NAMM, Apple created a vacuum -- and you know how nature abhors vacuums, eh? So all the hype and and adulation that tech writers would have heaped on whatever Apple did at NAMM had to go somewhere...

Originally Posted by aeonsound

to be fair, if you took one back to the 1600s you'd probably find yourself tied to a pointy stick fairly quickly

This is the core of it. Magical thinking is born when the innate human drive to integrate knowledge confronts a situation or concept for which the beholder has inadequate skills of comprehension.

IOW, it's how most people approach almost everything in their lives.

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by kreeper_6

The Apple folk are going nuts over this thing.

It's Pavlovian.

A carefully orchestrated ritual. The rumors. The coy denials. The build-up. More rumors. More coy denials. Lots of little hints. Less denials. Waves of print hype. And, finally, Steve steps out on the dais... How can you blame the faithful for salivating? It's been carefully programmed into them by some of the very best marketers and publicists working today.


Of course, as a darksider, I feel the same way every time Steve Ballmer hauls his fat backside up onto a stage to act out some moronic skit or otherwise act like a buffoon.

[See... it's actually good that the guys who run MS aren't cool. Since it allows us darksiders to avoid being hypnotized by the marketing mavens. Think how bad things would be if we'd all rushed out to buy Vista like good little lemmings. Seriously. We didn't. And we didn't in droves. And MS finally got at least part of the message and came out with what by most accounts is a greatly improved major overhaul.]

[stag]

IPad? That’s So 2002, Fujitsu Says - NYTimes.com

At least this runs a proper OS.

Magical? Does that mean underpowered and dated?fuuck

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by stag

IPad? That’s So 2002, Fujitsu Says - NYTimes.com

At least this runs a proper OS.

Magical? Does that mean underpowered and dated?fuuck

Of course, Fujitsu's application was initially thwarted, too. If they had been granted the registration, I think they might have had a pretty bang-up case against Apple (although see the next paragraph, where I undercut that thinking). I actually remember the people who have the iPad TM that hung up Fujitsu's app, since I lived in Seal Beach in the 80s, when I started doing computer dev, and was curious about Magtek, whose Old Town offices I often walked past.

As it is, Fujitsu looks like it might still have a pretty good case, since their app predates Apple's and the device has a lot of overlap (as pointed out) -- but the fact that it's a narrow-market non-consumer product may give the TM office the fig leaf I'm sure they are desperate for (because no one wants to be seen as going up against Apple for a myriad of reasons -- not the least of which is the well-connected and quite verbal fanbase).

[Bob800]

I threw up littlebit in my mouth when Steve said "magical".

[barbital]

It's versatility is magical.

It would be even MORE magical if it had fine pressure sensing to measure how hard one's fingers touch or press against the screen.

Ben

[Brainchild]

We are in a totally magical time! Between the revolutionary game-changing ipad and the revolutionary game-changing avatar, we Will Never Be the Same Again brand people.

[Timur Born]

Originally Posted by theblue1

See... it's actually good that the guys who run MS aren't cool. Since it allows us darksiders to avoid being hypnotized by the marketing mavens. Think how bad things would be if we'd all rushed out to buy Vista like good little lemmings. Seriously. We didn't. And we didn't in droves. And MS finally got at least part of the message and came out with what by most accounts is a greatly improved major overhaul.]

Unfortunately you fell for just the hypnotizing marketing bla that you thought to have avoided.

[TAFKAT]

Originally Posted by theblue1

Was that Apple themselves? If so they seem to be devolving into the sycophantic, drooling tech writer fanboyz who flood the blogs with such hyperbolism. Honestly, I thought Apple was cooler than that.

" Hmmm, I wonder if they are buying the magical line..., I hope the kool-aide has kicked in.."

Live from the Apple 'latest creation' event

[BassSaxMan]

That marketing line is so insulting to users, as well as absurd. They really think we are idiots, if we think that thing is so advanced it must be magic.

Go watch the iPad promo video on the front page of apple.com and just think "spinal tap" for that opening sequence with Ive. The rest is just frightening.

[RasCricket]

Oh, forget it....

[big country]

thing is its kinda of ass monkey stats to dis something new

this company is trying and there stuff aint bad , there was a time when gay was
a word used for happy, gay to me is round peg square hole

I guess words change or evolve with technology

if you have ever invented something and your the first one there is a sense of magic

no harm no foul in new gadgets . it is gear so be at piece

[Dean Roddey]

From what was reading on our support forums, it's not even able to multi-task, not even passively. So you can't have more than one program open at a time? That's maybe reasonable on a phone with a tiny screen, but not on something that would be put forward as any kind of useful productivity product. I mean having to close your e-mail client in order to go look at another file and be sure you are sending the right numbers/info, then remembering the numbers and going back to your e-mail client... That's not even so 90s. That's so early 80s.

[big country]

if there wasn't for people like mr jobs we would be chucking beads on sticks

[Timur Born]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

That's not even so 90s. That's so early 80s.

The C64 could kind of multitask in the 80's (like playing music in the background while scrolling text while retaining full control over the Basic command prompt). So it's more like late 70's I guess.

[BassSaxMan]

Originally Posted by big country

Attachment 155604

if there wasn't for people like mr jobs we would be chucking beads on sticks

I guess you're missing the argument here that what Apple presented is way behind the times in a lot of ways.

So is no one else picturing Nigel Tufnel when Jony Ive is saying the pad is magical because it surpasses our ability to understand it? I can't be the only one.

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by Timur

Unfortunately you fell for just the hypnotizing marketing bla that you thought to have avoided.

Not me, baby. I'm running XP.




But... lemme get your thinking straight here... You're saying Steve Balmer does all these humiliating-if-you-cared stunts in order to convince me that I'm cool because I can see past all those humiliating stunts?

I dunno... that's like the conspiracy theories that posited that a guy who could barely read from a children's book was behind one of the most sophisticated, wide-ranging, spectacular conspiracies ever. Mind you I'm not really equating Ballmer with that guy... but I think Ballmer's intelligence lies in areas other than double-reverse ninja flip marketing. I could be wrong...

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by Dean Roddey

From what was reading on our support forums, it's not even able to multi-task, not even passively. So you can't have more than one program open at a time? That's maybe reasonable on a phone with a tiny screen, but not on something that would be put forward as any kind of useful productivity product. I mean having to close your e-mail client in order to go look at another file and be sure you are sending the right numbers/info, then remembering the numbers and going back to your e-mail client... That's not even so 90s. That's so early 80s.

There are a lot of really cool things about the iPhone but that limitation blew my mind. I mean... I'm always flopping back and forth between open, active programs in my BB. Even back in DOS days I ran, first, Sidekick (the TSR mini-productivity suite) and then went to full multitasking with Desqview and then non-preemptive, multi-threaded multitasking with Geoworks (which went on to be the base technology for Windows' first handheld OS). And that was the 80s.

It's a pretty peculiar thing -- considering most folks' expectations -- to not be able to multitask in 2010.

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by big country

Attachment 155604

if there wasn't for people like mr jobs we would be chucking beads on sticks

Oh, abolutely, props to Steve Jobs.

Apple would certainly be in the dustbin of history had it not turned around under his leadership. Sure, he's far from the whole story, but I think it's clear that he was probably the only one who could be a proper figurehead for that turnaround. It was brilliant.

But my respect for Jobs' business and leadership acumen and his canny sense of promotion doesn't mean I have to swoon over every Apple product that comes along.

Me, I'm in wait-and-see mode. Not that I would ever buy one* -- I mean, wait and see if it will be adopted or if it will go the way of The Cube.

But I think it's utterly brilliant that Apple can not only get away with it, but make people like it. From a cynical marketer's viewpoint, it's a magical company.


*No, I don't think I'll probably ever buy any more Apple products because I'm not someone who likes being treated the way I often see Apple customers treated: I'm an inveterate Apple/Mac issues lurker; I look forward to every upgrade to Logic like a primetime soap fan looking forward to a new season.

And I like to think I learned my lesson with QT Pro 6.51 which had a security flaw that opened it to drive-by attacks; I got a notice from Apple not to use it, but no offer of any sort of upgrade discount if I wanted to move to QT Pro 7. Full version retail price to update to the new ordinal version -- even when forced to do so by an unfixed flaw? Nice. But, I figure, with Apple a thirty dollar lesson is a bargain.