Never one to rest on its laurels, Apple is piling on following its record Q3 with a big push for the holidays. Today, it launched its opening salvo for the season with “Gift” (above) and “Song” (after the jump). The former, in typical fashion, starts with something immediately relevant (using the Target app to get gift recommendations) before going off on tangents (photo editing, “Monopoly,” Zipcar?).
“Song,” meanwhile pretty much just goes full-on for the “There’s an app for that” mantra, touching on real estate, The Sims, Facebook, and Shazam. And honestly, in both cases, it’s pretty effective. There are more than 100,000 apps, after all, even if there’s no Google Voice. The campaign works because it’s welcoming and says you can find what you want to do easily. (via MacRumors)
Unfortunately, that selling point is actually pretty different from the real experience of using the App Store. Once you hit 100,000, discoverability becomes the killer app, not any single product within. This isn’t that big a problem yet (except for developers), but it will become an increasing one over time. What good are 100,000 apps when I struggle to use more than 10 on a daily basis?
Consider this: iTunes offers more than 10 million songs, but lots of users have several thousands of songs (I have nearly 5,000 and add more every year). Assuming that the average for a power user is around 2,000 songs per user, that rounds out to there being 5,000 songs to every one that most people download.
With apps, by contrast, there are 100,000, but I would guess most power users carry fewer than 30 on them at any given time (I’m actually closer to 20 beyond the initial set). That’s 3,300 apps per one download, a ratio that starts to get really dramatic as the app store grows toward a million choices but people install no more of them. It’s already pretty rough trying to break through as an obscure band on iTunes — it could get much worse as the ratio grows increasingly unfavorable for apps.
Fortunately, problems tend to highlight opportunities to innovate. Everyone knows that a more robust Springboard app is needed to help us sort through our many apps to find the one we want when we want it. Apple could also come up with new forms of App Store search to better surface apps better suited to you (imagine if Genius for Apps worked!), or it could take note of developers whose work you’ve enjoyed previously and recommend those. Moreover, Apple could even offer different ways to market oneself on the App Store. We’re used to bundling on the desktop side; why shouldn’t there by an iPhoneHeist next year to bring together rock stars with rising contenders on the fastest-growing platform ever?
The growth of the iPhone has been fascinating. OS 1.0 was about defining a new kind of mobile experience. OS 2.0 was about opening the platform to true development and making it more than just a product. OS 3.0 has been about fixing the most-requested problems, including MMS, copy-and-paste, and tethering (not that AT&T has implemented the latter). OS 4.0, it seems to be, would be an excellent time to figure out how one might actually benefit from owning a couple hundred different apps.
Boy Genius Report has obtained details of Apple’s Black Friday deals — maybe. The site was sent an email flyer, due to go out shortly, that says Apple will offer 25% off all Macs; 30% off iPods (except the iPhone and iPod shuffle); and 15% all accessories as well as Apple software and hardware.
These deals look pretty killer. Maybe too killer. BGR cautions that it’s “unconfirmed.”
BGR says the deals are good only for November 27th, and that Apple stores will open at 6AM.
Is this Steve Jobs driving a tank in a classic Apple TV spot from the late 1990s? That was the rumor at the time: Jobs was making cameos in Apple commercials.
Ken Segall, the TBWA ad man responsible for naming the iMac and Think Different, reveals the truth after the jump. He also shares some rare behind-the-scenes photos he took during the filming of this commercial and another from the same era.
Lee Clow, the man behind Apple’s groundbreaking 1997 “Think Different” campaign and chief creative officer of Chiat announced he is stepping down.
Here the jeans and base-ball cap wearing Clow, now 66, is interviewed about the days he was the only ad guy not wearing a three-piece suit — by Alex Bogusky, the Mac-using brainchild behind Microsoft’s “Laptop Hunter’s” series, which has been poking a few holes into the sometimes tired “Mac vs. PC” ads.
Apple abandoned the “Think Different” campaign in 2002 for the “switch” concept, but it never really caught up with Clow’s creation.
We stand corrected: Ken Segall, former Chiat creative director on the Apple account wrote in to say:
“Lee is/was the chief creative officer at Chiat, and as such doesn’t actually create this stuff — he’s an inspiration and ultimately responsible for the output. Interestingly, the words “think different” were actually written by an art director. His name is Craig Tanimoto. Not bad for a guy whose first responsibility was design.
Also, Think different was not replaced by the Switcher campaign. At some point (I can’t even remember when), it was decided that the “think different” words simply didn’t need to be said anymore. They became more or less embodied in the brand. This, just as Nike dropped “Just do it” and started using only the company’s famous swoosh.”
What do you think Apple’s next iconic catch phrase should be?
Wow, the launch of Windows 7 on Thursday has prompted Apple to trot out three new ads making fun of Microsoft’s new system.
The big shocker is that they are actually pretty funny. I LOLed at the last line in the “PC Wars” ad above; a line delivered by Justin Long. Yeah Justin Long.
The “Broken Promises” is also pretty good. Watch it – and the third ad, “Teeter Tottering” — after the jump.
Very interesting news from the New York Times: Disney is completely overhauling its retail stores, with Steve Jobs at the helm.
Theaters will allow children to watch film clips of their own selection, participate in karaoke contests or chat live with Disney Channel stars via satellite. Computer chips embedded in packaging will activate hidden features. Walk by a “magic mirror” while holding a Princess tiara, for instance, and Cinderella might appear and say something to you.
It’s your birthday? With the push of a button, eight 13-foot-tall Lucite trees will crackle with video-projected fireworks and sound. There will be a scent component; if a clip from Disney’s coming “A Christmas Carol” is playing in the theater, the whole store might suddenly be made to smell like a Christmas tree.
It’s a great article, well worth the read. Most notable is Jobs’s insistence that Disney build a full-scale prototype of the entire store in order to figure out how to get the experience just right. I can think of few events more telling in the transformation of Apple from niche computer-maker to taste-maker to the world than that of Disney asking Apple retail specialists for help in defining great experience design.
I mean, eight years ago, Apple didn’t even have stores. Disney created Disneyland. How’s that for turnabout?
This an ad mock-up from Moscow agency Doberman Studio has me plenty confused. Sure, the sleek, round lines of the Mac Mighty Mouse might induce one to think it feminine.
Or is it some kind of commentary on gay marriage — i.e. did Mickey fall for the cartoon Mighty Mouse?
In the second version, cartoon mouse Jerry also falls prey to the seductive powers of the Mighty Mouse.
Processed food mongers Kraft thought they might cop some of Apple’s cool by sticking an “i” in front of a new product.
Meet iSnack 2.0. It’s Vegemite (for the uninitiated, concentrated yeast extract) plus cream cheese. In one handy jar.
(Forgive me Australians: it sounds like it should’ve been directly marketed as an emetic.)
The new Apple-esque name was chosen from 48,000 entries in a contest. The winning entry was coined by 27-year-old Dean Robbins, who, we’re guessing because he’s also a web designer, is probably also a Mac user.
Can Microsoft ever do anything right? The company has some produced some pretty good advertising for Windows 7, but for some inexplicable reason, the ads will not be shown on TV. Microsoft’s best advertising in years is restricted to a dusty corner of YouTube, where no one will see them.
The beloved Dogcow Moof! t-shirt from RedLightRunner is now a rarity.
It’s always a little dicey doing a “Best of” Apple t-shirts post because the really, truly best Apple t-shirts have always been the limited edition, short-run t-shirts that Apple prints up for employees and other associates, the ones Guy Kawasaki wrote about in his 1990 book, “The Macintosh Way.” In it he draws a flow chart depicting Apple’s process for making great products and the first step is: Order t-shirt.
However, for those of us not lucky enough to get our bods into one of these rare and memorable pieces of Apple attire, there are a number of outlets in the US and the UK (and probably elsewhere as well) where you can pick up some cool threads and show the world where your allegiances lie.
Hit the jump for a gallery of 10 we think are worth checking out.
Apple has tapped the comic genius of actor Patrick Warburton for its latest “Get A Mac” TV ad. But despite a very promising start — you smile just seeing him – the ad is a dud.
Warburton is best known for playing Elaine’s boyfriend, David Puddy, on Seinfeld. The man is just funny, period. Unfortunately, Apple’s new “Top of the Line” ad is not. (Watch it below).
Warburton plays a top-of-the-line PC — a fast, smooth machine with a big screen.
The computer shopper — a young woman — is initially impressed, but is turned off when he admits he’s not immune to viruses and other headaches. The silly fool forsakes Warburton’s charms for the unbearable Justin Long, who plays the Mac.
The ad isn’t funny, just like the rest of the ailing series. This joke has definitely run its course. Like Sieinfield itself, it’s time for Apple to pull the plug.
