Lia Hale

English 1020

September 29, 2010

There’s An App for That

     “There’s an app for that.” Apple coined that phrase when they came out with the iPhone; because it could download just about any application you wanted or needed. Apple is always coming out with revolutionary technology that has innovative designs, someone in the Apple Company is definitely thinking ‘outside of the box’. When the first iPod came out it definitely helped launch Apple, because it was small, unique, and held a lot of music. It certainly wasn’t like any other mp3 player. Apple continued making the newest most unique products, such as Mac computers, Mac book pros, newer iPods, iPhone, and now the iPad. The iPad is absolutely revolutionary. A touch screen computer that is similar to the iPhone and the iTouch and allows you to download all the apps you need, everything you need is just a tap away. The iPad commercial is one of the simplest; it shows a person using the iPad from the view as if you were doing it yourself and demonstrating some of the applications. While using the different applications the commercial has statements saying “The iPad is magical, artful, social, playful, literary, productive, scientific...” etc. It’s a simple commercial showing how quick, easy, and useful the new portable device is. Instantly after the 30 second commercial is over I am already saying how much I want one and how useful it would be for me. Apple is very persuasive with their new products coming out and the simplicity of their advertisement with the logical appeal to it.

     Apple advertisement is shown on TV during regular day times on more popular TV channels such as MTV, CBS, ABC, etc. You may also see a few advertisements in magazines or on the side of your facebook page. Apple hasn’t really gone overboard with their advertising, and their commercials are not usually over played like a lot of other companies commercials. Apple is advertised in many more ways, one them being that so many people already have their products and use them in public daily. Another is businesses and companies are advertising Apple by creating their own applications that you can download directly to your iPhone, iPad, or iTouch so you can get special deals with what they’re selling or just to keep you more informed on what they’re doing. One example is the Detroit Zoo; they just came out with a new easily downloadable application for the iPhone. For just $1.99 you can access a map to the zoo, pictures and videos of animals, and daily activities that go on there. The zoo advertises their new app for Apple by the entrance way, so as soon as people are walking in that’s what they see.  Also, Apple advertises in the windows of their stores. The stores definitely catch people’s attention not just because it’s always swarming with customers but because they have their products enlarged and functioning in the window giving you a quick look at some features for the latest and greatest technology.

“I don’t have to change myself to fit the product, it fits me” says Jony Ive, the Senior Vice President of Design. Apple knows that people are going to buy their products because they are so different from all their competitors, their designs are almost futuristic. Who would have guessed a touch screen computer!  There are a team of experts who work together to help create and develop the great products that Apple has today, but they really go for what people want when they start their designs. The designs of their products build from each other, like the iPad came into play spiraling from the idea of the iPhone and iTouch. The iPad is sleek and light, it only weighs 1.5 lbs making it easy to carry around and take it when you’re on the go. On the clip Introducing the iPad all the developers talk about how it’s the best for browsing the internet, it’s the best for checking e-mail, it’s the best for looking at all your pictures, and watching movies. There really is an app for just about everything you could ever need for a portable device. This is why the iPad, like all of Apple products is designed to fit everyone’s needs and isn’t designed for a specific age group, or gender.

     The commercial shows how you can do things such as read books, learn math, create art, make presentations using pie charts, and even look up at the night sky to learn what the stars mean. They really geared the idea of the iPad to be simplistic and easy to use, so that just about anyone can have it whether you’re male or female, young or old. One may argue things like typing a paper on the iPad would be too difficult because it’s all touch screen and there are no real buttons to push, and everyone knows college students write quite a bit of papers. Though the iPad doesn’t have real buttons, the letters on the screen are big enough that it’s hard to miss. Also, they make cordless keyboards so you can hook that up to it and type if it is really that bothersome. Another argument against the iPad is that considering it is just a flat touch screen computer, scratching it would be much more damaging and more likely to happen letting a child use it because children are more clumsy and careless. Apple has come out with screen protectors along with cases for the iPad, keeping it safe from being scratched and or breaking.

     Continuing with the idea of simplicity, Apples ads are normally just black and white. While comparing Microsoft to Apple Chris Matyszczyk from Cnet News argued that as soon as you see a white back drop advertisement you know it’s an apple advertisement but then “If you asked anyone in the wider beyond to tell you about just one striking piece of Microsoft brand advertising in the last 13 years, you might find them looking as if they're trying to recall the name of their twelfth one-night stand.”  Simple advertisements such as the one I chose are more appealing because they are straight to the point. For the recent iPod, iPhone, and iPad commercials they show you the product, what it does, and end the commercial with the products name written on the screen. For the recent Apple Mac commercials they have two men standing in a white room one states he is a PC and the other one states he is a Mac, by using humor and facts they state how a Mac is better than a PC and can do more without something going wrong. By the end of the commercial they show a quick picture of a Mac but there are no demonstrations of how it works or what makes it spectacular. The Mac commercials are just as simple as the others because it has the white background and just the two men standing there. Something about the simplicity makes people want it. Yet someone could argue that customers are not going to waste their time if the advertisement is so simple and just shows a glimpse of what the actual computer looks like, as seen in the Mac commercials. Though they end the commercial with just a glimpse of what the actual product looks like it leaves you with the curiosity of wanting more, and questions like what does it do, why is it so cool, how much does it cost, and what does it really look like. For the people who are curious and want more knowledge of the products, all you have to do is walk right in an Apple store and all the technology is hands on so you really can get a feel for what makes their products impressive. Apple uses a logical appeal to reel people in; on the Mac advertisements they tell you why a Mac is better than a PC for multiple reasons. For the iPad advertisement I chose, they show you the actual iPad from the view as if you were using it yourself.  The advertisement doesn’t show any emotion, enthusiasm, or any actual people besides some ones hand using the iPad. The advertisement is just fact, the fact of how it actually works and is used.

     The technology for Apple has been evolving for years into the latest and greatest designs, just when you think nothing could be cooler, something always is. You see advertisements for Apple just about every day whether it is a commercial, an ad in a magazine, or just someone carrying around their products. There really is an application for just about everything with the iPad, iPhone, and iTouch, you can have everything at the tip of your finger. Apple is very persuasive through logical appeal, by everything being so simple and straight to the point with what they’re selling. They certainly know what customers want and desire in technology, why carry a book, a map, an mp3 player, a computer, and a calculator when you can have it all in one small portable light weight device.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpo__xhTSv8

http://news.cnet.com/are-apples-ads-really-better-than-microsofts/

http://www.apple.com/ipad/