Genius: Out Appled? Edition



[DISCLAIMER: This post was written by a dyed in the wool, multi mac owning, even still has two newtons, bordering on stalkerish, Apple fan, on his Macbook Air.]

No one can argue Steve Jobs' position as the greatest showman of our time. In case you want to try, talk to Sky Dayton who launched an amazingly innovative phone against the iPhone. Don't remember, that's the point. Apparently, no one told Lenovo.

They were working on "The Perfect Laptop" for a number of years when the Air beat them to market by a couple of weeks. They did some preliminary PR which did not get Apple-like attention, but now, with the ad posted above, they fired a shot across the bow. They think their features will show their computer is better. They don't know Steve.

As Apple owners our computers contain, and do, only the things Steve says they should. Steve provides for us. Steve did not think our screen should open flat. It opens to an angle which is probably a metaphor for beauty in a long forgotten culture, but I will approximate it to be 270 degrees. I don't know the value of opening to a complete 180, but Lenovo has it and the Air does not. They showed it in the ad. Steve said I do not need and optical drive. I was skeptical when he told me I did not need a floppy on my iMac. Everyone else had a floppy. Steve was right. I didn't miss it and neither does the rest of the industry today. Today Steve tells me I don't need an optical drive. It hurt a bit at first. Admittedly I purchased the methadone equivalent USB Superdrive, but it's working. Lenovo sticks its proud optical drive tongue out in the ad. They have one. Just in case the picture is not enough, the text points out 2 more USB ports than my Air, and call my computer hot air. Fighting words if I ever heard them.

The ad worked. I am writing about it, and so are a ton of others. An apple like pick up for a PC ad. Very, very unusual. Will it work on the sales side? Probably not. Air buyers are buying a statement. X300 buyers are buying a good traveling work computer. There aren't enough ads to change this mildly sexy, not evenly remotely artistic workbook into a statement.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Media is Reporting the Game Industry is Over: Why are They Such Babies Edition

Image
My posting continues to move at a glacial pace. For a while, there was nothing new to say. Then, all of sudden, the world exploded with new ideas and I had no time to write. I attribute the plethora of new ideas - things other than marketing gaffes, publishers' hosing of developers, the need for independent finance and the folks who are saying they have it or xBox becoming cable - as a reflection of increased sensitivity attributable to too much travel and too little sleep. But bubbles are growing, companies are reacting, and CEOs seem to be turning into either Chicken Little or ostriches with heads in the sand. Some of the new stuff floating around in my head is: - The abandonment of seasoned game designers in favor of metric driven design - catering to metrics let you keep more players, but are those players worth keeping? - The complete lack of game sales data for XBL and PSN - Do the platforms really think they are helping us by cloaking sales in a shroud of mystery? - Th
Read more

The Game Business Is A Year From Irrelevance:Where are Our Easy Riders and Raging Bulls Edition

Image
Every time I told people in suits and ties - or my parents - I was in the game business, they started to talk about kids. They viewed our business as the toy business. Games are for children. This was when I pulled out my silver bullet. I had The ESA's (then IDSA) latest report showing the average age of gamers. I started when it was 27. The "average age" went up a year each year, but was still a neat statistic when I could say 30 or 31. Whether it was directed at a school parent or an audience at a conference, It inevitably led to a dropped jaw and a "wow, I didn't know that." The industry instantly became relevant to their business. I haven't really paid much attention to this number because my proselytizing for the business was taken over by outlets like the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and USA Today, which all have a larger reach than this blog or my speaking engagements. But this past week I saw some slides for an ESA speech indicatin
Read more

The Timothy Plan: Hypocrisy Edition

Image
Every once in a while you come across an act of Hypocrisy so egregious, you have to laugh. I read an article on game politics about a mutual fund called The Timothy Plan , which call itself a family of mutual funds offering individuals a biblical choice when it comes to investing. If you are concerned with the moral issues (abortion, pörnography, anti-family entertainment, non-married lifestyles, alcohol, tobacco and gambling) that are destroying children and families you have come to the right place. The Timothy Plan® avoids investing in companies that are involved in practices contrary to Judeo-Christian principles. Our goal is to recapture traditional American values. We are America's first pro-life, pro-family, biblically-based mutual fund group. . The fund issued a press release indicating it would not invest Take Two Interactive because "it is releasing another video game that contains extreme sexual and violent content." Curiously, the release did not mention t
Read more