The amazing iPad, what’s the secret?
People are wondering why I don’t have the iPad yet and it is hard to explain to them that it is still not available on the Dutch market, correction: on the world market. On April 3rd the newest gadget from Apple will be available in the United States, but the exact release date for Europe – and of course in particular The Netherlands – is not yet known as the availability of the different models is also a question that is not answered yet. But how is it possible, that people are already asking me where I hide my new gadget, as only a few people have had the chance to hold it in their own hands? It’s the marketing machine again, that did its job so very well. It’s really Apple again!
The marketing machine from Apple is globally known for its success. They not only succeed in letting the greed for future products from their customers grow to incredible heights, but to sell the name Apple as well. I remember the introduction of the iPhone in the US. For months the American audiences have been bombed with smooth commercials and when the greed was on its highest reachable point, the introduction day was postponed by a few weeks. If you by then were not planning to buy an iPhone, you were certainly about to do so. It was just not possible to miss it. And when it finally was introduced, stocks were kept tight and availability was an unknown word in these first weeks, driving the people even more crazy and getting more people wanting that device.
The rest is history: we all know how the iPhone finally conquered the world. And now Apple is trying to do the same with the iPad. And again a great iPad commercial is running on the US television channels (you can download it from the Apple site also). And again – as with the iPhone – there is a lot of criticism on the capabilities of the iPad. Having its own iPhone Operating System, no “Office” like products, no flash and a few others. You can read some more iPad disadvantages here. But why are so many people already pre ordering now? Am I one of them?
I think it’s just like a virus. If you know Apple and you are accustomed to their products, you will stick to it. It’s not only the reliability of the products and the so much easier to use as their competitors, but Apple is some sort of believe. Long before companies were trying to create communities around their products, Apple did have one and it’s growing bigger and bigger each day. Maybe people want also to react against the “monopoly” of Microsoft, but others may have experienced that the total cost of ownership during the lifetime of an Apple Mac is lower than a Windows machine, mainly caused by the lower maintenance costs involved. But the way Apple develops its products is the main reason for their popularity. They are made from the customer perspective. As the short movie of the iPad says: I do not have to change to fit to the product, the product fits me automatically and I don’t even have to think about it.
Of course I already ‘bought’ the iPad. Not really, but in my head I have already made the decision to buy one. And what will it add more than my latest netbook? Will I be able to read books on the iPad, as the iBook store will only be available in the US and will they end differently from the version I am reading on my Sony E-reader? Will the music, that I usually listen to with my eyes closed, sound different from those of my iPods? Will it bring in more mails than my iPhone, that is always in my pocket, wherever I go? I know I know, it will be that feeling when you flip the device and the screen will change with you, it will be the slim design, it will be the great crispy clear screen, but most of all, it will be the logo on the back! I admit, I am infected with the virus, the Apple virus and Apple has US$ 40 billion on the bank, but that’s not enough to make an antidote. There is no cure for this disease!
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