Well-said
Today, for some reason, the Apple iPad is in the news again and, for some even more mysterious reason, I read an article about it. Generally, I ignore fancy new technology, having neither the engineering/computer geek mind which would appreciate it for its technical beauty nor the ready cash to buy such a thing, but so it is when one is up at the usual time and the rest of the family is sleeping in.
The author of this article, Helen Popkin, had particularly apt and well-written description of the Apple company:
Remember, this is Apple we’re talking about — a company that’s made an art of fetishizing personal technology via elegant design and surreptitious marketing so insidious consumers are compelled to camp outside its glass-encased retail enclaves the night before a product launch for fear that if they go one more day without the latest sleek n’ stylish gee-gaw, their heads will explode.
(Actually, she doesn't use the word 'insidious' correctly. It's Apple that is the insidious one in this paragraph, but I'll overlook that on the merit of the rest of the paragraph.)
Apparently, the name "iPad" has raised quite a few giggles from the elementary-school-humor set in the press corp. I think we can all be more mature than that, but, really, marketing-savvy Apple should have foreseen that result and gone with "iSlate" or "iTablet" or how about "iWrite?" Well, whatever. I get that it "fits." iPod...iPad. Perfect! But are none of the (all-male) execs at Apple so high-minded that they couldn't foresee this?
All of this is not to say that I would turn away an iPad if someone offered it to me. It looks like a very cool product. But I won't be putting it on my Christmas wish-list any time soon.
Products which inspire eloquent prose from the likes of Helen Popkins must be respected, no matter what they are named.
The author of this article, Helen Popkin, had particularly apt and well-written description of the Apple company:
Remember, this is Apple we’re talking about — a company that’s made an art of fetishizing personal technology via elegant design and surreptitious marketing so insidious consumers are compelled to camp outside its glass-encased retail enclaves the night before a product launch for fear that if they go one more day without the latest sleek n’ stylish gee-gaw, their heads will explode.
(Actually, she doesn't use the word 'insidious' correctly. It's Apple that is the insidious one in this paragraph, but I'll overlook that on the merit of the rest of the paragraph.)
Apparently, the name "iPad" has raised quite a few giggles from the elementary-school-humor set in the press corp. I think we can all be more mature than that, but, really, marketing-savvy Apple should have foreseen that result and gone with "iSlate" or "iTablet" or how about "iWrite?" Well, whatever. I get that it "fits." iPod...iPad. Perfect! But are none of the (all-male) execs at Apple so high-minded that they couldn't foresee this?
All of this is not to say that I would turn away an iPad if someone offered it to me. It looks like a very cool product. But I won't be putting it on my Christmas wish-list any time soon.
Products which inspire eloquent prose from the likes of Helen Popkins must be respected, no matter what they are named.
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