One can debate that Apple is not a great marketing company, but is, instead, a great product company. Yesterday, Apple introduced two products that are more sizzle than steak but will loyal Apple consumers wait to purchase them or has Apple jumped the shark?
The new MacBook is a marvel of engineering at only two pounds, but it may also leave a lot of people scratching their head. The new Intel processor inside has less processing power than an Intel i5 and i7 chip which may limit users to using this product for simple things like checking email and surfing the Web. Today we all want faster computing power, but is the new MacBook really that much better than a MacBook Air?
Apple did spend some time to talk about the redesigned keyboard and trackpad, but most of us don’t care about that, we just want the best laptop for the money.
Then there is the steel case for the new MacBook. Did anyone think that the reason for the steel case could be because the new chip is going to get hot and could melt plastic? My advice would be to get a MacBook Air and leave the new MacBook until comparative speed test results are in.
Then there is the Apple Watch. According to David Kirkpatrick “you will need to have an iPhone on your person at the same time you wear an Apple Watch. And the word “charge” does not appear among its 16,000 words except when the author tells how Ive first took charge of various Apple design functions. Yet one of the biggest commercial questions facing the watch is whether it will retain a battery charge long enough to satisfy users for even one day. The iPhone itself already has significant battery life weakness relative to other smartphones. So if we Apple addicts, or more importantly new users, are to adopt the Watch/iPhone combination we will be repeatedly charging two different devices.”
But if the watch does eventually settle successfully into the tradition of world-altering Apple products, it will be because it is relatively affordable, well designed and technology-centered around software that does things we need to have done. It will not be because it is gorgeous or expensive or craved by those on the wrong side of the world’s inequality divide. It will be because, like all great modern technologies, it helps in fundamental ways to reduce the significance and pain of that divide.
I’m an Apple customer with an iMac, iPad and iPhone, but it has become painful to watch Apple worshippers clap everytime Tim Cook farts on stage. There are still problems with Wi-Fi in OS X Yosemite and Mail still has a long way to go to become a better eMail client. Today selling sizzle may be a new trend in marketing because we have become disappointed with the quality of the steak.
