Creators: Kill Your Darlings.

I mean, if you really look at it, we have four iPods. We have two main iPhones. We have two iPads, and we have a few Macs. That’s it. And we argue and debate like crazy about what we’re going to do, because we know that we can only do a few things great. That means not doing a bunch of things that would be really good and really fun.

- "Tim Cook's Freshman Year: The Apple CEO Speaks", BusinessWeek.

'We Believe' Makes Me Want the iPad 2

Look at how this ad gets the message across. There is no sex appeal, no pop; it is quiet, feather-light and functional. I would like my life to be this way. I am halfway convinced that if I purchase this, I can pack my life inside it and it too will be quiet, feather-light and functional.

And then I will become a ballerina, and angels will sing when I put one foot before the other, and glints of sun or silver cloud lining will dance blithely across my pristine smooth cheek, and everyone will love me, and I will be famous.

Think He Planned This?

Steve Jobs, 2 years ago to date, on Kindle: "The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore."

Perhaps because he's not a stupid man, iPad is positioned thus:

The best way to experience the web, email, photos, and video. Hands down.

(Because the "book" and the "reading" parts go without saying.)

Image credit: Kimberly White, Reuters.

The So-Called Mobile Era: AAPL and GOOG Start the Sumo

Long-suffering Bob invited me onto the BeanCast yesterday, along with Christopher Baccus, Bret Bernhoft and Al Gadbut. The episode title is Worse than Cancer on account of some typically awkward thing I said after thinking Bob was done recording.

You can check out the topics in the above link, but the episode basically revolved around mobile coming into itself: ad men hankering to incorporate their brands more intuitively on this most intimate of technologies, as well as Google and Apple beginning to butt heads, what with the former going into mobile hardware and the latter dipping its toes into mobile advertising.

As the 'net embeds itself into all facets of our lives, we're gonna see more tech companies stepping out of their respective métiers and going head-to-head against each other in unexpected arenas: competing to own audiences in mobile search, for example, and trying to control points of entry for wifi and ad penetration. 2008 and 2009 manifested the beginning of this blurring of specialization; now we'll see prominent names and new services start taking shape in the melting pot.

Google's foray into lead generation also dominated the conversation; applications for it are endless, but I can already smell the realtors and car salesmen jumpin' on that like there's no tomorrow. =P

Oh yeah, and then there was that whole H&M PR nightmare. (*coughs up a hairball*)

Tastebuds tingling? Have a listen here.

Back in Cali.

Primary objective: to sell the merits of the Mac to my PC-crippled famille. Photo Booth's proving helpful.

Me, Charysma and mum.

'I'm a PC and I Sell Fish!'

Love love LOVE the new "I'm a PC" ads. They are contagiously friendly. Also, Pharrell Williams is my secret boyfriend.

Want more? See "I'm a PC and I wear a suit" and "I'm a PC and I am not alone."

Microsoft Shafts Seinfeld Campaign

... in favor of a direct rebuttal to "Mac vs. PC." What's more, it claims this was its plan all along.

Ugh. Nobody knows how to commit anymore.

Why I Love My iPod touch

A friend of Benj's recently told him that the iPod touch is the only item that makes him feel like he's living in the 21st century.

Having fondled my new iPod touch non-stop for the last couple of days, I get what he's saying. This thing doesn't just wow me with new capabilities and integrated gadgetry like never before. Here's its grail: it works exactly the way I expect it to. (Which is saying a lot.)

I grew up with Windows*. You'd think after growing up with Windows, I'd immediately know what to expect from a new PC every time I upgrade. Maybe I'm exceptionally daft, but I generally don't. I give myself a few days to learn a new PC in case of nasty surprises or unexpected deficits -- or, at the very least, just to get a sense of how to navigate it.

Same with my first Palm Pilot. My mom donated it to me because it "complicated her life," and the thing took me days to get used to. And when I had finally purchased all the gadgets that would make it complete (custom stylus, Targus Stowaway), and grew to depend on it with all the accumulated data of my young unspoiled life, it reset itself the second it ran out of battery.

I sold it on eBay that night.

Now I have a Blackberry. I dig it all right, but it still took me a couple of hours to get a sense of its possibilities and limitations, and a few days before I really understood what I'd primarily be using it for.

But when I play with other Blackberries -- my mom's, for instance -- I'm totally thrown off-course. I don't know how to unlock it, I can't work out where things are, and I'm under the impression its functionalities are totally different from mine. (Does the Pearl seriously have no browser or am I just not finding it?)

Here's the beauty in the design of the iPod touch. From first glance, Benj and I knew exactly how to unlock it. We've never even touched one of these things before. And the icons? Hey, those look familiar. I know exactly what they do. Set up my email? In a snap.**

Everything syncs and loads and works just like you, for reasons you can't even describe, imagine it should. You look at it and just get it. Even the way I touch it makes sense: I pinch my fingers together to make things smaller and widen them to make things bigger.

I've never done that before. But it's like I was born with that knowledge.

I'm not saying the iPod touch is God's gift to digital junkies and can't be improved. And in all probability, the ads (which I watched maybe three times to incorporate them in a review) contributed to my so-called "intuitive" knowledge of the interface.

I'm saying extraneous factors aside, great design makes a big difference -- even just in terms of usability -- and it should always fall hand-in-hand with an improved feature-set.

When your revolutionary new product makes so much sense your core demographic isn't clamoring for a handbook just to turn it on, say hello to paydirt.

And if it's pretty too? Well, hey. Nobody needs to school you on the viral merits of pretty.

_____________________

* 3.0, on up. We even had Windows ME. Ew. I know, right?
** This is a big deal. The Blackberry required guesswork, and it still doesn't operate as nicely as I'd like. It appears to delete or keep messages at will.

On the day I changed my Gmail password, the handheld went Exorcist on me -- syncing six-month-old emails as "New," that kind of thing. I had to call at least three numbers to get it fixed, and I'm still not sure who resolved the problem in the end.

Are You There, God? It's Me, Angela

It's a sad day when your most gnawing concern about death is whether you can charge an iPod in hell.

iPhone Makes Ad Debut, Adrants Takes Note, Buzz TV Acknowledges, We Reflect

Diggy-diggy. Adrants' post about the iPhone Oscar ad made it on Buzz TV today. How awesome is that? Really rather. I feel like Miss America except without bulimia and 10-pound hair.

I initially thought it weird that Steve Jobs would unveil a yet-to-be-tested new product 6 flippin' months in advance. It struck me as bad climactic timing in terms of building the hype.

But now my feelings are different. Jobs just isn't a dumb guy. That 6 months is flying by, and post-unveiling, Apple wisely opts to bleed iPhone marketing slowly and tactfully instead of getting all colourful and extra-extra, the way they typically push the iPod.

I've been matter-of-factly told more that once that Jobs will most likely do away with the iPod altogether and make iPhone the music crack of the future.

I seriously doubt that, and for the following reasons:

• At costs ranging from $79 to $249, the iPod is much more attractive for starving collegiates than the iPhone's prospective $499-$599 price tag (and that's before the cost of sign-up and selecting a plan, even!).
• While Apple's doubtless garnered serious cultlike loyalty, suggesting people forego other loyalties is just ... well, risky. Let me explain. You probably own an iPod and maybe if you're unstoppably awesome you have a Macbook too. But does your love of Apple eclipse your feelings about your cell phone carrier? That's intimate, man, and that has nothing to do with Apple or how awesome you think the iPhone might be. A lot of Verizonites are out there going, "Hell no, beeyatch!" I'm with Cingular and I'm still wincing at the notion.
• As of July 2006, the iPod alone accounted for 45 percent of Apple's quarterly revenue. You don't swap your prize tea kettle for an espresso maker. The espresso maker might be zippier, shinier and more capable, but they're simply not the same product, and please believe loyal lovers of tea will punish you for it.
  
• An 8GB max capacity doesn't hold a candle to the standard iPod's 80GB. You can forget about movies. And forget about replacing an iPod with a value proposition that subtracts value, or exchanges one service for another (in this case, watching movies v. talking on the phone) on the miracle unit itself. It's just bad biznass.

It remains my strong suspicion that this iPhone ain't all we think it is, miracle tool jokes aside. It's being casually incorporated into the culture so we can get used to the idea of it, after which, come June, we'll be shocked and amazed by what other merit the iPhone happens to possess that we could never ourselves have imagined in our wildest dreams. Guess we'll find out in June.

All right, that's the good word about Apple. It is cookie time.