Dangerous territory revisited.
First, the ads are cute as all get-out, and it's funny how all of us were calling it iLuxo way before these ads came out. Either Apple got its own joke, or they hung out here and figured "Hey, good idea!"
It's an interesting take, these ads. Not heavy handed by any means, no mention of the feature set, processor speed...nothing. No droning voiceover of a smartassed jerk claiming superiority (although it did work for the first iMac). Not to mention they weren't expensive ads to make, either, assuming they were done at Pixar.
Years after the first Mac made its debut, there were many analysts stating that the reason they didn't fly off the shelves by the millions was that after the initial flurry of buying, much of the computer-seeking public (read: business) actually viewed the machine as "too cute" and therefore not a computer for serious work. Apple succeeded in capturing the imagination, but not "the workplace."
It looks as if Apple is going for that type of strategy again, because if you knew NOTHING about Macintosh and the "digital hub" concept and saw this ad, your opinion towards it might be quite different.
However, I'm not one to second guess the strategy. I'm a 43 year old male in the education business and have been around Macs nearly half my life; this ad isn't geared towards those of my ilk, but those over my shoulder - one of the most difficult generations to sell to. In that respect, while it may seem that revisiting that "cute" gray area could result in derision and scoff, from the comments I've seen so far, they're a hit. (of course, this IS a Macintosh arena, but we're not above a little Apple bashing ourselves from time to time - 'cause we Love 'em So.)
Well, enough pontificating from THIS blow-hard...I tip my hat to Apple for not going the usual route. How my eyes glaze over when I see the "specs" of those PeeCee montrosities scoll on the tv screen while some zit faced droid punk calls us "Dude" and thinks we should be oh-so-GRATEFUL for gettin' a Dull.
But hey...aren't THOSE ads geared towards that same generation?
Or is it that, no matter what generation you may be from, there will always be those that "get it" (all of us) and those that just, well, don't?
(like, sorry for, like, gettin' all, like, in yer head and all psychological on all of you dudes...)
