where technology is simplified
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How Is Apple Still In Business?
Dec 4th
Apple commercials are creative masterpieces. Every aspect of the ad is perfected from aesthetic & marketing perspective. These ads go against the normal advertising rules with no product details, schematics, third party endorsements, ‘shock & awe’ campaigns and no million dollar marketing slogans. According to the latest PC World stats Apple’s market share is a 6.8%, which a drop in the bucket compared to Microsoft. This begs the question If it does not follow any standard ad protocol how does Apple generate tremendous pre-launch buzz about their products and a cult like following that Microsoft can only dream of? Lets explain.
Who Is Apple Selling To?
To understand that you have to consider who is Apple’s target audience? The average office paper pusher is not the ideal Apple customer. The primary audience is the creative thinker who lives outside the box. The marketing campaigns idolize the person who is productive by working smart not working hard. This is abundantly clear in some of the ads where the Mac guy in commercials says to the PC ‘you are good with numbers and spreadsheets’
Simplicity Is Key
The theme behind Apple ads is Simplicity – simplicity which makes you think. This is reflected in all their ads and their products. Think about their TV commercials. It’s just two guys representing a Mac and a PC on a white background. From an economic perspective this must be one of the cheapest campaigns ever. But after seeing these ads every time you see a white background with two people talking you will ‘think Apple’.
Elegant Products Drive Sales
Now take a look at your iPod or iPhone. It’s elegant in its simplistic design. The iPod has only one round button control for everything you need. While other competing mp3 players cram every possible feature into their product, the iPod does an excellent job as a music player and not much else. But Apple’s products know how to pack a punch. Under the hood they have sophisticated technology driving them. One good example is the iPhone. The iPhone is the first mainstream smart phone to feature on-screen keyboard with no stylus. Sure other phones have been using touch screen for a while but Apple knew how to keep things simple and brought in millions of dollars in sales and happy customers.
Microsoft iPod Re-Design Video
A comparative analysis between a design by Apple & Microsoft is shown in the following video. Enjoy!
Comet 17P/Holmes Lighting up the Sky
Nov 6th
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No its Comet 17P/Holmes brightening up the night sky. It was visible using telescopes for the past few weeks. But now it can even be seen without any special equipment. So take a walk outside in the dark and check out the comet in all its glory.
From Associated Press: The comet is exploding and its coma, a cloud of gas and dust illuminated by the sun, has grown to be bigger than the planet Jupiter. The comet lacks the tail usually associated with such celestial bodies but can be seen in the northern sky, in the constellation Perseus, as a fuzzy spot of light about as bright as the stars in the Big Dipper.
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Scientists speculate the comet has exploded because there are sinkholes in its nucleus, giving it a honeycomb-like structure. The collapse exposed comet ice to the sun, which transformed the ice into gas.
Comet 17P/Holmes photo gallery shows various images of the comet from different places around the globe. For a relative growth of the comet’s brightness check out the graphical representation on NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day.
From Sky & Telescope: the comet remains as bright as ever to the naked eye, though its average surface brightness continues to drop as it enlarges. As of last night it was 14 arcminutes wide, or nearly ¼° — half the apparent diameter of the Moon. During this dark-of-the-Moon period (which will end around November 15th), seize whatever chance the weather allows to show family, friends, and strangers something memorable. This is how new amateur astronomers are born.
