• 10Oct 11

  Apple Rhetoric

  "See why 1984 won't be like '1984'." -Apple Macintosh advertisement

  "Make the ultimate upgrade. To a Mac." -Apple online store ad for its Mac computers

  "It just works." -Steve Jobs, describing the iCloud

  Apple is good at a lot of things, and even those who hate the company the most can't deny it. It makes some of the best technology in the business- if you look at the specs, this can't be argued. It's also popular. Just look around; Apple products are everywhere.

  And I'm not going to lie, they are REALLY good at advertising.

  I mean, look at advertising for Mac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad. By using pop culture references, humor, emotional connections, and straight-up saying they're better than their competitors, they are very good at getting into people's heads that they're a different kind of company. In a way, this is true. The Apple brand is both popular and trusted by a lot of people, which most brands can't say. Also, I think Apple consumers often stick with Apple, simply for convenience. They can easily transfer their files between Apple products, but it's not so easy between Apple products and other companies'. I think this gives Apple an edge that other companies don't have. Why bother sticking with Samsung if their phones are good but their tablets aren't, and all your files are compatible with another companies' tablet? (As an example; I don't know much about the Galaxy products, but the Galaxy Tab was just okay to me when I played with it a bit.)

  See what I mean? They stand out because of their business tactics and their advertising, by saying their products are for cool people (Mac Vs. PC), by affiliating iPods with popular bands (U2, for example), by bringing in actors to talk about using their products (Will Ferrell, for example, was in one ad), and by appealing to people's emotions about family and education (iPad ads). I think it's helpful that they're confident enough in their products to just say they're better than their competitors, too. Their exclusivity concept- one that gamers are well aware of- is also an important edge. Of course, this wouldn't work if they didn't have anything to back up their arguments, but clearly there must be something that's getting them ahead of the competition.

  What's my point? I'm not saying they're bad people for it. I mean, they're a business; that's how it works. Maybe my point is that Apple places more store in advertising and making their products look good than many other companies do, and that's part of why they're one of the biggest technology-producing companies in the world. It might be good to use them as an example.

  • Posted Oct 10, 2011 9:17 pm GMT
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• 6Oct 11

  Apple news updates

  Well as we all know, a lot has been going on with Apple, my personal favorite company, in the last few days. I just thought I'd share my opinions on such things.

  

  First, before we get to what's on everyone's mind, I thought I'd talk about the "Let's Talk iPhone" event. I watched it and have seen all the info about the 4S and the price cuts and changes to their other products. A lot of people seemed to think the iPhone 4 needed to be completely remodeled or changed, so they were disappointed.I wasn't for a few reasons.

  You see, I'm happy with my iPhone. I don't care which phone has the most pixels, takes the best pictures, or even which one has the most music or games. Honestly, what I care about is that I like the phone. When I tried out all the different phones available at my Verizon store (the Droids, Thunderbolts, etc.), I found that the iPhone's interface was the easiest to use for me. It felt natural. I also thought it's touch screen was the most responsive, and I knew that my iTunes music that was on my iPod before would transfer to the phone without any hassle. It was an easy pick for me.

  I didn't have to know that the iPhone 4's retina display was one of the best on the market, or that it doesn't have the biggest screen, or that iTunes is the biggest music retailer in the world, or that the App Store has more apps on it than any other store of its kind on other phones, or anything like that. It was nice to know, but the main thing I noticed was that I was comfortable with the phone after just minutes of messing with it.

  Therefore, I generally thought that the iPhone 4 didn't need upgrading. I know that they're basically just staying competitive with Samsung, HTC, Motorola, and all the other companies by keeping the specs up to date, but I don't feel "behind" because I just used my upgrade and therefore won't be getting a 4S. Not that the camera, video, processing, and calling updates aren't nice touches, let alone the big news, Siri (a voice command system that makes it so you can tell your iPhone what to do and it'll do it), but it's not as though my phone is either obsolete or bad because of that. It's still a great phone that'll run iOS 5 (the new operating system) and the iCloud (which makes your Apple products sync their files together wirelessly), so I'm happy.

  In other big news, well:

  

  Steve Jobs died yesterday. He was a great man- so much so that some called him the Thomas Edison of our time. He was innovative, creative, and a pioneer. His ideas have defined a large amount of modern technology, as well as much of the market for that technology. My generation wouldn't have grown up in the world we live in today without his contributions. The Macintosh, Pixar, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad, and everything in between.

  Thank you Mr. Jobs. May you rest in peace.

  • Posted Oct 6, 2011 7:34 pm GMT
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• 3Oct 11

  Why I've been so quiet recently (yes, this pertains to games)

  Hi all! In case you missed it, I moved my book reviews to a separate blog, which is a more fitting place for them than a site called GAMEspot. (dur) Since I've been focusing on reading and writing so much, that's kind of where my attention is right now, but I thought I'd also share with you why my taste in games is changing.

  It hasn't disappeared, not to worry. It's just moved away from what you might call "hardcore" gaming. After investing hours of time into games with big, intriguing stories, I've just... lost interest. The majority of the time the stories in books interest me more, for one, and for another, I just don't have the time, money, or will to go sit in front of a game console and play for hours on end. I'm not into shooters and other such games that are both mindless and expensive (in my opinion) and never will be, so I'm not turning in that direction either. I've just really gotten hooked on "lighter" games, I suppose. Games that are cheaper, as much or more fun, and are just a quick distraction rather than a huge time sink.

  This pretty much started when I got one of these guys in June.

  

  Yeah, so my birthday gift from pretty much my whole family was an iPhone 4 (black, Verizon, 16 GB edition, a cool $199). I'm sure some of you are jealous, others love Apple (or at least iPhones) and are glad to hear I got in on one of their big-name products, and others despise Apple with a burning passion for whatever reason, since people seem to either love or hate the company.

  Well, I'm here to tell you that I am an Apple fanboy. It's hard to deny that fact when I loved my old iPod Mini, my iPod Nano that followed, and now love my iPhone 4 most of all. Not only did I like each of those products, but each one was infinitely better than the last. Plus, I want an iPad, a MacBook Pro, or both (I'm writing this on my Toshiba Satellite, which I'm not a very big fan of). The iPods got me hooked, but the iPhone made me an all-out huge fan of the company.

  Why? As Steve Jobs would say about an Apple product before he stepped down as CEO, "It just works." I'm sure some people have had bad experiences with Apple, just like with any other company, but I've really enjoyed their products, especially the iPhone. It does things a lot of other products do, except much better, and in one convenient package that goes in my pocket. My phone (obviously), music, movies, books (stored in the nifty iBooks app that works better than even the Kindle app in my opinion), internet browsing, email, alarm clock, calendar, watch, calculator, GPS, camera and video camera all fit in my pocket, which is pretty awesome in my opinion.

  Not to mention the five games I have off the App Store so far, which each cost $2.99 or less and have all been played way more than anything on my Wii or PS3 recently.

  

  I can organize all of that however I want, and the interface... Well, I won't lie. That's one of the best part about Apple products to me. The interfaces of iPods, iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks (I've played with them at Best Buy a bit) are just intuitively obvious if you ask me, unlike many other products I've dealt with. The features that you wouldn't automatically think of doing (like hitting the sleep button and home button to take a picture of the screen on an iPhone) are explained in the instructions, obviously, and once you do it you don't feel like there was a steep learning curve because it works without a hitch. There's a pretty good chance an iPhone can do what you need it to do. At least, that's what I've found, because it has yet to fail me.

  So before I bore you with any more of my Apple loving (maybe I'll do that in a different blog ), I'll get to my point about gaming: that's the only gaming I've actually done recently. The five games I have, Plants Vs. Zombies (epic, and $2.99 for the same thing you'll get for $19.99 on a DS!), Robot Unicorn Attack (yes, you read that right), Age of Zombies, Fruit Ninja, and Tetris (an interesting incarnation that I'll probably detail in yet another blog) are getting more attention than any product I have designed specifically for gaming. That's not to say I'll never play Zelda again, but Apple has me hooked right now with a product that can do almost everything I usually do in my free time, except better.

  

  Just thought I'd give you a little update about where my gaming mind is. And if you happen to have a smartphone with a nice big App Store like Apple's, plus some free time, I would seriously recommend checking out some of the games. They can be pretty addictive.

  Like I said, I might do some blogs in future more specifically about Apple products, Apple rhetoric (which is one of many reasons their products sell so well), and the games I've gotten off of the App Store. I'll probably also do one when iOS 5 comes out, the new operating system for the iPhone, which will probably happen within the next week or so.

  That's all for now. Later!

  • Posted Oct 3, 2011 11:17 pm GMT
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