Monday, January 31, 2011

It's not 1984. Not even close

So Motorola wants to take a shot at Apple.

I understand the desire. Apple has all the momentum and a lot of positive PR, in spite of their self-righteous paranoia.

The Android platform is pretty good. Nice interface, lots of apps, and it's intuitive to use. Is it better than iOS? Will the next Droid be better than an iPhone? I have no idea.

But I doubt this teaser will change any minds or incite any action. Features are nice, but a phone is much more than its features. It's a brand statement. And launching a campaign that says, "Apple's become what they originally railed against." just seems desperate.

I'm not sure I want to carry around a phone that says, "I'm desperate."

1 comment:

  1. The other thing is that only tech nerds are even having this argument, and they're so deeply entrenched on both sides that nobody is going to defect any time soon. To even have this argument in public, in an ad campaign, is assuming the general public is involved in this conversation — which they aren't. Specs don't overturn markets, and neither will vague references to a tech community conversation most people aren't even involved in. If specs and "openness" were all it took to unseat the mighty iPhone, the Evo would have "killed" it months ago. Yet people are lining up in droves to buy the iPhone 4 from VZW. This ad is the punchline to a fanboy's inside joke, and I can't see how that helps Motorola regain any market foothold — especially if they aren't even going to get the ear buds right and fully commit to the satire.

    I'm also sick and tired of this straw man argument that the iPhone is your only choice. It's not. It never was. It never will be. It wasn't even the first smart phone — just a better one. To go on to say that Apple is somehow the new Microsoft is laughably ignorant because market share (with the exception of iPod) doesn't support that point of view. Mac is only 20% of the consumer computing market. iPhone is only 4% of all mobile phones. They're a success because people are choosing them over Microsoft and Google, not because there is no choice.

    If anything, ads like this just go to show how looming Apple's presence is in the market. You're absolutely right, the stench of desperation is in the air.

    ReplyDelete