Steve Jobs and Apple are setting new trends most every six months. Apple had a special press conference today to introduce three new product lines and features to their successful Ipod and Imac product lines.
Apparently, this is a new marketing concept they tried a few months back when they unveiled the new Ipod Nano. Jobs, delivering the intended news about the new Motorolla phone with Itunes, stopped toward the end of his presentation and said …’One more thing.’ Then he presented the product they were successful in keeping a secret…the new Ipod Nano.
This was pretty cool since Apple spent the great part of last year suing bloggers for releasing private Apple news into the blogsphere. ‘The One More Thing hype’ was expanded today as Jobs spoke to the press and fans today in a press conference that was thrilling, ground-breaking and complimented by Wynton Marsalis and the CEO of Disney, Robert Iger. Some amazing new things announced today too.
Apple has sold one million Imacs in the past year and introduced a brand new Imac that is even thinner, plus an Isight camera embedded into the new monitor. The camera has a better image and noew Apple has videoconferencing right of the box. They’ve used the camera to write a script to create a program called PhotoBooth too.
Photobooth actually uses a white screen to flash the user and several effects on the camerea to send and play goofy images. You have to see Jobs playing with the Mac to understand the fascination with this computer that speaks little about the technology, but revels in what you can do. Plenty of laughs, ohs and ahs and possibilities with this new feature.
On top of that, Apple has added one more feature to the new Imac called Front Row. He describes this new app as an ‘incredible new way’ to enjoy media from your living room coach and they have developed a thin remote control. This little remote was demonstrated onstage and amazingly, I was reminded of my Tivo screen as Jobs clicked through music, graphics, photos, video and more. Movie buffs will love the new movie trailer features that stream automatically from your computer to Apple.com.
Best thing about the new Imacs….no increase in price, but plenty of new features!
Apple has shipped close to 30 million Ipods and they own 75% of the market of all Mp3 players. That’s amazing news and part of the reason why they are on top of the world now with their 27% increase in earnings from last year.
Other news announced today was the introduction of the new white Ipod that includes photos and video. Jobs also debuted two new commercials, one with U2 and another he said took two years in the making- an underwhelming Emenim video that paled in comparison to the early ground-breaking Mac commercials.
Apple also presented new features to their trend-setting music service Itunes. They’ve added a gift service to give people music via email – giving songs, playlist and albums. Customer reviews are also added to the new music in Itunes 6.0. Apple takes on an Amazon service with a personalized service that matches your purchases with recommendations.
One of the interesting things about Itunes 6.0 is the new idea of selling videos online with 2000 videos. That’s new and impressive with a $1.99 price tag. For the same price, Itunes customers can now download video of Pixar short files, Jobs old video animation company. Itunes 6.0 is ready with a free download today.
At the end of the presentation, Jobs slides into the ‘One More Thing’ marketing mantra into his press conference announcing that Apple is now delivering TV shows to the Ipod. ABC (connected with Jobs and Disney) are now introducing their new TV shows with Desperate Housewifes and Lost – announcing a 5 show deal to buy TV shows to play on your computer and your Ipod. Not a bad move for the sluggish network that used to be the landmark for UHF!
Current episodes of all of these TV shows are now available the next day, so you can buy your favorite episode for what…$1.99 and best of all ad free. Ad agencies are gonna love that. Watch out TIVO!
Hate them or love them. Apple continues to lead the industry and all the other tech companies are biting their lips trying to catch up. The video today confirms that Apple is headed into the personal lifestyle business. They have the right “intersection” of personal mediums all combined into a stylish combination of hardware, software and content that are easy to use and fascinating.
You gotta hand it to Jobs. No other CEO delivers a presentation like him. Black T-Shirt, brown slacks. Two small computers and a tremendous story to tell. At the end of his presentation, Jobs introduced an ‘Encore’ introducing Wynton Marsalis (he’s been real busy since Katrina) and worked together with his band to perform a whirring sample of acoustic jazz on the California stage.
What a show!
CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VIDEO OF TODAY’S PRESS CONFERENCE