After getting called out for having an issue every cell phone has, Apple did a photo shoot of a testing facility that every other cell phone manufacturer also has and used it as marketing.
Your comment reminds me of the Mad Men episode where they create a Lucky Strike ad campaign. The ad team offers up the slogan "It's Toasted" and the Lucky team replies that all cigarettes are toasted.
"It's Toasted" became the Lucky Strike slogan despite their protests and was a huge success. This wasn't entirely fiction of course, it was based on a true story.
We were talking about a similar thing at the Software Industry Conference today: apparently, telling people vacuously true things matters in some circumstances. For example, giving reasons using the word "because" causes compliance to requests: asking to cut in line at the copier works some of the time, asking to cut in line "because I'm in a rush" works more, but asking to cut in line at the copier "because I need to make copies" works almost as much (i.e. much better than having no explanation)!
If anyone else "dares"? What, like Apple's whole plan was to make competitors look bad if they publicize their facilities, as opposed to just doing damage control for the ass-whupping they've been getting in the press?
Does Steve Jobs have a curly mustache and monocle I don't know about?
Yes, I intentionally exaggerated. Apple isn't ruling the market with an iron fist (or a monocle). They are however making confident, clever marketing moves to continue to build their brand in inventive ways nobody has really done before. This recent one is especially clever in light of the fact that what they're doing isn't particularly inventive in an engineering sense, so the innovation is purely in public image. It's not going to completely counter their recent tailspin, but it's a lot stronger than I can imagine most other companies attempting. The only other one that I would believe capable of this sort of play is Coca-Cola.
And so yes, if anyone else does dare try the "we have cool testing facilities" move, they'll be patently copying Apple's marketing — not that this hasn't happened before.
The only other companies I've seen try to spotlight their facilities as being really cool and beneficial to customers have been car companies with their automated assembly lines and Intel. It doesn't work in a lot of circumstances, but there is definitely a huge cultural significance in the amazement at technology (or if you're not amazed, it's just nerd porn).
Well uh, Apple markets its products as being beyond Earth technology, extraterrestrial, life-changing, as if God himself had bestowed it upon us mere mortals...
... So yes, I don't think that's a ridiculous word to use.
If you haven't been following, the design of the antenna makes is such that you can short-circuit the antenna if you hold wrong. Even in areas with good to great coverage, this can make you drop calls and have weak or no reception.
Poor reception by AT&T is another real problem, but not at issue here.
Edit: More to the point, the grip that causes perhaps the greatest attenuation of signal is one of the more comfortable, natural grips for the phone. The effectiveness of any phone's antenna can be reduced if you hold it right. Most phones are designed so that the comfortable, natural ways to hold the phone minimally interfere with the signal.
Sure. Apple don't seem to acknowledge that their design is stupid anywhere. People will hold phones how they want to hold phones. It's ridiculous for anyone to claim they're holding it 'wrong'. If they're holding it 'wrong' then apple designed it 'wrong'.
Who needs those photos as marketing? I've seen enough YouTube videos entitled "Free cases!". Apple know how to play their market, those photos are just for the interested technical people.
Yea, because apple actually did it. :) Where was google with their photos of their insanely cool lab? If you wana take a jab at them make sure to kick them while they are down or they might think of a good comeback.
