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‘Boring’ Apple iPad advert debuts at Oscars
Apple criticised for its distinctly mainstream iPad advert, but its tablet could be a hit among bookworms
Apple ran its first iPad advert during TV coverage of last night's Oscars, which Steve Jobs attended. But in keeping with the awards ceremony itself, the ad was generally considered underwhelming.
The commercial (above) is essentially a reworking of the iPhone ads, with the hands of a man and a woman taking turns to play with the iPad's whizzy interface, reading ebooks, checking the news etc…
Everything about the ad is mainstream, from the film (Star Trek) the man settles down to watch in his living room (is there something wrong with his TV?) to the clothes worn (jeans, probably from Gap).
CNET spoke for virtually all the tech websites when it wrote: "Apple's products are far more powerful than any of its ads. Everywhere you see them, your eyes and your interest temporarily lose their stasis."
The ad did at least confirm the iPad's US launch date of April 3 – Brits will have to wait until later the same month to get their hands on one - but it adds to the mounting sense of ennui surrounding Apple's supposedly game-changing product. The underwhelming response has led to suggestions that Apple is considering dropping the price tag of the iPad in the event of poor initial sales.
One new survey of 3,100 Americans will at least give any worried Apple execs a boost: apparently 40 per cent of Americans considering buying an ereader in the next 90 days will buy an iPad. That's devastating news for the current market leader Amazon, which sells ebooks on its Kindle. But spare a thought for Sony – only one per cent said they were planning to buy the company's Reader. ·
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The biggest surprises on the list are probably the metro areas of Monterey-Salinas, and Santa Barbara-Santa Marina, Calif., which come in eighth and ninth place. Monterey-Salinas, described by Experian Simmons as "upscale, coastal," is a relatively small region south of the Bay Area that the surveyor calls "home to barely a half million adults and only one (busy) Apple store." Perhaps a result of their affluence (in some parts, anyway) and relative proximity to Apple's headquarters and Silicon Valley, these regions rank ahead of far bigger metro areas like Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Portland, Ore.; Atlanta; and Philadelphia.