and why do i talk about my sad first experience with a keynote? blame it on yoda. inspired and guided, he asked his followers a week ago to learn and have fun watching the keynote for iPad 2 set for webcast on 0200 today this side of the oyster. don't get me wrong, i am eager to learn about iPad 2 because it's been in my sights right smack in the middle of the crosshairs as i've been toying with the idea of raising my presentation to clients a notch higher with an iPad instead of a laptop.
so yesterday afternoon, there i was direct from part time teaching, cherishing the days ahead before my next class on Monday, sitting langorously as the light train trudged on with the manila cityside swooping by my peripheral vision. i ponder the precious time that i could devote to so many worthwhile endeavors like selling, calling prospects, setting appointments, if only i can set my fingertips to phone...
i met the sunset with a light heart and a happy face, i was eager for my 2 hour walk after sunset while listening to uplifting and motivating podcasts but with the setting sun came the rising tide of rain, light like a shower which turned into the unmistakable pitter patter that turns the hours. thus i turned to the tube but instead of being relieved by soothing melodies i unrest, irritated by the whining of the idols screaming like banshees. much more to my distress was the lost chance to listen to my podcasts and be uplifted far from the maddening crowd.
midnight i revisited emails from yoda that i have scanned through when i received them and now i tried to take them to heart. an hour before the presentation i started searching for it on apple.com, finding nothing, i settled for the liveblogging of the event on gizmodo.com & arstechnica.com
it was an entirely new experience, participating albeit passively as i just read the posts, this liveblogging where instead of hearing and seeing apple's keynote on iPad 2 i get to read about it as it is rolled out, getting pictures as the liveblog posts them, reading the side comments of the bloggers, laughing and being entertained with Jason Chen's comments on gizmodo.
so there i was vicariously experiencing the keynote delivered by Steve Jobs, who according to Jason Chen should be a Best Actor awardee for his presentation. and this is what i experienced on this liveblogging
Jobs started his keynote discussing the major successes of iBooks and iTunes, the numbers of downloads, subscribers, and accounts to date segueing into the revolutionary products of apple and their watershed years: the iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007, the iPad in 2010, and finally 2011: Year of iPad 2. So it was that Jobs introduced iPad 2 as a mindblowing revolutionary magical product that is faster, thinner and lighter than its predecessor. faster because of the new dual core A5 chip, lighter because it is only 1.3 lbs thus, 33% thinner than its predecessor yet it retains the same 10 hours battery life. and then the doodads - an inventive and really nice folding cover that is not screwed on to but attached and aligned with the iPad using magnets, cameras front and back, and applications like facetime, photobooth, AirPlay to stream over your wifi network movies and music form other devices, the beefed up iMovie and extremely interesting Garage Band that changes the tablet into a veritable musical instrument, correction, instruments!
truth be told however 3 words are enough to push me over the brink: faster, lighter, thinner. translate those 3 into latin and they'd probably pass off for inscriptions on a seal, they're enough for one who had an iPad deprived childhood haha! i am sure there are a lot of other users and techies who would view the improvements as nothing to crow about, let them milk it in their own blogs.
and i digress from my task.
let's move on to the marketing side of the presentation, i must admit that the austerity of the stage forces the audience to focus on the presentation and on nothing else. but considering that the subject of the presentation and how great apple is in crafting its user interface, thus, fantastic slide presentations, i guess if they present in a more handsome stage that won't detract from the presentation or the experience.
i noticed how Jobs was good at describing how he feels with his product not just how technically great or superior it was over the rest. He kept saying that his product/s blow/s him away, they're mind blowing, revolutionary, faster, lighter, thinner - words that deliver images and feelings to his listeners that no technical information can ever do. and i am not surprised, Ziglar says above all, selling is a transference of feeling.
what i like most in this keynote, is that the slides used keywords only to highlight, focus and lead the attention of the participants. no lengthy discussions unlike this post. features were handled by other key personnel and architects of the applications such as iMovie and Garage band using snapshots of those applications. and these slides show crisp huge images that seem to make the product float above everything else:
courtesy of Ars Technica
courtesy of Ars Technica
courtesy of Ars Technica
then came the price, delivered in a sweeping and difficult to miss statement with a single slide showing that iPad 2 in all its variants are identically priced with their counterpart predecessors. it was hard not to agree with apple's proposition on the value of its products. yes, the resolution may have remained the same but this is a faster, lighter, thinner product that retained its legendary 10 hours battery life, and therefore more valuable than the price it will be selling for on March 11 in the USA and March 25 elsewhere (this pearl of the orient not included).
now, did my first liveblogging experience make me want to buy an iPad 2? Oh yes it did and that happened when Jobs mentioned that there was no price increase. it was like a vindication for all those improvements (mind you however, i've never had an iPad, i'm a part-time teacher and a budding salesman, which is probably why i want one now) and reason enough to push me over the brink, hock the silver, sell the masters to have this doodad. i can imagine how it can change my presentations and help me land some fat cows!
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