Entering Apple Store, 5th Avenue, New York

It seems that the Kindle has provided kindling for the fiery interest in e-readers, and the craze is in full blaze at CES this week. I have watched videos/photos and read descriptions of all the new styles, and it is mind-boggling, which I think feeds beautifully into Apple’s hands. Yes, we examine the variations of things we can do with these brands, but what they are missing is what Apple has become genius at….keeping it simple and training us in the possibilities of all things Apple. If you think Marketing is getting you to buy what you think you need, then Steve Jobs already has us converted to the path.

I was committed to the PC world until I realized Apple was addressing my diminishing list of needs to be in the PC world. I still have a PC laptop, but I can already say that the next one I have to buy will be an Apple. I had purchased an iMAC for the high-definition 24″ screen and to use it primarily for leisure computing. However, one of my clients worked in the Apple world exclusively and gave me a laptop to use while I worked on their projects. I immersed myself in the business application world of Apple and was sold. When I went back to my lonely PC, it was like all the megawatt lights had shut down. There was no visual fix; it was grey and utilitarian. I missed the spotlight that Apple had shone on me. So when they came out with the higher definition 27″ screen and the higher definition laptops, well, my conversion was sealed. When I asked an acquaintance how he liked the higher definition screen, he said that he had thought his eye sight had improved.

I still love the PC world, but it really comes down to the applications you are using. I never really thought Apple could be taken seriously for business applications, but if your applications are documents, presentations, movies, graphics and creating things of beauty, then iWork is great. In hindsight, it may have been the iPhone that sealed the deal. I struggled with the iPhone at first because I just wanted a phone and email device and here I was getting all these new applications that transformed the device at whim. I didn’t know that I wanted them, but apparently, I did.

When travelling, I found myself in Apple stores checking things out and talking to my iPhone fraternity/tribe of friends. The uniformity in design and futuristic flair caught my attention, especially at the Apple store on 5th Avenue in New York. There was an overall logic that tied all the shiny gadgets together into one common technological lifestyle and I saw customers from 8 to 80 years old. That’s part of the genius that it connects multi-generations as well.

So it is easy to see why all these e-reader manufacturers are hyping the concept right now, but what they are really doing is getting our attention and further “preparing the way for Apple” and what this new Apple Tablet will do to enhance our lives. App developers, game designers, clothing and purse manufacturers are ready to romp. We’re waiting for Moses to come down from the iMountain. Now, that is successful marketing.

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