Apple channels Disney's 'The Little Mermaid' to sell iPad-based freedom
A new ad for the iPad Pro has surfaced, using a song from Disney's "The Little Mermaid" to promote the tablet as a better computing platform than desktops in offices.
Published to Apple's YouTube account but not listed, the minute-long ad titled "iPad - Your next computer is not a computer" takes a fantastical view of day-to-day computing. The ad does so via a well-known song from Disney's "The Little Mermaid."
The song "Part of Your World" in the animation is sung by the character Ariel, who longs to be part of the world that lives above water. Apple takes the same concept and uses it as a lament by indoor-bound office workers looking at someone using an iPad Pro outside.
The workers are surrounded by lots of technology, are symbolically attached to a chair by a cable like a ball and chain, deals with masses of cables under desks. The actors then all look out of a window at another person outdoors, using their iPad Pro to do work or to be in a FaceTime conversation.
Apple concludes the ad with the text "Your next computer is not a computer." This is a callback to a previous ad campaign that used the same phrase to market the iPad Pro as an alternative to notebooks and desktops.
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Published to Apple's YouTube account but not listed, the minute-long ad titled "iPad - Your next computer is not a computer" takes a fantastical view of day-to-day computing. The ad does so via a well-known song from Disney's "The Little Mermaid."
The song "Part of Your World" in the animation is sung by the character Ariel, who longs to be part of the world that lives above water. Apple takes the same concept and uses it as a lament by indoor-bound office workers looking at someone using an iPad Pro outside.
The workers are surrounded by lots of technology, are symbolically attached to a chair by a cable like a ball and chain, deals with masses of cables under desks. The actors then all look out of a window at another person outdoors, using their iPad Pro to do work or to be in a FaceTime conversation.
Apple concludes the ad with the text "Your next computer is not a computer." This is a callback to a previous ad campaign that used the same phrase to market the iPad Pro as an alternative to notebooks and desktops.
Stay on top of all Apple news right from your HomePod. Say, "Hey, Siri, play AppleInsider," and you'll get latest AppleInsider Podcast. Or ask your HomePod mini for "AppleInsider Daily" instead and you'll hear a fast update direct from our news team. And, if you're interested in Apple-centric home automation, say "Hey, Siri, play HomeKit Insider," and you'll be listening to our newest specialized podcast in moments.
Comments
People think Apple is holding back features on iPadOS because they don’t wanna canibalize Mac sales but this ad and the slogan disprove that.
Maybe you should get your eyes checked. Or discover these things called "trees" and "overhangs" that generate this new technology called "shade."
The choice between buying an iPad or buying a Mac only comes into play when the software you need runs on both platforms. That’s when the pros and cons of each platform can be weighed. But the decision process should always start with the software, not the hardware. Hardware without software is just an expensive lap warmer.
Frankly, I don’t understand the consternation that some folks are having about iPad (Pro) vs Mac. If you’re buying an iPad in hopes of the software that you need to run will eventually come to the iPad, perhaps because the latest iPad Pro has the same SoC as the latest MacBooks, you are setting yourself up for disappointment and have nobody to blame other than yourself. You can complain all you want that Apple hasn’t lived up to your hopes and dreams, but until Apple commits to delivering something and announces it, your complaints are not going to get you anywhere, at least not any time soon. Maybe 3-5 years from now Apple will get around to what you wish they would deliver today.
I said it before and I’ll say it again - buying any computer, including and iPad (Pro), should always start with the software. Depending on your needs you may not even have a choice, e.g., certain games, high end sw dev platforms, legacy apps, etc. The only reason I still have a full-up Windows machine is because I have to run certain very specific legacy apps that are not available on macOS or Linux, or do not run adequately on VMs. Speaking of VMs, as much as I’d love to have an M1 Mac for all of my needs, the fact that M1 is not supported by VMWare Fusion makes it a non starter as a do-it-all machine. I’m not going to buy an M1 Mac and sit around hoping for full Intel VM compatibility or complain about it not being there. I can either stick with an Intel Mac or buy a Windows machine. I’ve chosen the latter.
When buying a new machine your hopes, dreams, and potentialities are quaint, but when it comes to laying down the cold hard cash - it always starts with the software.
This isn’t just a knock on buyers either, because a lot of the “appeal” that Apple is selling in their ads like the one above is based on the iPad’s hardware, form factor, and touch virtues, not really the software. So Apple is doing its part to get potential buyers all geeked up about escaping the clap trap of traditional desktop computers without telling you that some of the apps you really depend on aren’t available on the iPad. Apple is selling a vision and potentialities that they cannot deliver, not without the software to make it real. So as a buyer you have to look beyond the hype and determine for yourself whether an iPad fills your needs.
Given iPad’s huge sales and high customer satisfaction, there’s a consumer-demand-driven market for just exactly what it is, and as the ad above suggests, for many, it’s all some people will need or want. That then leaves room for MacBooks and Macs to serve their a different tier and use case. It overlaps iPad, and with the announcement of even more fluid interconnectivity in the next OS updates, this means Apple is pushing further into maintaining and advancing each product line, not merging them into one device.