A headline on the Wall Street Journal’s Digits blog blasts: “Can Apple Maintain Status as Religion of the ‘Creative Class’?”
Apple’s core following has traditionally been the creative class. They are graphic designers and artists, and they constitute a “church” of sorts… Apple in a sense cultivated this “underdog” or creative-class status to successfully market its products. Consider Apple’s “Think Different” ad campaign, or its ubiquitous Apple vs. PC ads featuring a young, hip Justin Long… With the release of the iPad, the question is whether Apple can maintain this “underdog” or special status… Still, the iPad is a new kind of product for Apple, one geared not so much to its traditional creative class or “inner church,” as to a general audience merely interested in viewing media and not creating it.
The editor of Make Magazine, Dale Dougherty, is concerned that the iPad is just another consumer platform. “The web has made producers of us all. If the iPad is just another consumer platform for consuming and not creating content, then it will just be another way to watch TV or listen to music or download information,” he writes. For the iPad’s longterm success, he says, Apple needs to make it easier to create content and apps for the iPad — in other words cater it more toward Apple’s traditional core “creative class.”
More of a consumer product than, say, the iPod, or iPhone, or iTouch, Apple seems to recognize the fundamental fact hipsters and digerati sometimes forget: “Every single human being is creative.” And the key to long-run economic success is to enable that.
April 9th, 2010 at 1:00 pm
Maybe… I know lots of people who aren’t graphic designers and use Macs for writing, web surfing, e-mail, etc. We like the easy interface, lack of system crashes, relative freedom from viruses, knowledgable help in the stores, etc. In my case I got my first MAC when what was then called the IBM world was still using non-graphic MS-DOS and you had to do minor programming to use your computer. Even after Windows, the MS world seemed clumsy with the holdover “C drive” and wierd file names.
As I think Richard is saying, the iPod is an ultimate consumer product and the iPhone not far behind. I don’t know if I’ll be getting an iPad but I don’t watch online movies or read e-books. Of course I first thought post-it notes were stupid too, so could change my mind. I’m a medium-late adopter.
I remember reading this comparison somewhere “Steve Jobs transforms any business he goes into. Bill Gates aim is to dominate his.” Different mind sets and in both valid & useful. Before MS took over, there were dozens of incompatible operating systems out there and people couldn’t share files between different computers. But now that Apple is starting to dominate some things (like music) I wonder how the dynamic changes.
April 11th, 2010 at 8:52 pm
I played with the iPad for the first time this evening. Astounding. This is the best device ever for someone like me with ADHD. It’s the most intuitive electronic device I’ve ever used. It will become more repository and organizer of content relied upon and synthesized in the content creation process. Gone are the endless sticky notes and important information written on the backs of other paper (or napkins). Gone are the daybooks that we ADHD and other creatives lose all the time. Gone is the inability to use a computer without a desk or laptap desk– I can use iPad on the couch, in the bathroom, at the bedside– wherever, whenever a new idea strikes, iPad will be there to capture, tag, sort and organize it for me. Gone are the days of getting lost as the maps app is truly amazing. Gone are the days of walking out of the house without an umbrella or in the wrong attire, as the weatherbug app is likewise truly amazing and easy to use. iPad is more than a content consumption machine, it’s the ultimate organizer and productivity tool for the creative classers who, like me, probably lose everything and could accomplish even more if if we could organize our creative thoughts better. In short, the iPad will lead to incredible productivity gains within the creative class. And, recall, this is version 1.0– look at how far the iPhone has evolved within 3 short years. I can’t imagine going to a deposition or to Court without it. I can’t imagine going to my restaurant without it. I can’t imagine going to the bathroom without it (pardon the crass observation). The only thing it won’t do is go inside the gym with me or remain at the bar after drinks begin flowing. I’m curious to use the iWork suite, it has the look and feel of a game-changer from what I’ve seen and, again, these are versions 1.0. iPad will allow creative classers to answer e-mails during idle times and spend more time actually focused when engaged in content creation or work produce. In short, I appreciate the concerns here but the iPad will continue to appeal to the creative core and be relied upon it tremendously in the goal achievement process.