iPad Air | Missing the mark for Millenialls?

I think I must have watched the new iPad Air ad a dozen times during this course. Call me sentimental or whatever, but it still moves me and gives me goosebumps. I like it more than Apple’s other ads, although they are sheer brilliance also.
It’s good to hear from such an avid user of Apple products like yourself and your insights into the Gen-Y psyche are immeasurably valuable for this course.

To speak directly to some of your comments:

• “What millennials (such as myself) dislike more than anything is being told what to do or how to do it—particularly if you seem disingenuous." I have a theory borrowed from Geoffrey A. Moore that might help explain some of Apple’s behavior, but I am astonished at how much nuance you, and presumably many other Gen-Y’s have picked out in this ad. Do you honestly believe they are not listening to you? What have they missed that you so sorely need in the iPad Air? From your words, it sounds like a new entrant has a good opportunity to swoop in with a 1984-style ad of its own — only this time the villain would be Apple and not IBM. Do you really think Apple is becoming like IBM was in the 80’s?


• "…lectured by a gentleman who starred in a 25 year-old movie" — I agree, you’re the only other person who sees significance in the fact that Dead Poet’s Society is a boomer/early-X movie. I discussed the point about two miles further up :). You’ve added some spice to the debate.


• Moto-X ad: I like it. I like it a lot! This insight of yours is amazing Angelo. This is the type of discussion that will make xMOOCs the perfect complement to professional on-going education. Rich, insightful, imaginative, nuanced.


• “A group crowded around the ad and the enthusiasm was unmistakable. We chose our favorite colors, wondered what technology was involved in the ad. Some literally cheered while pressing its buttons." — incredible to hear this story. Thank you so much for sharing. This is a treat! 


• “while this kind of visual advertising may tug at the heartstrings, it doesn’t connect with a large section of Apple’s target market.” — which brings me to my Geoffery A. Moore theory. Instead of re-writing it from a post in another forum, I will direct you there to see what you think (you probably know it already), but I will try to summarize it as it directly applies to iPad — not Apple, but specifically iPad.

* iPad’s growth has reached the stage “late majority”
* Innovators, Early Adopters and Early majority were predominantly Gen-Y
* Growth for new unit sales is with the remaining Boomer/X (and general skeptics) of the personal computing market. Most of those cohorts are in mid-late stage of their careers and generally don’t buy stuff “because it’s cool”. They buy it because it does something valuable for them.
* Apple wants growth in business/industrial markets.

I think Apple also wants to be taken more seriously by business and industry. The business community has viewed iPad as a neat tool for “viewing stuff”. With iPad’s new emphasis on Content Creation, Apple is hoping to resonate with the business evangelists who see the value of what it can mean for them — hence all the scenes of wind turbines and CAD 3D models.

In short, I think you have made a very astute observation. Apple may think they already own you. That is an over-simplification, of course. But they don’t expect to lose you. They are gunning for (i) the conservative in the personal-use market and (ii) the business user (conservative by default). Apple wants iPad to become the de facto standard tool for business communication and collaboration(and bring along the once “doubting Thomas’s” of the personal-use market).
That is why I think the ad doesn’t resonate well with you.