Okay Geek Farm
Kevin Rose is (sort of) right about the new iTV
Brandon Davenport
I’ve noticed Kevin’s been blogging a bit more, and I’m really digging the topics he un-fluffs. He’s recently posted an article on why he thinks the iTV will “change everything”, but we all have to remember… he is quite the Apple fan-boy, but that doesn’t detract from the credibility of the article because 99% of the people buying the iTV will be fan-boys!
When you think of it, Kevin Rose represents a huge group of people — geeks, but namely Apple geeks — who buy up every single new gadget from Apple no matter what the cost is. There are some people who love Apple so much, that they dedicate their wallets to the company, and these are the people Apple relies on to infect the general public.
This group of hipsters is Apple’s direct gateway to the homes and pockets of the average Joe, and when someone like Kevin Rose writes a post like this, Apple’s future chances of success increase. This is a major advantage Apple has over companies like Microsoft, or Google — they have a very large amount of die-hard fans that will do anything to own the next iPhone — even line up for days at a time.
Knowing that people go to such lengths to purchase new iDevices, we all know what’s coming — a very hyped “Keynote” from Apple, with a series of editorials and news following closely behind. After the iTV’s launch date is announced, there will be journalists and reporters hovering over Apple retail stores, ready for launch day. During the whole ordeal, there will be non-stop buzz about the new iTV, and speculations of “faults” or “problems” with the device will flood the internet. It’s totally predictable, and insanely easy for bloggers and news agencies to write about.
In my mind, this is proof that Apple’s success strategy is working, and they are (and have been) successfully leveraging the persuasion and persistence fan-boys are known for, and sticking to a memorable pattern of major events. Now all we need to do is sit and wait for the resistance from what Apple fans call “Apple haters”, and write another article about that, I guess.
But in the end, this is why Apple is king of marketing — they know which buttons to push to in-directly persuade a heavyweight like Kevin Rose to write an article about their un-announced product that will “change everything”, and start a chain effect — but the biggest factor is Apple’s ability to create buzz about their products, without even taking action. Most of Kevin’s post is speculation, but when you think of it — when was Kevin ever wrong about new Apple stuff? (and how did I end up in this loop of excitement?)
