The Random Comic Strip

The Random Comic Strip

Words to live by...

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and to rest afterward."

[Spanish Proverb]

Ius luxuriae publice datum est

(The right to looseness has been officially given)

"Everyone carries a part of society on his shoulders," wrote Ludwig von Mises, "no one is relieved of his share of responsibility by others. And no one can find a safe way for himself if society is sweeping towards destruction. Therefore everyone, in his own interest, must thrust himself vigorously into the intellectual battle."

Apparently, the crossword puzzle that disappeared from the blog, came back.


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Got yours yet?


The other day, after much hype, the new iPad was launched... and immediately sold out. There are headlines all over the place announcing this. I could have announced it weeks ago. Correction: technically speaking, I could have predicted it weeks ago. It's happened often enough that the pattern is clear to anyone except a few die hard Apple fans.

Apple leaks rumors, via unnamed "Apple insiders", of a new iPad months before a product launch. The rumors eventually get acknowledged by official comments from named Apple sources but no details are provided. Then those rumors change to rumors of the improvements, enhancements, and what not. These eventually settle down and the announcement date is established. Sometimes that date is postponed before it arrives. As the date approaches, the excitement builds, the rumors fly, the "buzz" builds.

The launch date is announced, the enhancements/improvements get finalized.

As the date nears to a few days, the lines outside some Apple stores begin to form. And grow. The "smart" ones get on the virtual line; they pre-order online.

The launch date arrives, the media reports, and the product sells out within days... if not hours.

The smartest guys in the room, possibly the universe, have underestimated demand... once again.

Do I really need to congratulate Apple on their marketing strategy? Or does the adage, "A sucker is born every minute" suffice?

Don't get me wrong, Apple makes fine products and the iPad is as game-changing a product as the iPhone was. Tablets are the future of portable computing, I think. The lines between phone and computer are blurring rapidly.

But I remember when many people traded their cars in almost every year. Just to get the newest, the latest, or the largest tailfins.


Maybe  nothing really changes...

2 comments:

Torggil said...

There is an argument about macs and viruses.  The saying being that macs have fewer viruses.  A mate of mine said that it wasn't true, apple has lots of viruses like iCloud and iTunes...

Douglas4517 said...

 [snicker] Apple products are quite good though I think the lack of viruses and such is more due to the fact that they have about 5% or so of the total market than that they are not vulnerable to attack. Just my opinion, of course.