Creating "The Want!"

A couple weeks ago Steve Jobs introduced the MacBook Air.

(Here's a different link if you'd like to watch it directly on your iPod or iPhone.)



I Want it!

I don't need it.

And I don't care that I don't need it.

I Want it.

Just look at it for Pete's sake. It's freakin' gorgeous!

The ability to create this desire is Jobs' gift. The combination of innovative design and presentation creates The Want.

Substance + Performance = The Want

Other companies have elegant products. But none of them create the buzz of a new Apple product. I'm sure it makes them jealous.

Anyone in the performing arts or who does public speaking would do well to study Jobs' presentations.

I had an interesting experience the day of the keynote. Apple did not stream the event live as it has in the past. So I followed the EnGadget blog to get the jist of the announcements and MacRumorsLive photo blog to get a vague, fractured impression of the presentation.

These two sources together gave me all of the facts, but none of The Want because the Jobs performance was missing. So it wasn't until a few hours after, when the recording was posted, that I was able to watch it.

What surprised me was how engaging the presentation was, even though I already knew everything it contained. And it wasn't until I watched the recording that I experienced The Want created by the famed Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field. It's a measure of Jobs' charisma and ego that this term even exists and applies solely to him.

Jobs creates The Want by understanding what happens in a buyer's mind and speaking to our desires. One point where he did this particularly effectively was the lower left corner of this graphic which I'm certain you'll find utterly uninspiring out of context.



Jobs talks about what we all want from a laptop. We want it to be light, yet powerful. He examines the competitions' products and agrees they are light, but enumerates the concessions they must make to achieve this: cramped keyboard, cramped screen, slow processor, thicker than desired.

While many of us might not have cared or even noticed some of these compromises, once they are presented as disadvantages we are primed and ready for his product.

"Yes, Steve, I agree. I wish I didn't have to sacrifice those things to get what I want. I want it all. I deserve it all. I want what you want. So what do you have for me?"

That's when he has you right where he wants you. Before he's even shown you the product or told you it's name, you already want it. Then he gives it to you.



He is the master. And he does it again and again. Before every product announcement, he makes you suddenly, desperately need things you'd never thought about before that moment.

If you are not inclined to watch the entire keynote, jump to 54 minutes in to see the part I have discussed here where Jobs first creates The Want and then introduces the MacBook Air.

There are two other spots in the presentation worth noting. The first, at 50 minutes in, Jim Gianopulous, Chaiman & CEO of 20th Century Fox, pulled a movie out of his ass.

Allow me to clarify. I don't mean, he made an odd or surprising movie recommendation such as "Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey was the best sequel ever and we're proud to bring it to you now in HiDef."

I mean, he reached behind him, jammed his hand into his pants, and pulled a DVD from his butt crack.

I couldn't believe it. My eyes just about rolled right out of my head. So I backed it up and watched it a few more times. Sure enough ... hand, butt crack, movie. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard at anything in a corporate marketing video. They couldn't get this guy a tray or an envelope or an assistant?

Nope.

The chief executive of one of the major movie studios has nowhere better to keep DVDs than in his butt.

Priceless.

Finally, the keynote ended with the song writer from Toy Story singing this bizarre song about how foreigners should go easy on America for our foreign policy mistakes (read corrupt, morally bankrupt and unnecessary war) because at least George W. Bush isn't as bad as incest, infanticide, plagues, Hitler, Stalin and the Spanish Armada.

Um, what?

Yes, we're not quite as bad as the worst crimes, authoritarian regimes and genocides in history, so please keep buying our bullshit and try not to resent us when we open a Taco Bell in Mexico that serves french fries.

He called two U.S. Supreme Court Justices "tight asses". I heartily agree. But how does this sell iPods?

It was really, really odd.

OK. Now for some fun....

Here's the official Apple MacBook Air Ad.



Only genius (or stupidity) is worthy of parody, and here they come.







And here's a hilarous mash up of Jobs' favorite presentation exclamation.

Okaaaaaaaaaay ... Suuuuuuuure ...

Apple's Safari web browser for Windows.

... um ...

I guess that's cool?

With Firefox already available and already my Windows browser of choice I'm just not sure I care, Steve.

I guess I'll just wait and see where they're going with this. I suspect it has something to do with being able to tie services you have on your iPhone to your desktop, even if you're a PC user.

P.S. The first two minutes of the video are hilarious.

The Master Showman

I've been watching Steve Jobs' MacWorld keynote addresses and other presentations for years. He is the master showman. Steve Jobs presents the release of each new product as a "Revolution!" And the world believes him. His genius, drive, charisma, magnificent arrogance and showmanship practically bend space and time around him. People call it the "Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field."



His sheer force of personality is the reason why Apple Computer continues to lead the tech industry. Without him, in 1997 Apple would have fallen into an interesting footnote.

People often hate creative geniuses like Steve Jobs and Carl Sagan for their arrogance. This is precisely why I like them. There are few beliefs more arrogant than, "I can change the world." But it is precisely that attitude and that arrogance that is required to create change.

Visionaries are usually arrogant. Because usually only the arrogant can withstand the monotonous, relentless drum beat of the status quo, "You can't. You won't. It shouldn't be. You'll fail."

"I can. I will. It should be. Watch me."

Every time I watch The Jobs, I fall under his spell. No matter what he's selling, while he's selling it, I'm buying. And it's not until a couple hours later and the effect wears off that I go, "Wait a minute! It's not a revolution! It's just a fucking mouse!"

But I love him and admire him for it, for his ability to make me believe and to want.

Years ago, I drank the Apple Kool-Aid. I'm a little older now. And I no longer count myself among the true believers. But I still use Macs. As a computer consultant, I make my living on Macs when I can, and on PCs when I have to. I still have a fondness for The Macintosh Way. And I still like a good technology show.

Steve Jobs' most recent webcast was for the launch of the iPod Nano and iTunes Phone. The "news" in this presentation is, "We made the iPod smaller and we made a cell phone that plays music."

That's it.

Smaller.

Phone.

Period.

But I defy you to remember that while you're watching it. I defy you to not believe that it's a "Revolution!" And I defy you to not want to buy two of everything he's selling by the end of the show.

If you want to see the intersection of technology and art done right, check it out.

College Honors for a College Drop Out

Steve Jobs gave a powerful, personal, moving speech to the latest graduates at Stanford.