This week’s iPad announcement generated a lot of buzz around the tech world — and while that launch is just a day or two old, some some folks are already thinking about what’s next. Mark Lowenstein, in his latest “Lens on Wireless” update says that despite the “15 screens” in the average home (PCs, TVs, phones, gameplayers, iPods) there’s still an opportunity for one more — “a hybrid PC/TV/entertainment device” that serves as a hub for family activities in the under-addressed kitchen (under-addressed for “screens” that is). First, the 15 screens took me by surprise, but it’s true — at least in my house. And I think this “family hub” makes great sense (in my brother’s home, the family PC is on the edge of the kitchen and we’re forever gathering around that small workspace — to play music, surf the web, view photos, check calendars). In the past, I’ve written about the personalization of technology — and the soon-to-be 16 screens in our homes are yet another example of this.
I spotted a headline in today’s PRWeek “Breakfast Briefing” email and reminded me of a point I make often — if you think today’s new social media PR strategies have put an end to traditional tactics like news releases, think again. The case that was made by the author was that news releases are enjoying a new life because of the Web — unlike the “old days” news releases can live on forever, adding to the archive of information we come across when searching the Web. There are still other points to consider: as in days gone by, we’re finding that releases still add some weight when we’re doing traditional media outreach. And finally, given the ability to repurpose material — blog posts repurposed as releases, releases repurposed as podcasts — there’s even more reason to keep this PR channel going. There no doubt many of us still need to get more social media active — but that doesn’t mean we should abandon traditional PR tactics like news releases when they can still pay dividends.
A non-scientific poll of office workers this afternoon in Woburn on the day of the official launch of the iPad tablet by Apple suggests that men like the name iPad – while women tend to correlate it disfavorably with feminine hygiene products.
I think the name is OK and that people will likely become tired of the joke – if they ever laughed in the first place. If the iPad rocks as most Apple products seem to do these days, it’s not likely to matter much anyway.
