Gross Apple Marketing • Hacker News Board

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#131

Post by paul7986 » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 2:55 PM UTC

Getting tired of being sold what may exist or will exist sometime in the future. How is this legal and now Apple is doing it? How is the fake it before you make it (make the actual product a reality for consumers to consume) strategy legal?

This video was posted a month ago even when Apple Intelligence wasnt available at all and in any form https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPe8revsg3k . Even present day after it was launched Siri can not do this.

Start-ups and other tech companies are doing the whole fake it before you make it so Apple is too. Some recent examples...Open AI demoed and sold if you sign up you might get access to their version of H.E.R. yet Many months later its nowhere to be found yet surely that juiced their revenue. Does it really exist or it was a fake it before you make it demo? Similarly with Musk bringing out those robots implying they were AI driven yet later we learn they weren't. Isnt this all something called false advertising??

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#132

Post by windexh8er » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 2:55 PM UTC

Alex3917 wrote: post #79

windexh8er wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the write up seems to bring the indirect point that AI has limited use cases currently. So instead of taking the traditional Apple approach with showcasing the technical aspects of the product (an example being Apple has highlighted photography and video a lot in the last few generations of iPhone), instead Apple falls back on cheeky ads, which to be fair, are also not new to Apple marketing. I do think that…

> I'm, personally not a fan of the current generation or implementation of AI and do not want to use it. Why not? It gives vastly better than human performance across a wide range of problems. Just this morning I asked Chat GPT to find me the smallest set of positive integers whose median is 2 and whose average is 3.75, and it just spit out the correct answer instantly. That would have been an enormous pain in the as…

Because, ultimately, I'd like to continue to think and solve on my own. If I want to leverage a chat model, which I do, I can do that very easily on my own hardware. I don't want it so far shoved down my phones innards that I'm paying for hardware that is useless outside that use case.

Imagine the next 30 years when the majority of the population has no clue on how to function without cloud connected models answering questions on the daily. Very Black Mirror.

I also don't trust any of the frontier model vendors at this point so there's also that. Especially Sam Altman / OpenAI.

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#133

Post by lubujackson » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 2:55 PM UTC

candiddevmike wrote: post #90

CharlieDigital wrote: post #61

I work at a startup in the AI space. We've been working with it for over a year now and I'm of the mind that AI, in it's current state, really isn't a tool meant for an end user to interact with. It feels like it's the most useful when it's transparent and you -- as an end user -- don't know that there's an LLM in the process. The best use cases seem to be those that don't require an end consumer to directly interact…

I absolutely despise rufus. I used to be able to search questions and reviews instantaneously. Now I need to wait for rufus to poorly summarize everything, tap at least 2-3 times, and then get to see the search results. Talk about piss poor UX.

Reminds me of Austin Powers where he has a TV in his car in the 70s to talk with his boss then wakes up in modern times (the 90s) and has shitty, fractured streaming video. "Skating where the puck is going" is a great strategy for businesses - not so much for end users.

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#134

Post by jareklupinski » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 2:55 PM UTC

ffsm8 wrote: post #88

devin wrote: post #43

I think this is mostly just a problem of not having good reasons to sell AI products to consumers in the first place. I recently saw some Ray Ban Meta glasses ads. One of them had a guy ask the glasses to describe what was in front of his face, and then he remarked “wow that’s accurate” (there are people skateboarding). The guy wasn’t blind. His use of the glasses made little sense. Another ad has a young man asking…

Maybe this will convince you? https://youtu.be/zvbTDUSz8Cc?si=IdlMNjydYgbZH_6n

maybe this will finally get people to actually be able to say my name :,)

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#135

Post by 23B1 » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 2:55 PM UTC

I don't think this is gross, I think it's hilarious. My phone is supposed to be a heat sink for other people's B.S.

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#136

Post by thrwaway1985882 » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

jasonlotito wrote: post #57

thrwaway1985882 wrote: post #8

> I’ve watched that little animation several times, and they tell a better story in a minute twenty-five than all of Apple’s AI commercials combined. If I showed that video to someone who isn't steeped in decades of Linux, I suspect they'd ask me what an Ubuntu is. As compared to the "schlub writes an email" video, which was compelling, funny, and actually shows the product they're marketing.

> If I showed that video to someone who isn't ...the target audience, it wouldn't work. Same with the AI stuff. Show that to someone with no understanding of Apple and it's products, or AI, and you'll have someone equally confused. The understanding here is that in both cases the marketing is targeted at a certain group. More interestingly, you admit that one story promotes interest in the product, while the other pr…

> Show that to someone with no understanding of Apple and it's products, or AI, and you'll have someone equally confused.

Apple is selling a magical button that unprofessional idiots can press to be perceived as professional. Who in the world is going to be confused by that?

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#137

Post by jfoster » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

consf wrote: post #103

jfoster wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No way! There are definitely legitimate use-cases for all of the features demoed in these ads, but Apple's marketing took a darker path. Email to boss: could've been someone who had a genuine struggle with language using it to finally get their boss to notice the effort they put into their work. Remembering a name: could've used it to get the name and left it at them being impressed rather than making it a lie. Summa…

The marketing goes for flashy scenarios

My writing ability might not be good enough to make them flashy here on HN, but I am sure that each of the scenarios could be made very flashy or moving with a bit of imagination & Apple's still-excellent production quality.

One of my favourite ads is a very simple story that is made gut-wrenching by creating an emotional connection and some great production value: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2lv_Xl1e4U

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#138

Post by kraig911 » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 2:56 PM UTC

thrwaway1985882 wrote: post #8

> I’ve watched that little animation several times, and they tell a better story in a minute twenty-five than all of Apple’s AI commercials combined. If I showed that video to someone who isn't steeped in decades of Linux, I suspect they'd ask me what an Ubuntu is. As compared to the "schlub writes an email" video, which was compelling, funny, and actually shows the product they're marketing.

I just get a sense from all this AI marketing hype is that AI is yet another grifter tool. The Ubuntu video was meh and I dont think it worked well to describe the story. A better video would be to show perhaps someone getting their kid an ubuntu laptop and how it shaped their mindset and future. Or Ubuntu on your grandma's computer and now we can enjoy coffee instead of fixing computers... etc etc.

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#139

Post by jonah » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 2:57 PM UTC

CubsFan1060 wrote: post #30

Apreche wrote: post #10

I was already bothered by the Apple Watch marketing. The messaging there is total fear. Buy an Apple Watch or literally die. Also, get them for your children or they will die too. The messaging that AI is for lying is another big yikes. Apple marketing department has lost the magic.

As someone whose watch called 911 for me when I was in an accident, and who got a call when my mother fell, fear or not there are real, tangible benefits that probably can't be overstated.

I just wish they would cut down on false positives though. As a volunteer firefighter, I don't think I've responded to an "Apple Crash Detection" that was an actual car crash or fall or something...

After a while it feels like crying wolf...

Re: Gross Apple Marketing

#140

Post by tr3ntg » Wed, Oct 30, 2024, 3:02 PM UTC

thrwaway1985882 wrote: post #8

> I’ve watched that little animation several times, and they tell a better story in a minute twenty-five than all of Apple’s AI commercials combined. If I showed that video to someone who isn't steeped in decades of Linux, I suspect they'd ask me what an Ubuntu is. As compared to the "schlub writes an email" video, which was compelling, funny, and actually shows the product they're marketing.

Agreed. The Ubuntu ad feels like it's written with Apple Intelligence. "Secure, Certified, Everywhere, For You"