For the 14 people who missed the Super Bowl this year, a “notable” commercial was the debut of the Samsung Galaxy Note, which basically enlisted virtually every trick of the trade. Hipster rock band? Check. Playful teasing of Apple users? Check. Flashy seeming new gadget? Check. Tablet with a stylus? Check. Wait a sec, rewind, what is this, 1998? Or, as I tweeted (and BTW, Twitter – yet another simple feature: enable easy embedding and reblogging of tweets to other platforms, because screenshots? really?):
So my advice this evening is to Samsung and everyone else competing with the iPad – which is actually nobody in reality. If you want to play this game, you need to stop grasping at straws. Go build a damn good product and the market will support your endeavors. I’d heard some interesting buzz about the Note, that it might be the first “other” tablet to give the iPad a real run for its money. And then? StylusGate.
Now wait, maybe it’s not about consumers. Maybe it’s enterprise or other specific applications. I’m sure there’s a decent market in several verticals for a tablet with a stylus (something I blogged about a full year ago now!). But your marketing wasn’t about some productivity device, it was about consumers.
Does anyone really think any hipster, businessman, student, soccer mom, or any other typical consumer with an iota of self-respect would walk around using a stylus when everyone else doesn’t have to and can accomplish the exact same goals? That commercial didn’t show a product superior to an iPad.
That’s the key thing here. The stylus is showing up in an effort to get on par with the iPad’s user experience.
Except it doesn’t.
Not even close.