Why Starbucks/Apple Collab is so Interesting

Nick Santilli — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 17:02:24 +0000

Back when the Zune dropped (and kept dropping…) I was talking with a friend about the features – specifically the wifi that came built-in. While the product as a whole seemed like a brick, there was something interesting about having a media device with ad-hoc wifi enabled. He envisioned a new wave of advertising directed squarely at these Zune users. Had Microsoft had their heads on straight, this type of service should have been launched along with their “iPod Killer”.

Fast forward a few months from then, and the iPhone is kicking butt and taking names. Then a wifi store is given us, along with an interesting feature collaboration with Starbucks: buy the music you hear in the coffee shop over their wifi! This feature hasn’t gotten the attention I would have expected. But essentially, Apple has launched the type of initiative that Microsoft missed out on earlier in the year.

It starts with Starbucks – hear a song you like while sipping a latte, connect your iPhone to their wifi, buy it. Take it a step further, and when you walk into a Target, Nordstroms, or Sephora (for example) and get targeted deals sent right to your promiscuous iPhone. Obviously you don’t have to choose to view it, or use the wifi in such stores, but there’s the model! Maybe this Starbucks collaboration will lead to essentially free (ad-driven) wifi in more places. This could really turn the tide as it seems more and more wifi is closing the doors to being offered up for free.

I for one wouldn’t mind seeing a targeted ad, sale-priced items, or a quick 30-second commercial if it meant I could grab some free wifi in most of the places I frequent. Obviously this doesn’t apply just to the iPhone, but I think it’s interesting that such a model of advertising could be around the corner because of it.

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Apple.com Redesign Emulates OS Functionality

Nick Santilli — Sun, 09 Sep 2007 01:27:59 +0000

If you don’t know that Apple thinks-through every minute detail of the things they do, you haven’t been a fan long enough. Take a long look at the hardware, the software, and the retail stores and your appreciation for the level of thought Apple puts into every thing they do should grow immensely. Then just when you think you’ve got Apple figured-out there’s something right in front of your face that makes you go, “Duh!”

The more I peruse the redesigned Apple.com the more eye candy I discover. Of course being the [unofficial] Mac Evangelist that I am, I should know better than to call anything Apple does, ‘eye candy’ – almost without fail there is function behind the beautiful form in anything that comes out of Cupertino, CA. Apple.com is no exception since its redesign not so long ago.

Those of us already rocking OS X may have taken notice (although possibly subconsciously) of the website features that tend to mimic our favorite operating system. But the really ingenius point here is that users who are yet to make The Switch are already being introduced to some of the functionality they’ll find in OS X. There may not be anything earth-shattering, but opening up your first Mac and seeing something familiar in an otherwise foreign operating system can be a very welcome feeling. And that’s really what Apple’s all about, isn’t it?

The coordinated features between the website and the operating system that I’ve noticed thus far can be found in the following two screencasts. (Please note, that there’s not supposed to be audio, it’s just a visual aid.)
So here are the screencasts of the features on Apple.com, and the similarities in OS X.
But allow me to list the features here anyway:

Search – Spotlight functionality is so similar, even the colors match!
Product Page and side bars – Hello CoverFlow!
Quicktime Trailers – ‘Save’ your view preferences as in iTunes.
Icons & Colors – Even the design elements on the website mimic that of OS X.

If you’ve found other functionality on Apple.com that mimics something in OS X, let us know in the comments.

This coordination between Apple’s products is nothing new of course. Case in point, the [now] Classic iPod and the previous generation of iMac had a very similar appearance, the new iMac design and the iPhone, Apple Retail Store aluminum interior design and Apple’s Pro line of hardware. There are so many parallels between Apple’s products and so much more thought than probably any other tech company that it’s no surprise that they stand out such as they do.

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Why Starbucks/Apple Collab is so Interesting

Apple.com Redesign Emulates OS Functionality