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I'm a Mac, and Here's Why: 'It's All One Product'

Just before Christmas, the Boston Globe ran a story ["Where old-fashioned customer service meets edgy technology," Dec. 20, 2009, by D.C. Denison] that might be considered a puff piece for the bright, white, and translucent Apple Stores. But I found some insight in the article for why Apple technology tools have become a big part of my life.

The story recounts the development of Apple Stores. I've been a fan of the stores since visiting my first, in Indianapolis, about a year before I switched from PCs to Macs in 2006. The stores are an embodiment of the John Naesbitt "high tech/high touch" futurist call for successful businesses, which is also pretty much also the point of the Globe headline. Apple Stores are full of interesting people (and by this, I mean the staff, not the customers) who seemingly just want to help. They are empowered to give answers or get answers. They know their stuff.

When I visit Apple Stores for purchases, for browsing, for training, and especially for in-person technical support from the "geniuses" at the "Genius Bar," I feel like people give me credit for knowing a thing or two. I don't feel as if I'm being put down, and I don't feel as if the staff is so undertrained — as is often the case at other stores — that they are operating several rungs below me.

I also like making reservations for a Genius Bar time slot from my computer at home or inside the Apple Store.

But the true reason why I am an Apple Mac and iPhone fan, including hardware and software, comes at the end of the Globe's piece. It's all one system, one experience.

[A]t the Genius Bar, ... architect Dave Schatzle sat down for a session he was hoping would pay off short-term, as in immediately.

"It's a long story," Schatzle said as he presented his iPhone to Apple "genius" Nick Foh, "but let's just say that a cup of coffee fell off a shelf and splashed all over it."

A faint constellation of tiny, brown speckles gleamed from inside the display. The main controller was no longer responsive, Schatzle said.

Foh took the unit to a backroom workshop.

"It's in pretty bad shape on the inside," he said when he returned a few minutes later.

That was the bad news. The good news was that the information of his coffee-crippled phone could be transferred to a new unit, and since the phone was less than 3 months old, the store would replace it at no charge.

Schatzle looked surprised and relieved.

"The iPhone is cool, but this is really cool," he said, waving an arm in the direction of the Genius Bar.

"If this store wasn't here," Schatzle added, "then this iPhone wouldn't be that good. When you think about it, it's all one product."

I've had a dozen experiences just like this — without a newspaper reporter around. I think architect Dave Schatzle has it right: "It's all one product." And a good one at that.

A Subtle Way to Help Make Indy a World-Class City

My hometown, Indianapolis, is capable of wonders few other cities its size consistently achieve. The latest improvement will show that an upgrade in customer service will improve public perception of the city. And this action will be in an oft-overlooked area: parking meters.

Deputy Mayor Steve Campbell tells the Indianapolis Star that electronic parking meters that take charge cards -- plastic! -- will be a winner with motorists (think: public parking customers) angling for a metered space downtown or in the Northside entertainment distrit of Broad Ripple.

Campbell cites convenience, and of course he's right. But the electronic meters support the image of Indy as a 21st Century World-Class City, which is what all of us want -- at least those people who care about Indy's future. Perception of the city will move up another notch on the hip scale, and that's good news for bringing people back to our fair and hospitable city.

'Media Multitasking' Revealed in Ball State Study

When it comes to communications, there's no better campus than Ball State University, 90 minutes away from Indianapolis in Muncie, Ind.

BSU proves it again today.

On the heels of studies identifying the trend toward media multi-tasking (my favorite is the study on teenage media multitasking by the Kaiser Family Foundation), Ball State takes a look at a nuts-and-bolts approach to an important question: How does concurrent media use affect advertising-supported media?

According Ball State's Jan. 27 news release, written by Marc Ransford of BSU media relations:

The typical consumer often uses more than one type of media at any given time, preferring to work on the computer while the radio plays or surf the Web as the television blares in the background, says new research by Ball State University. However, not all ad-supported media are multitasked, also known as concurrent media use (CME), in the same way or to the same extent, according to the university's latest white paper, "Engaging the Ad-Supported Media."

The new research produced by Ball State's Center for Media Design (CMD), compares and contrasts elements of media experiences for the major advertising-based media, including magazines, newspapers, television, radio and the Internet. The findings are based on data collected from about 400 people in Muncie and Indianapolis for 2005's Middletown Media Studies 2 (MMS2), producing information on more than 5,000 hours of media use.

"We know Americans spend about nine hours daily with radio, television, magazine, newspaper, computer and other media, but looking at media use solely in accumulated total minutes barely scratches the surface of how we use various media," said Michael Holmes, CMD faculty research fellow and communication studies professor.

"We dug deeper, looking at a variety of issues related to spending time with the media," he said. "Our findings for concurrent media exposure — what others call media multitasking — varied depending on the media, time of day, day of week and a person's location."

-- snip --

The white paper's principal researchers include several faculty from Ball State's College of Communication, Information, and Media, including Holmes, telecommunications professor Robert Papper and journalism professor Mark Popovich. Mike Bloxham, CMD's testing center director, is also a research team member. Findings from the research will be used to create a series of reports and white papers in the coming months.

More information about the free white paper and other CMD research is available at www.bsu.edu/cmd/insightresearch.

-- snip --

The Center for Media Design (CMD) is a research and development facility focused on the creation, testing and practical application of digital technologies for business, classroom, home and community.

Middletown Media Studies 2 (MMS2) builds upon Muncie's reputation as "Middletown America," a typical community in the United States. Muncie earned this distinction as a result of the Middletown Studies of the 1920s and '30s by sociologists Robert and Helen Lynd. MMS2 is a follow-up to a 2004 study that found people consume much more media than they say they do.

I'm not sure if this study definitively answers the advertising question. And I'm not sure of its implications for public relations and marketing. I think I'll read the report and find out!

Technorati Tags: "Center for Media Design" Middletown ad-supported advertising communications "Ball State" Muncie "concurrent media use" "media multi-tasking" advertising magazines radio television TV computer music

Chris Christy: A Leader Passes

Indianapolis has lost an important leader. Chris J. Christy.

His obituary was in the Indianapolis Star a few days ago. His "celebration of life and faith" will be today at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodix Church, 4011 North Pennsylvania Street. Sadly, I cannot attend.

Chris understood that an important part of corporate public relations has nothing to do necessarily with media relations. He knew that to prosper in a community, you must genuinely embrace it, make it your own and work to help the community face its challenges. That's good on its own, and it has the added benefit of enhancing the reputation of your organization.

Brooke Tuttle of Columbus, Ind.: A Man of Vision Decides to Retire

I am passing through Columbus, Ind., on the way back from a client meeting in Southern Indiana, and I am hanging out at Jitters, off Ind. 46 a mile west of the Columbus exit on I-65. (It's one of Indiana's nicest locally owned Internet cafe and it deserves your patronage. Hint: the Starbucks in Columbus does not have wireless Internet service.)

I'm glad I stopped here, because I picked up the spare copy of the local daily newspaper, the Republic, that was on the table next to mine and muttered a silent prayer for Columbus when I saw the banner front-page headline: "Tuttle resigns economic post."

Say it isn't so, Brooke Tuttle!

Let me explain, for I doubt I have many readers who know Brooke's name (candidly, I doubt I have many readers, period!) But I presume readers from Indiana know the economic miracle that is Columbus, Indiana. Brooke Tuttle is one of the key people behind the miracle, and his resignation from his post in Columbus is a loss for the community.