Apple Release Speech Critique

I didn’t necessarily “attend” the iPhone 5 release speech in San Francisco the other month, but I did watch a live broadcast, so I think that counts for something. Also, it should be noted, I’m not a huge apple fan boy – I have an Android – but there’s always so much buzz and controversy about the release that I felt compelled to watch it. Apple products are famous, in part, for their aesthetics, so it’s only natural that their release would coalesce striking visual media into the unveiling. While the speaker did a great job of communicating the significance of each innovative tweak, the media offered elements the speech couldn’t: aesthetic appeal and visual examples of how the new features worked. The media set the tone for the release. It was smooth, slick, futuristic, and minimalist. As the speaker went through his speech, the media changed to reflect the topics. Sometimes it was just a static image of the new phone and other times it was animated. The screen would display a virtual menu and would go through new programs and features just as the consumer would when the phone was available for purchase. The effectiveness of this process was the only distraction. I know that sounds contradictory, but what I mean to say is that the media was so interesting and pertinent to the speech that it was hard to decide which to pay attention to, the screen or the speech. I didn’t see much room for improvement as far as presentation goes.