The Apple 1984 Macintosh ad is a mystery to many including myself. Asking questions of why it was so popular leaving sales to exceed through the roof once this advertisement was aired. The ad was shown once during the Super Bowl game on January 22, 1984 and would never be aired after this. The commercial being shown only once was a choice...a strategic marketing technic so to say. But why? Why spend money on creating this well thought out commercial if only it was going to be shown once? These are just a few questions I asked myself.

Once watching the advertisment over and over again to break down the science and trying to gain the knowledge of how the creaters of this ad were thinking, I came to a few conclusions of my own. First it was as if the commericial was more of a short film. Second I noticed that all of the people gathered together were not just one generation but several. This to me would be a way to show people that this new product is not just for young people, but for everyone. Then, you had this woman come and throw the axe which sort of left you boggled until the words came on the screen,"On January 24th, Apple Computers will introduce Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like '1984'." To me this made such an impact that perhaps people were so shocked by this that it immediatly drew them to the product.
The director Ridley Scott was interviewed and it really went in depth in to why this commercial succeeded and why it was created like it was.

Yahoo Avataars

I have a very similar opinion to Kristen and I want to expand more on the concept of the Yahoo Avataars. Before our professor sent this assignment out I have never heard of the Yahoo Avataar before. I went through the process of creating one and ended a half an hour later with great frustration. I have always been one that is in to fun and interesting parts of the technological world but this experience was not one of them. For me it was a long process of creating something that I did not find a valid point of it existing. By this I mean the development of this person that is attached to your messaging system. For me when I am instant messaging (I have personally always used AIM) I just want to type to that person; with Avataar it is that and also has a great extension of accessories you could say. Yes, being able to outfit the person how you want and change their hair style is fun, but I still do not see the point of it. Perhaps I am missing something but what Yahoo failed to do is tell me why this other stuff is important and perhaps more explanation would make me want to use this more.

Yahoo! Avatar

I think Yahoo! Avatars are very cute. It's a fun little activity that people can do, but I don't really get the point of it. What is the purpose of them and what are they used for? For suggestions on how to improve it, have the homepage explain what Yahoo! Avatars are. That's really my only suggestion. I love how you can have pets and other accessories for your personal avatar. I typed in some things to search and most things were available, so I think as far as all the extras go, there is a good variety. It's got a good selection of appearances like skin color, hair style, apparel items, and accessories.