Only Apple makes the status quo amazing

Look, I'm an Apple fan. An iPhone addict. But I'm just as big a fan of their marketing and PR apparatus, which operates differently from any other business -- because it can. I make a sport of watching their unique mix of marketing hubris and PR effectiveness, looking for tactics and positions only Apple could employ. So, I was excited to see how they would present the iPad 2, which, while likely a great product, is really a modest spec upgrade from the original iPad released last year. My favorite nugget from their March 2 presentation was how Apple positioned the battery life of the new device, which is exactly the same as the first iPad: ten hours. Yet Apple was able to spin this as an amazing technological achievement in the iPad 2 product video. In the video, Michael Tchao, vice president of iPad product marketing, runs through a list of upgrades -- thinner hardware, new A5 dual-core processor, front and rear cameras. The basic improvements in speed and size you would expect in a new product iteration. But then he says:

"We're able to do to all of this while still maintaining up to ten hours of battery life."

Only Apple makes the status quo amazing. Tchao and Apple are patting themselves on the back for not improving the customer experience for a particular feature. The same is even more remarkable than improvement. According to Apple. When you build products and a brand that many people love, you can get away with saying things like this and maintain credibility. Not many can do that, but not many have a brand and track record of accomplishment like Apple, either.