Conference on the iPhone XS and Apple Watch: How Apple Tells a Story

This year's iPhone event is over and we are all sitting in the interregnum between ads and critics. I've had the chance to live these events for years, but the process of creating a live blog is odd. I was taking pictures for the site during the keynote, and since I am a spray and pray photographer, I took over 1,600 photos in a few hours.

I'm just pointing it out to say that my attention was more focused on what Apple was doing than its reaction. I had only a lot of bandwidth and most of it was supported by the camera. So, later, when I had the opportunity to watch all the coverage (and jokes on Twitter), it was not surprising that there was a lot of shrugging this year. The "Keynotes of the Year S" often have the impression of generating the technology, even though the S-Model iPhones are often the most popular and popular Apple devices.

It is certainly too early to say whether this trend will be repeated this year, but as my attention was dominated by the keynote, another type of model crystallized for me: very specific and reproducible narrative structure.

So, this is what this week Processor (Hey, it's back!) The framing technique from Apple was perhaps so easy to see as product announcements were fewer this year, and the ads were very simple. I've seen Apple frame product ads in a very similar way to how George Lakoff talks about political issues of policy makers.

This year's framing around the camera was particularly fascinating. Without doubt, the innovation on the iPhone XS that will be most remarkable for customers is the camera. And with this camera, Apple is trying to do things very similar to what Pixel 2 does: it takes several pictures at a time, it assembles them and does more calculations.

But you know what was not mentioned at the conference? Any other smartphone camera. Apple would prefer that you frame the new iPhone as an element that is getting closer and closer to replacing a DSLR, and not as part of the fray with other cameras on your smartphone. Apple sets the terms of the world and the things that exist. That's the frame.

Lakoff writes:

This gives us a basic principle for framing when you argue on the other side: do not use their language. Their language picks a frame – and it will not be the frame you want.

Once the frame is established, in this context, Apple tells a story story where one thing leads to the next. Here's how it goes:

1. Talk about the quality of Apple products forever
2. Talk about specifications and technical details about the new thing
3. Talk about how the new Apple product will leave you do new amazing things

Apple continues to make these speeches specifically to create this framework and tell this story. They do not exist (simply), so you'll know what the new feature or product is. they exist so that you can see yourself as a character in Apple's history. They have the best chance of Apple defining the terms of the discussion for its products.

Even in a keynote of the year S, where ads do not change the game, Apple can still use this storytelling framework to determine how people think about their products. It could even be more important in a year S.

I do not think Apple is unique in the deliberate deployment of a narrative framework as a technique, but I think society has shown a deeper and more conscious awareness of its structure and importance than anyone else . He knows that most people will forget the functionality but remember the history of the story – or at least remember the feeling that the story is supposed to evoke.

To be clear, I do not point out these rhetorical techniques, because I think they are somehow dishonest. Apple may be deploying tactics that we see more often in the political discourse, but that does not mean it's just propaganda. It's marketing. And Apple has a proven track record in marketing over the years.