This week’s issue of Apple Magazine just hit digital newsstands on Friday, and from what I have read it is well-worth checking out. The articles are both informative, thought-provoking, and, as Apple Magazine typically aims to do, show how Apple affects our lives on a personal and global scale.
“Most Valued Brand: Apple Steals First Place from Coke” is one of the highlights of the issue: not only does it comment on “the fact that the mighty Coca-Cola has been toppled at last” (Kerry and Lenaghan) but on why it’s a big deal that Apple was the brand to do so. The concept that technology brands are taking precedence over consumable brands is an interesting one, especially when you’re typing away on a Macbook Air and guzzling a classic Coke at the same time. It gives you a new awareness of how changeable commercial industries are. Steve Jobs, of course, knew that.
Another article in the issue, “Jobs Lives On: Continuing on 2 Years After Jobs’ Death,” paints a portrait of Jobs as a “business visionary” (Tucker) who saw no limit to what he could contribute to the tech world. His work has reached other arenas as well, particularly the music business. As the article states, “iTunes and the iPod are responsible for changing the music industry,” so much so that most people in the younger generation have never purchased an album on CD or bought a stereo with no USB plug-in or iPod dock. Jobs’ innovations have become engrained into our daily lives; we do so much with Apple products, from downloading movies straight onto our devices to asking Siri for directions while we drive.
Siri has an entire article dedicated to her in this issue. “Siri Sounds Off: A Mystery Solved” reveals the voice behind Siri, a voiceover artist named Susan Bennett. She didn’t just give Siri a voice. That “slightly snippy attitude” (Lasky) of Siri’s happened by chance in the recording studio where Bennett repeated nonsense syllables and random words over and over. You can guess what that sort of tedium does to a person’s demeanor after a while. But that’s what makes Siri so memorable. It’s mind-boggling that one voice, one person, helped generate this subtle aspect of the globally recognized virtual assistant.
If you haven’t subscribed to Apple Magazine, you can download the AM app here. From the app, you can purchase the most recent issue or get a subscription for 1, 6, or 12 months.
