All a Twitter About the New Apple iPad

There has only been one digital story on the tweets of everyone’s fingertips this week and that was the launch of Apple’s new iPad. 

 

A hybrid of their iPhone and a Macbook the device looks fantastic. And whilst there is the usual scepticism, complaints about what it lacks or what it should have, it is easy to see it’s potential in further changing the way we consume entertainment both at home and on the go. It features the usual media players, and users can use all of the existing apps they use on their iPhone, whilst developers can build ones especially for the iPad.

 

_{Apple launched iPad on 27th January 2010}

 

It’s price first and foremost, retailing from $499 in the US, gives all those people who want a Mac for their home to surf the web, store and consume media; who couldn’t justify the more expensive Apple products, a viable more affordable option.  Steve Jobs noting, “It’s much more intimate than a laptop”; whilst also “highlighting that the web browsing experience is the best you’ll ever see”.

 

Most interesting was the buzz this product launch caused. In Apple’s usual fashion they kept everything secret, which created an insatiable buzz on social platforms. As Apple’s Steve Jobs launched the new product during a global live stream, Twitter’s were tested due to the amount of activity.

 

The Guardian, who followed the live launch online with commentary, reported that seven of the top ten trending topics on Twitter were about the new product for much of the launch. Whilst the New York Times reported that there was on average 2,200 tweets per minute about the product ahead of the stream, steadily continuing at 1,500 thereafter.

Monitoring keywords, the NYT research demonstrates the power of the live launch as top key words shifted from Apple & Tablet as popular terms to all of sudden being iPad within a few minutes.

 

Whilst it seems that online conversation could be the secret to marketing new products, one thing is obvious – Apple sure do know how to put a launch on.

 

_{Apple launched iPad on 27th January 2010}