iPad-emonium Breaks Out
Words of the Day
“Writing is Easy. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.” – Ernest Hemingway
iPad-emonium!
WordSmith is flummoxed, you could even say flabbergasted about the launch of Apple Inc.’s iPad multi-media tablet-style computer – which was rolled-out to huge international fanfare yesterday. And I can’t wait to start slinging words up on the device. Wonder if they need a certain somebody to test, promote, publicize, and market them??? Give me a call, Steve Jobs!
The 9.7-inch touch screen iPad will let users surf the web, check e-mail, read e-books, newspapers and magazines – and use all those clever apps that continue to take us iPhone addicts by storm! It is half an inch thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds. Did I mention WordSmith’s birthday is right around the corner!
And … yes … this was the equivalent of the computer Super Bowl. Today’s Wall Street Journal carried no less than six stories, and The New York Times had three, including a huge A-1 splash. Media across the globe have vaulted onto this virtual lily pad in droves. The blogs, micro-blogs and social sites are all a-Twitter, too!
This technological breakthrough is yet another must-have gadget – a next generation cross between the iPhone and laptops. In fact, it looks like a super-sized iPhone! With the iPad announcement, Apple CEO Jobs also unveiled a new online store that will sell digital books and provide wireless access to iTunes. The entry-level model will debut at $499, half of what many analysts and Apple watchers expected. Higher-end iPads with 3G wireless capacity will cost up to $829. Watch out Amazon Kindle, Sony and other electronic book readers! An e-reader by any other name…
New Media To Rescue In Haiti
The American Red Cross Haiti text campaign has been a worldwide communications bonanza. To date it has raised more than $25 million for the victims of the devastating earthquake on the tiny island nation.
Not only has it beaten the amount donated to all charities by text in 2009 six-fold, but it continues to be among the Top 10 topics in the Twitter sphere. Numerous celebrities have joined the effort. Cyclist Lance Armstrong, actor Ben Stiller, singer Adam Lambert and actress Lindsey Lohan used their Twitter feeds to plead for earthquake relief. And Actress Sandra Bullock donated $1 million.
Twitter-in-Chief
Cyber history has been made – last week, President Obama became the first commander-in-chief to tweet a message on micro-blogging site Twitter.
During Obama’s visit to the American Red Cross headquarters to promote aid to Haiti, a member of the agency’s new media team wrote a message on Twitter saying “President Obama and the first lady are here visiting our disaster operation center right now.” The Red Cross staffer then asked the president to hit update on the screen … and Obama posted the item himself under the @RedCross handle.
Although this communicator-in-chief’s staff used Twitter to bolster support during his presidential campaign under the @BarackObama account, Obama never physically posted items himself.