Apple & 9:41 am: Attention to Detail
I learned something new today. Apple’s advertising the iPad like crazy lately, so pay attention the next time you see an iPad advertised. If you look close, you’ll see the time on each device is 9:41 am (maybe 9:42). But why?
It’s long been known that the most common times for clocks in ads is 10:10 (2 reasons why: 1. The hands usually frame the makers logo nicely; and 2. It looks “happy”) but why 9:41?
It turns out, Apple is VERY committed to details. When announcing new products at their big meetings, the announcement usually happens 40 minutes into the presentation. They rehearse their presentations of new product releases so that they know exactly what time the big announcement will happen so they can have the correct time on the graphics of the product – that way, when reporters are taking pictures of the new product’s announcement, the time on the device photo or video is almost exactly the current time! And it’s crazy that they don’t make a big deal out of it – it’s simply part of their commitment to excellence.
The takeaway: Let no detail be too small. Did most people out there notice the time on the device was the same as the actual time it was presented? Probably not. But it was still worth Apple’s time to focus on details like the timing of everything in the presentation – to the point that they plan their presentations down to the minute. How often do we put that level of detail into our presentations? Probably not often enough. Maybe we should think about it.