The Members Forum

Anybody who’s even mildly interested in technology has felt it. It’s why people stand in line all night for the new Xbox or Playstation, or one of those products whose name starts with an “i."

It’s gadget lust.

Companies like Apple have become so good at slowly amping up the mystique and hype around forthcoming new products that it’s easy to get swept away by the excitement. The process starts long before the launch, in the tech media and blogging communities, which busily pump out gossip, speculation, and half-baked analysis--because people like to read it. I do too. It’s fun.

As the launch date gets closer, the story of the upcoming hot gadget spreads throughout Blog Land and into the mainstream media. By that time, it’s being widely discussed in the tech community--at conventions, meetings, and mixers.

Then the ad campaign starts, and the excitement kicks up a notch as we learn more about the product, and about the lifestyle it fits into. The ads are cool-looking, the work of some of the best ad agencies money can buy. They’re also very scientific: The words and pictures shown in the ads are the product of exhaustive market research. And then there’s the star of the ads (usually)--the gadget itself, which has been carefully designed and built for the wants, needs, hopes, and dreams of the target market.

Next comes the launch event, a lavish live event where the tech company’s revered leader spells out the true story of the product. Magic ensues. A swarming tech press reports the event on real-time blogs--and this is only the beginning of a whole new wave of coverage around the product.

PC World has the article HERE!