Made vs. Design

I am a recent convert to the world of Mac. I received an iPod Touch a few years ago for Christmas, and was absolutely blown away by the capabilities of such a tiny device. This was just the foothold Apple needed to wiggle its way into my life. After literally years of debate, and a lot of peer pressure, I finally purchased a brand-new MacBook Pro.

I am in love. It was such an easy conversion from PC to Mac. Whenever I got tripped up, or wasn't sure how to do something, I asked myself one question... "If I had never used a computer before in my life, how would I perform this task?" Inevitably, it was my own instincts and not the user manual that helped me learn my new Mac.

This brings me to my real point. When I opened the box to my new computer... I mean Mac, (any Mac-evangalist will tell you that it is not just a computer) I noticed on the inside of the box, these words

"Designed by Apple in California"

So powerful. So much of their brand and corporate image is summed up in that short little sentence. My Mac was not "Made," it was "Designed."  I instantly thought of people in clean white rooms, with designer glasses and black turtlenecks. Complicated formulas and images drawn on whiteboards. Plastic models and clay renderings. Tony Stark with his 3D graphic interface.   Moreover, it was "Designed...in California." Outside of this futuristic design studio, was palm trees, beaches and beautiful people. This was the American dream, come to life.

This is by far one of the most powerful marketing sentences I have seen. So much imagery in so few words. Perfect.