Motorola Picks A Fight With Apple In New Xoom Ad (VIDEO)

During the Super Bowl, Motorola will air an advertisement for the Xoom tablet, one of the iPad's more recent challengers. The Xoom ad is called "Goodbye 1984" and is full of references to Apple's first-ever Macintosh ad, which ran during the 1984 Super Bowl.

"2011 looks a lot like 1984," begins the Xoom ad. We're shown a digital image of the rotating Earth, wearing a pair of what appear to be Apple's earbuds. The commercial proceeds to criticize Apple's "closed" ecosystem.

"One authority, one design, one way to work," the ad continues. "It's time for more choices." Then, several of the Xoom's featured specs flash before the viewers' eyes: Dual-core 1GHz processor, 1080p HD video playback, 3G upgradeable to 4G, Android 3.0 Honeycomb and Adobe Flash Player, dual cameras and more. "It's time to live a free life," the ad concludes.

Apple's iconic "1984" advertisement presented a colorless, dystopian society, whose brainwashed automatons waited on a savior (in this case, the Macintosh computer) to shatter their world and set them free. Writes Computer World, "Apple itself was attacking a Big Brother image, explained by CEO Steve Jobs as IBM -- 'IBM wants it all,' he said at the time. But many viewers saw the ad as a shot at Microsoft, which made software running on IBM PCs." But today, Apple dominates the market, and the iPad is king among tablets. "Apple is the industry behemoth with a market capitalization in excess of $300 billion, which is not only higher than IBM's, but higher than that of any other company in the world, save ExxonMobil," Mashable notes.

Motorola's new ad has thrown down the gauntlet by angling for the underdog appeal. It'll be interesting to watch how the duel with Apple unfolds--if the Cupertino company chooses to respond.

Engadget recently reported, via an internal document leaked from Best Buy, that the Xoom is scheduled for a February 17 release and will carry a $700 price tag.

WATCH THE MOTOROLA XOOM AD: [via Computer World]

WATCH APPLE'S 1984 AD:

Comments

[CT Independent]

11:39 AM on 02/03/2011

Apple is a great marketing company. They have already intruduced three revolutionary products; Ipod, Iphone and now Ipad. The problem is with their closed system, other companies get the idea and run with it and end up making the product far better. Look at iphone; it was a far better product that anything else, but by the middle of 2010, when they announced iphone 4 (i am an owner), they were already playing catch up. Android phones have far surpassed iphone in functionality. Now look at Xoom, it is promised to be far better than ipad, and if it is true, Ipad 2 is already behind the curve. Again, Steve jobs is a great visionary, but what do you call a guy who makes the same mistake twice? He was first outwittted by MS and now by Google.

[macrocosm]

01:31 AM on 02/15/2011

Maybe its a bit of karma too since Apple has had such negative marketing attacking MS. It's probably one reason why MS still massively spanks Apple in pc marketshare. Then they go after Flash & Google who most likely would have worked with Apple happily. Its no surprise to me that android is taking over! Its a far better product!

Still... I dont count Apple out they could easily realign themselves for success & become an even better company. IMO competition is usually a good thing for consumers & can often inspire great achievements in business.

[Cody Wetzel]

11:07 AM on 02/02/2011

Was that Jobs in the 84' add brainwashing all those people? To think nothing has changed...

[Winski]

09:46 AM on 02/02/2011

Xoom vs. iPad - AARRGGGHHHHHhhhhhaaa...... Where are the promoters?? Where is the big bought gonna take place???

Let's see...COMPLETE fluff-ware vs. delivered, being-used and solidifying their market share, physical hardware-software on users desk.... what could possibly be construed as wrong with that picture..

Nice try Moto, but some of your left-over Zander is showing... As they say in France about most American tech companies - ALL HAT - NO PANTS.

[ipv4]

10:53 AM on 02/03/2011

What language do u speak??

[macrocosm]

01:34 AM on 02/15/2011

I believe thats a rare dialect indeed .. some call it Fanboi ... very exotic and almost seems drug induced.

[Channa]

09:10 AM on 02/02/2011

Everyone is playing catch up with the iPad. Right Xoom is competing with the first gen iPad and trumpeting their improvements in anticipation of its release. I wonder how they will compete with iPad 2 which will debut around the same time as the Xoom.
I think the Xoom is a fine machine but you have to admit Apple is likely to dominate Android machines for the foreseeable future.

[SuperBenFranklin]

10:39 PM on 02/01/2011

Good luck with that.

When will companies get it?

It is not just the device.

[Alien Nation]

03:30 PM on 02/02/2011

It's the marketing and making people feel incomplete if they don't own one.

[helioszephyr]

09:34 PM on 02/01/2011

The difference between the Xoom ad and the '84 Mac ad is, one was about a new/original computing concept that changed the course, the other a "me too" product after the fact, including its ad concept.

[MaxPowerXP]

12:10 AM on 02/02/2011

...except that the "new/original computing concept" had already been done before.

Speaking of 1984, I guess Apple's marketing department is the computing equivalent of the memory hole.

[helioszephyr]

06:59 AM on 02/02/2011

yes, we all know about PARC, but Xerox didn't think WYSIWYG as UI was the future as they're bean counters didn't think "personal" computing was the future... but Apple, more specifically Jobs/Wozniak did. Xerox's decision here is one of the biggest tech business decision blunders in history.

As for Apple's marketing department... really, if you're going to engage in hyperbole, make up something slightly believable. Cause what, the pod, phone, pad, retail stores have all been a flop? Not to mention their advert budget is about half of MS. Don't take my word for it... search it, the info is all there.

[Lucille]

08:07 PM on 02/01/2011

If the Xoom is at least $200 cheaper than iPad's pricing then it will be a runaway hit.

[Channa]

09:12 AM on 02/02/2011

I agree. Huge "if" though.

[AngusC]

07:11 PM on 02/01/2011

Xoom is going to be awesome.
However, I will be buying the Atrix instead.

[Highball]

05:14 PM on 02/01/2011

Well, that sure as well wasn't directed by Ridley Scott.

Anyhow, I'm sure the Xoom (not sure about that name, really) will do ok. Has anyone here found actual (that is not rumored) information on whether or not there will be a WiFi-Only version? Because I think that's a key element, as far as sales go.

Asking people to pay $700 AND get a data contract is asking a lot, when there's already a dominant player in the market, and WiFi is so readily accessible to most of your target demographic.

[ipv4]

10:54 AM on 02/03/2011

The 4g that comes with will give you wifi everywhere. Granted u have to buy a contract.

[Highball]

01:20 PM on 02/03/2011

Ah, ok.

Yeah, I think they have to have a WiFi-Only version, even if not at first.

[clearthinker16]

05:07 PM on 02/01/2011

I agree with part of the ad, in 1984 Apple lead toward new innovation and PC took years to catch up, now in 2011 others are trying to catch up with Apple again

[MaxPowerXP]

12:11 AM on 02/02/2011

How did they "innovate" by using an existing concept that was already invented by someone else?

A better question is, when will the Applebots learn the difference between "innovation" and "marketing"?

[Alien Nation]

03:31 PM on 02/02/2011

They innovated themselves into bankruptcy?

[MrVee]

04:52 PM on 02/01/2011

That's no fight. A XOOM OS vs a phone OS? XOOM wins without breaking a sweat. Plus the ability to play flash content? This is a no brainer. XOOM ftw.

[huffponewbie]

07:40 PM on 02/01/2011

Do you do anything besides bash Apple?

[MrVee]

02:15 PM on 02/02/2011

My responses have to do with the question as hand and these question are worthy of the hammer. Beyond that, what did I say in this story that is "bashing"? Is IOS not the phone os? Is not IOS the same os in their "tablet"? Can the tablet play Adobe Flash content? You're dismissed.

[Alien Nation]

03:32 PM on 02/02/2011

He didn't even mention apple lol.

[J242]

07:42 PM on 02/01/2011

Ummm, "Xoom" OS? You mean Android vs iOS? You fail at technology my friend. Android was copied directly from iOS and doesn't bring anything "new" to the market other than they do not police the apps so you can buy complete junk that doesn't even work for apps and they give access to a few extra APIs that iOS doesn't give out. Nothing more. They are both comparable.

[MrVee]

02:17 PM on 02/02/2011

Prove it?

[jabreal00]

04:38 PM on 02/01/2011

I wouldn't consider myself an Apple fanboi but as a casual user who is fairly tech literate it's hard to beat Apple's integrated system. iTunes is by far the best media ecosystem out there. It's very easy to use and buying is seamless. I use to buy a lot of songs off of Amazon before iTunes got rid of the DRM-locked songs.

I truly hope that Android-based products will be true competitors so there are more choices. I am however fearful that the different hardware makers who piggy-back on Android will cripple their devise to maximize as much money out of people as they can. Battery life is also a big issue with some of these Android-phones.

[talos72]

07:05 PM on 02/01/2011

"iTunes is by far the best media ecosystem out there. It's very easy to use and buying is seamless."

Have you tried transferring your iTunes library from one hard-drive to another? How about controlling song arrangements and their playback order in iTunes?

Not always fun.

[J242]

07:45 PM on 02/01/2011

Yeah, it's really, really simple actually. You just copy the folder over, then open iTunes and point at the other library. Done deal, simple, easy and I've done it several dozen times without any problem at all as I upgrade my external drives. Song arrangement/playback order? Yeah, it's called drag & drop within a playlist. I do not understand where this presents ANY kind of difficulty. Once in the playlist, drag the songs into the order you want. How is that hard?

[arcana1973]

10:57 PM on 02/01/2011

Have you even tried the Zune software? Much better to look at, and for a monthly fee to Zune Pass you get unlimited down loads. Not to mention Amazon does a decent job as well. So no it's not a fact that iTunes is the best ecosystem out there, its just your opinion.

[J242]

02:40 PM on 02/02/2011

Then when you cancel your subscription (Or MS pulls yet another bait & switch on you like they did with the previous "Plays for sure" music) all your music goes "poof" except for the 10 tracks a month you chose to keep.

Sorry, not a good deal in my book and as far as appearances go, that's in the eye of the beholder. To each their own as far as "look and feel" go. Amazon does indeed do a good job though, no doubt however I will NEVER purchase WMA content like what MS is pushing. It's an inferior audio codec that has a capped audible range so you are stuck with just over mid-range audio that has to be enhanced to get any real lows or highs. AAC, MP3 or FLAC but never WMA...

[iamvalid]

03:33 PM on 02/02/2011

I don't care too much for Amazon, but I do buy my DRM Free music from them. Do what you want with the music. You paid for it. Now that is the way it should be.

[jeffcarroll]

04:23 PM on 02/01/2011

Looks like an awesome product, but it's priced too high.

[iamvalid]

03:36 PM on 02/02/2011

I agree. Wouldn't it be nice to buy one of these cool Android tablets with just wifi? No contracts, no bull, just the tablet. I don't want no stinking contract with Verizon or anyone else. I just want the tablet with wifi and for a decent price. OK 3G or 4G, but only on demand as needed.

[jeffcarroll]

10:06 AM on 02/05/2011

I can dig it. :)

[Flaxseed]

03:20 PM on 02/01/2011

Yes. Makes total sense.
Because since 1984, 100% of the computers in the world are Macs, they all run Mac OS. And the only choice for portable music players is the iPod.

[gorash]

04:18 PM on 02/01/2011

Talking 'bout tablets.

[J242]

07:45 PM on 02/01/2011

hehehe good one!

[haze blaze]

03:05 PM on 02/01/2011

If the last 15 sec had been a sizzle reel showing off the device, it'd be a much better commercial.

[J242]

07:47 PM on 02/01/2011

Agreed... Hardware specs alone don't make the device. It's about the experience and even a super-powered device can completely suck if the battery only lasts a couple of hours or the resolution is weak or they built it with underpowered communications devices, etc, etc, etc...