The iPad ad which hit the web last night struck lots of people as somehow familiar. Then they realised, the new iPad spot is a homage to an ad for one of the Apple tablet’s ancestors – the Apple Newton. Click through to see the new iPad ad compared with the clip that seems to have inspired it…
The Apple Newton was Apple’s first tablet, a PDA with handwriting recognition which still has plenty of hardcore fans but went down in history as one of Cupertino’s biggest flops. The new iPad ad recalls the TV advertising for the Newton, remaking the “What is Newton?” campaign for the modern age as “What is iPad?”
In both the iPad ad and the Apple Newton spot, a gruff voiced man runs down the features of the product while ordinary folk fondle the tech. And just as Apple now calls the iPad “magical”, the What Is Newton? ad declared it to be “magic”.
We included the Newton in our Apple Tablet history before the iPad emerged and it seems that someone at Apple still has a soft spot for the iPad’s ancestor. Perhaps the former Apple Newton chief who was rehired last year had something to do with it.
The original Apple Newton TV campaign featured two more spots so perhaps there are Who Is iPad and What is iPad ads on the way. The second one would be perfect to show off the iPad 3G’s GPS skills.
Let us know what you think of the new iPad ad. Does jumping back to the Apple Newton campaign show a love of nostalgia or a lack of new ideas?
Out now | from £429 | Apple (via MacRumours)
