Apple a future sponsor?

righttrack

righttrack

Well-Known Member
Here is my two cents on all of this.

When this stuff originally went in at Epcot (Innoventions, Imagination, etc) it was state of the art technology. A lot of things going into the parks these days, and I'm sorry for being so brutally honest, is just plain old standard technology. Sometimes we've got better in our living rooms. This had better not be an Apple store-like experience with a bunch of iPads and standard apps. It better be freaking fantabulous!
 
Darth Sidious

Darth Sidious

Authentically Disney Distinctly Chinese
Original Poster
EpcoTim said:
What got people into the world of Macs was the iPod and iTunes. And marketing. And style. And brand perception. Also the less-business minded OS when coming from a Windows machine.

And even that, along with iLife, hasn't gotten people to flock to the Mac. Computer sales is such a small portion of Apples bottom-line that OSX has taken a back seat to just about everything in Apples line-up when it comes to development and company resources. Most people in the "world of Apple" don't even own a Mac, they own an iOS device and a Windows computer. Theres a reason why "HeII froze over" back in 2003, because Apple and Jobs knew the computer side of their business would border on a niche market if they didn't lower prices and standards, which they never did or will.
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You're post right here seems to have contradicted your previous post on Apple not needing this association. Style, brand perception and marketing is exactly why you'd sponsor an attraction. As for innovation... Go look up the latest Apple rumor yesterday in The Wall Street Journal... They may revolutionize television. Add it to the laundry list of industries they changed. I think Apple is a good fit... Perhaps just not with Imagination but we all know there are plenty of other areas that need help.
 
donsullivan

donsullivan

Premium Member
jmcl07 said:
You're post right here seems to have contradicted your previous post on Apple not needing this association. Style, brand perception and marketing is exactly why you'd sponsor an attraction. As for innovation... Go look up the latest Apple rumor yesterday in The Wall Street Journal... They may revolutionize television. Add it to the laundry list of industries they changed. I think Apple is a good fit... Perhaps just not with Imagination but we all know there are plenty of other areas that need help.
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I'm not sure that Apple would gain any value from sponsoring something at Epcot. They get far more face-to-face impressions with people each day in their retail stores around the world than they could possibly get from anything at Epcot. Combine that with not being constrained by any of Disney's appearance guidelines (which if you've ever been in the stores are very different from Apple) and other than many folks potentially wanting it, I don't see what benefit Apple would gain from such an association.
 
Darth Sidious

Darth Sidious

Authentically Disney Distinctly Chinese
Original Poster
donsullivan said:
I'm not sure that Apple would gain any value from sponsoring something at Epcot. They get far more face-to-face impressions with people each day in their retail stores around the world than they could possibly get from anything at Epcot. Combine that with not being constrained by any of Disney's appearance guidelines (which if you've ever been in the stores are very different from Apple) and other than many folks potentially wanting it, I don't see what benefit Apple would gain from such an association.
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People choose to go to Apple stores so they don't really do anything for those who wouldn't stop in and look around. Make an interesting ride experience and people will go and interact with the brand/marketing. As for the design... They could undoubtedly find something to make... I think that is a complete non issue.
 
righttrack

righttrack

Well-Known Member
The benefit for Apple will be a showcase for emerging technology. Apple in it's stores, it's advertising, etc, only speaks about available products. They don't tease us with ideas or concepts that are not fully fleshed out. They just produce some well-made and well architected products. What a showcase at WDW could do is give them a place to show us technology that is not yet generally available. Not bulletproof, but there are people there to tend to it. To show us the future. That could be very valuable to the company because it does not have that kind of a forum now.
 
lazyboy97o

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
righttrack said:
The benefit for Apple will be a showcase for emerging technology. Apple in it's stores, it's advertising, etc, only speaks about available products. They don't tease us with ideas or concepts that are not fully fleshed out. They just produce some well-made and well architected products. What a showcase at WDW could do is give them a place to show us technology that is not yet generally available. Not bulletproof, but there are people there to tend to it. To show us the future. That could be very valuable to the company because it does not have that kind of a forum now.
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Apple chooses not to showcase potentials. It's part of their image going all the way back to the 1980s. Their products are supposed to be fully fleshed out and realized, everything you need in one tight little package.
 
righttrack

righttrack

Well-Known Member
lazyboy97o said:
Apple chooses not to showcase potentials. It's part of their image going all the way back to the 1980s. Their products are supposed to be fully fleshed out and realized, everything you need in one tight little package.
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Yes, completely realize that. Now that they have gained a foothold and are rapidly losing market share to some competitors (Samsung/Google for example) people are not going to just invest in Apple without knowing their direction. There's more at stake for Apple now than a few years back. It may be a good climate for them to start showing us where they are going rather than just where they are.
 
EpcoTim

EpcoTim

Well-Known Member
jmcl07 said:
You're post right here seems to have contradicted your previous post on Apple not needing this association. Style, brand perception and marketing is exactly why you'd sponsor an attraction. As for innovation... Go look up the latest Apple rumor yesterday in The Wall Street Journal... They may revolutionize television. Add it to the laundry list of industries they changed. I think Apple is a good fit... Perhaps just not with Imagination but we all know there are plenty of other areas that need help.
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Not really, at least in my mind.

Look at it this way. Apple has touched just about everyone worldwide. Everyone. Whether it be through marketing, word of mouth or just brand identity, they have touched the world over in some way or another. Theres a good chance that the people visiting Epcot and seeing their logo, have an iPhone in their pocket, their kids are playing Angry Birds on their iPod or they have an iPad in the hotel room. Those that don't have any of the previously listed have most certainly heard or know about Apple and its iProducts. So not only does associating with Disney not open up any new markets for Apple, it also associates them with a brand that many Apple fans might not hold in high regard. Brand alienation. An example was given earlier; Hipsters. Now their go-to brand is associated with a mass market and blatantly corporate culture. Sponsoring an Epcot attraction may tarnish more than it shines for Apple.
 
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Apple sponsorship = huge apple store on main street right next to Starbucks;););)

Seriously, if they threw some serious cash on the table and reworked the imagination pavilion it would be great. I would gladly give Apple a large "showroom" to showcase their products if the ride gets redone right. There are literally endless possibilities with synergies with iPods or iPhones and a theme park attraction. You just have to use your imagination...
 
PerrySimon

PerrySimon

New Member
Imagination would be a good place for the Apple sponsorship to go but what about Innoventions? Wouldn't that be a great place for a sponsorship that represents the future of the technology?
 
JEANYLASER

JEANYLASER

Well-Known Member
agreed I think that Apple will be perfect Sponsor for Innoventions! For Imagination Croyola will be great place for Imagination and new 3D movie as well!
 
Timekeeper

Timekeeper

Well-Known Member
righttrack said:
When this stuff originally went in at Epcot (Innoventions, Imagination, etc) it was state of the art technology. A lot of things going into the parks these days, and I'm sorry for being so brutally honest, is just plain old standard technology. Sometimes we've got better in our living rooms. This had better not be an Apple store-like experience with a bunch of iPads and standard apps. It better be freaking fantabulous!
Click to expand...

That is exactly what my hesitation (especially if I were Apple) would be with respect to sponsoring an attraction. Apple's product lineup improves by leaps and bounds every year, and an attraction is supposed to have a shelf life of what could potentially be decades. There's just no way to "keep up," and Disney doesn't exactly have a reputation of dramatically refurbing any given attraction on an annual basis.

Yes, we do have "better in our living rooms" than most of the "technology" featured at Epcot. As an innovative brand, I wouldn't want to tie myself into a snapshot of today's technology that, tomorrow, will be yesterday's technology. Imagine if Apple was smeared all over the CoP... that final scene of a pre-iPhone family is more nostalgic than it is modern. Mission Space, on the other hand, may be an exception to this as a manned mission to Mars isn't something that we're going to see happen on the news today or tomorrow.

The hypothetical Imagination 4.0 would have to be somewhat timeless (like Pirates or Haunted Mansion), and untied to a showcase of technology, to make me comfortable with that kind of sponsorship.
 
bhg469

bhg469

Well-Known Member
Crayola keeps coming up as a great fit and I completely agree. I dont even know if they are legitimately considering it. I would hate to see a technology company behind the imagination pavilion. Even if it were a company like Google who in my opinion trump apple, as far as a tech company is concerned. On top of that they are charitable, something that apple was never until Steve Jobs passed away.
 

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