As the East Coast approached evening, the West Coast was just past lunchtime.
Mountain View, San Francisco.
The 1997 Fall Product Launch by Tingke Bell began promptly at 2:00 PM Pacific Time.
As a rapidly rising and highly sought-after electronics brand in recent years, even though Tingke Bell's fall product launch wasn't as significant as its spring counterpart, it still garnered intense attention from global media, industry peers, and consumers. Moreover, based on the rumors circulating beforehand, this fall launch was far from the minor event of the previous year. It was highly likely to introduce another flagship product from Tingke Bell.
iPad-10.
This was the name of the new product that tech-savvy media, no less resourceful than entertainment paparazzi, had dug up in advance. This leak even caused a stir within Tingke Bell, leading to an internal investigation into the source of the breach.
However, this launch was also unexpectedly overshadowed by a major event.
Even up until Friday, the iPad-10 had been the absolute focus of Tingke Bell's fall product launch, with its details being leaked and dissected in various ways.
But then, out of nowhere, Paranormal Activity exploded onto the scene.
In fact, even before Paranormal Activity's official release, the film, shot entirely with the iRec digital camera, had already caught the attention of the tech industry after its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival. However, no one had anticipated that Paranormal Activity would become such a massive success. So much so that just one day after its release, it quickly became a topic of national discussion.
The reason was simple.
Money is the ultimate stimulant for public interest.
A $300,000 budget, nearly $10 million in opening day box office, an estimated $150 million domestic total, a 500-fold return on investment—and that was just the projected domestic earnings. Globally, the return could exceed 1,000 times the budget. These figures were simply too tantalizing for the imagination.
If this had been a solo project, the earnings from the film would undoubtedly have propelled an unknown individual to the top echelons of the world's wealthiest elite.
Given the overwhelming attention, Tingke Bell, which usually adhered strictly to its launch event protocols, temporarily added more segments related to Paranormal Activity. This included highlighting the iCam, iPlayer, and iRec products, emphasizing not just their entertainment capabilities but also their potential to help users gain fame, monetize their content, and even create new job opportunities across society.
For example, the iCam.
Since its official launch, iCam users have been sharing photos on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram. In just a few years, this has led to the rise of numerous internet celebrities with millions of followers. Many of these influencers, through collaborations with various companies, earn annual incomes ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars. Even mid-tier influencers can make a comfortable living through their online presence.
Then there's the iPlayer.
Unlike the content-creating iCam, the iPlayer is more about passive content consumption. However, when combined with Broadcast, a network radio and audio-sharing website acquired by Tingke Bell, it has also provided substantial income opportunities for many.
Thanks to its considerable storage capacity, the iPlayer isn't limited to just music. It can also store audiobooks, podcasts, audio tutorials, and more. Whether it's music, podcasts, or audiobooks, these platforms offer opportunities for ordinary people with the right skills.
Broadcast not only features licensed content from major music artists but also accepts submissions from lesser-known musicians, offering them revenue-sharing opportunities. This has led to the emergence of a new wave of online music creators in recent years.
Even if music has a high barrier to entry, the recording of audiobooks, pure audio podcasts, and various audio tutorials all require content creators. The number of audio content creators on Broadcast has already reached the millions, with many earning substantial incomes.
And then there's the iRec.
Even before Paranormal Activity, when the iRec-10 was launched last year, YouTube, the video-sharing platform under Ingrid, introduced an ad revenue-sharing program. Users could earn cash from ad revenue simply by uploading videos and generating views.
This led to a flood of users eager to participate.
Now, with the sudden success of Paranormal Activity, the iRec's image has been elevated to an entirely new level.
A home digital camera capable of producing a film with over $100 million in box office revenue? Who else could do that?
Even if other companies like Sony deliberately use their own home digital cameras to produce mockumentary films and achieve success, they would still lack the groundbreaking aura of being the first to do so.
At the Tingke Bell launch event.
Although giving Paranormal Activity too much screen time might seem off-topic, since it was destined to be a win-win situation, Tingke Bell didn't hold back. After the film received excellent feedback at its Toronto premiere, the company had already decided to heavily promote it. Now, they went a step further by inviting the main creators of Paranormal Activity to the event.
After some initial interactions and the introduction of a few peripheral products, C, the host, personally invited Justin Lin, Amy Adams, and the other main creators to the stage.
Amidst the enthusiastic applause from the audience, C sat down with the creators, and the event's large screen began playing a trailer for Paranormal Activity.
This move surprised many attendees.
They were really going all out.
This was, after all, a global live-streamed event with over 30 million simultaneous viewers on YouTube. Afterward, countless media outlets worldwide would further disseminate the information to billions of ordinary people. By incorporating Paranormal Activity into their launch event, Tingke Bell was essentially giving the film a massive global advertisement.
The potential value was incalculable.
After the trailer ended and the applause died down, C, acting like a talk show host, continued to guide the conversation: "So, first question, Justin, why did you decide to use the iRec to shoot this film?"
Facing thousands of live audience members and millions of viewers online, even though they had rehearsed this beforehand, Justin Lin still felt his hands and feet go numb. Just a few months ago, he had been a nobody. How had he suddenly become a global sensation?
Fortunately, he hadn't completely frozen up. Taking a deep breath, he forced a smile and finally spoke: "Honestly, it was initially due to budget constraints. As a newcomer, it was hard to secure support from studios. Later, after using my own iRec to shoot a test clip, I realized that using the iRec exclusively might actually produce better results. So, I decided to use this non-professional digital camera to shoot the film."
Of course, this wasn't the whole truth.
But since Simon didn't want to steal the spotlight, and Justin Lin was credited as the film's producer, director, and screenwriter, they crafted a rags-to-riches story that the public could easily relate to and find inspiring.
After Justin, Amy Adams and the others shared their experiences of being discovered as newcomers, their initial doubts about using the iRec, and how they ultimately completed a low-budget masterpiece.
This talk-show-style interaction lasted about five minutes.
As it concluded, amidst the applause, Justin Lin and the others, now back in their seats in the front row, still felt as if they were dreaming.
Outside the event, especially on online platforms, the live-streamed launch caused the already hot Paranormal Activity topic to skyrocket. On Facebook's trending topics list, three out of the top ten spots were quickly occupied by Paranormal Activity-related discussions.
Back at the event, despite the added focus on Paranormal Activity, the core of the launch remained unchanged. After the interaction with the film's creators and a few peripheral segments, the main event finally arrived.
iPad-10.
C once again took the stage to introduce the product.
After some light-hearted banter to warm up the audience, the large screen displayed the title and various angles of the iPad-10. C then unveiled the prototype devices on stage, revealing black, white, and pink models. The flashbulbs from cameras began to go off in rapid succession.
After a moment for photos, C began detailing the iPad-10's specifications, with the screen changing to display the relevant information.
The iPad-10 was Tingke Bell's first tablet computer, integrating years of research and development around the iBook product line and incorporating technology from Apple's NewtonPad and operating systems after the acquisition. It was a powerhouse.
- 7-inch latest-generation black-and-white touchscreen LCD, with display quality far superior to the NewtonPad's outdated green-screen LCD.
- ARM architecture embedded microprocessor, with a processing speed of 162MHz, a massive leap from the NewtonPad's 25MHz.
- 4MB of RAM, a 400% increase over the NewtonPad's 1MB.
- 1GB of micro hard drive storage, a significant upgrade from the NewtonPad's 8MB of flash memory.
- Two replaceable lithium-ion batteries, each providing 4 hours of battery life, with up to 20 hours of music playback. Together, they offered enough power for a full day's use.
- Three color options: black, white, and pink, offering a more aesthetically pleasing and diverse appearance.
- ...
Beyond the hardware, there was also the software.
The iPad-10 fully encompassed all the functionalities of the NewtonPad and added two core features: e-book reading and audio playback.
In Simon's eyes, as someone from the future, the iPad-10's greatest advantage over the NewtonPad was that it had taken the right path for a tablet computer.
It was no longer just a PDA tool for business professionals but an entertainment device.
The key to this transformation was the micro hard drive storage available at the time.
The two core features, e-books and audio playback, might not seem groundbreaking, but they significantly increased the amount of time users would spend on the iPad-10.
Any electronic product that can keep users "glued to it" is bound to succeed.
After C finished detailing the iPad-10's specifications, the audience was buzzing with excitement.
Now, everyone's focus turned to the price.
But the reveal was delayed.
C stepped off the stage, and Jeff Garnett, the president of Broadcast's online operations, took over to announce the iPad-10's complementary features.
The iPad-10 was fully compatible with the iPlayer system, allowing users to download various audio resources from the Broadcast website. Moreover, thanks to its 7-inch touchscreen, the audio playback interface was more user-friendly than the iPlayer's.
Then there was the e-book feature.
Jeff Garnett announced the launch of Tingke Bell's e-book store, a new website called Tbook. The platform already offered over 50,000 e-books, 70% of which were free public domain titles. Tingke Bell was also in talks with major publishers to continuously add more content.
Furthermore, Tbook introduced a self-publishing platform open to the general public.
Anyone could create, upload, and even set their own prices for their works. Tbook would take a 30% cut for operational costs, with the remaining 70% going to the authors.
This was clearly another platform offering income opportunities for countless people and a potential disruption to the entire publishing industry.
Traditional book publishing, due to its costs, made it difficult for ordinary people to get their works published.
Tbook eliminated that barrier entirely.
It was a free-for-all.
When Jeff Garnett announced this system, the audience erupted once again. Many began typing furiously on their laptops.
This was truly a disruption.
Even though the dot-com bubble had burst, the foundation of the internet industry had been laid, and it was still in a phase of rapid development.
In the information age, no one knew what the future held.
Some radical journalists even typed out phrases like "Traditional publishing will soon cease to exist" on their laptops.
As Jeff Garnett left the stage, the most thrilling moment arrived.
C returned to the stage, teasing the audience with some banter before finally revealing the iPad-10's price.
$799.
The same price as the iRec. Unexpected, yet expected.
The applause resumed.
This price wasn't as high as the first-generation NewtonPad's $899, but given the NewtonPad's poor sales, its latest iteration had been reduced to $699.
The iPad-10 was essentially a complete overhaul of the NewtonPad, with the latest technology in screen, storage, memory, and battery. A $100 price increase over the NewtonPad was reasonable, even lower than many had anticipated.
However, no one was particularly surprised.
Unlike Apple, which always pursued high prices and profit margins, Tingke Bell's previous flagship products had aimed for rapid market penetration by offering lower prices and high volume. Moreover, as sales increased, production costs would naturally decrease.
After the iPad-10 reveal, the event began to wind down.
What was expected to be a light dessert following the spring's main course turned out to be a feast in its own right. Between the unexpected buzz around Paranormal Activity and the highly anticipated iPad-10, Tingke Bell's fall product launch had plenty of highlights. As the event concluded, newspapers, websites, TV stations, and other media platforms quickly spread the news. For a while, it seemed like everyone was talking about it.
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