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Comment by fidotron | Hacker News Reader

Maybe I'm stupidly jaded, and it's one of the things that has steadily pushed me out of the Apple ecosystem, but this trend for overly emotional marketing of stuff, especially in the hipster end of the market, grates enormously. This is like a sort of tech-etsy.

It's got to the point I can't actually take products like this seriously without getting annoyed by them going on about artisanal wood carvings. Like the owning of the object itself is more important than what you're supposed to do with it . . .

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I agree. Much of the copy on that page is simply comical. For instance, the marketing describes the Bluetooth pairing process as "as easy as falling in love."

I don't understand how companies can publish copy that is this absurd and expect people to do anything but laugh at them.

I actually thought that it was advertising a real pencil! It made a swell parody, although still a cool product.

I sort of thought that for a moment too. But then I realised that this was HN so they're likely actually selling some kind of technology that I'm too uncool to know about. So they're talking about "Pencil" and "Paper" not pencil and paper as I understand it. Of course with their super cool, new age design website, actually finding out what they're talking about requires watching a video or something. Simply stating what something is and how it fits with pre-existing things is far too uncool.

From what little I know about Bluetooth LE, pairing is radically simplified - there's even a "Just Works" mode for app-level communication without pairing.

It's Bluetooth - Love Edition

Most marketing isn't targeted at the niche of crotchety, critical, cynical HN readers. I would guess the majority of the greater Apple demographic would hardly bat an eye at the copy.

I don't think so. "Each Pencil has a unique character that will subtly change with years of use." That's likely too much for any demographic.

Hipsters love wabi-sabi.

The only person I've ever heard gush about wabi-sabi is Jack Dorsey

I'm a software engineer with a CS degree and over 22,000 karma on HN. I actually liked that part! I like things that show wear over time for two reasons. First, it communicates how people use it. The wear patterns create some context, so the object feels familiar as soon as you see it. Second, designing a product to wear well means it can stand up to some abuse and isn't a victim of planned obsolescence.

On the other hand, "as easy as falling in love" is definitely over the top ;)

> wear well means it can stand up to some abuse and isn't a victim of planned obsolescence.

so making it out of wood, which chip easily, is designing it to wear well?

The brushed aluminium is probably better than the wood.

Well, that's fair; falling in love is not very easy.

I'm just glad they didn't use the word "Gorgeous".

At some point I imagine my son will see his wife doing something beautiful, illuminated by a golden sunrise, and when he tells her she looks gorgeous, she'll say "What? Like a fucking app or something?"

I must say the video is most definitely over emotional no to mention it made me sea sick with the over use of shaking. The product looks great and interesting.

>It's got to the point I can't actually take products like this seriously without getting annoyed by them going on about artisanal wood carvings. Like the owning of the object itself is more important than what you're supposed to do with it . . .

i agree with you on your point but it also has upsides, design was forgotten and every electronic device we owned was either matt black or white (think of all the VCR's, home audio, laptops). So now that a sense of design has returned we rebel against it 'being' hipster. Its a delicate balance i guess.

To be clear, I'm definitely in favour of good design, but good design can often speak for itself.

This is the big differentiation, for me. Good design does speak for itself. Marketing bullshit ("An artisanally crafted tool"-these are most certainly not handmade, it's just bullshit) just cheapens the whole thing. It's like explaining the punchline to your joke. Copy like this just ruins a lot of the design for me. Marketing copy hyperbole has been a problem since the 60's. After 50 years it's gotten to where marketing copy is essentially meaningless.

I disagree that there was ever a lack of sense of design - apart perhaps from the humble PC. Home audio and VCRs were black because it was "cool", not because the designers couldn't be bothered.

Even in the world of computing there was design before the iPhone came out - the Silicon Graphics workstations particularly spring to mind. Lenovo/IBM laptops have always had a very strong design - albeit not the graceful/sleek brushed metal of a modern Apple product.

I know this is an unpopular opinion among the tech elite, but I absolutely consider the aesthetics of a device to be as important as what you're supposed to do with it. I'm glad that the electronics / software industry is moving away from the "functional is ugly" paradigm of pre-2000 to a more balanced approach of form balanced with function.

I thought this was some sort of parody until I saw the electronic guts near the end. A pencil made of wood with an eraser that writes on paper. I didn't realize it was a "Pencil" that writes on "Paper".

While I agree, its like all marketing (and having a degree in marketing makes me more jaded). It's no different than a group of friends having fun after popping a Coke can, or women being attracted to Axe body spray. They're selling a stylus - and trying to make it an experience, and have failed in my opinion.

And I need to create a filter so the word "artisanal" never appears in my browser

How do you even draw any conclusions about their failing? I am amused that some HN commenters judge the efficiency of the product marketing using their personal take on aesthetic qualities. No-one except the company has the data if their strategy is working. I guess some just like to bash 'hipsters'.

Don't you think they[company team] did user experience tests, A/B copy tests, product tests, customer research? Do you think that they are utterly incompetent and didn't think about the 'over-the-top' factor?

I think if you're feeling really cynical you might believe the company share the opinion I've originally expressed here, but know that they are merely exploiting a very lucrative market through this approach. I happen to believe in this case they are sincere, but sincerely annoying :).

For those shopping for a Pencil type device, their site might be really effective.

In my opinion they have failed at creating an experience, it just comes off as ridiculous - marketing a stylus like this. I might still buy the device if I ever needed a quality stylus, it's interesting, it's just pretentious marketing. So product may not be a fail, but artisanal positioning is.

> Like the owning of the object itself is more important than what you're supposed to do with it

Welcome to the world of consumerism. Where we've long produced more than we need and without manufactured desire the high-gear economy would collapse. Companies can't market products anymore cause we all have too much. Instead the market "an experience".

It'll pass. It's just a marketing trend.

It's a bit silly to allow the marketing to influence you in a positive OR negative manner.

That's the point of marketing. What is silly is being a poseur, like many people on HN, and pretending you are above all this. Different people just respond to different styles of marketing.

The point of marketing is to influence him in a negative manner?

My point is that if you're letting a marketing decision come between you and a great product, you're shortchanging yourself.

Have you never seen or heard of political advertising? Any form of marketing which creates comparisons tries to create a lesser impression of the thing which isn't being peddled.

And my point is that some very smart people work in marketing. People who think they can avoid being influenced are delusional.

You got this offended at a nice, aesthetic product? I for one, love it. I like the design. All this fuss about the word "artisan", who cares? It's marketing.

No. Not at the product; at the effusive, over the top, false in places - absurd in others, marketing copy.

I care.

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