essay

“We All Live In A Small Village.” This is an Arabic saying that likens how people closely connected with each other all around the world to living in a small place where everyone can communicate with others so easily. This saying became very common after the technology became a huge and an important part in people’s lives. Most people agree that technology can help make the lives of all individuals easier and more interesting. In addition to that, a great number of electronics and technology companies have been established. These companies are discovering and modernizing many different types of technology devices everyday.

“Apple Inc. (Apple), incorporated on January 3, 1977, along with its subsidiaries, is engaged in designing, manufacturing and marketing mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players”(Apple Inc. (AAPL.O)). Apple has become one of the most famous companies in the world. Many people became fully addicted to its products as soon as they use one of them and they always look forward to what the next new Apple device is going to be. Furthermore, all Apple new products being introduced are covered, broadcasted and marketed by many different types of media and marketing companies all around the world. Since there are many differences between cultures and humanity needs in any particular part of the world, the way of reporting and broadcasting the news must be different as well and these differences are going to be shown in the comparison below.

Comparing two articles in two different languages that talked about iPad Mini, which launched with fanfare since it is the most recent Apple product, one can see how differently and widely technology advertising is around the world. First of all, the first iPad that was designed by Apple Inc. was released on April 3, 2010 and after it was succeeded, they started developing it, upgrading it, making it smaller and thinner. Moreover, a survey by Business Insider revealed that 23 percent of respondents even had more than one iPad at home. (Steele, Chandra). The previous reconnaissance leads us to know how important and popular the iPad became, which is a really surprising thing. However, after all of these developing and upgrading processes for the iPad, they recently came up with iPad Mini, which was released on November 2, 2012 and considered the latest apple product so far.

“Living with the iPad Mini: Three weeks and counting” is an article written by Scott Stein and posted on Cnet web site. Stein chose a really interesting title to get the reader’s attention. He started his article with a story about his experience with having the new iPad Mini, which was a great experience as he described. “OK, I'll admit it. The iPad Mini hasn't left my hands in the last three weeks” (Stein). He complimented the new iPad’s size by saying “it might be the best gaming handheld Apple's ever made, based on the sheer size of the screen and its thin, two-hand-friendly frame” (Stein). The smaller size of iPad made it very handy and people may take it wherever they want, which is a really great advantage. Stein started doing some comparison between iPad2 and iPad Mini and he showed the advantages that made iPad Mini special. “The first iPad didn't have a FaceTime camera -- or any camera at all. It was a buzz kill because the iPad seemed ideal for casual video chat. The iPad Mini lacks a higher-definition Retina Display, which is frustrating because the Mini is perfect for reading, and deserves the best display tech possible to improve that experience” (Stein). At the end, Stein mentioned the purposes that he used the iPad Mini for and how helpful it is.

In the same manner, looking at “Apple Reveals iPad Mini, The Smaller and The Least Expensive,” an Arabian article posted on a web site called Radio Sawa, written by Marwan Sadik and Leena Malkawi, helps to see how different do Arabian writers usually write and report the news to market a particular product. In this article, Malkawi and Sadik had listed a lot of information about iPad Mini included its advantages and disadvantages. The writers started their article with very basic facts about the product that tell when the product had been introduced and this kind of information. Then, they began listing the iPad Mini specifications and compared it with iPad2 to show what makes this product so special. Moreover, the selling facts could be interesting to some people whom judge the products by the number of the selling and how high is it. Malkawi and Sadik did talk about that as well. They recorded how many iPads been sold and how much did Apple Company earned from selling it before coming out with iPad Mini. Even though iPad is not very expensive compared with its advantages, “Apple Company had sold around 100 million iPad in the two past years, which is an unbelievable number” (Malkawi). In short, it is obvious how did the Arabian writers use the facts about iPad Mini to market it more than just talking about it in general as what Stein, the American writer, did.

Overall, as it can be seen in these two articles, the way of writing that the writers use to report this kind of news, which considered marketing in some ways, is entirely affected by the languages and the cultures. On the one hand, the way of writing that Stein used in his article was so interesting and attractive. He used informal way of writing in some places and he was serious in other places as well. In addition, the way of writing that Stein had used in his article is so common in the United States and also, that could be the reason why most American writers use it. On the other hand, it is not so common to see Arabian writers use this kind of writing. They simply go ahead to discuss the topic without taking the readers off the topic. To illustrate, as it can be seen in the title in the title of the Arabian article, which is “Apple Reveals iPad Mini, The Smaller and The Least Expensive,” the title tells exactly what the writer is going to talk about and this is one of the most important rules of the Arabian writing. Arabs most likely read what they really want to know and this type of writing does not have as many enthusiasts as it has in the United States. For the most part, writers mainly know the type of writing that attracts the readers or the consumers the most in the country that he or she report the news for. In other words, the way of advertising usually focus on what the people in this specific country really want to know and what they are really interested in, so they can get their attention and give more value to their news.

Focusing on the way of writing of each article not only leads to find out the differences in writing styles between these two articles, but also it helps to know how do these writers, whom originally are from different counties and different cultures, are advertising the same product in two different ways. According to research titled “The Role of the Advertising Agency in the Cultural Message Content of Advertisements: A Comparison of the Middle East and the United States,” which made by Morris Kalliny and Salma Ghanem, the cultures strongly influence the advertisement all around the world. “The cultural values conveyed through advertising messages are considered powerful forces shaping consumers’ motivations, lifestyles, and product choice. Marketers must understand cultural values of a given society to be able to select effective and appropriate advertising messages (Kalliny and Ghanem, 313).

Additionally, knowing the factors that made the cultures so different is so important for marketers to sell their products. “The understanding of cultural differences is often considered a prerequisite for successful international advertising because consumers grow up in a particular culture and become aligned with that culture’s value system, beliefs and perception processes” (Kalliny, 95). These factors are a lot, starting with the localization, languages, religions and many other things.