Twiststl

Since Apple’s unveiling of its iPad, it has been virtually impossible to visit any news or social media website without being inundated with information on the new product. While the Twitterverse was all buzz about the release of the touch screen tablet that is expected to revolutionize and revive print media, there was significantly less buzz about President Obama’s State of the Union Address. The annual speech typically garners a lot of media attention as pundits scrutinize and criticize the president’s every word. But this year, media coverage proved a bit lackluster, though not for lack of effort.

Bloggers have been speculating over whether overlap of the release and the address was somehow planned. In all likelihood, it was simply a coincidence as public relations announcements as big as Apple’s are planned far in advance. Techies and consumers have long been awaiting the arrival of the device. So what caused the influx of Tweets, Facebook updates and blog entries? Our take is that it was the price of the device that sparked the media frenzy. Expected to retail somewhere around $1000, the announcement of the $499 price tag proved that in the current market, consumers love a good deal. The iPad met, if not exceeded expectations in terms of functionality and aesthetics. At half of the expected price, the iPad became simply irresistible.

While Obama has just proposed a “spending freeze,” consumers have already implemented their own spending freezes in response to the poor economy. People have been tightening their belts for an extended period of time and are chomping at the bit to satisfy a longing for a new toy, and the pricing of the iPad put that toy within reach. This isn’t to say that Americans have become more enamored with new gadgets than the country’s political issues, but during hard times people look for something to take their minds off of their problems and the iPad does just that.

If you missed the State of the Union Address, get an analysis from the New York Time's website, or check out what other people are saying about the timing of the events at Advertising Age.