Electronics 1994
Apple
Introducing the on-line service for people who have never tried one. And for people who have.
FROM THE PRINTED PAGEOriginal ad copy
OCR transcription from the archived page. Scanning and reading-order errors may remain.
Introducing the on-line service for people who have never tried one. And for people who have. Welcome to eWorld Elegant graphic interface makes it easy to navigate and find information. Keep up-to-date with the latest from major news sources. Easily communicate with users of other electronic services, including the Internet. Your direct connection for the most in-depth Apple and third-party information and support anywhere. Be more successful with relevant business, financial, and management insights. Be part of a global community of eWorld users. Arts & Leisure Pavilion Library Computer Center Marketplace Newsstand eMail Center Community Center Business & Finance Plaza Info Booth Enter eWorld™ now with this free starter kit. If you've ever tried another on-line service, you'll notice the difference in eWorld immediately. The brilliant graphics are the kind you'd only expect from Apple. And the familiar interface makes it easy to go wherever you choose and find whatever you need. eWorld puts you in touch with a global community of Macintosh users and with people on other electronic mail services, including the Internet. It's also the best place to get the most in-depth Apple product and support information. And whether you want to access key business information or conduct on-line meetings from anywhere, eWorld is the right place to be. There are hundreds of other reasons why you'll want to try eWorld. But rather than tell you about them, we'd like to show you. Just send for your free eWorld starter kit, including software and special registration information so you can sign on immediately.* And get ready to enter a world like no other. eWorld™ The right place. The right time. FREE $19.95 value I'd like to know more about the exciting, new on-line service from Apple. Please send me the eWorld starter software package—a $19.95 value—free. Name Company Name Street Address Apt./Suite # City State ZIP Phone # Check one: 1.4MB Disk 800K Disk Just send this coupon to: eWorld Starter Kit, Apple Computer, Inc., P.O. Box 4493, Bridgeton, MO 63044-9738. Apple [Copyright and offer conditions in small print illegible.]
Commentary
At first I try to read the middle of this page as a computer screen. Then the roofs, roads, and tiny pedestrians turn it into something more inviting: a town with a library, a newsstand, a marketplace, and an information booth. Apple gives its online service familiar civic furniture. The message to a new user is that finding things online can feel like finding places on a map; the message to an experienced user is that the map may be more pleasant than the services they already know.
The headline works both audiences in three steps. “People who have never tried one” receives the first invitation. “And for people who have” adds the experienced reader without asking the newcomer to leave. Around the map, six captions explain what each destination offers: news, business information, Apple support, communication with users of other services, and a community of Macintosh owners. The advertised “graphic interface” is visible as an illustration before it is asserted in copy. Apple is selling navigation as much as access.
The bottom of the page shifts from exploration to transaction. A starter kit is described as free, with a $19.95 value badge, and a coupon asks for a postal address and a choice of disk size. The little choice between 1.4MB and 800K disks makes the software a physical thing that must fit the recipient’s machine. Today an online service normally begins at a web address or app download. Here, the path into a digital town runs through paper, mail, and a floppy disk. The page captures that curious overlap without needing to explain it.
For a beginning copywriter, notice how “Enter eWorld” turns a service sign-up into a movement through the illustrated gate. The paired headline sentences are short enough to hold two levels of experience without a technical label for either audience. The place names then carry the practical detail. When an unfamiliar product needs explanation, a metaphor can organize the facts, but the labels have to let readers find the actual services behind it.
Apple introduced the Macintosh before this ad and continues to sell computers, mobile devices, software, and services today, as its 50th-anniversary overview describes. eWorld was one of its earlier online service experiments; the coupon and service map document what Apple offered here, rather than a current product.
Apple still presents interface design as a way to make technology approachable. The fixed town map, mail-away starter software, and promise of a single branded destination belong to this particular service. Its lasting advertising idea is more modest and more useful: show the reader how an unfamiliar system might feel to use before listing everything it contains.