What a press release: the actual main message -- iPod touch is being discontinued -- has been weasel-worded out of the entire text, to the point that a non-native reader of English wouldn't even be able to decipher what it's trying to say.
I get that it's second nature for corporate marketing to try to dampen the message when they're taking something away, but this is on a whole new level.
That’s not the main message. No one cares that iPod touch is being discontinued. No one was buying them.
People see this news as the "end of an era" -- an era that began with Apple's reinvention in the early 2000s. That's the implicit message. There are two ways to interpret this:
1. Wow, what an iconic product. Come to think of it, we haven't really felt that way about a new Apple product in a while... Maybe this is not just the end of iPod, but of Apple's product innovation, too?
2. Wow, what an iconic product. Wild to think that we could only have 1,000 songs but even that was revolutionary. Apple changed music forever and they're still ahead of the industry with products like AirPods and Spatial Audio. I wonder what they'll do next?
Interpretation #1 is a very real risk to Apple’s brand. It's the job of their PR team to steer the message toward interpretation #2.
It doesn't help that Apple was pretty much hiding that they still sold them. They were not discoverable through the site or most Apple stores. You have to use the search or ask someone about it, respectively. They were pivoting away from it first.
Which is a pretty reasonable way to manage a phase-out, and points to one of the many advantages Apple holds in controlling the retail relationship with their customers: They can heavily de-emphasize a product they want to be rid of, and measure how much effort people will go to to still track it down, or whether those customers end up upgraded to iPhone or the various iPad options— including "mini" ones that aren't even all that much bigger than a modern iPhone Max.
"while supplies last" is literally the only reference in there hinting (can't really call that stating) that iPods are discontinued, right? Did I miss something else?
Not really. Pretty clear is: "We are no longer manufacturing iPod touch. Customers can purchase ... while supplies last".
This is:
"You can buy our product while we sell it"
"Music is super great isn't it"
"We have lots of ways to let you listen to music"
"We love that our customers like listening to music"
"So yeah, as we clearly said, you can buy our product while we sell it"
I'd argue that the primary message they were trying to convey was something that had to be inferred from their text, as opposed to being something clearly stated in their text, and therefore that it is NOT clear.
Every product is available while supplies last. The question is, will more supplies be manufactured after that? This article doesn’t say either way. The amount of corporate Apple speak here, where everything is positive dnd amazing, is really annoying to me.
Their language says "will be available" and "can purchase", which actively promotes iPods for sale. Saying "while supplies last" is more of a hint than a direct and clear statement that production has stopped.
Most of the time when advertising says "while stocks last" it's not an indication that something has been discontinued, it's just a prompt to make you want to buy one.
I get that it's second nature for corporate marketing to try to dampen the message when they're taking something away, but this is on a whole new level.