I like Apple products _in spite of_ that smug voice, not because of it.<p>Yes, the voice is clear and simple -- just like the products -- but I curdle when I read Apple's copy, and have empathy for the brand haters.
Check out Apple's identity statement that they put on press releases [edit: this one's at least a year old]:<p>> Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork, and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple is reinventing the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.<p>Compared to, say, Microsoft's:<p>> Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
Voice matters and it hard to build, especially for engineers. <a href="http://voiceandtone.com/" rel="nofollow">http://voiceandtone.com/</a> from MailChilp offers a good framework of designing a voice by cataloguing touch-points between the software and the user. You may or may not find MailChimp's voice fitting, but the framework itself is quite useful.
"Here's everything we offer, soup to nuts." isn't really The Apple Voice. That's more the "overly informal and conversational" voice you see so often these days.
Interestingly, this post comes at a time when the Apple voice is changing. I think they're taking it to the next level.<p>This was discussed in the blog of Ken Segall, who previously worked with Apple (and with Jobs) on Apple's copy, including the "Think Different" campaign.<p>Here's the post: <a href="http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3548981" rel="nofollow">http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3548981</a><p>Increasingly, Apple is relying solely on imagery. The example billboard has no text on it other than the product name.<p>Apple is showing, rather than telling, and it is transcendent in its ability to do so-- it has established enough credibility with consumers that "easy to use", is no longer a message it has to communicate.<p>Further, this also globalizes the brand as images do not have to be translated to the local language, allowing a single voice to be present worldwide.