Please Express Approval for My Awesome Laptop Idea

design

I just wrote a post for Intel and ASUS about how I want a sneaky laptop that looks like a Moleskine:

They hired me to conceptualize eight imaginary laptops for them, and I’m a little panicked. Most of their posts trend toward the uber-geeky — they’re discussing charger cord patents, so I kind of sound like, “I want a laptop with flowers on it! Eeeeeeee!”

(By the way, these copywriting campaigns are how I make a living. Advertisers are like, “We need more women to want laptops! [hand cream! cell phones! little black dresses!]” And I’m like “Women do want those things.” And they’re like, “Who are these women of which you speak?” And I’m like, “Uh, all women.” And then they pay me to write stuff. Stuff that’s way more fun than the copywriting I used to do, incidentally, where they mostly assumed customers would be confused by wit. Hence, I like this better. Questions welcome in comments.)

Anyway, these laptop ideas inform their prototypes of new PCs, and I would like a Moleskine laptop, please. Quite possibly one with flowers on it; I’m not ruling it out. So please go read my post, and back me up if you feel the same.

Also, I think my next post will be about a laptop that fits in a wallet so you can use it when you’re out at a bar. Is that called a cell phone? Possibly, but shut up, it will be rad.

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24 thoughts on “Please Express Approval for My Awesome Laptop Idea”

  1. A moleskin laptop! Genius! I concur about the absolute need for pen to paper to slow the old tippity tappity, too much caffeine, my life in 140 characters moments. But a moleskin laptop sure sounds nifty.

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  2. I’d like mine to look like Leaves of Grass…possibly in French. I’d like to look more intelligent while I twitter. Also…maybe there’s a big untapped market of Bible versions so kids could MySpace in church.

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  4. You said questions welcome.. how does one acquire such an ideal-sounding job?? I’m a bit jealous and a lot intrigued all at once! (Not to mention really into a flowery small journal-looking laptop.)

    To make a long boring history really short, I’ve been looking into getting paid for my writing, but it seems to be a rather cryptic market to get INTO. The whole ‘show us published samples first’ when, uh, you’re not published.

    I realize this is a ridiculously vague question, but you welcomed it. Remember? 🙂 Feel free to email me (or ignore) as you see fit.

    Karena

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  5. Brilliant! I came here to ask exactly what Karena (#4) did. It would be awesome if you could turn it into a blog post. How does a word nerd become a paid writer?

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  6. I would kill for a Mac Laptop that resembles a vintage metal lunch box or toaster, meaning shiny red metal with a retro clasp, not the shape.
    When I leave my laptop in my kitchen or living room it will just look like a cool vintage piece.

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  7. I want a laptop that is light, powerful, cheap, and with a battery that lasts forever. I really couldn’t care less what it looked like.

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  8. No worries that yours isn’t all techy and geeky — they hired you because they knew you’d be different and able to reach a wider audience. Awesome job with the Moleskine laptop! I want one!! It might be the only thing that would convince me to get a pc and not a mac. (and that’s what I’m saying in their comments!)

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  10. Yes. We know that you have this job, and we love you for it. So in case you were worried that we were thinking WHY IS MAGGIE DOING A ROUNDUP FOR TARGET AGAIN? or whatever, we are not. We’re more wondering things like “When all those ladies from momversation were on Oprah and they didn’t even mention they were momversation ladies, why the F* wasn’t Maggie Mason on that show? I want Maggie Mason on my Oprah, not just her friends.”

    But anyway. I want this laptop too. May I add to it for your next post? I spend a lot of time in front of the computer and the screens make my eyes hurt. I would like one that has a screen like a Kindel, so it’s more like looking at paper. I like paper.

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  11. I am an architecture student and avid user of many moleskin notebooks for sketches (so what if some of them are of dinosaurs peeking over my coffee mug? Oh Tinysaur, you are so inspiring!) (I got that from you Maggie!), and I would *heart* this tiny laptop to the ends of the earth if I could sketch in it, and my sketches could be vectors, and then ah-ha! Scanning be damned!
    No, seriously, I can think of about a hundred people who want this already.

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  12. I want it patterned in leopard. And I want it the size of my husbands Kindle and I want it to have more power than my mac book pro and be as easy to use. Will read post.

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  13. Haha…I want a laptop that comes in a collectible compact, like face powder, and preferably bejeweled…=) I would seriously buy that–my blackberry is just plain boring.
    BTW, glad I stopped in because I think I could use your book!

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  14. I love the fact that I’m not the only person out there rocking the word “rad”. I thought I was alone in bringing it back.

    thanks friend.

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  17. Comment left, backup provided.

    I want a journal-ish laptop only with huge memory so I can run creative software. Surely that’s not impossible?

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  19. I thought I wanted a moleskin laptop more than anything until Darcy mentioned about a laptop fashioned from old red metal with an old timey clasp. Now I’m torn.

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  20. I would also like to know how one gets into this more interesting version of copyrighting. Does corporate/marketing writing qualify one to jump into this kind of thing?

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  21. Holy crap, you guys. Thanks! I love reading everyone’s comments, and I really hope they make us at least a prototype. In answer to some of your individual questions:

    #3 Caro, that _is_ sweet.

    #4 Karena, I wish I could say there was a clear path. I started out as a writer and editor, got a blog early on, and garnered enough traffic to make it worth advertisers’ while to advertise with me.

    If I were trying to get clips together to show published work, I’d try contacting small Web pubs and offering to work for free, then local weeklies, or daily papers. If you can offer to do assignments for free, lots of folks are willing to help with editing.

    #5 Tasha, I started out by getting my degree in English and working on my college paper, and then I became an assistant editor for a small trade magazine based out of the Bay Area.

    #9 Tinkleton, I’ll eat it when I next find it.

    #10 Meg, thank you, that’s oddly soothing. I try to be sure that campaigns are worthwhile to read, which is the benefit of being able to write whatever I want (for the most part, anyway). Also, the Kindle idea is a winner.

    #11 Lindsay, sketches become vectors! I wonder if they’d have to make it bulky to make that go, or if the technology is already there. Maybe they could have a drawing one and a writing one.

    #16 D, yes, your work is lovely. Would you prefer to sculpt people or a representational object?

    #20 Tricina, I think being any kind of writer gives you an advantage in terms of writing campaigns that will work for advertisers but _also_ appeal to readers as informative and worthwhile. In terms of running campaigns on your blog, it’s most important to build a personal audience.

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  22. I am madly in love with your Moleskin laptops, as I am a Moleskin junkie. You’re right there in SF with Niam who owns Chronicle (and Moleskin), if you want to go sit in the lobby and refuse to leave until you see a prototype, I will gladly join you. Beautiful blog.:)

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  23. Maggie Mason you are a genius. GEEEEEENIUS. Your sense of style makes me constantly break the commandment about coveting. Hell yeah I want one!

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