Metaphors!

         The 3-N-1 Alarm Clock has three main functioning alarms, all of which are meant to wake up a college-aged student. These three alarms are the recording and broadcasting of a personal alarm sound or phrase, a squirt of water from a water gun, and a pinch from a robotic claw. Three specific functions from one device represent multi-tasking and determination, and, as expressed in the first advertisement for the product (which stated, “When was the last time that Mom woke you up?”) a mother has already proven to be an adequate metaphor for the product. A mother watches over her young and ensures for their safety and success, all the while working hard and sacrificing herself for all of this to be so.

            To take this one representation a step further, a she-wolf is an even better metaphor for the 3-N-1 Alarm Clock in its determination and motherly love. A she-wolf is a mother wolf who cares for her pups by nursing them when they are very young, and she defends them from all sorts of predators before they grow old enough to fend for themselves. Wolves in general are sleek and strong, and they hunt in packs. They are symbols of determination because they are persistent in their hunts and in their caring for their young. She-wolves especially have a mystical quality to them as well; the founding of the city of Rome 800 years before the birth of Christ is said to have been by the brothers Romulus and Remus who, when abandoned as infants, were suckled and cared for by a she-wolf. What would be a better example of an Alarm Clock that is built upon determination in that it has three separate and subsequent ways in waking someone up than to compare it to the doting, but fierce, perseverance of a mother wolf?

            Another great example of a metaphor that would represent the 3-N-1 Alarm Clock would be an octopus. As mothers, octopuses are not as doting as wolves, but this is because they sacrifice themselves for their young by defending their eggs to the point where they are either killed by predators or die from hunger, both of which are due to the mothers’ weakened state from lack of hunting. The mother analogy aside, however, the octopus is still a great representation of the product. The 3-N-1 and an octopus share many similar qualities; octopuses are able to perform multiple actions because of their broad range of abilities, just like the Alarm Clock. An octopus has multiple appendages, or tentacles, and the clock has three specific functioning “arms” which serve the single purpose of waking up a college student. An octopus is very intelligent and is able to adapt to its environment and solve problems as shown in countless scientific experiments using mazes. The 3-N-1 could be considered a “smart” product as it is programmable by the user of the clock, specifically in recording one’s own alarm sound. The clock has a pinching claw, which can be compared to both an octopus’s tentacle and its beaked mouth. Last but not least, the octopus shoots out ink when threatened, as a diversion, or to confuse prey and this action can be compared to the 3-N-1’s water gun which squirts water at the sleeping subject. Thus, an octopus can justly serve as a metaphor for the 3-N-1 Alarm Clock.