Such odd responses to this ad. People saying, "I'm never going to take the heartbeat of a horse..." and such. Well, first, the app is for taking the heartbeat of any animal, and that means that your neighborhood vet might just use it. Or you might use it if your vet tells you to monitor your ailing dog's heartbeat and send them the weekly stats to see if the medicine is working.
Just like I monitor my blood pressure with my phone and email my doctor the stats so she can know how to adjust my meds.
Second, the song is about "being a hero." Most of this ad isn't about what you or I will do with the phone. It's about what "heroes" can do with the phone. People out in the field trying to make the world better, or those wanting to help others. This makes the phone appear "heroic." And therefore worth buying. We may or may not be interested in any of those apps. But seeing this device help people to help us, to help others, to make the world a little nicer, makes the phone seem magical.
That's the aim of all these ads. To present the phone as a kind of genie who will grand your wish. Help you to be in the best physical shape, help you to be the best parent you can be, help you to do grand things or change the world a little.
I don't know if this one is as good as some of the others, but all-in-all, I think Apple's got a sound idea here of how to keep the public aware of iPhones. And, yes, it's all about the apps. But that's the trick. Different apps keep the phone feeling "new" and fresh and different. It doesn't become something taken for granted, something boring that needs replacing. Each app gives you something new to play with. And so the phone remains your best buddy.