Cult of Mac
Doesn't anyone else find it unsettling the level of evangelical mindset of people when it comes to Apple Inc?
I bought a MacBook Pro myself out of a combination of necessity (company more frequently having to support Mac customers) and desire (OS X was apparently a unique experience) and whilst it's a lovely bit of kit - it is just a portable computer at the end of the day. I find it oddly embarassing to be associated with "Mac users" as they generally seem to be seen & heard in media as followers of a cult.
I simply can't rationalise nor comprehend the thought process of people who ally themselves to corporate entites who, at the end of the day, only really *care* about their shareholders. I guess it's a testament to Apples PR machine - they really have achieved the impossible - they've made a capitalist agenda appear to be wholly consumerist.
I questioned the sanity of people queueing outside to buy a ****ing phone and was told it was all about "the experience", how in the US people were apparently clapping for those who had bought an iPhone. Ugh. We are still talking about a phone aren't we? A device that lets you call people.
The biggest humour aspect of this whole charade is that when you analyze the iPhone and the minimum contract O2 forces you to take out it really is like both companies sat down in a meeting and said "how far do you think we can push the fanbase before they started squeaking in their little voices, 'please sir - please can I have some more'?". The base O2 contract is £35/month for 200 mins and 200 txts - which is ridiculous. The phone itself lacks even basic features everyone has taken for granted for the past 5 years - MMS, sending SMS to more than one person at the same time, third-party applications, Bluetooth integration (not just audio), etc.
Oh yeah, I forgot, it's "the experience" of using an iPhone. When you use the UI and see how fluid it is you just forget about all those minor foibles like not being able to do any of the things you used to do.
Someone please explain to me what I'm clearly not understanding about the logic behind people queueing up for this, before my brain explodes.