It is easy to see why there is a "Apple Cult" or following of Apple. These guys just makes great products! But fanboys like Xavier Yaffar take it too far. I would agree that Apple does place great products on the market and you would think that is the trend for the future of Apple right? Well on Jan 27th at 10am, Apple announced a product that can not be placed into the "great" products market of theres. The iPad was in my mind the biggest let down in Apple history. In short, the iPad is a stripped down less portable version of the iTouch/iPhone. They say its a tablet computer but I believe this is a miss leading name as a "computer". The iPad runs on the same OS that the iTouch/iPhone runs on making it servilely stripped down from what we were expecting from Apple. All it can run are products from the App store, same as the iTouch/iPhone. Who needs a bigger more expensive iTouch/iPhone? This let down is why I believe we can't whole heartedly place all our hopes and trust in companies and there products. We have to think for ourselves and not blindly follow a company. What do you think?
Honestly, we really should NEVER place our trust in companies, OR their products. However, there are some people that do, and will continue to do so. Xavier Yaffar is one of these people. I'd like CNN to write a follow-up story with Xavier about his upcoming purchase, and find out if he's still happy with Apple. (To which I'm sure he'd still be blissfully happy.)
Without getting too much into it, as my "Good Design is Good Citizenship" paper is on the iPad, I will say that Apple is making a bold transition into the tablet market. They're defining what a tablet should be, even though other companies are developing or have made more powerful tablets (The HP Slate, Dell Mini 5, Lenovo IdeaPad U1, Microsoft's Courier, Archos 7 Android and Archos 9). The difference between these companies' tablets and Apple's? Marketing. Apple is social; they're loud and proud. They're going to define what the end-user thinks a tablet is. For most people, this will be their first exposure to a tablet of any kind!
When a company - like Apple - is successful in reaching out to their audience, they're the company that's going to get a large following. Consumers want to become a part of the tribe. The article talks a little about this. People recognize (discriminate?) others by the brands they buy. Brands become our personalities.
For me, I don't like Apple computers. They're expensive, difficult to upgrade, and they don't support my hobbies. (That's not to say I don't own Apple products - I do.) I buy "PC". I build my own rig: research parts, find the best price, put it together myself. But I admire Apple because their marketing is so addictive. When I feel involved, I feel comfortable; I become very tempted to purchase their products.
Honestly, I'm excited to stop by an Apple store in a few months and play with an iPad. I don't plan on buying one, but I'm excited to see a product that I think will change the way we use personal computing devices.
I discussed Apple briefly in my Thesis, and its obvious that people with such an obsession like Yaffar are just mezmerized by Apple's branding. Apple is one of those companies that creates unreasonable lifelong devotion within its consumers, and this seems sto be pretty unshakable. Yes, they do make nice products, but they also have such a fanboy base it borders on cult status. I especially enjoyed the fact that Apple's announcement at their latest event (the Ipad) is a complete piece of shit with such a low level of functionality for a tablet that its laughable. But, the fanboys will still go out and purchase this thing because of their undying love for steve jobs and everything he does or says,,,
It's probably safe to say that apple has one of the largest followings of any corporation. It's gotten to the point that steve jobs seems to be on stage at a Jonas Brothers concert. There is internet buzz about when and where his next appearance will be and what he will be bringing along with him. I do love apple but i'm beginning to get annoyed at a lot of its customers who throw themselves into an elitist class because they walk around with apple products. The announcement of the iPad was interesting because it was such a total let down compared to previous announcements. But apple set itself up for that because if the bar continually gets set higher and higher, at some point you're not going to be able to reach it and that's what happened with the iPad. I think they could have gone over the bar if it had included features that are missing for some ridiculous reason, like an iSight camera.... It will be funny to see the people who are first to get that iPad though, just to say they were the first to have one and then have to go get the next version with the rest of us because its leaps and bounds ahead of the original.
1. What design issues are you interested in? 2. What is your dream collaboration? 3. Compare your fashion style to your GD style. 4. What is your ideal work environment? 5. Response to Ira Glass on good taste. 6. Write a story
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It is easy to see why there is a "Apple Cult" or following of Apple. These guys just makes great products! But fanboys like Xavier Yaffar take it too far. I would agree that Apple does place great products on the market and you would think that is the trend for the future of Apple right? Well on Jan 27th at 10am, Apple announced a product that can not be placed into the "great" products market of theres. The iPad was in my mind the biggest let down in Apple history. In short, the iPad is a stripped down less portable version of the iTouch/iPhone. They say its a tablet computer but I believe this is a miss leading name as a "computer". The iPad runs on the same OS that the iTouch/iPhone runs on making it servilely stripped down from what we were expecting from Apple. All it can run are products from the App store, same as the iTouch/iPhone. Who needs a bigger more expensive iTouch/iPhone? This let down is why I believe we can't whole heartedly place all our hopes and trust in companies and there products. We have to think for ourselves and not blindly follow a company. What do you think?
ReplyDeleteAgreed.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, we really should NEVER place our trust in companies, OR their products. However, there are some people that do, and will continue to do so. Xavier Yaffar is one of these people. I'd like CNN to write a follow-up story with Xavier about his upcoming purchase, and find out if he's still happy with Apple. (To which I'm sure he'd still be blissfully happy.)
Without getting too much into it, as my "Good Design is Good Citizenship" paper is on the iPad, I will say that Apple is making a bold transition into the tablet market. They're defining what a tablet should be, even though other companies are developing or have made more powerful tablets (The HP Slate, Dell Mini 5, Lenovo IdeaPad U1, Microsoft's Courier, Archos 7 Android and Archos 9). The difference between these companies' tablets and Apple's? Marketing. Apple is social; they're loud and proud. They're going to define what the end-user thinks a tablet is. For most people, this will be their first exposure to a tablet of any kind!
When a company - like Apple - is successful in reaching out to their audience, they're the company that's going to get a large following. Consumers want to become a part of the tribe. The article talks a little about this. People recognize (discriminate?) others by the brands they buy. Brands become our personalities.
For me, I don't like Apple computers. They're expensive, difficult to upgrade, and they don't support my hobbies. (That's not to say I don't own Apple products - I do.) I buy "PC". I build my own rig: research parts, find the best price, put it together myself. But I admire Apple because their marketing is so addictive. When I feel involved, I feel comfortable; I become very tempted to purchase their products.
Honestly, I'm excited to stop by an Apple store in a few months and play with an iPad. I don't plan on buying one, but I'm excited to see a product that I think will change the way we use personal computing devices.
This picture sums up this article:
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/Spt9L.gif
I discussed Apple briefly in my Thesis, and its obvious that people with such an obsession like Yaffar are just mezmerized by Apple's branding. Apple is one of those companies that creates unreasonable lifelong devotion within its consumers, and this seems sto be pretty unshakable. Yes, they do make nice products, but they also have such a fanboy base it borders on cult status. I especially enjoyed the fact that Apple's announcement at their latest event (the Ipad) is a complete piece of shit with such a low level of functionality for a tablet that its laughable. But, the fanboys will still go out and purchase this thing because of their undying love for steve jobs and everything he does or says,,,
ReplyDeleteIt's probably safe to say that apple has one of the largest followings of any corporation. It's gotten to the point that steve jobs seems to be on stage at a Jonas Brothers concert. There is internet buzz about when and where his next appearance will be and what he will be bringing along with him. I do love apple but i'm beginning to get annoyed at a lot of its customers who throw themselves into an elitist class because they walk around with apple products. The announcement of the iPad was interesting because it was such a total let down compared to previous announcements. But apple set itself up for that because if the bar continually gets set higher and higher, at some point you're not going to be able to reach it and that's what happened with the iPad. I think they could have gone over the bar if it had included features that are missing for some ridiculous reason, like an iSight camera.... It will be funny to see the people who are first to get that iPad though, just to say they were the first to have one and then have to go get the next version with the rest of us because its leaps and bounds ahead of the original.
ReplyDelete