[karateka]

So, the other day at a Trader Joe's I'm just standing in line ready to checkout. Within a few seconds, that annoying default "marimba" Iphone ringtone goes off.

At the checkout counter I was at, and the one right next to it, everyone who hears it makes a reach for their phone, then realizes it's not theirs.

They all seemed happy to know they were in the "IPhone club".

I've found it fascinating that such a large percentage of Americans have almost the exact same phone, but that's not even what fascinates me the most - the fact they always have the same default ring tone.

Wouldn't it be strange if most Americans (since most do have the Iphone now) all had the exact same coffee maker, and the newer model tells you when the coffee is ready?

What if everyone had the exact same flat-screen TV?

While it's obviously not political communism, anyone who believes in communism should look at the Iphone as an example of how it might work at the political level, when sold correctly.

[Vicious]

Wait what?

I'm not a mod but following up the mafia thread with this... You should probably hold off on creating new threads for a while.

[2Wycked]

Elaborate, please.

[aphelion]

Basically, people like the iPhone, and can't be bothered to change the default ring tone. Nothing shocking about either of those two things.

[karateka]

If most the population had the exact same car and the radio played the exact same station only - that would be the iCar.

Make sense?

[el mechanico]

(08-02-2013 04:40 PM)karateka Wrote:  

If most the population had the exact same car and the radio played the exact same station only - that would be the iCar.

Make sense?

A Chevy Volt is an iphone on wheels but not really catching on. So what you said doesn't work.

[karateka]

It's not made by Apple either.

[el mechanico]

So you have a beef with Apple.

[CactusCat589]

Your premise is that people formed a collective that is proud of iPhone ownership, hence, communism on some level works.

The ideologies of classical liberalism, capitalism, and liberty don't say collectives can't be formed. Those people in Trader Joe's voluntarily purchased iPhones and formed an 'iPhone club', they weren't forced to by government edict/central planning. Apple beat competitors like Microsoft and Intel to the market, effectively advertised their product, and customers chose to exchange their earnings for it because they think it's the best offering available. Until new challengers surpass Apple, it'll remain that way. So on the contrary, it's a perfect example of competition under the free market succeeding.

[karateka]

(08-02-2013 04:51 PM)el mechanico Wrote:  

So you have a beef with Apple.

I've never liked cult-mentality much to begin with. There's no better example in the free market than Apple.

[Katatonic]

Apple has a few things going for it. First, they create products that even the biggest mouth breathers can learn to use. Their GUI's are very user friendly. Secondly, they limit the amount of product choices their customers have, which from a market psychology perspective, is genius. Lastly, they have created an image where people are willing to pay $300 or more extra for products with a sleek design and a decent logo that really don't have the increased performance compared to other products to justify the price difference.

If everyone had the exact same iPhone, do you think people would still be so proud of theirs? I seriously doubt they would. We're so fucking socially inept as a society, that we have to use physical products to differentiate us from others and raise our social status. Forget actually developing a personality, if you want to be accepted, or be more "hip" than others, go buy the latest gadget.

[Brodiaga]

It's not communism, it's called conformism.

[NY Digital]

Although Apple is doing really well, Samsung has a really big market share on Android phones and is only getting bigger.

[Aliblahba]

I'm 99% certain that there is a direct link between iphones and blatant male homosexuality. Until Apple gives up their sales records, I can't be 100% sure.

[la_mode]

I think what the OP is saying is that even given all the minor annoyances with the Iphone, it still remains wildly popular beyond any other singular electronic item in the world.

For instance,

Iphones have a very short earpiece (results in slightly muffled sound), the sound isn't as good as on android since the earpiece is usually longer. This is the main thing I didn't like about it.

Even if you're not running any apps besides the required ones, the battery isn't that great, it could be better. Droid razr maxx literally can go 2 days without needing a change on heavy use with apps/talk time/text.

The Iphone is fragile. The boxy design even with the slim 5 is still sort of obvious in your jeans/pants if they're fitted. The 3gs fit better in your pocket than the 5 does for example.

There's no white balance adjustment, Apple likes to tell you how your pictures should be. There's a few apps that can do it, but they don't run nearly as fast as the default. You have to wait a few seconds for the picture to show up. Which is annoying if you're taking lots of pictures at once.

Sometimes the format can just look a little cartoony. Apple intentionally uses that unappealing shade of green when it's not iMessage so you subconsciously correlate that with android. If you have an iPhone and turn off iMessage...that's just seen as "weird" for some reason. I personally didn't like how someone could see when you were typing a reply. They also always knew when you originally had something else or thought about saying something else, i.e. the dots were invoked for over 20 seconds, and you only replied with "K". Of course, this works both ways, but if a male has the dots invoked too long for a short reply to a woman (assuming she notices which I'm sure they sometimes do) it can be seen as a sign of low game.

All the screens to go through, just to turn off wifi or adjust brightness. You can set up these toggles on android very easily. It's supposed to be improved in the iOS, and they somehow made it sound like that was this amazing thing, when it's not.

I think it's more proof of mind control if anything.