Apple isn’t cool.
This is something that’s bothered me for longer then ever and comes up way too often, I can’t believe I haven’t written about it until now. Apple, you all know them, the computer company who started as a bunch of hippy hackers and later turned into trendy marketing bullshit combined with overpriced fashion-agreeable computer hardware with an elitist following.
I have nothing personal against apple’s hardware, after all the IBM PowerPC chip that they all use isn’t a terrible one. It’s the trendy bullshit that apple’s marketing pushes that pisses me off the most, and the elitist following it’s made for apple.
There’s some apple users who know this and don’t buy into it. Though they are far and a few, I won’t deny they exist. I’m talking about the people who are blind apple followers, or somewhat blind. Even the people in the middle are usually just as bad as it just encourages others. How the hell do you go from a computer company to trendy bullshit anyway?
Step 1. Colorful computer cases
These days “modded” pc’s are all the rage with people putting windows and neon lights in their cases, with fancy temperature readouts and fan speed monitors mounted on the front of the case, it’s become a fad for the pseudo-geeks. I say pseudo-geeks because they’re more like partial-idiots then they are geeks. Anyway you buy an apple and get some fancy shiny case with tons of plastic or shiny metal in whatever color.
Step 2. Trendy marketing
You’ve all seen the annoying apple commercials on tv, either the old ones with the kids talking about how they like apple products or the newer ones with the people wearing ipods in a silhouette style drawing with pop music playing and dancing. It’s like the mcdonalds commercials but slightly less pathetic.
Step 3. Middle to middle-high end hardware marketed as high end
This one works for sony too, make middle to middle-high end equipment and market it as high end equipment. Charge the same price as high end equipment too, they’ll never know the difference because they’re too stupid to think for themselves and look around for higher quality parts. With apple you really don’t even have another place to look as you’re pretty much locked into whatever they sell you. Getting a good deal on apple equipment is pretty much impossible as they basically won’t sell to any reseller who drops the price lower then apple’s own price. Price fixing indeed.
Step 4. It’s good for media production!!!
Apple’s reputation with being good with media applications such as music making or video editing is entirely apple propaganda aimed at getting clients in the media industry, it’s not really that hard to understand. Apple hardware is usually tied, or slower than the equivalent in PC hardware, and rarely much faster. Paying an extra thousand dollars for a 2% speed boost in one specific photoshop filter, and being slower in all the rest, is not exactly something I’d consider to be smart decision making.
Step 5. Propaganda believing elitist following
Due to the trendy and high end image that apple has now presented at this point their followers will now think it’s the hip thing instead of looking at possible alternative products that would better suit them. I’d much rather an iRiver portable mp3 player then apple’s acclaimed iPod for it’s nicer range of features and the better value for the price.
Step 6. Monopoly tactics.
Mac OSX only works on Apple’s own PowerPC hardware, not on all PowerPC hardware. You want to use OSX? You’re locked into paying apple’s insanely high prices and also pay them for the software itself. Don’t you feel lucky, you’re supporting a monopoly!
Microsoft bashing is counter-productive when here you have a company that’s even worse then them and yet is rewarded for it by it’s huge elitist following. Not even microsoft has done many of the things apple has when it’s come to spreading propaganda and locking people into specific hardware. And while microsoft is far from being evil-free apple is damn well just as evil if not worse. Microsoft’s propaganda is usually very obvious and no one really falls for it. Apple’s is based on trendiness and other hip factors and people are willing to buy into it, they think it’s the cool thing to do. And in rich suburban type areas, this whole situation is even worse with school kids and showing off or what not.
Apple is a company supported almost entirely by propaganda and elitist followers, and while there are few who don’t buy into it, they still are paying apple for the hardware and I do consider them part of the problem. I just don’t hold it against those people personally as much as I would your average teenager bragging about their new iPod.