Further comments not necessary.
Apple and iPhone followup
I thought I posted this last night, but I either dreamt it or Wordpress ate it somehow. I might even have forgotten to hot the publish button for all I know, but for some reason some updates and edits to my response to the iPhone hysteria were never published.
This does give me the chance to do it properly now though. Some people seem to think that I'm attacking the iPhone itself, but thats not the case. I have no reason what so ever to talk it down, as I've never tried or even seen one myself. I'm pretty certain it's a sweet little gizmo that a lot of people will be very satisfied with. My problem is the hype and borderline hysteria surrounding just about every Apple product release, be it hardware or software.
I can understand that people get excited over these things, I do it too.
What gets me is that both people and the media walk right into the the same trap each time. The iPhone is just the latest example of how Apples media handling leads to mass hype and publicity that no money can buy and people seem to follow it blindly.
Apple, like other commercial companies, use this to create a sense of exclusiveness and even trying to pre-plan shortages to further maximize the media coverage of the well planned release event. From a business point of view, that makes a lot of sense. I don't blame them, they only try to do what they are here to do: Maximize profits.
As I've said before, I'm sure the product is great too. Apple is great at doing whatever they need to do to make sure they sell their merchandise. All fine by me.
What I can not understand is that people get so blinded that they don't see that they are being played and used in a huge marketing scheme orchestrated by people like Steve Jobs.
Steve Jobs is just doing his job, and he's doing a damn fine one at that. After all, if he didn't Apple probably wouldn't even be around anymore.
As far as I can see, which incidentally probably isn't that much farther ahead than my own nose tip, Apple is turning into some sort of Religion. It's gone beyond Cult, and entered a Religious state where Steve Jobs is the Saviour of all things computerized and electrical.
Sorry, I just don't buy it. I've had problems with understanding the need for religion since I was a kid, this stuff is even harder to digest. I once wanted a Mac, right about when OSX came out. Who didn't? But given how things have progressed since, I've decided to never buy an Apple product. Again, I have nothing against Apple nor their products, it's just how the world behaves that gets to me.
Mundus vult decipi
Of course, this explains a lot.
Please.Stop.The.iPhone.Hype
Seriously, this thing is out of hand.
It's a phone, not the end of world hunger nor the solution to global warming. I thought the intarweb hype regarding Apple products were at it's peak around MacWorld each year, but this thing is completely out of whack.
Sorry, I just don't get it, nor do I ever want one. The hype alone is enough to completely turn me off the idea, and to be honest it turns me off Apple as a company. I might be a virtualization (and VMware in particular) fanboy myself, but come on people this is insane.
Ok, I admit it. The iPod is a good MP3 player (iTunes is not a good player though). I'm sure the Macbooks and whatnot are excellent pieces of hardware, and I would really like to play with one at some point. The (planned) hype surrounding any Apple product release is out of this world, but the iPhone really does excel in this area.
For some reason, Apple and Steve Jobs are canonized and Bill Gates/Steve Ballmer and Microsoft are not even found good enough to be the guardians of the gates to Hell. Why?
Is Apple that fundamentally different from Microsoft? NO.
To be honest, they're both in this game for one reason and one reason only.
To enhance our lives and bring prosperity to all? NO.
Both Apple and Microsoft has one, one, fundamental goal: Fill their stock owners pockets with as much money as possible - it really is as simple and as banal as that.
Stop the insanity, and Don't Believe the Hype
Back Caught you lookin' for the same thing It's a new thing check out this I bring Uh Oh the roll below the level 'Cause I'm livin' low next to the bass C'mon Turn up the radio
EndOfRant.