Asking for an iPhone 5 for Christmas.
But the iPhone is so great!
It’s so beautiful and the phone is amazing! Just look at that retina display!
Like most of America, I was swayed by the marketing. By the clean and elegant luxury design that the iPhone possessed. Steve Jobs sold me that the iPhone was what I needed and nothing else would be able to compare. And for a while, I believed it. Androids hadn’t evolved as much as they had today and I was dealing with a very early creation of them in the form of the T-Mobile MyTouch 4G. To say the least, that phone was a major disappoint.
My dad had never been a big fan of Apple- unless you had all the gadgets that went together like the Macbook, iPhone, iPod, etc. Convincing him to get me an iPhone for Christmas two years ago was a tough uphill battle. In the end, that Christmas morning, I opened the box to my brand new iPhone 5 in it’s sleek black casing and I was thrilled.
Flash forward to The Switch which highlighted some of my biggest issues with Apple. After dropping my beloved iPhone in water and subsequently a week later shattering the screen, it seemed that my days of being team iPhone were quickly coming to a close. The fact though was that I had recently gotten a Google Chromebook, Google Chromecast, and my Toshiba was up and running again after a battery malfunction and my iPhone just didn’t…sync right with anything. The phone was creating more trouble than it was worth especially considering the screen was busted and no one knew to what extent the water damage had affected the phone. After the screen stopped working after getting a tiny bit of water on it (from heavy coastal mist while running the San Francisco Nike Women’s Half) I had reached the end of my rope with the phone. Plus, iOS8 had just come out (with it’s slew of issues) and I didn’t feel like dealing with iTunes and the iPhone to try to get the software to work. I was just done.
Switching has been the worst experience. Apple’s iMessage, albeit fantastic if you own all Apple products, has been causing the utmost of issues. My new Moto X with the latest version of Android software on it, won’t receive any messages from iPhones. And if it does receive messages, they’re out of order, disjointed, among other issues. After countless Google searches the only answer that kept showing up was to give Apple care a call and get them to un-link my number from the cursed iMessage system.
Wonderful.
A common thought that I’ve mentioned is that Apple is great- WHEN YOU OWN ALL APPLE PRODUCTS. If you don’t be prepared for more issues than you bargained for. Except, oh wait, that’s not shown on their marketing now is it? Don’t get me wrong, I think the way that Jobs integrated functionality with a clean design was a stroke a genius. Not brilliance, but genius. Smart business man move. However, what he more or less created was an Apple cult. Once you’re in, you’re either going to end up all in with your overpriced Apple technology or you’re in my position where switching out of the iPhone club makes you want to rip your hair out in frustration.
Which leads to the next thought- all the technology I’ve owned that isn’t Apple functions just as well, if not better, than my friend’s Apple products. The difference? I’ve paid a fraction of the price. So more money in my pocket and less frustration overall.
In an article I read for my digital communication class, the writer discussed a comparison between Apple and German cars. German cars are known for their luxury and their impeccable design. Do German cars outperform it’s cheaper Honda or Toyota counterparts? Nope. But they’re so popular because there’s a huge following for German cars. The same rings true for Apple. The sleek design combined with their excellent marketing leads to a following. Which means that it only takes a few people with any influencing power at all to convince everyone else that the iPhone and other Apple products are what you need to live life in a little luxury. Why settle for that second rate Honda when you can buy a Mercedes? Why buy the Samsung Galaxy S5 when you can get the iPhone 6 Plus (which is about half the size of my head?)?
BUT THAT’S THE POINT. The Honda works just as well as the Mercedes! But there’s less of a following. The Honda isn’t a fashion statement. The Galaxy isn’t a fashion statement. But the iPhone 6 Plus is. The Mercedes is. Because of the following. Because of the marketing.
Because before he passed Steve Jobs managed to find a way to convince the majority of the world that they needed an iPhone and that their lives would be drastically improved with one.
19 year old me was sold.
21 year old me? Not so much anymore.