Unfortunately, owning an Apple product no longer means “Think Different.”
The 1984 ad campaign launched by TBWA/Chiat/Day and Apple revolutioned tech advertising and set the stage for a meteoric brand that used to be the quiet, influential realm of the creative. It wasn’t that long ago that every IT or Windows nerd were bashing Apple products much like the conservative extremists who litter the landscape around my Southern home.
Lately, as I hear the standard Apple iPhone ringtone in every pocket, watch every biker or runner with a dangling white cord hanging from their ears and just as many white Apple stickers on cars as the popular euro stickers promoting a beachfront – Apple is no longer uncommonly elegant – rather – it’s quite common.
I was reminded of this once again when watching the rabid fans dole out their time and money to sit in front of an Apple store to get the new iPhone 5. If you really think about it – would a real Mac person do something as tribal as this? The hive mind that surrounds new Apple product releases are not the reason I bought an Mac in the first place. My purchase was truly something different – case in point – I paid extra.
So while journalists ponder how many iPhone 5s will be sold in the next 10 days (perhaps 10 million) – I’m blowing off steam today on my iMac 27. My iPhone is charging comfortably by my side and my iPad is waiting for me to go to breakfast at Perkins after a late night of watching Apple TV.
The main reason for the apathy – I can’t get an iPhone 5 til November. Checking this morning, as a Apple customer since 1986 (bought a MacIIsi and hundreds since) , I am unable to make an impulse purchase for the new phone. Gotta wait til November or pay an extra $300 – despite the fact I’ve been an AT&T customer for over 10 years.
So think about it – we need another Apple. A company who values the atomic dna of the idea “the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently.”
Owning an Apple product is not a round peg in a square hole. One might argue it’s a hive mind and just like the 1984 film, we’re marching towards complete submission.
Perhaps there’s nothing more at work here than simple entropy. Perhaps it’s just my frustration that I can’t make a purchase this morning. Hell – I’d like another Apple to buy some reasonable stock – but until then, the new Macs are on order, I’ll envy my colleagues who have new phones and I’ll dream of a day when another idea breaks the addiction I have to this brand.
Besides – I feel in love with the logo long ago.