It really started with the colored laptop. "Oh neat! I can look like a complete tool and pay extra!!" But then Apple one-upped themselves... with the iPod.
Before I continue, I must touch upon the iAdvertising... iPod, iPhone, iTouch...
iGotScrewedOutOfMyMoney is more like it.
My first iPod came free with my laptop in 2005 and only broke about 10 times that year. The reason for this product reliability is that the iPod is complete garbage and is only useful because of its seamless use with iTunes (yet another Apple evil forced on us these days). As if that wasn't bad enough, we now have to deal with these ads telling us how superior Macs are over PCs from some skinny douchebag who probably hasn't been laid in his lifetime by non-Mac cultists (aka other douchebags).
You probably think I'm being hypocritical at this point, since I have had 2 iPods and two laptops from Apple. I'm not. I can tell you that... Oh wait, I don't have to defend myself. Why? Because I haven't fallen prey to the newest evil: the iPhone.
The iPhone is basically the cellular motherland of a typical MPD (Mac Product Douchebag). It boasts things like internet, music, pictures, camera, games, gps... and even a phone! What really kills me when people go on about these aforementioned features is that I've had all of these on even the shittiest camera phone. In 2000 I was messaging people through AIM on my phone. But MPDs proudly flaunt their common technology, walking around with their iPhone out to command status, buying designer skins as a stamp of idiocy, and offering to Google every subject that enters the conversation.
How do we know that the iPhone is the best phone on the market? Apple tells us it is! They brainwash yuppies into thinking that without the iPhone you can't possibly hold clout in the yuppie community. God forbid you're not invited to the next black-tie luncheon. Thankfully we can use the rating system on apple.com to really understand what we're buying...
Think twice before you sell out.
Margo says:
Alas, so true. About the fifth time my iPod nano gave out on me and needed to be drained of battery and then recharged before I could use it again, I started to realize what I had wrought upon myself.
And what's up with the capitalization?
March 29, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Anonymous
Prices definitely should be lower, it does kinda suck for people who have them.
There's pros and cons to having a mac and the biggest pros are if you use it's most valuable asset: professional software. Every commercial you've ever seen (various graphic design), every movie (final cut), every song you've heard (logic and pro tools) has been made on a mac so it's the ideal choice for media enthusiast and entertainment is the second largest industry in the United States.
As for consumers, it's probably not the option you want to go if price is a factor and you don't really care for high performance software and hardware. If you just need a computer for basic word processing and school, a mac not necessary.
As for your article, well, the iPhone is the most sold phone according to Fortune 500, which is in no way affiliated with Apple. It pulled ahead of the razor this past november. Also, I don't know where you got that image, but I have written at least a dozen reviews for Apple products directly onto the website. Lastly, the iPhone is priced at $199 for the 8gb model, the exact same price of the blackberry storm. Thus, the iPhone is just as competitively as many other smart phones. You are right about the camera though, it sucks ass.
I've only owned two ipods in my life, the 2nd gen nano and an iPod classic. Personally mine never broke but I have heard cases of other people's breaking. I think what appeals to free-thinking non-bandwagon ipod users, however, is the interface. Especially in the new nanos, there are tons of features that I haven't seen in other mp3 players that make the device extremely easy to use.
What I do agree with you on is the prices of Macs to a point. Keep in mind though you get a life suite for media containing five huge programs as well as a word processing suite which PCs with vista don't even come with, you have to buy microsoft office separately. The computers are overpriced but for what you get, they should still be higher than market PCs unless microsoft starts offering software bundles included in all PCs. The iPhone camera phone does suck as well.
One more thing, if you're trying to make your point to mac users, you might want to try not calling them douchebags and basically having a holier than thou attitude towards people who are enthusiasts. Otherwise, the only people this article will appeal to are mac haters. Objectivity is the best weapon of blogging.
March 29, 2009 at 12:56 PM
Margo says:
"free-thinking non-bandwagon ipod users"
invalid data entry, argument rendered useless
March 29, 2009 at 1:00 PM
mariagivesyouwiiings says:
Regardless of whether I am a mac user (which I am), I have the right to call yuppies who use apple products because they're hyped by what they are - douchebags.
Thanks for taking the time to comment, glad you read the blog and hope you keep checking up on it. As always, we will be poking fun of the hype in today's world.
March 29, 2009 at 1:00 PM
mariagivesyouwiiings says:
I'm glad I just peed because I just read "invalid data entry, argument rendered useless" and almost pissed myself.
March 29, 2009 at 1:01 PM
Anonymous
Excuse my flagrant grammatical errors that make me look unintelligent.
March 29, 2009 at 1:06 PM
mariagivesyouwiiings says:
Matt - to quote from "Unforgivable"... "Bitch! That's a mistake!"
no worries on grammar, we'll just make fun of you and other grammatically challenged people on a later update :D
March 29, 2009 at 1:08 PM
Margo says:
Maria says this, failing to capitalize.
March 29, 2009 at 1:25 PM
Anonymous
Completely agree that iPods are not worth the money. And I would never buy a Mac (mostly cause I'm more used to working with PCs).
Disagree on the fact that Justin Long is a "skinny douchebag." XD
March 29, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Anonymous
And I just used the word "fact," which doesn't make my statement very strong.
Heh.
March 29, 2009 at 1:45 PM