Today is known as “iPhone Day”, where in a few hours all of drooling Apple fans will finally receive their treats – the ones they’ve been waiting for over 6 months. This day can’t end any faster.
Everywhere I turn, it’s wall-to-wall iPhone coverage. I fire up my podcasts and even the sports & political podcasts I listen to are talking about the iPhone. The technology podcasts are the worst – basically forgetting all other technology exists, leading off with the iPhone stories, and then gargling the Apple Kool Aide. It’s gotten so bad, people are doing reports on people doing iPhone reports.
I fire up my RSS feeds and every blog is mentioning the iPhone, either touting the phone itself or the people who are waiting in line for it. You see all these pictures and videos spring up about people waiting in line. I go to message boards like the Buzz Out Loud Lounge, and every freaking discussion topic is about that stupid Phone, or people waiting in line. What’s funny is back in November many called people in lines losers for waiting for the PS3 along with the Wii, but that criticism seems more restrained this time around for iPhone fans.
This has really become consumerism at it’s worst, and you know that Apple is loving every minute of it. A company can’t buy this kind of buzz, moreover get it for free the way they’re receiving it. It’s funny to think that all of this hype is for a device that can’t listen to music, surf the Internet or manage your information as well as devices currently out there. The thing is on a slow network, doesn’t allow you to use any 3rd party apps (since Apple doesn’t understand what more you need than what they’re shoving down your throat), doesn’t let you replace the battery, doesn’t have a lot of storage space to make you even consider replacing your iPod, and worst of all – it costs $600! My Treo cost me a 1/3 of that and I still was reluctant spending that much, knowing how much phones ware and tear down.
All of these reasons are enough reason to warrant a scoff at the iPhone, but the biggest reason I’m not interested – all of the stupid hype generated around the Apple fans. I’m not going to buy into Apple worship, Steve Jobs or all of the other acolytes love to hate everyone that’s not using their products. Their rabid fanaticism is disturbing to say the least, and I’m not going to start foaming at the mouth about a stupid phone.
And yes, I realize the irony in adding to the hype by writing on my blog about how I hate the hype.