It’s that time of year again; the school year is in full swing, fall is quickly approaching, and Apple has announced its latest, greatest tech toys. Last Thursday Apple CEO Tim Cook took the stage in San Francisco to explain the intricacies of each new improvement.
Per usual, the list included better cameras, more megapixels, increased processing speed and so on. Aside from the introduction of the nifty Apple Pencil and the long-awaited re-tooling of Apple TV the new features were relatively mundane and expected.
Regardless, droves of people eagerly mark their calendars for the day they can trade in their dated, nearly year-old IPhone. The iPhone 6S sold out in China within 12 hours, and that is only for pre-orders.
This style of frantic consumerism is nothing new in our era of expedited technological advancement. One must be careful not to diminish the importance of progress, but is it necessary to shell out a month’s rent because the camera has been improved by two megapixels? It all depends on who you ask.
Apple has created a worldwide cult of consumers, who not only buy the product, but vehemently defend the integrity of the almighty half-chewed apple. We all have the friend who is deeply offended by a proud Samsung users.
The truth is our electronics are as much a part of our social identity as our shoes, clothes, or friends. They as a piece of our personality. In general, it is human nature to want to be accepted by our peers and for the last 20 years the half-chewed apple has been the ‘in’ crowd.
Apple doesn’t have to advertise anymore, their consumers do this for them. The jock who used bash you into a locker, is now the iPhone user belittling your [insert arbitrary device here] and insisting the new model has the answers to all the otherworldly issues.
This phenomenon is not unique to the technological battlefield either, it happens within the Apple community just as, if not more, frequently. Try and keep the same iPhone throughout the entirety of a two-year contract. By the end of a two year tour of duty the phone, regardless of make, model, or year, will often lead to being publicly scorned.
In spite of the despicable cycle that surrounds technology, cellular devices in specific, we should all revel in the fact that we are forced to make the decision to buy, or not to buy, ever year.
No matter how you look at it there is nothing negative about technological advancement.
Imagine trying to snapchat or tweet from a Motorola Razor.