Tuesday, December 9, 2008
iPods, and why won't the stop changing?
IPods, everyone has them and everyone has had more than one. Most people at least, there are a few who are so careful that theirs haven't broken. However, I have broken my fair share of iPods. I have also tried to go without one for awhile, but its very hard. I think for a lot of people, an iPod is a safety blanket. When your in public just walking around or hanging out, it gives people the impression that your doing something. Also, how much cooler does a person with an iPod in their ear look than one without? The answer is a lot cooler, and that is why a lot of people cannot live without an iPod. When you finally convince your parents to buy you yet another iPod, you arrive at the apple store either disappointed or very enthused. The iPods have magically changed in the time you've been away. They've gotten smaller or changed shape from a wide rectangle to a very long one. Or they have grown on the inside, having more gigabytes or the capability for movies and photos. For some people, this is great news. There are no more of their old out of style iPod, their parents are forced to buy them a new and improved one. For people like me, this is devistating. I liked my old iPod, why do they have to force this new one upon me :(? Also, where did the old ones even go? Surely the did not sell all of their 2nd generation nanos. They must have disspeared, or evolved into new ones. Who knows? To me, its a mystery.
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5 comments:
What is it about American society that allows this to happen? If people didn't purchase the latest/greatest iPods, perhaps Apple wouldn't change models so quickly.
In the past, some societies might show pictures of themselves from a hundred years ago and say, with pride: "look how much we've changed". But others took pride in the statement: "look how much we've remained true to our past". Why the difference?
To answer your first question, I think it is our obsession with material possessions. The Ipod is a status quo, just like designer clothing. For many, they just feel more secure or "cooler" with the top brand. For example, other companies make items identical to Ipods for half the price. They work just like Ipods, and use itunes. So why is it that people aren't going out and buying these knock off products when they are so well priced? This blog also brings up our constant need for the latest and greatest. We have never been satisfied with a piece of technology. The moment something comes out, companies are always working on the next model. The newer and better one. And for some, the old model will not do. All though it is hard for me to critique this, because I have had several Ipods and I'm always checking out the latest model. I think it has a lot to do with the trends I talked about, and even more to do with advertising and mass-marketing. THough that is a whole other blog post in itself.
Matt, this post isn't about your blog, but hope you weren't in that water main break in Maryland. That looked really, really bad.
I believe that in the american society everyone wants the newest greatest thing. people want to show people that they have money and a way to do that is to buy the $100 more appliance to prove this. people keep doing this so it gives companies the chance to make more expenisve and better things. Also i think that the ipod shows us how far the world has come with technology.before MP3 players were the thing, they could hold a couple hundred songs. now people these players can hold thousands of songs as well as surf the web and watch movies. it is amazing to me how the transfer of this can be made in such a short period of time.
Consume consume consume. Its almost become "the American slogan". I don't know if you've ever read the book Tuesday's with Morrie, but Mitch Album quotes his professor saying, "The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves. And you have to be strong enough to say if the culture doesn't work, don't buy it." People don't buy new things for themselves, they buy it so other people can be jealous. Too many people out there feel the need to grasp such material items to be hip and "cool" but it doesn't work. Either people get the same thing, or people just don't care enough to acknowledge it. Society is determined to make things brighter, make things bigger, but all it is is showing off what you got. But what I think is, "Who cares?"
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