Apple and I

I was an anti-Apple activist for a long time ( I guess the word "was" has given away the fact that I'm no longer live up to the title). And I'm not opposing the i-series products for the sake of subversion nor am I detest the trend / popularism. Its just that I hate the fact that the craze of iphone in the early days of its release has created a distorted "iphone elite" perception whereby iphone users consider themselves a cut above the rest. If you still using a non-smart phone (yours truly), how many times have you encountered comments such as "huh, you are still using XX phone arr?", "No one is using your kind of phone anymore!!". 

Many jaws had dropped into the drain whenever they find out that I'm still using my Sony Ericsson W660i till this day. Like I mentioned, I'm not defying the trend intentionally by keeping an out-dated phone. I may not be gadget savy, but I do keep myself educated with the latest trend out there, to adhere or not, its another story entirely. In fact, when the W (or walkman)-series were out in the market, it was the coolest thing happened in the mobile phone industry whereby suddenly every youngsters on the street listen to music through their phone like a mp3 player. "Walkman" is such a recognized word that many didn't realized that it is actually Sony's brand name which was originally used for portable audio cassette player. When I was still a 12 years old school girl, my biggest dream is to have a Sony cassette player, and when I finally got it at at the age of 15, I had 911's "Don't make me wait" playing to my ears 24-7. 

This is 911 for you, if you never heard them before, and no its not the emergency phone number I'm talking about here

As you know, later on the walkman series of the mobile phone was born, and it redefined the music listening habits of many by allowing people to carry music with them on the lightweight phones and listen to music while they are on the move. Till this day, there is no deny on the fact that Walkman series is most popular for its sheer music quality.

So come back to iphone. Yes it's cool and the smart touch capability has become the new technological paradigm in the mobile communication, and Apple's i-series is leapfrog ahead of other competitors. However it still doesn't justify the act of some of the iphone users who think they are the upper class of the technorati just because they can navigate by touch rather than press buttons. Its delusional when some thinks that they're buying into a way of life or an upper echelon of society when they buy an iphone.

I hate the fact that if you want to become the members of a clique where people talk in iphone lingual, or play once-so-popular angry bird or fruit ninja, or instalgram every dish served on the plate, or update your facebook status all the time, the pre-requisite is to have the thousand ringgit phone in your hand. The question is do you really need an ALL in ONE smartphone? For me phone is meant for calling and sms. Even for the w660i, I no longer use it to listen to music, because now I listen to car's stereo while driving instead of listen to mp3 while taking public transport like i used to.  

I do understood that this is all part of the marketing gimmicks and you can't really blame the users who succumbed into the "i"topia realm because its inevitable when the Apple pandemic are worldwide. I can only said that Apple is lucky to have the most loyal and fantastic fan any company would dream to have.

With that being said, I don't condone iphone itself, I like the fact that i-series products are intriguing, clever and minimalist, it has carved a style of its own which differentiate itself from the rest in this saturated and highly competitive telecommunication industry. I cant comment about the usability of the iphone because I don't owned one, but I will definitely comment about the ipad in my next post. 

Until I see the need of having smartphone, I'm sticking with my RM500 (now should be cheaper) Sony Ericsson phone which I can call and sms. Till then.