I've been thinking about Apple products lately, specifically iPads. I've been considering getting an iPad, presumably to use for writing though it is clear that its usefulness as a writing computer is questionable at best. So it makes me curious...why do I really want one? What would I even use it for? As far as I can tell, an iPad would serve no function my laptop isn't already handling, so then my buying one can only be about one (or both) of the following: base consumerism or the desire to belong.
Apple has been artfully exploiting our social human urge to be part of a community for years now, presenting themselves as the cool kid alternative to PC's mainstream boringness and keeping price points unreasonably high on purpose, a reassurance that there's no shortcut for entry and that everyone who becomes a part of this exalted Apple products club has literally paid their dues to be there. It's a brilliant marketing concept, one that's been used by high-end manufacturers of anything, from fancy cars to high-limit credit cards to designer shoes. With purchase comes the promise of membership, of being on the inside.
People like me, for whom the search for belonging has always been a deep, resonant urge, are particularly vulnerable to this kind of approach. We want to be in, and we want it so badly we'll spend hundreds more dollars on products that promise this kind of belonging, even if we logically know deep down it won't really work. Even though I can discern no practical benefit to spending $600 on an iPad I don't need, that promise of belonging still tugs my hand toward my wallet and engages my brain to try and think of some justifiable reason for why I really must have it.
As strong as this impulse is (and hoo boy, is it ever), something keeps stopping me from making the purchase. And the more I hold out, the more I'm seeing the framework behind the desire. More than that, I'm starting to see how misleading the promise actually is, for as anyone who has purchased an Apple product knows, being "on the inside" of the Apple club only lasts as long as it takes them to start talking about the next generation of products. It is impossible to get inside and stay there without continually doling out wads of cash to upgrade your equipment. Now I don't know about you, but I haven't got money to spend on endless upgrades. Even if I did, it seems a fairly selfish, pointless and shallow thing to do when that kind of money could do so much good elsewhere.
So alas, I think I'm going to have to give up on the idea of belonging, or at least fitting in with the Apple elite. Maybe I'll start my own club, full of quasi-luddites who CAN wait to get their hands on the latest thing, who prefer a pen and a yellow legal pad to fancy writing apps, who find contentment in making do with what they have and saving their money for life experiences rather than stuff. Maybe.
But boy, that iPad sure is something, eh?
3 comments:
One of the things I found about my iPad is that I didn't appreciate how much improvement I'd see in efficiency at work. The ability to take notes quickly, and share them easily, has more than made up for the cost of buy-in. It's also, interestingly enough, taken over many of the things that I used to do on my iPhone, which was unexpected but I suppose inevitable (bigger screen space means easier interactivity with apps).
I do agree that a big selling point is 'belonging', but I also think that the utility, for those of us who don't have a laptop or good handwriting, is more valuable than someone who has already got something that fills that role.
Paul, your tweet this morning about how Apple is now ignoring the white MacBook is what prompted this post in the first place. It just made me think of all of the times I've shelled out big bucks for Apple hardware only to have it become obsolete in 0.02 seconds when the next big thing comes out. I'm definitely not technology-averse, and I'm still a big fan of Apple products, but I just can't justify spending that kind of cash on something I don't really need at all. Believe me, I tried to find a reason to get one. I really really did.
Jerome, it's clear you're getting some serious use out of yours and that's awesome. I just don't think it would be that way for me.
My iPad story is slightly different. I fought the idea of a "post-PC third device" for quite a while. I figured that it was not necessary to have my MacBook Pro, my Smartphone, and another device to do all of my computing. However, after demoing one in-store, I found that I really liked the keyboard and began contemplating ways to utilize the device to take notes in class. I purchased it and loved/used it immediately. I began to switch all of my work computing to it and found it indispensable. However, after about a month, I discovered that long-term typing was REALLY difficult on the device. I went out am.immediately purchased a nifty Zaggmate case with a built-in Bluetooth keyboard, but after another month I decided that the device simply was not made for what I was attemptijg to use it for and it sat at home for a month on the island of lost toys that is my bookshelf. I have since sold it and am using the money to get a Samsung Chromebook that I believe will better suit my needs.
In the end, the iPad introduced my need for such a hybrid device, but couldn't meet said need. Would I have bought the iPad without the "desire to belong" sales technique that you mentioned? Probably not. Would I have eventually purchased another hybrid device in its stead? Definitely.
Great post!
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