Apple my eye

Apple's image is a lie; I hope that everyone realizes that. The image that they are trying to portray--and that they have successfully portrayed, I might add--is a "let's stick it to the man" fringe group of liberal non-conformists. It really was. Just look at the induction of the Macintosh into the market: an anti-1984 campaign that was meant to give the common man what he deserved--a cheap personal computer. It appealed to proletariat and empowered them. And look at Apple now.

There is recent controversy in Europe over iTunes--that you can't play music that you downloaded on iTunes on other portable media devices. Recently, Norway banished iTunes for this very reason. I am not arguing who is right or who is wrong here, but I just think that it is ironic that Norway has essentially stuck it to the man, which is now Apple Computers. What does this make Apple? Well, hypocrites.

The advertising campaigns that Apple uses are geared to the young generation. A generation that likes to at least pretend it is making the world a better place. A generation that drives hybrid cars and refuses to wear leather shoes. It is a generation that will sign petitions to stop the fat-cat capitalists from killing children in Iraq. This is Apple's market. However, the business is moving in an opposite direction.

During the recent Consumer Electronics Show, all of the major electronics companies were unveiling their breaking technology. All of the companies, that is, except for Apple. They were holding a show of their own, which was not an underground gathering, but a soiree sordid with elitism. The company unveiled the iPhone, which is a name that was already trademarked by a VOiP provider. They knew that it was trademarked, but went ahead with the iPhone anyways, which is the corporate version of a distinct and inconsiderate "up yours." In short, Apple is now the man; the world now has to find a way to stick it to them.