Saturday, June 30, 2007

Beware the Fanboys

Ok, here’s something I just don’t get.

Learn about a new consumer product, swallow every bit of marketing hype that’s forced on you, accept rumors and conjecture as fact…Then camp out in front of a store for a week, all for the privilege of being one of the first to own a completely unproven piece of technology.

For the people who do this, I have one word:

“Baaaaaaaaaa!”

Why not stay home, relax, let everyone else get the ‘first’ ones. Then buy your own a little later when all the bugs have been worked out and the price has dropped a little.

I’m talking, of course, about the iPhone. Is it just me, or is everyone going batshit crazy about a phone with a touchscreen? Even if this is ‘the greatest phone ever’, (and plenty of people are pointing out that it’s not), is it worth a week sitting in front of a store? Is it worth camping out for any consumer product?

In a word, no. If you have that deep a need for any gadget, you need to rethink your life a little.

The worst thing is that this fanboy-ism only hurts us all in the long run. Even if the iPhone turns out to be the worst thing ever, they’re still going to completely sell out…which means they can pat themselves on the back on what a success they’ve made.

Yes, I’ve seen the ads, but do you know what? I bet the touchscreen isn’t really that accurate. I bet the internet doesn’t really run that fast…and why in the hell would I feel the need to carry around a bunch of pictures on my fricking cell phone?

Big point here…ads are designed to make things look perfect. You can’t judge how good something is by what the creators say about it (Daiktana anyone?)

Stop being sheep and actually and objectively decide if something is worth the cash, before you sit in front of a store for three days…and hand over your hard earned cash for something that probably won’t be good, and will certainly not be as good as you think it is.

We could talk about track-records and brand loyalty...but I think Sony has already proven that one great product doesn't mean the next is going to be worth crap

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

eh yeah. I didn't really care about the iPhone, and I have Cingular, I mean AT&T, I mean Cingular, FUCK i can't remember what it's called they change their name so often... okay so yeah.. off topic.

the iPhone sucks.. why .. because it only is available on one carrier, Cingular.. err AT&T. I HATE CINGULAR Err.. AT&T!!!!


Anyway.. after I saw more ads, it had me hypnotized, but I don't think I'll be able to afford the iPhone until well after my 2 yr plan is up, and then I intend on switching to Verizon. Maybe by then, it'll be available on every service and be like the Razr was. It used to be like 500 bucks and only available by Cingular, now everyone has it, and it's the cheapest damn thing you can buy...when it comes to phones. Yes I admit, I broke my phone so i got a razr.. but it's PINK!!!!

MC Etcher said...

Good lord, what moron buys anything at launch? Wait a year!

Sigh.