No, I'm not saying that I have an iPhone and therefore think that I am better than everyone else. Just the opposite in fact. I'm saying I do not have an iPhone, and therefore I believe I'm better than you.
When Apple first announced it's new product, I laughed and said that it was major overkill. I could not see any reason why I would need something so massive, expensive and simply unnecessary. I told anyone who would listen to me how ridiculous I thought the product was.
"It's unnecessary. Anyone who wastes their money on an iPhone is just trying to earn style points, it's pretentious," I would tell her. Of course, she would defend her reasons and offer some stretch of the imagination as some form of validation for her purchase... but I would not budge on my stance. The only exception to my pretentious stereotype was for business owners and people running large-scale operations. These types of people were immune to my criticism, mostly. I mean I understood why a person would want an iPhone and I how it could be of use to certain people in certain situations; but I stuck by my guns and remained a staunch critic of the product.
It's too big. It's hard to type on. It's costs too much (it did at first anyway). It's exclusive to AT&T. And so on and so on. I found just about every reason to not get an iPhone.
Well it's been over a year and a half since its launch and I must say — boy, was I wrong.
In the time passed since the release of the original iPhone, I have had plenty of opportunities to play around on my friend's pretentious purchases and I must admit — they are pretty cool. All of the "apps" available, the ability to access the Internet almost anywhere, the neat touch screen... it's all a technological marvel.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a bulky phone (I know it's "not that thick" and all, but I like phones that fit easily in my front pocket). And although the price has dropped considerably, I have a hard time shelling out hundreds of dollars when I have a perfectly good, cheap phone. But, the more of those sweet commercials I see...
...the bigger the urge is to cross to the dark side.
...the bigger the urge is to cross to the dark side.
To me, I suppose this is simply a testimony on how effective a well designed ad campaign can be. Especially the new 3G commercials. By simply showing the phone and a set of hands in the frame, Apple really grabs people by displaying what exactly an iPhone can offer consumers. Also, by previewing some of their practical and every-day-helpful apps in addition to the games and entertainment aspect of their product, they ensure that more people will be interested and see just how useful an iPhone would be to them.
So while I haven't jumped into the iPhone's loving arms (I'm sure there's an app for that), I must congratulate Mr. Jobs and the Apple family on running a wonderful advertising campaign. Some may find it annoying, but my outlook on iPhones has been altered.
I guess I'm not the iPhone snob I thought I was. Instead, I'm on the fast track to becoming an iPhone hypocrite.
-Chris
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