Feel Ripped Off By the iPhone Price Drop? Fuck You.
Yesterday’s Buzz Out Loud really, really pissed me off. I’ve been a BoL subscriber for almost as long as the program has existed. I really like Molly and Tom, and learn a lot from them every day. Yesterday, Molly went on an uber-rant about Apple and the iPhone price cut. Part of me emphasizes with Molly’s frustrations. Her rant regarding the iPhone price cut, however, got me thinking about how self-centered and narrow-minded the tech community can be.
At issue was the recent $200 price cut in the Apple’s iPhone, as well as Steve Jobs’ response. Molly Wood - who admitted on the program that she drives a BMW and has four iPods - feels abused by Apple dropping the price of the iPhone by 33% two months after it’s release. Apparently many of people stood in line on June 29th to fork over $599 for a consumer electronics device also feel pissed off.
I really do enjoy Buzz Out Loud, and I do think they were voicing the complains of many Apple consumers. Molly’s argument was that Apple betrayed the trust of their loyal Fans by over charging them to begin with, then by cutting the price so soon ‘just to sell more iPhones.’
Let’s examine the facts:
1.) Apple announces shiny new Toy
2.) Price point of said Toy is set at $599.99, even though the manufacturing price is know to be around $250
3.) The media - both mainstream and tech - is saturated with news about this Toy for six months
4.) People line up for hours to pay $599 for this Toy
5.) Everyone who owns this Toy seems to love it, despite it’s outrageous price
6.) Apple cuts price of Toy by 33% two months after it’s release; consumers are PISSED
This, my friends, is sincerely fucked up on SO many levels. People who can afford to spend six hundred bucks on a PHONE feel betrayed by the company that sold it to ‘em? Stop for a second and think about what this says about our society. Seriously.
Did Apple abuse their customers by cutting the price so
early? Hell no. Did they abuse their customers by charging an
outrageous sum for a piece of plastic? Hell no. Apple - a company known for it’s marketing prowess - made a product that is pretty cool and does some nifty things. Apple set a price. Not only did consumers buy it, they jerked off with glee over it! Consumers spent hours in line to by it, then talked about it for days and days and days and days and days.
Apple is a corporation. They have NO obligation to you and they do NOT care about you beyond your spending power. Corporations exist to make money. Did Apple abuse their loyal customers? Of course they did! Corporations do not care about you. NO company cares about you. Corporations exist to make money.
Bottom line:
Certain consumers bought something they DON’T need at a price that, if they could afford to pay it, is demonstrative of their affluence. Apple cut the price, and these same consumers pissed? That means that these consumers have the money to be pissed. If you bought the iPhone and are pissed, recognize that you bought the branding, you bought the marketing, you bought into the notion that a corporation cares about you. How much did this cost you? apparently $200. Thusly: Fuck you.
I think Flavor Flav said it best: Don’t believe the hype.
Technorati Tags: iPhone, Apple, Buzz Out Loud, technology, stupid
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Comments
Damn strait. Corporations go to a lot of trouble to make you feel like you are part of a “community” with them. They work very hard to hide the fact that this “community” is built around you paying them outrageous sums of money for whatever gee-gaws they’re hawking this week.
The iPhone is deck, btw.
Now, regarding Buzz Out Loud - I really do love the show, and I’ll continue to love the show. Tom didn’t seem pissed at all about the iPhone price cut, and I admire Molly for actually BEING pissed about something.
Anyone who thinks that a non-sentient entity cares about them is a fool. Corporations, as defined by current statutes, have the same rights as people in the US. However, you and I know that corporations are NOT people. Thusly, they do not care about you.
Steve Jobs does not care about you. Apple is a Lifestyle Brand, meaning you pay a premium for their products because their products say something about you as a consumer. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but before spending your hard-earned money - the money you WORKED for, punched a time-clock for, sacrificed 1/3rd of your day for - on their products, as yourself: ‘why am I buying this? How will this help me?’
There’s nothing inherently wrong with style, but just don’t bitch about being ‘ripped off.’ You are accountable for your spending choices.
I have to wonder if people are pissed at Apple for screwing them over, or pissed at themselves for being so gullible.
Also: Molly - I think you’re great. You’re opinion on Buzz is valuable and I’ve learned a lot from you. But you drive a BMW and have 4 iPods. You may not think of yourself as rich, but do you really think that anyone wants to hear someone with a BMW and 4 iPods bitch about being screwed outta 200 bucks? Seriously?
Right on! Just because people are feeling “buyer’s remorse” for buying it immediately when we all knew the price would drop, doesn’t constitute a right to feel pissed off.
People paid $599 for bragging rights. Now they’ve lost their bragging rights! I have no sympathy for geeks who line up to be the first to get something. If they had waited a few months they would have saved a little money. Now people who waited can stick their proverbial tongue out and say, “What an idiot you are!” That’ll teach people who like to flaunt their money to make their private parts look bigger. I say, ROFLMAO to them!
I agree. I was pissed at first, but then I thought about it. If it wasn’t worth $600, why did I pay that? There’s no real basis for complaining. Another good rant about the economics of the complaints is at http://www.atomicwang.org/motherfucker/Index/852580A5-3300-4FD9-8293-0D57B36E367E.html