schweblog

We’ve all seen them by now–the quaint little white/pink/green/blue machines that have white earbuds hooked up to them. Hailed as the next big thing in technology, the iPod is gathering steam quickly. Being on a college campus 3 out of the 5 weekdays, I see these things regularly, pumping music into the ears of thousands of mindless students as they daydream about how this music is really the soundtrack to their lives or some other emo bullshit like that. The thing is, a company that started out as non-conformist has fallen into the dreaded category that they were initially rallying against.

“What are you talking about, Jesse? Apple never posited itself as non-conformist!” Actually, they did. You’ll probably recall the commercial that borrowed some themes from Orwell’s 1984. If you haven’t seen it, it’s viewable here. Yeah, Apple…I’m pretty sure that all those hypnotized idiots in front of the screen would suddenly be freed if they had a little white box clipped to their belt and some earbuds stuffed in their heads. Totally.

In their aggressive marketing campaign that advertises the units’ cool factor as much as their functionality, Apple has managed to stamp down any counter-culture appearance that it once had. This is evident to any bystander who hasn’t bought in yet–those already owning an iPod have already been brainwashed by the subliminal messages being masked by the latest Indie pop hit (from a Ukrainian band that borrows from the 80s–how very novel!). Wired even published an article on a new trend–perfect strangers approaching one another in public and plugging into each other’s iPod for a few brief seconds’ listen. It’s all become so incredibly yuppy, so insanely popularized, that people will ignore the blatant price-gouging going on over a mediocre product.

The iPod is often touted as being so easy to use–you just plug it in, put your music on it, and leave. Nevermind the fact that it requires its own piece of software and only supports one file format. Nevermind the fact that you can get a product that supports more file formats with a 40GB capacity for just a little more than an iPod with 75% the amount of space. Nevermind the fact that this is the electronic equivalent of those slap bracelets that were so popular in the late 80s and early 90s. Oh no, this is the iPod people. You aren’t cool unless you have one.

It’s time to face the facts: people don’t buy the iPod because it’s a functional, well-priced product that’s easy to use. They buy it because it gives them some aura of yuppyish coolness. It’s purchased with the secret hope that one day, maybe, just maybe, they’re going to find someone else with an iPod that they will “jack up to” and connect with (maybe the same track will be playing and both will melt into simultaneous synchronicity), ultimately leading to them falling madly in love with their iPod lover.

These things are already popular and are only getting more popular. How can a cheap piece of plastic armed with technology that’s been around for years become the next big thing in technology? How can Apple manage to con so many people into purchasing a mediocre product for an exorbitant amount of money? And how can the movement only continue to pick up speed until just about everyone have blocked themselves to the sound of the outside world with the little white earbuds?

The answer, interestingly enough, comes from none other than Big Brother and the language of 1984, Ingsoc: groupthink. I’m only saying this because it needs to be said.