Apple, iPad, money, politics, and hippies
Saturday, March 5, 2011 at 6:50PM In case you were living under a rock this past week - Apple finally announced what had to have been the worst kept secret in history. The iPad 2 is finally official and going on sale in less than a week.
When Steve took the stage to offically announce iPad 2 - the hipsters rejoiced as their savior from “complex technology” (and their paychecks) took the stage to reveal how Apple was going to milk another 500 - 800 dollars out of them this month. Nothing is more fun to watch than a hipster who foams at the mouth as he lusts over a new hipster item which every one of them will have in less than a week.
But what is probably more disturbing than anything else - is that with everything else going on in the world - the iPad 2 took up a majority of the online news cycles. We have protests around the world, civil unrest, state budgets in the red, and the hipsters sit foaming at the mouth for their newest piece of technology.
Now - I can’t continue without being totally honest. I am seriously considering getting an iPad 2. I have finally found room in my life where it could be of use - and I do have an idea for an application I would like to do on the iPad which wouldn’t work on the iPhone. I will note - I DO NOT have an original iPad. I didn’t get into the hype of the “magical” iPad before it was released. Instead I have observed the device after it had been released - playing with it here and there - and critically considering getting it (it is not a light investment).
With all that is going on in the world - it never fails to amaze me what goes through the social spheres which I am connected in and the online news networks. While the protests and civil unrest have a few stories which appear on the front page - the majority of this past week was devoted to the iPad. People debated in forums and chat rooms whether it was worth purchasing, what the advantages of the device over the previous iPad was, as well as speculating on the total ram of the device.
And yet….
And yet we have people protesting across the world for their freedom from oppressive governments. Something that you would normally associate hipsters with taking up the cause for. Instead they are glued to Steve Job’s black turtle neck getting their marching orders for the next few weeks on where to devote their cash.
Life does continue to go on - but somtimes its good to stop and observe what is going on in the rest of the world. We can’t always continue on with our plans in life - just look at how thousand’s of people’s lives have been disrupted by protests and the like around the world.
And while people protest for their freedom from oppressive govements around the world - public workers in Wisconsin are protesting due to them having to pay a little more into their benefits.
What have we devolved into as a society where we don’t even protest for worthwhile causes anymore. What we have become is a group of hippies - wanting to protest anything we can in the name of “sticking it to the man.”
With all of this going on - its been funny to see a recent trend of people crying foul of parents raising their kids how they choose to do so. Stating instead that kids should be raised gender neutral - how dare a parent decide to raise their daughter to like dresses and pink? That is just “destroing” civilization - at least according to them. Let parents raise their kids how they want. If they want to allow their daughters to like pink frilly dresses and have imaginary tea parties then let them. If they choose not to - then let them. To them I say - get a job hippie.
It’s time to de-hippify life. Lets get back to reality.
Reader Comments (8)
Die hippie skum. The phrase three sheets to the wind and hippie are interchangeable.
Hmm, that's funny Paul. I would love an iPad but I certainly don't think of myself as a hippie. But you already know I'm an unapologetic Apple fanboy. I guess I just don't get your intense dislike for techie fanboys, of which you are one, by the way. Just because your fanboy-ism doesn't include as many Apple products as mine does, doesn't mean that mine is misplaced, or irrelevent. I love my iPhone, but there are a lot of things I'd like to do with it that are very hard to do, with the small form factor. I'm not afraid of computers, or computer-illiterate (as you seem to imply that most iPad fans are), but after working on them all day, maybe I just want to relax at night with something geared more toward entertainment.
Yes, I realize that your post is more aimed at overall news coverage of important, world changing events, and less at Apple fanboys. However, I think you (just a guess here) read more tech-centric news sites than most people, and maybe your view is skewed a little by that. Our local news channels have not had a lot of coverage devoted to iPads, actually I see a huge amount devoted to this ridiculous budget war our state seems to be fighting with itself.
Oh, and by the way, Nate's post is completely unintelligble. Maybe he was three sheets to the wind himself :)
First off - thanks for the comment.
My dislike is for those who froth at mouth waiting for every one of steve jobs words to know where to place their money, and then spending their money without critically thinking of the product or if it's ever needed.
Like I posted - I myself am considering purchasing one of these devices in the very near future- be it iPad or android based-but am currently leaning toward iPad.
Hipsters are the ones I rally against mostly - the average consumer - Apple fanboy or not - is usually no where near hipster level.
I am a tech fanatic - but I try to be a realist in purchasing only what I know I can use/need. I also tend not to be brand specific-just what works well for what I need.
There is nothing wrong with being an Apple/Microsoft/tech fanboy - what becomes an issue is when someone (and I admit I have to fight against that myself with Microsoft products) becomes such a fanatic that the perception filter of the company prevents one from seeing the truth of the products as well as hanging on every word of each press release.
As far as news - most of the time I just go to yahoo and google news - usually not logged in on yahoo. While they may be doing some profiling based on cookies -that would be an interesting experiment - I'll clear my cookies and see how that changes.
And yeah...Nate seems a little....I don't think tree is a word for that
There not tree....
Hmm.. So after rereading my post a day later, I have tp apologize. I guess I didn't realize how prick-ish I was sounding. It was not my intention to attack you, and that's kind of what it looks like now. I apologize, Paul.
I shouldn't post at night when I'm tired, my sense of humor apparently slips a bit. Not to mention, Apple really hasn't needed anyone to defend them the last few years. They are doing just fine without my help.
Its quite all right - I'm used to inciting rage amongst fellow tech people - I'm used to the nerd rage.
Again - its all right - its your opinion on the matter - and you had some good points. That is what is so amazing about freedom of speech - as long as its done respectfully on both sides everything is usually golden!
Have a good day!
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