I've finally had it. I can no longer take it. No more.
I've dealt passively with the Apple insanity since high school, briefly interjecting my opinions, but being ignored 99% of the time. Yes, at one point, I even wanted to hop on the iPod band wagon and have too much space for too much music I did not yet own and would have to skip through 60% of in favour of a newer, cooler song that I was into at the time. I wanted to be apart of the white ear bud group and have aneurysms over a mysterious scratch found on the bottom of my precious white brick, only to discard the object, or have it stolen, six months later, and purchase a new white, maybe even black, brick with the same but different features. Yes, this was a brief phase in my life, until I took a stand away from the crowd and observed how completely ridiculous everyone was being.
By falling into that group and buying an iPod, I was falling into the 'I listen to Good Charlotte and Avril Lavigne and Usher and all the other bad but ridiculously popular artists' group. I was becoming a joiner. I was throwing out all my punk-ish ideals and becoming apart of some sick cult that squeals, 'Oh My God, Paris Hilton is so Hot!'
Why would I compare all of this when, clearly, Apple enjoys marketing to the technically savvy and otherwise geeky? The kids that like to call themselves individuals and have set themselves apart with all of their awesomeness, only to be joined by the masses that they so clearly despise and make fun of for all their panty and cootchie flashing! The hippie kids that aspire towards eating organically and throwing red paint on rich old ladies at the opera wearing Thumper as her latest accessory! The kids that sit in class and talk about the evils of corporate takeover and kids working in sweat shops in India being starved and forced to live in gutters by these evil middle class soccer Mums with their gas guzzling SUV's!
You guessed it. All these kids bought into the marketing of the individual, and are standing in line and stabbing the person in front of them with blunt objects, with the intent of killing them and being one body closer to getting their new iPhone. Oh, and last month, it was probably the newest iPod.
I cannot go into a store without finding the perfect accessory for the iProduct in your life. How to listen to your iPod in the car. How to hook your iPod up to a stereo. How to make your iPod look pretty with rhinestones. How you can buy your favourite band's newest album on iTunes three months before the real CD comes out, because we want to butcher the art of the album. WHY?! Because we want everyone to be unique with their iPods...oh, and be exactly the same.
Why has my temper clicked into over-drive over this issue? What sent me flying through the roof? It could have possibly been the line that was blocking the entrance to Urban Outfitters this morning, that hadn't moved by the time I walked out of the store after a very long perusing in the 'Bill for 1st Lady' tee shirt sale and a silent debate about a pink polka dot flask. It could have been the same store many hours later and the insane mob inside of it, which would have been reason enough for any other city, in their correct state of mind, to pull out the riot gear and get the fire hoses ready.
But really, the real issue was the Sony store. I own Sony products, one of which being and Mp3 player which has probably stood up to more abuse than an iPod ever could have as it bears dents and has been dropped in a tub of water during a pedicure (and still lives) retaining a small water mark to prove it. The disconcerting thing that struck me while walking around the Sony store, were the amount of iPods on display within the store. Not only that, there was a complete and total lack of knowledge about the Sony products that I inquired about. In fact, after asking where I might find an actual case for my faithful musical friend, I was greeted with blank stares and told to ask at the Apple store. But it's a Sony. I'm in the Sony store.
Yes, I am PISSED at the Sony company for this experience. Personally, I highly doubt I will be upgrading my laptop, Mp3 player, or my blank CDs with Sony anytime soon. But I'm also extremely irked at this lack of propriety and back-bone shown by the so called individual. It seems that the iCult has become this huge evil empire which one could even equate to Walmart (they sell iPods there!) merely because it has become this mentality and life style for so many, that the true individuals appear to be the kids that still don't have iPods, and mainly by choice not to give in.
All I ask is that the kids standing in line for the newest iPhone, please don't call yourself an individual, unless you happen to be dressed up like an iPod, bearing a light saber. Don't be consumed by the brand and the Tipper Gore attitude because the same people that buy iPods are the same ones that make it impossible for you to burn your favourite CD on your computer again, since you had to reformat your hard-drive.
And goddamn it. If I see another stupid lowercase 'i' infront of a word, I will throw up on it. And that's a promise.
