The Gold iPhone isn't just for mindless sheep that want to show off
jkhowland.me
jkhowland.me
Apple.com had pictures of the device long before they waited in line or clicked 'buy'.
Most of my friends (including myself) were making fun of the gold one, but once we saw it in person, it soon became our top choice.
It's really hard to get a good idea of how these phones look in pictures. You have to see them in person. But many (most?) of those 9 million didn't.
You can buy the new iphone? you will show it off.
buy the black/white one and you may have to actually engage in conversation. Buy the golden one, everyone knows.
It is like buying a $30k audi A1 with a custom made $500k engine and drivetrain. If you just buy the $300k R8, everyone will know you have the disposable income. the custom A1 or a spiffed up TT though will be much more fun if you actually race it though. which is not relevant here as we are only talking about style since the phones are the same.
So, everyone only wants the golden one for the smug feeling when they take it out of their pockets. And that sells, as the article proves.
Also, any fashion study will tell you that a brand can't launch a 'thing'. Gold phones are NOT in fashion. they may be if enough influential people wants to partake in the smug feeling mentioned above. But until that happens, it is just a very temporal thing that will only last until samsung launches a golden one.
This one really got to me: https://twitter.com/eEditor/status/381084430611144704
The iPhone is a fashion item, and is going to follow fashion trends. This includes going gold.
Chromatic: Red, Blue, Green, White, Black Metallic: Gold, Silver
Bummer, Takhisis is winning.
(Although if you break open a Gold iphone, you can get a Aurak..)
tap Green iPhone, Regenerate.
I'm sure there are plenty in each camp. There are people flocking towards it because it's now. And there are people buying it because it's attractive.
Sometimes new is attractive. I know at least 3 people on my own Family Plan are getting silver or gold because they are 'tired of black'. No big deal.
I think a lot of people get too worked up over other people's personal opinions. And in the end, I'm not sure that anyone will really care about the color (gold, black, or whatever) in 2 weeks.
Back in 2007 I remember listening to a student and his father shopping for a Mac. He refused to buy the lower cost white one because it was girly. He had to get the top of the MacBooks black model.
I think the self definition aspect of the purchase lasts much longer than a couple weeks.
Maybe I think it lasts a shorter time because I was almost entirely apathetic towards which color I got this time around. I ended up with black (space grey) because that's what the store had when I got there.
Waking up, going to sleep, stumbling around in the dark, the gold phone will be a lot easier to locate than my current black one.
If anything, its a gift to the snatch and run crowd.
Sadly there is a clique out there that sees status in what type of phone or laptop you have. Its this generations 3 series. Personal expression of wealth, or pseudo wealth. Jersey Shore, Kardassians, and the ilk.
The techies reject this use of their domain, hence the disdain expressed by many. My opinion, gaudy.
Time will tell.
I don't think this is an accurate distinction at all. Conspicuous consumption is everywhere, even within techies - you really don't have to reach as far as Jersey Shore and the Kardashians to find people who wear their electronics like jewelry.
Hell, even Uber is conspicuous consumption in a lot of cases. Why roll up to the club in a cab when you can do so in a sleek, black SUV? And we know how popular that is with the technology crowd.
The "techies" have not rejected this use of their domain, they're just a little peeved that they no longer have monopoly of using technology as bling.
The gold colored iPhone is polarizing. Those that don't like it care that others do like it, and want to convince people to agree with them. (and vice versa).
Why did I want one? It is different. It is not the typical white and black that we have come to expect. It really does look nice! A change of pace.
This is not a coincidence, and as you can see[0], it is working.
[0] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-24/china-gold-9-millio...
Desktop PCs used to be beige, or rarely black. Now they come in colors with LED lights, and all kinds of decoration.
Cars used to come in black, now they have colors.
It's like that for everything - at first you just want the thing for the functionality. Later you also want it to look nice.
I've sometimes waited to buy a new gizmo till I see it offered in colors - that's my sign that the product is "finished" and is as good as it's going to get. (It's true for games too - do you know games where you can change the color/outfit of the character?)
Edit: I went back and some of the other pictures make it a bit clearer. Also the selection says pink in the html so I guess it must just be my eyes.
The comments in this thread, the blog post itself, and all the other media coverage, is all playing the same game; it underpins most tech coverage - be it android/ios, xbox/sony, mac/pac - its about setting up either/ors and removing the decision of none.
What the hell?