The iPhone is a status symbol. There is no particular need for it. It's cool, it's fun, it looks good, it is apparently an all-around awesome toy. And it impresses people when you show it off. But you don't need it.Apparently (I don't own one) you can download programs, some of which are written by third party programmers, from the Apple Store and customize the functionality of your iPhone. Now this is the amusing part. One guy wrote such a program called "I Am Rich" that includes an icon that says "I Am Rich" and when you run the program, it shows a picture of a shiny gem. That's all it does. But when you show off the phone to your friends, they will see the icon that says "I Am Rich." It cost $999.99.
That is, it used to cost $999.99. Apple has now removed the program from the Apple Store after some complaints. But eight people, six in the U.S., bought it anyway. They now have what is likely the rarest status-symbol addition to the already status-driven iPhone available.
And isn't that the point of a status symbol? To flaunt your wealth? To demonstrate to everyone around that you have so much disposable income that you can have such things? The more useless and expensive the status symbol is, the better, because it makes your consumption that much more conspicuous. "I Am Rich" is the distilled essence of a status symbol. A little bit tacky, yes, but one of the hallmarks of the nouveau riche is that they don't particularly mind things that are tacky so long as they visibly demonstrate shows affluence.
Is a Prada handbag really that much better than a twenty-dollar purse from Target? Functionally, they do the same thing. The Prada bag may be moderately better-looking. But it has a Prada logo on it, which escalates the value of the bag from twenty dollars to a thousand. "I Am Rich" is no different than that Prada logo.
Apple is making a mistake here. Symbols are the ultimate product. It costs next to nothing to make a symbol of ego and wealth, and the way to regulate and control the rarity of the symbol (and thereby preserve its value) is by making it very, very expensive.
The best Prada bag is the one you guy from the guy on the sidewalk for $20 - walks like a Prada, talks like a Prada - who's to know?
ReplyDeleteI should think it wouldn't be that hard to program I am Rich and a photo of a gem for one's phone... if one were a programmer, that is.
TL, I disagree with you here on Apple's action. Also, I think you're perhaps missing something that comes with the Prada bag, but not with the program: plausible deniability.
ReplyDeleteA better looking bag (for what is essentially more a fashion accessory than something to carry around stuff) *is* plausibly worth more than something that doesn't look as good.
A $999 application that does nothing doesn't do anything is *clearly* only about status, which strikes most people as gaudy.
I was being just a little bit facetious, Bob. Perhaps I'm guilty of an overly dry wit.
ReplyDeleteOh. Believe it or not, but in real life I have one too. In blogworld I turn it completely off to the point that I don't get anything. There are too many people who have weird views for me to assume that just because someone says something radical they must be joking. So, I basically don't get any jokes. Bear with me!
ReplyDelete