iPerceive

It is Macworld 2007, the annual Apple convention where new products are brandished. Steve Jobs walks onto stage. He boots up the onstage Macbook, showing off its “improved boot time”. There are some wows, some scattered applause. Jobs then brandishes some off the latest applications: “improved iLife”, “Safari with a new edge”, “slicker iTunes”. Again, scattered applause from the crowd. Yet, the majority of the Apple fans, reporters, and industry bigwigs gathered await with bated breath. There have been rumours, leaks, of something revolutionary, something the world has never before seen.

Just then, Jobs reaches into his pocket - a silence fills the entire hall – and takes out something slick and silvery. It looks like an iPod, yet its screen fills its entire area. It looks like a phone, yet it lacks a keypad. Jobs grins as he holds it out to the crowd. “Introducing, the new iPhone.” The silence is broken as the crowd gasps and roars all at the same time. Later, thousands of youngsters queue to be one of the first to own the iPhone. Analysts predict a rise in Apple shares. The world is set ablaze by the ground-breaking product.

Yet, beneath all the hoo-hah and iPhone fanatics, how many actually truly understand the full features of the iPhone? Yes, it combines a phone and the iPod. Yes, its screen is, well, unimaginably big. Yes, it is touch-screen, with the lauded “multi-touch” interface. However, how many of us actually stop to question each of the features’ usefulness? A phone-cum-iPod is nothing new. Many of today’s phones already sport music playing features rivalling or even beating the iPod. The extremely big screen is also extremely prone to scratches. And its most lauded feature, the lack of a keypad, can take time getting used to. Without the familiar feel and texture of buttons, the iPhone’s touch-screen can get irritating before long.

Nevertheless, the world is enamoured by it. Why, you might ask. Simply because it’s from Apple. Apple does an amazing job of advertising their products, making them seem better than they really are. The “Mac vs PC” adverts are perfect examples, in which the Macintosh computer from Apple is shown as “hipper” and “cooler” than its counterpart, the Windows PC from Microsoft. Moreover, once you own a Macintosh, switching back to a PC feels like a downgrade, no matter how expensive a Macintosh might be.

In essence, it all boils down to perception. Perception is reality. You act according to what you believe in. In this case, we are convinced that the iPhone is a revolutionary device, and inadvertedly want to own it. Apple manages to convince the world of its products’ superiority, and hence we react by buying their products. They have altered our perception, making us see what they want us to see.
Kudos to Apple for their success in the iPhone, but for the rest of us, perhaps we should think twice about buying such devices. After all, nothing is as it seems.

499 words