Proof That iGroupies Are Nuts!

Hey again ATS!

Today has been a quite aggravating one so far. I made the decision to upgrade my Ubuntu Gnome from version 14.04 to the new version, released yesterday - 14.10. Everything generally went smoothly except for the fact that a lot of the things I love about Linux are simply not available to me yet. It takes a couple of weeks for the folks who write all the cool customization tools to catch up.

So... Sitting here with my computer looking sorta like I want it to look - and proving that I am an ardent Linux fanboy. I ran across an article that makes me realize my fanboy status is NOTHING when compared to the section of the population that I tend to refer to as iZombies.

That is to say the fans of products made by Apple.

Before the punches start to get thrown - let me be clear. I have nothing against Apple or their endless line of products. They simply do not appeal to me as a consumer. I feel they cost to much, become obsolete too fast and are really a niche' product for those who want to have that particular brand. If it is for you, fantastic. It's just not for me.

However...

I came across an article a few minutes ago that made me think that maybe iObsession is potentially a psychiatric disorder! I never mocked a friend who purchased an iPad that underperformed the cheaper, non Apple version I owned. I have never laughed at anyone because they paid way to much for an iPhone - knowing that it wouldn't be six months before they were camping out to purchase the next iteration of the device.

But this time I am stimied and on the verge of hysterical laughter.

What if I told you that somebody paid nearly a million dollars for an Apple product?

It's true.

One of the few remaining examples of Apple Inc’s first pre-assembled computer, Apple-1, sold for $905,000 at an auction in New York on Wednesday, far outstripping expectations.

The relic, which sparked a revolution in home computing, is thought to be one of the first batch of 50 Apple-1 machines assembled by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak in Steve Job’s family garage in Los Altos, California in the summer of 1976.

Auction house Bonhams had said it expected to sell the machine, which was working as of September, for between $300,000 and $500,000.

The identity of the buyer was not disclosed.

Source

Yes. I know only fifty were made. I know that Wozniak and Jobs probably put the thing together with their own hands. I get it. Historical value and all. But nine-hundred-grand??? Come on now! There is reasonable, then there is reasonable and then there is this.

Obscene.

An interesting side note for the more religious amongst us. The article says that these machines originally sold for $666.66.

Who knew. Apple is the Devil and their fans are willing to spend a LOT of money to get in good with him!

SMH and thanks for reading.

900K?
900K?
900K?
900K?
900K?

Nope...No matter how many times I look at it, it still reeks of stupid.

900K?

Tries again, same result.

Let's see if I can make it smell better:

900K = 90,000 people having $10 to eat for a day. In other words, an entire city of full bellies.

Yup...

Peace

a reply to: Hefficide

Very interesting...there are probably so many other disorders out there that are too small to pick up or classify.

I myself bought my first ipad years ago ...it was my first tablet and i wanted to try a tablet. I was very impressed with apple and apple products. However I still use that same tablet for what I would normally use on a tablet. I have no need as of yet to upgrade...nor do I see one for many years. It is so odd to see a tablet come out that is upgraded but there is very little software and applications that require that new hardware.

I suppose we can all obsess about something one way or another...just gotta hope your obsession is something beneficial!

a reply to: Hefficide

Probably purchased by an iOS developer with more money than sense.

On the other hand, you don't have to dig very far to find lots of people with the same problem…

NFL Stud Drops $100K in Hollywood Nightclub

Mike Tyson's $2,000,000 bathtub

U2's Bono spends $1,700 to fly his hat home in a first class seat

… and so it goes.

a reply to: Hefficide

Ubuntu? iGroupies? never heard of them. Are they available on google play?

I also do not understand the fascination with people who see the need to get their hands on a product that does the same thing that the previous version did. But then again this version monitors your heart rate while you sleep, so where do I sign up?!?

A phone is a phone, as long as I can make calls and messages then that's all I need. But the moment I need to play candy crush to avoid eye contact then i'lll gladly pay hundreds of dollars for a product that I don't need.

Clearly, some people have so much money that they don't know what to do with it.

I don't think it's any different than devout Trekkies or other groupies. I just wish I had that much money. LOL

I do think the "campers" are obsessive.

a reply to: Hefficide

Here's an article by Forbes that might interest you on the subject of fanaticism and Apple products. Of course, it's called "neurological connectivity" and not fanaticism. The fervor that Apple consumers have for the products has been noted and many brands would love to emulate it. Or as the Forbes article states:

Simply stated, a brand or store has a neurological connection with its customers if those customers approach the store visit as they would a visit to the home of a good friend. The trip requires almost no perceivable effort because they know it is going to be a fun and enjoyable experience.

The consumer mind-connecting process created by Jobs for Apple is instructional for all consumer-facing businesses because of its holistic approach.

www.forbes.com...

This really is just a fancy way of saying "Apple managed to condition their consumers into viewing entering their stores or buying their products as an enjoyable experience". In Marketing, Jobs isn't considered to be much of a tech guru but he is viewed as a marketing god to emulate. What he basically did was take the concept of brand loyalty to a whole other level. How Jobs did it through marketing is a matter of debate.

One area that is definitely has been used is the formation of artificial groups. These are people that are not tied together by the typical forms of grouping--political or racial ideology, ethnicity, and etc. They are people bound together to a brand. It's Apple v. the rest of the world and any negatively viewed comment directed to that brand will be perceived and responded to as a personal attack. Basically, a diehard Apple consumer is a superior consumer/person when it comes to the subject of anything Apple has to offer. They are an elite.



I find developing this sort of fanaticism as being potentially dangerous personally. The higher up an entity puts themselves up on a pedestal, the harder they can fall and when what you've been doing is potentially stimulating the same areas of the brain as a religious fanatic, well, that can go pretty poorly in a person of poor mental health.

For many years now, I've ONLY owned Apple products (but I have access to, and use many others including Android phones and tablets), and for me, and my approach to doing things, they work best.

For a time, during Apple's dark years before Jobs' return, I used Toshiba laptops. But before that, I used everything from the Mac Plus to a nice souped up Quadra in my first digital business.

Now, I'm sticking with my beloved MacBook Pro 17-inch -- with an upgraded SSD as the boot drive. Even though it's almost three years old, it still out-performs current MacBook Pros with SSD's (mine boots from cold to desktop in 9 seconds), and I firmly believe it's the finest laptop ever made. So there.


But while I'm a strong advocate of Apple products -- I don't understand those who are fanatic. While I can understand a collector with money wanting to pay a premium price for a piece of computing history, I can't understand waiting in line to be among the first to hold the latest new iDevice… and have no urge to upgrade my iPad (first-gen retina) or iPhone 5s.


meh

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

lol, well, no worries. Not every Apple user is going to be or become an Apple fanatic. Everyone's brains are a little different. Some are more prone towards certain types of stimulation while others are not. If we use fanaticism in a religion as an example, saying that anyone who owns or buys Apple products is a nutjob is the same as saying that the Westboro Baptist Church is an example of every Christian. Obviously, both are false. Some are just more susceptible to conditioning and other psychological pulls than others. It's like how some might see a face in a piece of toast and some could stare at that same piece of toast all day and still not see a face.

Aldous Huxley gave a lecture at Berkeley a long time ago where he remarked on that portion of individuals who are more susceptible. He posed concern that they could be targeted by an enemy government. Wonder if he ever considered that that same group could be targeted for extreme brand loyalty instead.

**To also add on this, there's been a good deal of research into what motivates "early adopters" as well in marketing. Those are the ones that are willing to pay full price or even more for a new product well ahead of others. That's also a target group for marketing because selling at full or more than full is more profitable than selling at a discount.