Whatever man. That's an unfair and negative value judgment. Everyone's identity comes from somewhere. For some people it's from being part of the elite Geek crowd. For other people it's their sports team winning. For other people it's their business making millions of dollars.
Well, that's really just an unfair value judgment.
True, everybody's identity comes from somewhere. The question is, where they get it from? My identity tells me that waiting in line for 6-10 hours for an iPhone is ridiculous ... categorically rejecting it. Life's too short to derive meaning or identity from an iPhone. You shouldn't rationalize by arguing, "Everyone's identity comes from somewhere."
And it's a sad thing when someone's identity hinges upon his being part of the elite, his sports team winning or making lots of money. Those are things to enjoy, surely - but if they get to be cornerstones of your personality, it's time for a reality check.
Sure, that is the way life is for many people, but ... to think that Apple intentionally makes thousands of humans waste hours of their life doing something they hate.
A company that is not inherently evil would strive to make the consumer experience joyful and uplifting. But this ... reducing humans to masochistic consumer zombies with large bladders instead of brains - it's a waste of life.
It's just as sad when your identity hinges upon thinking you're not part of social groups you've imagined. But "masochistic consumer zombies with large bladders instead of brains" is RAD hyperbole. My 12 year old self just wrote that on my trapper keeper with a sharpie next to the A inside of a circle.
OK, this discussion is way too big for HN, and I'm writing up a massive blog post explaining it, but you really can't blame Apple because the problem is way bigger than that.
Just trying to understand. I could understand if the queuing was fun, but as that doesn't seem to be the case?
Yes, for 10 hours queuing, you get to be cooler than everybody else for 10 minutes, until the rest of the world has received their iPhones in the mail?
I think the un-funness in this case stems from people not expecting the line in the first place. Movie-campers sometimes literally camp out in line, tent and all. It's a different experience entirely.
Maybe it is the same thing as football fans (soccer) then? I could never relate to them, either. Although I admit it seems to work - they have fun, get drunk, make friends, travel. But it all seems fake in the end (they are not good at sports, just because their team is good at sports. Their friendships would probably not last if they left the "club").
