At the risk of being 'blasphemous' on an 'Apple' thread...
...has anyone seen or read up on the Microsoft 'Surface'? Might be pricey though.
The *new*, new iPad ... will the iSheeple feel 'had'?
by Simon 30 Replies latest social current
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rip van winkle
Simon said: "New light, from a different cult."
Yes Simon, but this is the new light I have been waiting for!!!
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sabastious
OMG Simon I totally agree. The same thing could be said for Windows Vista and Windows ME. Complete failures that still made gobs of money. Who is in the industry of FAILURE? Really?
-Sab
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botchtowersociety
New light, from a different cult.
http://m.csmonitor.com/Innovation/Latest-News-Wires/2012/1023/Is-Apple-fandom-a-religion-video
Is Apple fandom a religion? (+video)
As Apple fans await Tuesday's expected announcement of a smaller iPad, an anthropologist notes the event's similarities with religious revivals.
Apple's emphasis on its icon and the company's policy of not live-streaming its launch events are just a couple ways that Apple product launches resemble religious revival meetings, according to one anthropologist.
Many Apple observers and academic researchers have covered how Mac fan culture can seem a little like a religion — or a cult. With the upcoming iPad "Mini" launch event, however, TechNewsDaily wanted to take a deeper look at Apple product launches. We asked Kirsten Bell, an anthropologist at the University of British Columbia in Canada, to look at some launch videos for us.
She came to some of the same conclusions as her predecessors, including Eastern Washington University sociologist Pui-Yan Lam, who published an academic paper more than a decade ago that called Mac fandom an "implicit religion."
"A stranger observing one of the launches could probably be forgiven for thinking they had stumbled into a religious revival meeting," Bell wrote to TechNewsDaily in an email. Bell now studies the culture of modern biomedical research, but before she got interested in scientists, she studied messianic religious movements in South Korea.
Apple's product launches take place in a building "littered with sacred symbols, especially the iconic Apple sign itself," she said. During keynote speeches, an Apple leader "addresses the audience to reawaken and renew their faith in the core message and tenets of the brand/religion."
Even Apple's tradition of not broadcasting launches in real time is akin to a religious event, Bell said. (Today's event will be available live on Apple's website.) "Like many Sacred Ceremonies, the Apple Product Launch cannot be broadcast live," she wrote. "The Scribes/tech journalists act as Witness, testifying to the wonders they behold via live blog feeds."
Apple-as-religion isn't the perfect analogy, Bell said later, over the phone. "It's ultimately a somewhat superficial comparison," she said. "Religion is trying to do something different from a computer brand." Religion tries to give life meaning and explain humanity's purpose, she said. "It's trying to explain questions that are very different from what science and technology is oriented to."
For anyone seriously trying to understand Apple product launches and culture, using the religion analogy could help, but it might also keep people from noticing other interesting aspects of the culture that don't fit in with the metaphor, she said.
Yet there are strong reasons people have long compared Apple culture to religion, Bell said. "They are selling something more than a product," she said. "When you look at the way they advertise their product, it's really about a more connected life." A better life is something many faiths promise, she said.
In addition, like many faiths, the Apple brand emphasizes its origin story and its founder, Steve Jobs. Few other technology companies are so strongly associated with one person, although one came to mind for Bell: "Microsoft would be the only one that would even come close," she said.
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moshe
The $329 wifi only small Ipad does not have a gps- unlike my $199 nexus 7 tablet, so you can't use it for an oversize car GPS or use it on a trip for geocaching--you must buy the more expensive cellular data version to get gps functionality--
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botchtowersociety
You geocache? I used to. Back then I had a monochrome display handheld Magellan.
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Scott77
Here is how tablets are compared.
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mrsjones5
My son has that Samsung and seems to love it. I'm amazed how loud it can get.
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Leolaia
I got an iPad instead of the others for one main reason: the 64GB storage. The only other contender is the Galaxy which accepts microSDHC, but adding a 32GB card would only equal the iPad (unless of course I get a 64GB card). The new new iPad doesn't increase storage, so I think I am not going to be bothered by the new upgrade, for what I'm using it for. The other reason is to give me access to Apple apps.
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moshe
You geocache? I used to.
I am wondering how many JWs would look for my, Milliions Now Living Will Never Die, book I have? Where to cache it?- someplace scenic, close to water and palm trees (FL)- and with native wildlife nearby, hmm, I'm thinking, thinking--
