Why Apple's Distortion Field Works

[zridling]

[attach]

[Renegade]

...What’s more, love them or hate them, Apple has innovated in creative, exciting ways.[/color]

That drives me f**king insane with rage. NO. They do not innovate. That's just BS. Their app store is not innovative. Anyone that has used it knows just what total s**t it is.

They're hyping the Mac App Store as "revolutionary". F*** OFF! It's not. It's been around since 1998 in Linux. Ubuntu has made it much more than it was.

They are not innovators.

Apple copies stuff. They copy s**t. Polish s**t. Slap some lipstick and 6-inch stiletto heels on s**t then pimp s**t out as "innovation" and a "revolution". No. BS. It's not.

From the title...

IT'S A F**KING DISTORTION FIELD PEOPLE!

Apples true innovation is their ability to steal from others then represent it as their own, successfully. That is their real trick.

Slick design is NOT technological innovation.

Everything Apple does has been done before.

IT'S THE APPLE DISTORTION FIELD!

It's most certainly not innovation.

Here's the acid test... Is Microsoft innovative? Nobody will say yes. Is .NET (the CLI) innovative? A better question, but no, it isn't. .NET (the CLI) is Java done right. That's all. It's not innovation. It's improvement.

[Stoic Joker]

Damn that's a hard act to follow...

But my impression of the article is that they're saying that Apple came up with inovative ways of presenting technology to the masses (Which is not the same as creating inovative technologies - colored plastic doesn't count - which they're never done). Which seems (to me) to fit perfectly with the idea that Apples primary "product" is there marketing (which is true).

Sorry Renegade, much as I love you're rants...I'm having trouble getting behind this one.

[Renegade]

Damn that's a hard act to follow...

But my impression of the article is that they're saying that Apple came up with inovative ways of presenting technology to the masses (Which is not the same as creating inovative technologies - colored plastic doesn't count - which they're never done). Which seems (to me) to fit perfectly with the idea that Apples primary "product" is there marketing (which is true).

Sorry Renegade, much as I love you're rants...I'm having trouble getting behind this one.

I've not read the article yet. I need to calm down some before that. It was just that line that set me off.

"Improvement" is not "innovation".

We'll see though. I'll read the article tomorrow. When it comes to marketing, Apple is godlike. They've got the distortion field to prove it.

[Eóin]

I've recently been told that Windows runs better on a Mac than on a PC by a fanboi.

I have to admit it is pretty innovative for a tech company to have so successfully applied religion-esque brainwashing to it's customers.

[ljbirns]

Innovation or marketing .  Whether Apple is innovative or not is a moot point.  Their MARKETING is superb. 
ie:  The iPad comes out -  sells millions  Every other major and minor electronics company is now coming out with a similar device.  Was Apple the first with a tablet ?  No  but they are the only ones who got the public to buy them.

[Darwin]

I agree with ljbirns - I haven't read the article yet, but what I have argued for a while now is that Jobs is a master at identifying cool technology, developing it, and then marketing it. This is not to take away from what he and Apple have accomplished...

Eóin, I feel your pain 

[tomos]

agree with Darwin and ljbirns
They make a good package - no - I dont mean (or know) that! - they make an attractive package

I'm sure this point has been covered before re computers:
Story first: - my sister recently bought a mac - her previous pc was full of crapware, half of it actually belonging to the computer manufacturer (I think it was HP), half of it stuff they were trying to flog.
Also, she had problems with some driver - I guess it could be called a hardware related problem. They had to pay some guy to come out, AFAIK he simply reinstalled everything - I'm not sure if with all the original crapware or not.
But it didnt make it tempting to buy another pc.
So they got a mac. *

I reckon MS and pc's are losing out a lot of ground to Apple cause of these problems. And I reckon it will continue.

* she's still getting to grips with the macs different interface and it's too soon to know how they'll get on.

edit/ minor

[rxantos]

In todays image world. Image is everything.

Apple is proof of this.  For how many years they actually convinced their Zealots that a one button mouse was superior than a two button one? More recently, how many people bought in the idea that OSX is superior to windows? How about the iPad?

You don't need smart to be a consumer. Apple knows this. And thus does the two things that publicity knows best.Show flashy things and lie. And in the process keep the consummers like private cattle on their monopolized stores.

Guess what, it works.

[Renegade]

DISCLAIMER: This is a complete rant. I'm sure it's offensive. Please skip over if you've got thin skin.


<rant mode="high-gear">

The benefits of Facetime are clear; no-one cares that you could do it on a Nokia phone years ago.

This is telling. It might as well read:

Nobody cares that Apple never innovated anything, but rather stole all its ideas from other companies and then hyped it as "revolutionary" when they did it. The fact is that they know how to make whatever anyone else is doing look cool.

The point is that Apple’s grand sweeping statements (“we think this is the future of everything!”) connect with people quite easily.

That's because it's a fucking mantra! When you repeat the same shit again and again and again and again, eventually people believe it, and what's worse is eventually YOU will even believe it. Truth is irrelevant.

There are studies on propaganda that show this. Eastern mystics have known about mantras for thousands of years. None of this is new!

And because its products impact culture and not just tech

This is 1,000% correct. And THIS is the core of Apple's success. THEY ARE NOT A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY. Now, that's going to seem a bit surprising to some people, so let me back up a bit with a similar example...

Google. What are they?

Search?

NO!

Google is NOT a search company.

Google is an ADVERTISING COMPANY!

Now, just pause for a moment and reflect on that ---




**********

Google is an advertising company.

**********




Ok. Back to Apple... Apple is not a technology company in the same way that Google is not a search company.

I still don't know what to call Apple though.

They're part fashion, part religion/cult (more cult than religion though), part entertainment, part retailer, part whore (there's nothing like a good whore to separate someone from their money, and Apple excels at this)...

But they are NOT a "tech company".

Sun does tech. Microsoft does tech. Oracle does tech. Sybase does tech.


Innovation. Who innovates? 3M. Dupont. Sun. Microsoft. Oracle. Samsung. Sony. Dolby. James Cameron (not a company, but has fundamentally and single-handedly (along with his brother John) changed the film industry). Audio Highway, Saehan and Diamond Multimedia. LG. Xerox. General Electric. All of these companies have innovated in ways that have changed our lives in fundamental ways.

Apple has borrowed the GUI and mouse from Xerox. They have joined the crowd with MP3 players. They have joined the crowd with phones. Where have they innovated? Nowhere.

I still don't know what to call Apple.

The most brilliant opportunists/copy-cats out there? Demi-gods of spin doctoring? Divine spin doctors?

– in things like the mobile web, the iPod, or the iPad – Apple can say what it wants because they are the ones setting the tone of the discussion. It is Apple who is showing everyone, rather than tech geeks, what technology is capable of and how it makes your life better.

Again, bang on. Apple SHOWS PEOPLE.

Are they educators? Teachers?

I admit, I still have a bit of a hate-on for Apple ever since they started trying to

NSFW

ass-rape

people with pure evil licensing. And I tend to view Mac users with the same contempt that I have for Mac fanboys. Kool-aid drinking, retarded wannabes.

Given my general contempt, I can't seem to view it as Apple being better than anyone at banging single concepts into the heads of people who in tech terms are mouth breathers.

My mom is actually quite good. She's highly skilled with Adobe Premiere and a few other professional multimedia tools.

But other times, her brain simply falls out. She's not *really* technically inclined.

My uncle was born 150 years too late. He says he knows how to turn the computer on and off, but I think he's exaggerating.

I think Apple is simply very good at enabling people like my mom and uncle to do very simple tech-centered tasks.

When I use an Apple device, I see that there is 1 way to do things. Not 2. Not 3. 1. Just 1. Now, contrast the simple instructions needed to resize a window in OS X and Windows:

OS X Window Resizing:

1) Hover your mouse over the lower-right corner of the window.
2) Click on the corner then drag to resize the window.

Windows Window Resizing:

1) Hover your mouse over any edge or corner of the window until a bi-directional arrow appears.
2) Click with the arrow visible then drag to resize the window.

While pretty much trivial, the OS X way is easier to explain. There's only 1 thing to know. You only need to understand what the "lower right corner" is. You don't need to understand the concept of an "edge or corner".

Maximizing? Same deal. On OS X you click the green +. On Windows you click the maximize icon or double-click the title bar, or right-click in the taskbar, or in the program Window menu you... Jeez... Options options options options...

There are studies that show that beyond a certain amount, too many options DECREASE satifaction and INCREASE frustration.

For my mom and my uncle, 1 way is plenty enough. They don't need more options. They just want to get the job done.

It's the rest of us -- the geeks, techies, gear-heads -- WE are the freaks. We're the ones that want to get it done FASTER or easier or whatever. We're the ones that tweak our systems and customize them in FUNCTIONAL ways. NORMAL people tweak the computers in AESTHETIC ways. They want cool icons, themes, backgrounds, ringtones, ringbacks, etc. etc. etc.

What’s more, love them or hate them, Apple has innovated in creative, exciting ways.

I already ranted about this.

Whether touch-screens, iTunes, the App Store, the Macbook Air or the iPad, Apple is doing things before others.

Includes profanity and capital letters

NO THEY FUCKING AREN'T. THEY ARE FUCKING RIPPING OFF OTHER PEOPLE AND LYING ABOUT IT. THEY ARE NOT FUCKING DOING THINGS FIRST YOU COMPLETE FUCKTARD!!!

THEY DID NOT DO FUCKING TOUCH-SCREENS FIRST.

THERE IS NOTHING INNOVATIVE ABOUT ITUNES. IF THERE IS, THEN THE INNOVATION IS MAKING MALWARE FUCKING ACCEPTABLE!

THE APP STORE IS NOTHING MORE THAN MASS RAPE. IT'S A TOTAL PIECE OF SHIT. YOU CANNOT EVEN FUCKING SORT SHIT IN THERE. HOW FUCKING RETARDED ARE YOU TO EVEN MENTION THIS?

THE MACBOOK AIR IS NOT A FIRST. THERE'S NOTHING NEW ABOUT IT. IT'S CALLED A "THIN CLIENT" YOU FUCKING MORON!

THE IPAD IS NOT FUCKING NEW! IT'S A FUCKING TABLET. THERE ARE TABLETS WITH MORE POWER AND FUNCTIONALITY FROM 2003!

GOD. THIS IS NOT FUCKING ROCKET SCIENCE.

The author is clearly so fucking deluded by the Apple distortion field that he's blathering complete bullshit.

That’s key.

I hope the author never has children.

It means that Steve Jobs can be an arrogant jerk because he can actually back it up.

Selling lots of snake oil doesn't mean you can "back it up". It just means that you have a lot of money and you're still a jerk.

Inappropriate venom that you should not read

It's like the serial rapist claiming he gets laid a lot.

So sure, the ‘reality distortion field’ can be annoying.

Understatement of the year.

Sometimes Apple will claim slightly crazy things – like open is bad, or that Android is terrible.

Sometimes? Wow. The author must be drowning in kool-aid.

Slightly crazy? Ahem. No, not drowning... Pickled in kool-aid.

Sometimes people forget that other companies are doing things that are just as exciting and innovative. But without understanding the reason for it – that Apple has become our culture’s symbol for how technology is supposed to work – it will never change, and we’ll be in Steve’s thrall for as long as he’s around.

Sigh... He's right about this. The popular perception is that "Apple just works". The reality isn't relevant.



I still don't know what kind of company to call Apple.


In any event, I must give the kool-aid drinker credit. He points out some important things about Apple, the culture we live in, and perceptions.

</rant>

FINAL QUESTION...

Zane... were you intentionally baiting me with this?

[nudone]

that serial rapist bit was classic. i knew i hated apple; and now, after reading Renegade's rant, i'm glad i can hate them even more.

Renegade, you should do a blog just ranting about Apple, if nothing else. I'm sure it would be a big hit. i'd love it.

[4wd]

Renegade, I still feel you were holding back.....you should tell us how you really feel....

BTW, you probably could have increased impact by increasing font to, say, 20 ?



I really want to see when you get into:

<rant mode="NUCLEAR">

Mind you, I'm not sure I want to be in the same country.

[Stoic Joker]

ROFLMAO - I may actually have to print and frame that one.

[ljbirns]

I still don't know what kind of company to call Apple.

Successful would be one thing.  ( stock price  Nov  2003 =  $9.85     Nov 2010 = $ 317.00 )
Sony invented the Walkman  it was a success  but not like the iPod is a success.  And despite many attempts to copy the iPod nobody has done it
Apple didn't invent the cell phone but they made the iPhone, priced it higher than a kite and made it a success.  Now everybody is making an " iPhone" with touch screens and apps.  I mentioned the Tablet  PC before,  but only Apple has make it a success  ( iPad )everyone else has  failed.
Innovation is not only in the creation of a new and exciting product but the making the public think they need it. Apple seems to excel at the latter.

[Renegade]

that serial rapist bit was classic. i knew i hated apple; and now, after reading Renegade's rant, i'm glad i can hate them even more.

Renegade, you should do a blog just ranting about Apple, if nothing else. I'm sure it would be a big hit. i'd love it.

But I already have~!

http://microsoft2apple.com/

That's my blog about transitioning to developing for Apple.

I must admit though, I have toned it down a massive amount. And I never really let loose all that much. Still, earlier posts contain a fair number of bloodthirsty rants.

Renegade, I still feel you were holding back.....you should tell us how you really feel....

BTW, you probably could have increased impact by increasing font to, say, 20 ?



I really want to see when you get into:

<rant mode="NUCLEAR">

Mind you, I'm not sure I want to be in the same country.

Hahaha~! Hmmm... I'm not sure I'd really  want to go NUCLEAR. High-gear already has my blood boiling.

I still don't know what kind of company to call Apple.

Successful would be one thing.   ( stock price  Nov  2003 =  $9.85    Nov 2010 = $ 317.00 )
Sony invented the Walkman  it was a success  but not like the iPod is a success.  And despite many attempts to copy the iPod nobody has done it
Apple didn't invent the cell phone but they made the iPhone, priced it higher than a kite and made it a success.  Now everybody is making an " iPhone" with touch screens and apps.  I mentioned the Tablet  PC before,  but only Apple has make it a success  ( iPad )everyone else has  failed.
Innovation is not only in the creation of a new and exciting product but the making the public think they need it. Apple seems to excel at the latter.

That's the thing. Apple isn't a technology innovator in the least. They are a marketing/cult/desire/lust innovator that casts their dark magic over people. They fool people into believing that less is more. They pimp out other people's innovations, calling them their own and even "revolutionary", then demand fellatio from their followers.

Their ability to pimp out old news is godlike. (The desktop "app store" goes back to 1998, and Apple is calling it "revolutionary" now.)

I won't deny them the credit they deserve for their amazing ability to market their products. But I won't sit silent while they lie and try to take credit for other people's work. If this were school, they'd be expelled for plagiarism.

Regarding:

despite many attempts to copy the iPod nobody has done it

The thing is that it's got NOTHING to do with copying the technology or the interface or anything about "the product". It's all about copying the marketing and the ability to make people feel good about their purchases.

Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it. (THAT is pure truth.) I cannot emphasize that enough.

Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.
Business isn't about selling a good product. It's about making people buy your product and feel good about it.

That's what Apple does well. They "get it".

They don't produce a superior product. They produce a product that makes you feel superior.

Ahem...

They don't produce a superior product. They produce a product that makes you feel superior.
They don't produce a superior product. They produce a product that makes you feel superior.
They don't produce a superior product. They produce a product that makes you feel superior.
They don't produce a superior product. They produce a product that makes you feel superior.
They don't produce a superior product. They produce a product that makes you feel superior.



I'm calm. I am peace with the world. I exude positive energy.

[zridling]

Despite the temperature of Renegade's rants, they are instructive. What the author did not note is that from its origin it targeted the richest segment of the populace for customers -- and stuck to it even though they needed a Microsoft bailout of a $150 million in the mid-90s(1997?) to keep their con game going. If you ever watch a business channel, all Steve Jobs has to do is fart and they'll run 14 days of stories on how wonderful their latest toy is. That kind of free advertising to the richest of the rich who won't just buy one iPhone, but buy his entire family iPhones, can't be matched.

On the flip side, Microsoft just completed the most successful launch of any OS in history with Win7 over the past year and not a frickin' peep from these folks.

Go figure.

[ljbirns]

Renegade

Just curious   Do you own an iPod ?

[Renegade]

Despite the temperature of Renegade's rants, they are instructive. What the author did not note is that from its origin it targeted the richest segment of the populace for customers -- and stuck to it even though they needed a Microsoft bailout of a $150 million in the mid-90s(1997?) to keep their con game going. If you ever watch a business channel, all Steve Jobs has to do is fart and they'll run 14 days of stories on how wonderful their latest toy is. That kind of free advertising to the richest of the rich who won't just buy one iPhone, but buy his entire family iPhones, can't be matched.

On the flip side, Microsoft just completed the most successful launch of any OS in history with Win7 over the past year and not a frickin' peep from these folks.

Go figure.

That's the really freaky thing. Microsoft could cure cancer and bring about world peace, and the media would ignore them. Microsoft's media skills are the opposite of Apple's. It's bizarre.

Renegade

Just curious  Do you own an iPod ?

Yes. I have 2. I no longer use them though except as storage devices.

[Darwin]

I wanted to post about the serial rapist quip but nudone beat me to it. Brilliant (though mighty disturbing).

Renegadge, that was the clearest, albeit vitriolic and profane, statement about how *I* feel about Apple that I've never written (and frankly could never write).

[ljbirns]

Yes. I have 2. I no longer use them though except as storage devices.

Why did you buy them, given your luke warm feelings towards Apple ?

[Renegade]

I wanted to post about the serial rapist quip but nudone beat me to it. Brilliant (though mighty disturbing).

Renegadge, that was the clearest, albeit vitriolic and profane, statement about how *I* feel about Apple that I've never written (and frankly could never write).

Glad that I've articulated some things that you or others have been feeling~! I'll try to spew some more venom later. Muahahahhah~!

Yes. I have 2. I no longer use them though except as storage devices.

Why did you buy them, given your luke warm feelings towards Apple ?

I've not always been so hostile towards Apple.

For years I was hostile entirely due to the fanboys that would spout the most insane nonsense you've ever heard.

I softened though. When the iPod came out, I was a bit ticked that they'd choose a proprietary audio compression format, but still enthusiastic. The product worked ok (not perfectly as advertised), so I was happy.

iPods cannot properly play WAV (RIFF) files. They say they can, but they don't. They crash on many kinds of WAV files. Quite frankly, it's pathetic. It shows that their engineers are just plain fucking lazy. I have WAV files that were produced on a Mac that crash an iPod.

Anyways, that's besides the point.

My second iPod my wife gave to me. She had 2 and didn't need the second.

When I was at ESTsoft, I made sure that we gave an iPod to our translators that did all of ALTools. I kept that quiet though and didn't publicize it. It was always just about saying "thank you" and was always a surprise.

My hostility towards Apple is primarily due to fanboys, lies from Apple, their demonically evil licensing changes, and the general douchiness they exude.

[Eóin]

My hostility towards Apple is primarily due to fanboys, lies from Apple, their demonically evil licensing changes, and the general douchiness they exude.

Amen  

[Darwin]

"douchiness" -

[fenixproductions]

2Renegade
Awesome post IMHO. Some credits for you

[Darwin]

2Renegade
Awesome post IMHO. Some credits for you

Ah, hadn't thought of that - thank you for reminding me! Some on the way from me as well.