It's undeniable, that iPhone 3G launch is getting plenty of attention from everyone.Alright, I've got to admit it; in fact everybody must have also admitted it even though not spoken out loud: iPhone indeed is a darn sexy mobile phone. Yup, I'm being shallow here right now. I'm talking about the physical, the "outside" beauty not the "inside".
The shiny body of iPhone has blinded many of gadget-lover's eyes, the little bit of additional bulk still doesn't make its slim body looks fat enough; these all are making iPhone to become a "metrosexual" gadget which eligible both for male & female city-slickers.
I dare not to say much more about iPhone's "inner" beauty, since I haven't even use one personally and rely most from other experiences/reviews. Plus we'll have to wait & see how iPhone 3G grows along with the App Store, and apps that are specially made for it.
But, to jump into the long line of people waiting just to purchase "that" phone? Camping, sun burn, not take a bath, don't know where to take a leak, etc. I don't think so. There are millions of reasons for me to dodge the passion for getting to be the first to get "that" kinda phone, but the real one is the same point as what Gizmodo's post is saying: I can get it tomorrow, just a day after those lines have cleared out. No lines (well, maybe just a shorter one), no camping, and I'll get the very same phone they're getting.
So what makes those people, went crazy enough to wait a week in line for iPhone 3G? I'm lucky cause I'm being shallow today, it's not like I'm diving deeper and try to fathom the mind of Steve Jobs, so the answer is simple enough: they're doing it to get everybody's attention. If you don't believe me, that they're actually not doing it for the love of the phone / Apple; then allow me to rip open some of the shades for you.
First from the bunch, is the famous 'one week earlier' environmentalist group who called themselves as TheWhoFarm. What's a mobile gadget got to do with them? A good question, and this is their answer: “We’re here to restore the edible landscape, we want to bring seeds of change back to the White House”, says Daniel Bowman Simon (28) the group’s organizer and spokesperson. From left to right: Heyward, Casey, Dane, Daniel and Kaitlin.Wait, did he just say White House? Indeed, he did and TheWhoFarm's main goal is to persuade the 44th President of the U.S. — whoever that turns out to be — to transform the White House’s 17-acre lawn into an organic farm! So that's it, their effort to set a new Guinness World Record for “longest time waiting in line to buy something” is only a vehicle to get attention for their broader concerns: sustainability, affordable housing, energy security, locally-grown food (New York State apples are a big theme this week), and “eating right,” says Simon, “especially our leaders.”
They even have prepared an open letter, entitled “Waiting for Apples in the Big Apple", to those "great" leaders such as Steve Jobs, Sen. Hillary Clinton and Mayor Michael Bloomburg. I'll shorten my post by not listing what are inside the letters, you'll have to make your own effort by clicking the respective sources link below if you wish to know. ;-p
Not all of the media coverages about them are positive, like one of the Waiting for Apples volunteers, Heyward Gignilliat, who teaches English as a second language at Boston's Northeastern University, said: "I was a little worried after I read some of the comments on Engadget about us. Nothing against Engadget--it's just that blog commenters can be awfully nasty. But overall, it's been pretty positive."Oh, but don't worry. If you think that TheWhoFarm group is just about grabbing attentions, then rest assure because Simon plans to grab (read: purchase) three iPhone 3G when he's at last stand in front the cashier counter: one for Barack Obama, one for John McCain, and one for himself. “We see it as a technology that can liberate us from our desks,” he says.
There you see, that's my proof on how the iPhone's shine has clouded everybody's mind; even an environmentalist like Simon. ~LOL~Pictured right, is probably how it looks like if you're the first customer to enter the Apple Store to buy that iPhone 3G, where all of the staffs are lining up to see and greet the lucky customer. I know, it can be intoxicating and also addictive at the same time. The two minutes of fame that make you feels like a celebrity, or like when a super-model walking down that cat walk and gets all those flashy attention from the cameras and envy eyes. Maybe this is what Jonny Gladwell felt when he finally bought and showed his iPhone 3G?
The iPhone 3G fame attention, has not only attract iPhone-owner-wannabe but also New York Time's tech pundit: David Pogue. Pogue has reached a certain quality as tech and gadget reviewer, and he often spoke too nice (with extra sugar on top) about Apple's products; if you get what I mean there. But Pogue refuse to be called so far as an Apple fanboy, and retain his neutrality to side to no vendors. So while wearing his fancy suit for daily work, he said that he planned to be the first in line to buy iPhone 3G and appeared to be surprised by the presence of a line already. In the end, Pogue interviewed few of the people in the line.But here's the shocking hard truth; David Pogue was caught red handed posing a fake interview in video, complete with scripts in the hands of the interviewed actors/actresses! Watch the video clip below for yourself.
What's the meaning of this? Does he want to publicize his knack (read: skill) of journalism with a well scripted line of speech? Or did he try to promote the already over coveraged iPhone 3G launch? Either way, a planned and staged news coverage is cheating. This has put a bad taste into the mouth of every journalists, bloggers, and even news readers.
I don't want to go too far to speculate whether or not Apple has got to do with Pogue's phonie interview, but I hope Apple learn a valuable lesson that often mentioned in an old saying: an act of shame will tainted the whole great reputation that's build from years of good efforts. Will Apple still continue to suply Pogue with early edition of its gadgets?Sources are from:
*click on each of the thumbnail piccies to view them larger
[blogged with my Treo 750v]
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