Sunday, May 03, 2009

Song bashing "corporate enablers" used to move iPhones - Ars Technica:

But Apple's entire iPhone campaign—indeed, the company's entire product line—is predicated on consumerism, the purchase of expensive technology, owning the trendiest gadgets, and creating a sense of need in people who never knew their lives were incomplete without a glossy black phone. As with most companies, Apple stands to lose big if people truly "need much less" and turn their backs on US consumption patterns.

Steve Jobs is widely reputed to have Buddhist leanings; how the man pairs "nonattachment" with "running Apple" is a mystery we may never plumb. The song may resonate with a Jobsian "billionaire's detachment" from the material world that binds us to a cycle of suffering, but it stands in stark counterpoint to the product it's being used to sell.

9:18 PM