God, that's horrifying. Along the same vein, I've been seeing a lot of this ad around these parts. Pretty sure that it's supposed to be inspiring, or elicit some immediate sense of nostalgia or something, but what it actually does is perfectly summarize my thoughts and feelings on a world that increasingly experiences itself, and bestows value upon those experiences, through pointless gadgetry. Far from making me want to go out and have a date with my iPhone, it makes me want to leave all of my possessions behind and just experience something through my body. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what I'm doing for the rest of this week and into the next. See you later, Internet.
So the thing about the iPhone ad is it shows people living life with an iPhone. This is probably elitist of me, but for 99% of the population, an iPhone is a better camera than they know what to do with anyway... so the fact that it's with them all the time where they can go snappy snappy? I'm fine with that. Granted - people take more stupid pictures than they would otherwise, and Instagram is its own special problem... but simply taking pictures isn't the issue. Taking pictures requires you to assess your outside surroundings, no matter how superficially. They make you into the upload and the world into the download. The Facebook phone, on the other hand, is a distraction portal. It is designed to go the other way.
Agreed. Having a phone with a camera just means I will have a camera on my person when I stumble onto something interesting and want to remember it in a week. I already have a small number of friends who will eschew actual socialising in order to tell facebook that they are socialising. It's not that it's wrong to upload a photo to facebook of where you are, the problem is these people will not participate in conversation for several minutes when they do this, I'm not sure if they're checking their newsfeed or waiting for people to respond but somehow it seems like they're saying "I'm talking to people" when they're actually not.
Be sure to come back to check up on movie reviews. Maybe I should develop a home app. Instead of Facebook updates it could just insult the user. Or better yet, backhanded compliments. "you sure are brave to wear that sweater, Steve." Technology doesn't have enough hate involved. It's not balanced. People need an equal mix of positive and negative or we end up with all of the shit we got today. Technology spends most of its time trying to make your life better. Our goal should be to actively make the user life worse.
I wanted to make an app that tracked all the time spent playing useless games on an iPhone. And then as you amassed more and more time, you'd hit milestones and get certain badges: "Congratulations! In the two hours spent on these games, you could have BAKED A DELICIOUS CAKE." (followed by a snappy graphic of a cake surrounded by stars.) "EXCELLENT! You've spent two whole days on Zynga games! In this time you could have TAKEN A WEEKEND VACATION AT THE BEACH." "WOW! In the nine and a half months total you've spent playing these games, you could have GESTATED A BABY." And the kicker: "YOU WIN! In the 10,000 HOURS spent on your iPhone, you could have MASTERED THE GUITAR." If I could actually code, I'd do this. Or at least think of doing it, but then get sidetracked playing Scramble With Friends.
There is a big difference between an ad that shuns experience and one that wishes to capture a relic of one. But I do get where you are coming from. Just experience it, no need to always document it. See you later pal. Have fun whatever you are doing!