Hype, Hate and Hope

Yesterday was great.

Sure, Apple launched a product that may or may not be great. It might or might not be an awesome gaming platform. It's either really expensive or super cheap. It's either the next big thing or the Apple Newton all over again. But the thing itself isn't what was great, it was (and remains) the experience of its announcement.

I admit it, I stopped everything and jumped onto a live stream of the iPad announcement. I did it mostly for the same reason I watch the Super Bowl when my team isn't playing: because I buy into the hype.

It's not hype over the specific object, it's the hype for the sake of hype. I enjoy the feeling of being caught up in a crowd. I like being in a room that is being effectively worked by a pro -- and lets face it, Steve Jobs is a pro. I like suspending my disbelief and my skepticism just for a while, to imagine that anything is possible.

This is really the Apple product -- hope. In magic Apple unicorn land, everything just works, everything you ever wanted is already in the box, and every object in your life is a totem, invoking the animal spirits of technology and efficiency and beauty.

I know that's not the real world, just like I knew that Obama wouldn't magically transform the country in a few months, and that riding my bicycle up the local mountain is not the same as riding the Tour de France. But I choose to live a life focused on possibilities and hope and be regularly disappointed rather than live a life of constant skepticism and be occasionally and begrudgingly surprised.

Perhaps the most astounding thing about yesterday's circus of hype and hope was how quickly the sharks circled the drops of blood in the water. This shouldn't be a surprise at this point, there's hardly a tech gizmo or game launch that doesn't drag hate out from the woodwork. I imagine that there's an old school BBS run out of a server farm in Duluth where haters get together and practice their barbs, so that a coordinated campaign of ridicule can sweep the web.

This thing Apple has made will be what it is. I'm not going to defend its virtues or attack its failings. I am, however, thankful for yesterday's Hallmark Moment. Like midnight game releases, opening nights, and Christmas mornings, these hypeful, hopeful events bring color to the gray New England winter, and the long slow grind of adulthood.

Comments

I agree I really don't care about the iPad much at this point but the announcement and surrounding commentary were definitely a memorable experience. Much more fun than reading an article after the fact. If Apple knows how to do one thing, it's turn a product launch into an event.

Honestly I had a more negative view of the whole "event" mode that surrounded this announcement. How much free advertising did they get, every news site and TV show had to say something about the new gadget. And that's all it is, a new gadget for affluent Americans to waste money on. But it's Big News, right? The new Must-Have Status Symbol? In many ways this whole IPad circus represents the worst of our culture.

I don't care much for the iPad (voiced in the T&H thread) but I agree that the hype surrounding a new Apple product launch is always kind of neat. I equate it to the midnight line-ups around here when a big game launches. Even though I don't really care if I have the game on launch night or not, I'll go down to Future Shop and stand in the line because it's a bunch of like-minded people, all socialising with strangers, often with pick-up DS and PSP games going and it's just a lot of fun. I couldn't afford to pre-order a PS3 or Wii a few years back but a few friends and I toured some of the stores late on launch night and it was awesome. A guy was maintaining a list of the line order so people could leave to get coffee and food, there was a volleyball net set up that someone brought, heck someone even brought a turntable to one of the stores and was DJing! I get the same feeling from one of these Apple announcements except it's more of an online version of that. I do think that the press is quick to trip over themselves and gush over whatever Steve Jobs announces but that settles after a few days and then everyone will look at it more objectively. I tell you, I wish my business had 1/25th of his marketing ability.

I imagine that there's an old school BBS run out of a server farm in Duluth where haters get together and practice their barbs, so that a coordinated campaign of ridicule can sweep the web.

Close. It's Elysium's house.

AcidCat wrote:

Honestly I had a more negative view of the whole "event" mode that surrounded this announcement. How much free advertising did they get, every news site and TV show had to say something about the new gadget. And that's all it is, a new gadget for affluent Americans to waste money on. But it's Big News, right? The new Must-Have Status Symbol? In many ways this whole IPad circus represents the worst of our culture.

No it doesn't. The worst of our culture would have the Paris Hilton sex video playing on there, and the iPad doesn't support Flash.

I imagine that there's an old school BBS run out of a server farm in Duluth where haters get together and practice their barbs, so that a coordinated campaign of ridicule can sweep the web.

At least they've given us the iTampon meme.

wordsmythe wrote:

No it doesn't. The worst of our culture would have the Paris Hilton sex video playing on there, and the iPad doesn't support Flash. ;)

But I thought it was almost all flash?

I enjoy the feeling of being caught up in a crowd. I like being in a room that is being effectively worked by a pro

I have pretty much the opposite reaction to this. Feeling like I'm in a room that is being worked fills me with an instant sense revulsion tinged with nausea.

Irongut wrote:

Don't forget the fourth Horseman: Hype, Hate, Hope.... H-ambivalence.

Mmmm. Ham-bivalence.

Don't forget the fourth Horseman: Hype, Hate, Hope.... H-ambivalence.

Yeah, ok that was a bit of a stretch.

'H' pronounced 'ecchi' is codeword for sex in Japanese too. Might've added a bit of sauce to the perspective. Spicy!

kincher skolfax wrote:

At least they've given us the iTampon meme.

Life imitating art, and back again.

So many people state so unequivocally that this device is doomed to fail for one reason or another, and I have a lot of trouble disagreeing with such logic, save for one tiny detail: I've heard it all before, and "so many people" were so wrong.

Apple has a tendency to find and fill a demand that nobody else can even recognize until it becomes too late. There is a reason that people cling to every word when Jobs announces a new product, that the atmosphere becomes electric; this is a company that's worth watching just for the show.

There is one thing that I have come to believe as truth: Apple's failures are more interesting to watch than other companies' successes. Whichever way the iPad goes, it promises to be a fun ride for everybody.

rabbit wrote:

But I choose to live a life focused on possibilities and hope and be regularly disappointed rather than live a life of constant skepticism and be occasionally and begrudgingly surprised.

That's a beautiful phrase, rabbit. I want to be more like that.

McChuck wrote:
wordsmythe wrote:

No it doesn't. The worst of our culture would have the Paris Hilton sex video playing on there, and the iPad doesn't support Flash. ;)

But I thought it was almost all flash?

That's only if you never got your Flavor-Aid.

Also, I think MAD TV needs to get a copyright lawsuit started.

From 2007, no less! (technically SFW, as it was on network TV)

(D'oh! Video already linked in kincher skolfax's linked story)

gore wrote:
kincher skolfax wrote:

At least they've given us the iTampon meme.

Life imitating art, and back again.

So many people state so unequivocally that this device is doomed to fail for one reason or another, and I have a lot of trouble disagreeing with such logic, save for one tiny detail: I've heard it all before, and "so many people" were so wrong.

Apple has a tendency to find and fill a demand that nobody else can even recognize until it becomes too late. There is a reason that people cling to every word when Jobs announces a new product, that the atmosphere becomes electric; this is a company that's worth watching just for the show.

There is one thing that I have come to believe as truth: Apple's failures are more interesting to watch than other companies' successes. Whichever way the iPad goes, it promises to be a fun ride for everybody.

Well.....

I think criticisms of the iPod as a hardware platform have traditionally been pretty much on the mark. Until VERY recently it lacked what many would consider important things like wireless connectivity, radio receiver, built-in speaker, and others. It seems that the iTunes software is what really helped push it to the mainstream. Despite it's irritations and clunkiness for some hard-core or power users it is mostly a really easy-to-use interface and when linked to the iTunes store and the boom it gave podcasts, iTunes became THE program to beat. There were many better players, but none so simple to hook up with your computer.

Apple traditionally tells consumers what they need, rather than giving consumers what they want. Sometimes it hits big (iPod, iPhone), sometimes it's a bit early (no 3.5" floppy drives - just burn a CD for that 135k document, or email it despite its sensitive info.), and sometimes it fails (one-button mouse).

rabbit wrote:

...the long slow grind of adulthood.

You're doing it wrong.

Switchbreak wrote:
I enjoy the feeling of being caught up in a crowd. I like being in a room that is being effectively worked by a pro

I have pretty much the opposite reaction to this. Feeling like I'm in a room that is being worked fills me with an instant sense revulsion tinged with nausea.

I think that's actually H1N1, better get yourself checked out.

On a more serious note, I agree. I can appreciate what Steve does and how masterfully he creates this distortion field that warps the very nature of perception itself. But it frustrates me to no end to see its effect on otherwise rational people. Oh well - put me down as a pessimistic curmudgeon. What's the dial-in number for that BBS?

Now how many of you Americans watched the State of the Union address last night? Yeah, me neither.

Count Elmdor wrote:

Now how many of you Americans watched the State of the Union address last night? Yeah, me neither.

Honestly, I find Jobs's reality distortion field much more entertaining than Obama's.

Count Elmdor wrote:

Now how many of you Americans watched the State of the Union address last night? Yeah, me neither.

Watched it this morning via DVR.

Count Elmdor wrote:

Now how many of you Americans watched the State of the Union address last night? Yeah, me neither.

Watched it live and have the tweet(s) to prove it. What of it?

Anything is possible with Barbie! (tm)

Count Elmdor wrote:

Now how many of you Americans watched the State of the Union address last night? Yeah, me neither.

I watched it.

I tell you, Dems leaping up to their feet to applaud at the end of Obama's every phrase were really annoying. Fanboism like that belongs at Apple's product launch pressers, not State of the Union addresses.

iWhat?

State of the who?

Ignored them. They both fall into the same category for me - same sh*t, different day year.

iBama

Me, I didn't watch either one.

adam.greenbrier wrote:
rabbit wrote:

But I choose to live a life focused on possibilities and hope and be regularly disappointed rather than live a life of constant skepticism and be occasionally and begrudgingly surprised.

That's a beautiful phrase, rabbit. I want to be more like that.

Agreed: I may borrow that phrase in the near future, possibly to make inspirational posters out of it or something.

Gorilla.800.lbs wrote:
Count Elmdor wrote:

Now how many of you Americans watched the State of the Union address last night? Yeah, me neither.

I watched it.

I tell you, Dems leaping up to their feet to applaud at the end of Obama's every phrase were really annoying. Fanboism like that belongs at Apple's product launch pressers, not State of the Union addresses.

EDIT: Sorry if this belongs in P&C, but...

To be fair, I don't think that's anything new. The opposite was true when Bush was in office. Both sides of the aisle have a plan on what they'll cheer and when.

That said, Nancy Pelosi looked like a damn pogo stick up there. Every time Obama finished a phrase, my wife would say, "don't do it, Nancy, don't get up, don't get...ah, she did it again!"

Count Elmdor wrote:

Now how many of you Americans watched the State of the Union address last night? Yeah, me neither.

I did, and felt recharged. I liked his chastising of the right and the supreme court.

That said - I want an iPad. It looks magical. Unfortunately, it is unlikely I can justify the eleventy thousand dollars it is probably going to cost.

I like the idea of the iPad. I was thinking about getting an iPod touch but this is better for someone as big shouldered, big handed and fat fingered as me. However, a $500 minimum is actually a lot when compared to netbooks that are $3-400.

Its a shame because I was really hoping for a device to break the stranglehold Waccom has on the tablet and monitor tablet market. A 12" cintiq is $1000 for a pressure sensitive tablet lcd monitor. You can get a 23" multi-touch lcd for $300 and you can get a netbook for $300. God its so frustrating!

I would have been in the market for an iPad IF they would have gone the proper tablet PC route and also put a version of Office on it. But since I'm going back to college in the fall to either study to be a network admin or a code monkey (database and general programming), this will not fit my needs. I'll buy a mid-level Macbook Pro instead for my courses.

mikeohara wrote:

I would have been in the market for an iPad IF they would have gone the proper tablet PC route and also put a version of Office on it. But since I'm going back to college in the fall to either study to be a network admin or a code monkey (database and general programming), this will not fit my needs. I'll buy a mid-level Macbook Pro instead for my courses.

Perhaps Google Documents would meet your requirements? I must confess to not knowing what the "kids these days" are using in college, but Google Docs does virtually everything I need.

(I'm not trying to forgive the iPad's "walled garden" sins, just mentioning a potential workaround for them)