Appletopia

Appletopia

Architects like to talk about utopias, dystopias, and occasionally, heterotopias. Some like to think that they can change the world and make it perfect. And while the utopia has yet to be attained, there is one group that has come closer to it than anyone. Since the announcement of the Ipad, something has been stuck in my head. Apple Computers is the the closest thing the world has to a functioning utopia. Explanation:

Like any utopia, there is a man in charge, a man who calls the shots and has the final call. One thing, this dictator’s name is Steve and he wears turtlenecks.

Apple is full of geniuses, but that’s ok because they all where t-shirts and jeans, blurring the distinction between the savant and the layman.

Apple has achieved a distinct yet common aesthetic. White is it (although now losing ground to the black bezel), and no matter how many products they release, they are always the first ones to release that product in white. Everyone else is behind the times.

Control. Apple has achieved complete control over almost everything associated with their electronics from R&D, to production, to software. They choose what goes in their products and what appears on their screens. No other company has such a tight grip on all the ins and outs of their products.

Apple has achieved ubiquity in multiple products. From, macbooks on college campuses, to ipods in the gym, to iphones on wallstreet, Apple has cornered the market on a multitude of platforms and thus has been able to zombify a diverse array of users.

Zombification of users has resulted in little critique or reassessment of engrained Apple consumers, due in part by...

Controlling reality. Through apple’s engrained user bases, the folks at Cupertino have been able to restructure reality the way they want to. If one year Steve Jobs says people don’t read anymore and then releases a product bent on attracting ereaders, who cares? It’s a new year and who says that the ebook can’t be popular again (as long as it's viewed on an iPad)? If they say installing snow leopard saves you several gigs on your hard drive, then you better be grateful.

But most important of all, if you don’t like Apple, you can f*** off. If you think it’s too expensive, you can f*** off. If you think that it’s flawed in anyway, well, why don’t you just f*** off? The Appletopia is for believers only, and if you don’t believe, then, well, you don’t deserve.

(This is not intended to be a critique of Apple for the sake of slandering them, but merely an observation of the system that they have created. Feel free to support or hate them as you wish)