Thursday night I found myself at the Old Orchard Apple store with my friend who was arguing with a "genius" for a new iPhone. It was only one week ago when she bought herself an iPhone from a friend for the low price of $100. Now this was the top-of-the-line iPhone with the most memory/GBs in it so getting it for only $100 was fairly cheap. I guess she thought that this phone was invincible like her previous phones, because she told me buying a case for it was unnecessary (although it does come with the 'all glass screen' feature). As you could probably guess, she dropped it. Falling a mighty two feet out of her back pocket resulted in a very shattered screen. Naturally, she was furious that the phone/iPod broke in under a week of having bought it. But of course-- the friendly people at the Apple store would understand and give her a brand new iPhone...right?
No, not quite. We waited a good two hours just to be told she should've bought a phone case and that to repair it would cost around $299. She stormed out of the store in tears and started ranting about how ridiculous the people working there are and was freaking out about having no cell phone and no iPod. Just so happens, she got a new "LG Shine" phone right before she got the iPhone (and those aren't inexpensive phones). It wasn't an iPhone so it wasn't good enough. In the meantime I tried to be as comforting as possible because she was upset, but the whole situation was getting me angry. It wasn't like she broke something extremely important, but she kept on about how she could have bought something else with the hundred dollars that were wasted. It's just money though, it wasn't the end of the world. Is it so wrong to think she was over-reacting? Do you think the Apple store have given her a new phone?
Personally, I don't own a working cell phone, nor do i have an iPod anymore, and it's not that hard living without either of them. Most of my friends have said "it must be impossible living without a cell phone," or "I could never live like that" (both things were actually said, sadly). "Impossible"... really? Not having a cell phone is far from impossible, I have all the numbers I need memorized, and I don't really mind being unreachable at times; it's relaxing. The fact that someone could never live without a cell phone is overwhelmingly sad. Am I missing out on something by not having these things? At the end of the day, these things are just metal and plastic. Materialism is taking over people's lives, and I think it's here to stay. Try going a whole week without using your cell phone or your iPod. Is it all that difficult? And if it is, what does this tell you?
No, not quite. We waited a good two hours just to be told she should've bought a phone case and that to repair it would cost around $299. She stormed out of the store in tears and started ranting about how ridiculous the people working there are and was freaking out about having no cell phone and no iPod. Just so happens, she got a new "LG Shine" phone right before she got the iPhone (and those aren't inexpensive phones). It wasn't an iPhone so it wasn't good enough. In the meantime I tried to be as comforting as possible because she was upset, but the whole situation was getting me angry. It wasn't like she broke something extremely important, but she kept on about how she could have bought something else with the hundred dollars that were wasted. It's just money though, it wasn't the end of the world. Is it so wrong to think she was over-reacting? Do you think the Apple store have given her a new phone?
Personally, I don't own a working cell phone, nor do i have an iPod anymore, and it's not that hard living without either of them. Most of my friends have said "it must be impossible living without a cell phone," or "I could never live like that" (both things were actually said, sadly). "Impossible"... really? Not having a cell phone is far from impossible, I have all the numbers I need memorized, and I don't really mind being unreachable at times; it's relaxing. The fact that someone could never live without a cell phone is overwhelmingly sad. Am I missing out on something by not having these things? At the end of the day, these things are just metal and plastic. Materialism is taking over people's lives, and I think it's here to stay. Try going a whole week without using your cell phone or your iPod. Is it all that difficult? And if it is, what does this tell you?
5 comments:
I have to agree with you that people around here freak out about the possibility of not having a cell phone or an iPod too frequently. I have my phone with me at almost any time possibly imaginable, but I do not always answer it nor do I consider it to be a necessary piece of technology. I love my iPod, but I know that I can live without it. Do i want to, not really, but I could if i needed to. I find it to be ridiculous that we are now able to be contacted almost anywhere that we happen to go. Thats a bit absurd to never be able to get away from people and things. I agree, Materialism has become ridiculous!
Britt,
This is a thoughtful post -- one of 3 on the year?!
I am impressed everyday that you are able to live without these things that some people would call "necessities." But, as you said, "Materialism is taking over people's lives." I know that it is always nice to have these things, but do you really NEED them? No. This summer I went on a 3 week trip to Costa Rica, and there I did not use any electronics. Also, I found that when I came home I probably checked my phone once a week because I got into the rhythm that it was not necessary. I think people say all of those things because they have never tried living without these items and they have become so attached and dependent on these items. If people were to give these materials up for a period of time they would realize that it is possible to live without them.
Brittany,
I think you've identified something bigger than the cell phone breaking and I'm curious if you'd agree. It might even be a viable Junior Theme topic for you?
But the fact that your friends "can't live" w/o a cell phone reminded me of the research being done by a woman named danah boyd (yes, that's her name, no caps).
She argues that people your age aren't "addicted to our cell phones", but instead are "addicted to our friends". What do you think?
Brittany,
You need to put a blog post up about your Jr. Theme so that I can see where you are going with your topic.
Also, I see only your main read posted at Noodle Tools. Looks like you haven't thought about Jr. Theme very much.
See End of Life Issues at National Institute of Health:
http://bioethics.od.nih.gov/endoflife.html
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