Progressive Wednesday

iPhone = Capitalism as it should be

June 30th, 2007 by Eric

In case your television went out last week and your newspaper deliverer has been sick and unable to do his job, Apple released their iPhone yesterday. This cell phone/web browser/personal desktop assistant/calendar/email machine/camera/mp3 player/satellite navigation system/video conference caller/instant messenger/pizza cooker (I’m not 100% certain about that last one) had people lined up outside Apple Store doors for hours before it officially went on sale on iDay.

These people are affectionately called the iCult. While I am a big fan of Apple products as well as their business practices, I don’t consider myself a member of this group. I was not in this line and will probably not own an iPhone for a couple of years; I simply don’t need it.

But I have always and will always use an apple computer and support them over just about any other corporation. To me, they represent what capitalism should be.

I believe capitalism has two purposes: to create an opportunity for personal financial betterment, and to drive innovation through competition, to move society forward. Unfortunately the free market has rendered each of these nearly obsolete. It has allowed the few to absolutely control the financial wellbeing of the many, and rather than a push toward new innovation, companies in this country have reverted to making products cheaper instead of better.

Apple is one of the few exceptions to the second rule. Instead of putting an electronic terd in a box and selling it for 15% less, they aren’t afraid to offer a high-quality, innovative product at a reasonable price. They push the technological envelope and are one of the last to represent capitalism as it should be.

If you want to see what will become industry standard tomorrow, just take a look at what Apple introduced yesterday. If all corporations took the approach that Apple takes, the United States might not lag so far behind the rest of the developed world in every field other than national defense.

Speaking from pretty vast experience, their products almost always work as advertised. I’m not the only one who thinks so either. I leave you today with two quotes about Apple from none other than Microsoft CEO, Bill Gates:

-The next generation of interesting software will be done on the Macintosh, not the PC.

-To create a new standard, it takes something that’s not just a little bit different; it takes something that’s really new and really captures people’s imagination — and the Macintosh, of all the machines I’ve ever seen, is the only one that meets that standard.

Photo c/o this lucky iPhone owner