5 ms·

The Gold iPhone isn't just for mindless sheep that want to show off

20 points by jkhowland 13y ago

trevmckendrick 13y ago
It's really hard to separate one's thinking from current trends and fashions, but I try my hardest to do it. I don't think most do, though, or even realize how influenced they are by their environment.
jkhowland 13y ago
My twitter stream was filled with gold iPhone bashers on Friday and Saturday. This one really got to me: https://twitter.com/eEditor/status/381084430611144704 https://twitter.com/eEditor/status/381084430611144704 The iPhone is a fashion item, and is going to follow fashion trends. This includes going gold.
calebhicks 13y ago
>Apple didn’t release something out of style to which mindless sheep are flocking because it’s new. Apple released something in-style to which millions are flocking because it’s attractive. I'm sure there are plenty in each camp. There are people flocking towards it because it's now. And there are people buying it because it's attractive. Sometimes new is attractive. I know at least 3 people on my own Family Plan are getting silver or gold because they are 'tired of black'. No big deal. I think a lot of people get too worked up over other people's personal opinions. And in the end, I'm not sure that anyone will really care about the color (gold, black, or whatever) in 2 weeks.
- jkhowland 13y ago
  I think that there is a 'self definition' (whether right or wrong) that takes place with a device decision. When people choose an iPhone or Android phone, they start to identify with that brand. The same can be said of color. Back in 2007 I remember listening to a student and his father shopping for a Mac. He refused to buy the lower cost white one because it was girly. He had to get the top of the MacBooks black model. I think the self definition aspect of the purchase lasts much longer than a couple weeks.
  - calebhicks 13y ago
    That's a fair point. I remember buying 'up' on a road bike for the color I preferred. So you're right there. Maybe I think it lasts a shorter time because I was almost entirely apathetic towards which color I got this time around. I ended up with black (space grey) because that's what the store had when I got there.
- Arkson 13y ago
  Just like my bright white Sony Ericsson that I purchased 6-7 years ago, I'm looking to buy the gold iPhone mostly because it is highly visible in low-light situations. Waking up, going to sleep, stumbling around in the dark, the gold phone will be a lot easier to locate than my current black one.
flyosity 13y ago
Just wanted to chime in that I pre-ordered the gold 5s and am still waiting for it, however, I did go into the Apple Store over the weekend and take a look at a gold one and, boy, it's not really that gold. It's not bling or shiny, it's really subdued and muted, more like a light champagne than anything really eye-catching. In fact, when I picked it up I actually thought it was the silver one and started looking around for the true gold iPhone. That's how subdued it really is.
- trevmckendrick 13y ago
  True. But many people bought it sight unseen.
  - jkhowland 13y ago
    Device unseen, maybe. Sight unseen, no. Apple.com had pictures of the device long before they waited in line or clicked 'buy'.
    - moogleii 13y ago
      Gotta agree. When I heard gold, I thought of Mr. T. The gold they showed was much classier than that.
    - umsm 13y ago
      In person, it looks so different. Most of my friends (including myself) were making fun of the gold one, but once we saw it in person, it soon became our top choice.
    - trevmckendrick 13y ago
      I thought "sight unseen" meant not having seen it in person. At least that's how I used the expression. It's really hard to get a good idea of how these phones look in pictures. You have to see them in person. But many (most?) of those 9 million didn't.
- veemjeem 13y ago
  Everyone I know has also ordered gold. My guess is that it's the new color so everyone wants the new stuff. Gold may become the most popular color yet.
talmand 13y ago
Hmm, let's see. Chromatic: Red, Blue, Green, White, Black Metallic: Gold, Silver Bummer, Takhisis is winning.
- kefka 13y ago
  No Baaz for you. (Although if you break open a Gold iphone, you can get a Aurak..)
- r00fus 13y ago
  Did Apple acquire WoTC at some point recently? These are like all the MtG card colors (including foils and legends!). tap Green iPhone, Regenerate.
stackcollision 13y ago
Is this guy really chiding me for not wearing "rolled up skinny jeans" and glasses that don't have lenses in them?
- Strang 13y ago
  I thought the exact same thing. This article seems to be reinforcing the idea of a gold phone as a shallow spectacle.
  - frogpelt 13y ago
    The point I inferred was that some people want the gold iPhone simply because they like the way it looks and not because they want to signal the world that they own the latest iPhone.
- GuiA 13y ago
  Is he chiding the reader? I just felt that he pointed out that those things are fashionable right now, even though a lot of us in the tech crowd think they're silly - just like the gold iPhone.
- ianstallings 13y ago
  You probably don't even ride a Penny Farthing.
badman_ting 13y ago
This thing is really bothering people, and I totally do not understand why.
- Shivetya 13y ago
  techies don't want the bling crowd to encroach on their territory? If anything, its a gift to the snatch and run crowd. Sadly there is a clique out there that sees status in what type of phone or laptop you have. Its this generations 3 series. Personal expression of wealth, or pseudo wealth. Jersey Shore, Kardassians, and the ilk. The techies reject this use of their domain, hence the disdain expressed by many. My opinion, gaudy.
  - ghshephard 13y ago
    Re: "Snatch and Run" - if the anti-theft properties of IOS 7 hold up, then it may the opposite - a "Gold iPhone" may be seen to have significantly less resale value. Time will tell.
    - selmnoo 13y ago
      Is there some superior anti-theft mechanism to IOS7 beyond the 'Lock iPhone' and 'Find my iPhone' features that wasn't there before?
      - jamesaguilar 13y ago
        There is. If you lose your phone, you can remotely disable it. Your AppleID and password are needed to re-enable the device, or to factory restore it. In other words, short of some software vulnerability, it is not possible to use a stolen iPhone with iOS7 except as a paper-weight. And, although there surely will be some software vulnerabilities, it will definitely increase the bar for profiting from a stolen iPhone.
        derefr 13y ago
        Additionally, when you connect an iOS7 device to a new computer, you need to unlock it and confirm you trust that computer before it'll talk/sync to it (before that, it just treats the computer as a charger.) Which will stop unqualified attackers (who aren't aware of DFU mode) from just swiping your phone and putting their own stuff on it, or attempting to naively restore it.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
Tichy 13y ago
It saddens me a bit that the most exciting aspect of a new Apple product is it's color.
- siegecraft 13y ago
  It's just the easiest to discuss. Everyone can have an opinion on color, even if they're not technical. Personally, after playing with it for a bit, I think the camera is the most exciting asepct of the device, but it's not nearly as entertaining (or easy, or contentious) of a subject
- alex_c 13y ago
  http://www.andybarratt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/imac_flowershot.jpeg http://www.andybarratt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/imac...
- ars 13y ago
  It's a sign that the product is mature. Desktop PCs used to be beige, or rarely black. Now they come in colors with LED lights, and all kinds of decoration. Cars used to come in black, now they have colors. It's like that for everything - at first you just want the thing for the functionality. Later you also want it to look nice. I've sometimes waited to buy a new gizmo till I see it offered in colors - that's my sign that the product is "finished" and is as good as it's going to get. (It's true for games too - do you know games where you can change the color/outfit of the character?)
  - Tichy 13y ago
    Amusing how "we" can rationalize everything - love the "product is mature" line of reasoning. So if a company stops innovating, we can now say it is an indicator of maturity :-)
kunai 13y ago
Why is this even significant? The OP's logic makes no sense. He claims that gold isn't for mindless fanboys who want the new thing because it's new, but then claims that gold is for mindless fanboys who want the new thing because it's shiny and gold instead. What the hell?
- moogleii 13y ago
  If you assume that fashion is mindless, then sure, he kinda said something like that.
pm90 13y ago
Gold Phone you say? http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/19/nokias-lamour-collection-the-nokia-7380-7370-and-7360/ http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/19/nokias-lamour-collection-...
eric_cc 13y ago
This is one of the worst things I've ever seen on the front page of Hacker News.
- prodigal_erik 13y ago
  I find "selling technology to shallow people who don't give a crap about technology" to be quite topical and useful to understand, if depressing.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
JohnTHaller 13y ago
Gold iPhone is best. best. best. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7-RetY7fGo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7-RetY7fGo
jason_slack 13y ago
Well, I waited outside the Los Gatos store for 36 hours, 1st in line and I got the ONLY gold iphone. People behind me were mad and one lady offered $100 + a 16gb Space Grey to give up the gold iPhone. I declined. Why did I want one? It is different. It is not the typical white and black that we have come to expect. It really does look nice! A change of pace.
igorgue 13y ago
I got the pink iPhone 5c 'cause I like that color and they don't have purple. And it makes good conversation about how pink is "for girls" but that's just society telling you that, I'm a rebel!
- hfsktr 13y ago
  The images on apple.com make it seem closer to red. Maybe it's my monitor here are work (though other colors seem fine). Nothing wrong with pink, but you're braver than I. Edit: I went back and some of the other pictures make it a bit clearer. Also the selection says pink in the html so I guess it must just be my eyes.
  - igorgue 13y ago
    The phone is definitely pink.
andrewljohnson 13y ago
Even if no one wanted the gold color, the babble in the press is gold itself. I wonder how much of this was foreseen, or even instigated by the PR flacks.
- heyitsnick 13y ago
  I see it as common marketing strategy. It's all about shifting the conversation from "do I really need an incremental smartphone upgrade?" to "are you getting the gold or sticking with white?" I realise its significantly more nuanced than that, but at the core, its subtly changing the decision process of the consumer. The comments in this thread, the blog post itself, and all the other media coverage, is all playing the same game; it underpins most tech coverage - be it android/ios, xbox/sony, mac/pac - its about setting up either/ors and removing the decision of none.
fsckin 13y ago
Apple is selling the Gold iPhone and having a simultaneous launch in China. This is not a coincidence, and as you can see[0], it is working. [0] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-24/china-gold-9-million-iphones-sold.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-24/china-gold-9-millio...
ianstallings 13y ago
Everyone knows that caring about what other people are wearing or what device they have is childish; and also, handle bar mustaches and unicycles are for complete tools.
koudi 13y ago
So, he's not 'mindless flocking sheep' because he wants new device from apple. He wants it because it's fashionable. I can't help it, but it sounds like 'mindless flocking sheep' to me, too.
piyush_soni 13y ago
No. Even if you shout it in your defense on Hacker News, you're STILL a mindless sheep :).
gcb0 13y ago
It is all about display of money/power. You can buy the new iphone? you will show it off. buy the black/white one and you may have to actually engage in conversation. Buy the golden one, everyone knows. It is like buying a $30k audi A1 with a custom made $500k engine and drivetrain. If you just buy the $300k R8, everyone will know you have the disposable income. the custom A1 or a spiffed up TT though will be much more fun if you actually race it though. which is not relevant here as we are only talking about style since the phones are the same. So, everyone only wants the golden one for the smug feeling when they take it out of their pockets. And that sells, as the article proves. Also, any fashion study will tell you that a brand can't launch a 'thing'. Gold phones are NOT in fashion. they may be if enough influential people wants to partake in the smug feeling mentioned above. But until that happens, it is just a very temporal thing that will only last until samsung launches a golden one.

20 points by jkhowland 13y ago

It's really hard to separate one's thinking from current trends and fashions, but I try my hardest to do it. I don't think most do, though, or even realize how influenced they are by their environment.

jkhowland 13y ago

My twitter stream was filled with gold iPhone bashers on Friday and Saturday. This one really got to me: https://twitter.com/eEditor/status/381084430611144704 https://twitter.com/eEditor/status/381084430611144704 The iPhone is a fashion item, and is going to follow fashion trends. This includes going gold.

calebhicks 13y ago

>Apple didn’t release something out of style to which mindless sheep are flocking because it’s new. Apple released something in-style to which millions are flocking because it’s attractive. I'm sure there are plenty in each camp. There are people flocking towards it because it's now. And there are people buying it because it's attractive. Sometimes new is attractive. I know at least 3 people on my own Family Plan are getting silver or gold because they are 'tired of black'. No big deal. I think a lot of people get too worked up over other people's personal opinions. And in the end, I'm not sure that anyone will really care about the color (gold, black, or whatever) in 2 weeks.

jkhowland 13y ago
I think that there is a 'self definition' (whether right or wrong) that takes place with a device decision. When people choose an iPhone or Android phone, they start to identify with that brand. The same can be said of color. Back in 2007 I remember listening to a student and his father shopping for a Mac. He refused to buy the lower cost white one because it was girly. He had to get the top of the MacBooks black model. I think the self definition aspect of the purchase lasts much longer than a couple weeks.
- calebhicks 13y ago
  That's a fair point. I remember buying 'up' on a road bike for the color I preferred. So you're right there. Maybe I think it lasts a shorter time because I was almost entirely apathetic towards which color I got this time around. I ended up with black (space grey) because that's what the store had when I got there.
Arkson 13y ago
Just like my bright white Sony Ericsson that I purchased 6-7 years ago, I'm looking to buy the gold iPhone mostly because it is highly visible in low-light situations. Waking up, going to sleep, stumbling around in the dark, the gold phone will be a lot easier to locate than my current black one.

flyosity 13y ago

Just wanted to chime in that I pre-ordered the gold 5s and am still waiting for it, however, I did go into the Apple Store over the weekend and take a look at a gold one and, boy, it's not really that gold. It's not bling or shiny, it's really subdued and muted, more like a light champagne than anything really eye-catching. In fact, when I picked it up I actually thought it was the silver one and started looking around for the true gold iPhone. That's how subdued it really is.

trevmckendrick 13y ago
True. But many people bought it sight unseen.
- jkhowland 13y ago
  Device unseen, maybe. Sight unseen, no. Apple.com had pictures of the device long before they waited in line or clicked 'buy'.
  - moogleii 13y ago
    Gotta agree. When I heard gold, I thought of Mr. T. The gold they showed was much classier than that.
  - umsm 13y ago
    In person, it looks so different. Most of my friends (including myself) were making fun of the gold one, but once we saw it in person, it soon became our top choice.
  - trevmckendrick 13y ago
    I thought "sight unseen" meant not having seen it in person. At least that's how I used the expression. It's really hard to get a good idea of how these phones look in pictures. You have to see them in person. But many (most?) of those 9 million didn't.
veemjeem 13y ago
Everyone I know has also ordered gold. My guess is that it's the new color so everyone wants the new stuff. Gold may become the most popular color yet.

talmand 13y ago

Hmm, let's see. Chromatic: Red, Blue, Green, White, Black Metallic: Gold, Silver Bummer, Takhisis is winning.

kefka 13y ago
No Baaz for you. (Although if you break open a Gold iphone, you can get a Aurak..)
r00fus 13y ago
Did Apple acquire WoTC at some point recently? These are like all the MtG card colors (including foils and legends!). tap Green iPhone, Regenerate.

stackcollision 13y ago

Is this guy really chiding me for not wearing "rolled up skinny jeans" and glasses that don't have lenses in them?

Strang 13y ago
I thought the exact same thing. This article seems to be reinforcing the idea of a gold phone as a shallow spectacle.
- frogpelt 13y ago
  The point I inferred was that some people want the gold iPhone simply because they like the way it looks and not because they want to signal the world that they own the latest iPhone.
GuiA 13y ago
Is he chiding the reader? I just felt that he pointed out that those things are fashionable right now, even though a lot of us in the tech crowd think they're silly - just like the gold iPhone.
ianstallings 13y ago
You probably don't even ride a Penny Farthing.

badman_ting 13y ago

This thing is really bothering people, and I totally do not understand why.

Shivetya 13y ago
techies don't want the bling crowd to encroach on their territory? If anything, its a gift to the snatch and run crowd. Sadly there is a clique out there that sees status in what type of phone or laptop you have. Its this generations 3 series. Personal expression of wealth, or pseudo wealth. Jersey Shore, Kardassians, and the ilk. The techies reject this use of their domain, hence the disdain expressed by many. My opinion, gaudy.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  Re: "Snatch and Run" - if the anti-theft properties of IOS 7 hold up, then it may the opposite - a "Gold iPhone" may be seen to have significantly less resale value. Time will tell.
  - selmnoo 13y ago
    Is there some superior anti-theft mechanism to IOS7 beyond the 'Lock iPhone' and 'Find my iPhone' features that wasn't there before?
    - jamesaguilar 13y ago
      There is. If you lose your phone, you can remotely disable it. Your AppleID and password are needed to re-enable the device, or to factory restore it. In other words, short of some software vulnerability, it is not possible to use a stolen iPhone with iOS7 except as a paper-weight. And, although there surely will be some software vulnerabilities, it will definitely increase the bar for profiting from a stolen iPhone.
      - derefr 13y ago
        Additionally, when you connect an iOS7 device to a new computer, you need to unlock it and confirm you trust that computer before it'll talk/sync to it (before that, it just treats the computer as a charger.) Which will stop unqualified attackers (who aren't aware of DFU mode) from just swiping your phone and putting their own stuff on it, or attempting to naively restore it.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

Tichy 13y ago

It saddens me a bit that the most exciting aspect of a new Apple product is it's color.

siegecraft 13y ago
It's just the easiest to discuss. Everyone can have an opinion on color, even if they're not technical. Personally, after playing with it for a bit, I think the camera is the most exciting asepct of the device, but it's not nearly as entertaining (or easy, or contentious) of a subject
alex_c 13y ago
http://www.andybarratt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/imac_flowershot.jpeg http://www.andybarratt.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/imac...
ars 13y ago
It's a sign that the product is mature. Desktop PCs used to be beige, or rarely black. Now they come in colors with LED lights, and all kinds of decoration. Cars used to come in black, now they have colors. It's like that for everything - at first you just want the thing for the functionality. Later you also want it to look nice. I've sometimes waited to buy a new gizmo till I see it offered in colors - that's my sign that the product is "finished" and is as good as it's going to get. (It's true for games too - do you know games where you can change the color/outfit of the character?)
- Tichy 13y ago
  Amusing how "we" can rationalize everything - love the "product is mature" line of reasoning. So if a company stops innovating, we can now say it is an indicator of maturity :-)

kunai 13y ago

Why is this even significant? The OP's logic makes no sense. He claims that gold isn't for mindless fanboys who want the new thing because it's new, but then claims that gold is for mindless fanboys who want the new thing because it's shiny and gold instead. What the hell?

moogleii 13y ago
If you assume that fashion is mindless, then sure, he kinda said something like that.

pm90 13y ago

Gold Phone you say? http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/19/nokias-lamour-collection-the-nokia-7380-7370-and-7360/ http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/19/nokias-lamour-collection-...

eric_cc 13y ago

This is one of the worst things I've ever seen on the front page of Hacker News.

prodigal_erik 13y ago
I find "selling technology to shallow people who don't give a crap about technology" to be quite topical and useful to understand, if depressing.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

JohnTHaller 13y ago

Gold iPhone is best. best. best. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7-RetY7fGo http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7-RetY7fGo

jason_slack 13y ago

Well, I waited outside the Los Gatos store for 36 hours, 1st in line and I got the ONLY gold iphone. People behind me were mad and one lady offered $100 + a 16gb Space Grey to give up the gold iPhone. I declined. Why did I want one? It is different. It is not the typical white and black that we have come to expect. It really does look nice! A change of pace.

igorgue 13y ago

I got the pink iPhone 5c 'cause I like that color and they don't have purple. And it makes good conversation about how pink is "for girls" but that's just society telling you that, I'm a rebel!

hfsktr 13y ago
The images on apple.com make it seem closer to red. Maybe it's my monitor here are work (though other colors seem fine). Nothing wrong with pink, but you're braver than I. Edit: I went back and some of the other pictures make it a bit clearer. Also the selection says pink in the html so I guess it must just be my eyes.
- igorgue 13y ago
  The phone is definitely pink.

andrewljohnson 13y ago

Even if no one wanted the gold color, the babble in the press is gold itself. I wonder how much of this was foreseen, or even instigated by the PR flacks.

heyitsnick 13y ago
I see it as common marketing strategy. It's all about shifting the conversation from "do I really need an incremental smartphone upgrade?" to "are you getting the gold or sticking with white?" I realise its significantly more nuanced than that, but at the core, its subtly changing the decision process of the consumer. The comments in this thread, the blog post itself, and all the other media coverage, is all playing the same game; it underpins most tech coverage - be it android/ios, xbox/sony, mac/pac - its about setting up either/ors and removing the decision of none.

fsckin 13y ago

Apple is selling the Gold iPhone and having a simultaneous launch in China. This is not a coincidence, and as you can see[0], it is working. [0] http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-24/china-gold-9-million-iphones-sold.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-24/china-gold-9-millio...

ianstallings 13y ago

Everyone knows that caring about what other people are wearing or what device they have is childish; and also, handle bar mustaches and unicycles are for complete tools.

koudi 13y ago

So, he's not 'mindless flocking sheep' because he wants new device from apple. He wants it because it's fashionable. I can't help it, but it sounds like 'mindless flocking sheep' to me, too.

piyush_soni 13y ago

No. Even if you shout it in your defense on Hacker News, you're STILL a mindless sheep :).

gcb0 13y ago

It is all about display of money/power. You can buy the new iphone? you will show it off. buy the black/white one and you may have to actually engage in conversation. Buy the golden one, everyone knows. It is like buying a $30k audi A1 with a custom made $500k engine and drivetrain. If you just buy the $300k R8, everyone will know you have the disposable income. the custom A1 or a spiffed up TT though will be much more fun if you actually race it though. which is not relevant here as we are only talking about style since the phones are the same. So, everyone only wants the golden one for the smug feeling when they take it out of their pockets. And that sells, as the article proves. Also, any fashion study will tell you that a brand can't launch a 'thing'. Gold phones are NOT in fashion. they may be if enough influential people wants to partake in the smug feeling mentioned above. But until that happens, it is just a very temporal thing that will only last until samsung launches a golden one.