Sunday, March 9, 2014

Marc Lorlin Z. Navisa
2013-38337
Bachelor of Science in Mathematics
Prof. Juned Sonido

Individual Project

A Bite of Apple

On January 29, 2007 Apple Inc. hit the bar when it unveiled the first iPhone, mobilizing the gadget revolution. In turn, these gadgets were integrated with the different aspects of our daily life—from home to workplace. Since then, Apple has been an indispensable ingredient to society’s technological recipe; however, we, the chefs, must consider utmost care as to not turn into poison what otherwise would be a delectable delicacy.

Technological products today have invisible and formative influence on society. Among these products, Apple products may have the most pronounced influence. They have had a huge impact on the society in terms of technology, economics, and social trends. Rarely can one go without seeing somebody with one. Why is that? It is because of two things—product line and extensive marketing. Of major concern in this paper is the product line.
           
Extensive Marketing       

“Soon there will be 2 kinds of people. Those who use computers, and those who use Apples.” (Alex 2006) Apple’s popularity is fueled by its advertising strategy. Its dense and eye-catching slogans and commercials are strategically placed in mass-concentrated locations.

Product Line

1.      Constant innovation. It is the product that adapts to the user’s need. One fine example is the fingerprint identity sensor of the newborn iPhone 5s. Passwords can be forgotten, and so Apple has made it a point for the phone to learn and recognize the user.



2.      Simple design and user interface. Though subject to constant innovation, another plus factor of the products is that the user-friendly design is retained consistently. They have no different submenus or other ways to display the menu; it is easy for users to reach the function which they want to use directly and avoid confusion (Schumacher 2009).



3.      High-quality components. Definitely, these products have an incredibly more amount of technology than what their thin, light design says. The iPhone 5s, for example, is the first smartphone powered by the 64-bit architecture, A7 and M7 chip. With the superchips, it is faster than its predecessors twofold. It also supports OpenGL ES 3.0, enabling visual effects previously possible only on computers and gaming consoles. The M7 chip offloads work from the A7 chip, so battery life is spared.


                                                    
4.      Coherent hardware and software. Apple Inc. is the only company that creates all of its hardware and software. The coherence of the hardware and software is what steers the success of the products in terms of performance and efficiency.

What makes Apple products better than others is that they are made out of imagination where technological limitations are not given a thought. The late Steve Jobs had his creative artists tell his engineers what to do because achieving the unimaginable was the priority one.

In sum, Apple products are a hybrid of creativity and state-of-the-art technology.

But despite all these technological marvels Apple has accomplished, along comes the question “What have been sacrificed?” Human and nature’s costs.

In China, according to China Labor Watch, a New York-based watchdog, employees are forced to work excessive overtime in violation of Apple's 60-hour workweek limit. Employees work excessive overtime, in some cases seven days a week, and live in crowded dorms. Some say they stand so long that their legs swell until they can hardly walk (Duhigg, 2012).



What Apple Inc. has reached today is representative of what technology gone loose has reached. In the end, a dead dog or human is far more valuable than these gadgets; gadgets harm nature, while a dead dog or human, on the other hand, becomes fertilizer.

Conclusion

Apple has been an indispensable ingredient to society’s technological recipe; however, we, the chefs, must consider utmost care as to not turn into poison what otherwise would be a delectable delicacy. After all, apple is the forbidden fruit.



References:

Baron Hertzog, 2012. Apple of my Eye. http://baronhertzog.hubpages.com/hub/How-the-iPhone-Has-Impacted-Our-Culture. March 01, 2014

Kuri Bergsen, 2013. Key Reasons for the Success of Apple and Apple’s Effects on Society. http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/key-reasons-for-apples-success-marketing-essay.php. February 24, 2014

http://www.apple.com/iphone-5s/features/. March 09, 2014
Charles Duhigg, David Barboza, 2012. In China, Human Costs are Built into an iPad. http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/06/technology/apple-china-labor/.

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