Apple in silver, black and white for the Phofilmusigner

WARNING, do not read the following e-ssay if you feel easily insulted, aggressively harassed and potentially bullied by writing. The text may damage your view on particular products and disappoint all beliefs you had so far. I am an economical immigrant and not a native born English speaker, so several arrangements of words may not be in the usual order as you may expect and could be potentially misunderstood, because of improper use of the language. Its your own fault if you continue to read.

No doubt about, this company has the best holistic hard-war and soft-war concept and is very well embedded in the digi expression future context scenario. Thinks and looks quite far in to the next agenda (to make it clear I never put up a poster of the think different campaign and I hiding the shiny Apple logo on my Mac under the sticker of the United states marine corps). Apple has good designed hardware and the software is almost seamless interoperable between the stand-art application. I am a re-visitor of the Mac platform, working with Mac's in early stages, Mac classic first time touched in Katmandu / Nepal at an NGO organization and run some PowerBooks later in my German company's 1993, than after being dot. bombed in 1997 forced to second hand PC's, switched later in my edu career from 1999 (prof proof on demand PPOD - to MACL) to brand new Sony Vaio's on Windows. After my last Vaio buy in 2006, which disappointed me so furiously not to speak about the disgraceful costumer support, which you basically would need to prosecute Sony in court with a whole entourage of lawyers, so they just understand what you mean. Yes I confess also Sony was from the early stages U-matic, Betamax the company for me, means so much that I even managed to be friend of German Sony CEO's and could have a easy meeting when ever necessary.

Here I have to mention the unbelievable, on Monday I signed up at Apple web-site for the famous battery exchange program, registered and you may believe it or not I got the battery delivered by UPS the next day, my compliment that is really supper, I hope I will not be.... so much I appreciated it.

Being in the comp and media business for so long, sharing addiction and madness even to such lunatic platforms like SUN spark and Silicon Graphics, so you can see I am a sort of an semi expert in this field. But not only dealt with all of these companies on the head-end in shops ass costumer, but also dealt numerous times with the head-offices up and down in the Silicon Valley, so I allow myself to speak also from an insider position.

What happened, I started to hate Silicon Graphics, for the pre-potent and arrogant way they branded them selves, on stands in the usual exhibition fairs, they behaved like Scientology employees, dressed in black. Yes of course not to forget there biggest crime, trashing Cosmo and selling it to Platinum / Microsoft and killing a promising genre / community in 3D computer graphics.

I know that SGI was from the engineering point the best company, just open a O2 or an Indigo or try to mess with an Onyx, you understand what I mean its like you opening a jewelry box.

The next company followed the same path was Sony; they mutated similar and ended up dressed in black. The whole look and feel was like brainwashed employees on drugs try to cheat themselves into the pockets of the dull ugly looking consumer (the machine looks fresh, young and you are tired and getting old, you can not upgrade, finally you die). Apple’s last ad campaign, “Give iPod. Give Mac. Give happiness” is exactly fitting into the Homeland security -> Church of fear propaganda (I admit that I jumped now a bit, got carried away) sorry for that.

SGI is in the meanwhile reduced to open GL, nervous patent watchdog in a backyard garage somewhere in the US. Sony if they would not -> Play station things would look very un-stylish, besides the fancy exploding battery market, they lost all multimedia segments where they been market leaders.

Some 6 years ago we iterated interest in developing applications for PS1, we had a meeting with one of the PS gurus in London, at the head office and discussed openly about future features what the PS should have. From game console till set top box for an enhanced iTV functionality, the translated answer was, that Sony basically de-composts himself from inside because of the competing Sony branches against each other, so no way that these features would come any time soon.

OK so far good, yesterday I was attending an Apple creative incentive in London's Hilton. Core agenda was 'Redefining creativity", subtitle: Inspiration for a new breed of Creative, called the Phofilmusigner. Beside that nothing was creative, I mean interesting creative, most of the creative examples where mainstream commercials. That's OK, because this is the market Apple want to capture, the post production segment left in the over priced darkness from SGI, AVID, Paint box and so on, they should do so, but sorry I have an other expectation level if the word creativity is involved. Ah you see I am fooled, Creative Industries yes, you right.

One presentation after the other, podcast on Mac, video on Mac, sound on Mac, photo on Mac. The podcast presenter a Scottish outspoken bold looping in easy as that, the video presenter almost young till middle aged Irishman, well trained and developed, the sound presenter a Jankie, older style, very professional musician, (the only Appler which I liked, you felt like he was uncomfortable squeezed in to the black t-shirtism), I missed the photo presenter. All of them showed in fast forward how easy and happy all works together, the public parallelized, panicking to follow each move of the mouse cursor not to miss which button is pressed, breathless, helpless lost in the multi layered features of each seamless (do not know if this is the right word) application.

But what irritated me so much, was the exact same corporate zombie appearance anticipated numerous times before and as described, black dressed Apple employees, all branded as STAFF with the white LOGO like a herd of let out from a cage, brainwashed and on drugs, feeling part of the superior race, talking to you over friendly patronizing you down the idiot way. Do they have always the same marketing consultancy firm, same supplier of corporate e-drugs, are they released out of the same mental treatments, called staff development, shock frozen between PC political correctness and market opportunity?

I felt like in an concentration Scientology camp so-rounded by guards dressed in black ready to inject, to make me understand, basically brainwash me too and make me to sign up, how to do successfully all and everything and feel cool.

Maybe I have an oversensitive period now, but I felt like an ashamed family father or better to say a priest going in spotlight to a sado maso treatment in a Protestant village. Interesting is that for so long years nothing changed how companies present them selves in an market of growth and competitiveness, they force employees in to an uniformed smiles super successful behaviorism how are you- very well relationship, where I as an creative would rather run a way and even stop to call myself an creative, hide under a dirty bridge. I feel like, I need to cover up that I am using a MacBookPro. You may ask yourself why I am writing about this and not just shut up and accept how things are and benefit from what ever comes, well I care and I have an desire to express my self when ever I am feeling something is wrong. My message to Apple is change your strategy, educate, relax, de compress your employees to a more normal costumer relation behaviorism, I am shore some can do this. If this is the price we pay for market expansion, that all and everything must be configured and formatted like in the military (smoking pot to coope with the killing fields) and by having a Mac I need to behave like the Mac guy in the adds, than I rather choose the PC (actor/writer/comedian John Hodgman, ah and the other one actor Justin Long plays the Mac).

To end positive the current system, including software is great and I like to work with it and if someone is clever and smart you can really do innovative work, maybe I should just avoid going in Apple shops and to Apple events, stay away and do my Jobs.