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Touching the back wall of the Apple store

(blog.lauramichet.com)
252 points nivethan | 3 comments | 27 Jun 25 02:45 UTC | HN request time: 0.612s | source
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bigyabai ◴[27 Jun 25 03:13 UTC] No.44393404[source]▶
> We were fascinated with the Apple store in the mall because it was essentially an interactive luxury goods store where they'd let you actually grasp all the luxury goods with your teenager hands.

The secret being, of course, that they're not actually luxury goods. Like many things at the mall, it's a high-margin doodad sold to people in the proverbial impulse aisle of life. Dippin' Dots, knock-off watches, Build-A-Bear workshop - all in same vein of "looks expensive but is cheap to make" no different from the iPod.

I think the American shopping mall is one of the things that helped me contextualize Apple's brand identity. Apple does good marking in isolation or on a screen, SF Pro looks very stunning and the Apple logo is chic and simple. But so is the Cartier logo. And the Rolex storefront. Or any of the other genuinely valuable things sold at malls. It's the marketing that people respond to, not the value of a good.

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ericmay ◴[30 Jun 25 03:34 UTC] No.44419066[source]▶
I largely agree with you, but I think one of Apple’s secret sauces (and they aren’t the only one) is that while their products are to some marketed as luxury items, they are in fact coupled with extremely high utility which is a somewhat new concept, in my view.

The iPhone or your equivalent Android device truly is one of the most useful inventions humanity has ever created, especially for the era that we currently exist in.

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msgodel ◴[30 Jun 25 03:38 UTC] No.44419097[source]▶
Smartphone hardware is almost completely useless because of the software. At this point it's pretty obvious that the potential (but unrealizable) utility is just more of the luxury illusion they're selling.
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zxexz ◴[30 Jun 25 03:40 UTC] No.44419111[source]▶
I’m genuinely curious what your view on the unrealized potential is! I would love something new to hack on.
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msgodel ◴[30 Jun 25 04:02 UTC] No.44419236[source]▶
It's a social problem not a technical one.
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1. HaZeust ◴[30 Jun 25 04:34 UTC] No.44419417[source]▶
Great! The fun thing about social problems is that you, yourself, can make routines and picky-preferences in life to avoid most of them for yourself! You could start today by taking away HackerNews from your routine - as well as other platforms and sites that perpetuate behaviors that meet your criticisms.

If you do, you'll find that you'll stop feeling the need to project your scorn for the things you voluntarily surround yourself with!

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2. msgodel ◴[30 Jun 25 04:44 UTC] No.44419470[source]▶
Yeah I actually don't own a smartphone at all. I don't know why you think I shouldn't talk about them after making that decision though.
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3. HaZeust ◴[30 Jun 25 05:07 UTC] No.44419623[source]▶
Well, with that in mind, have you noticed the problems you speak about going down in life? Was I right about the core of what a social problem is - and how it can be fixed?

You're 100% correct to talk about your criticisms still, but you read as if it was still a problem in your everyday life, so I gave a suggestion more apt to that scenario. It didn't translate well, I apologize!