A new cultural icon is born
The frenzy surrounding Friday's release of the iPhone is made up of equal parts of hype, cool factor and the cultlike devotion of Apple users
By Eric Benderoff and Mike Hughlett
Tribune staff reporters
Published June 29, 2007
It's the Tickle-Me-Elmo moment for the mobile phone.
Just like a must-have toy or hot new video-game console going on sale for the holidays, Apple Inc.'s new iPhone has become the talk of the nation.
"It's ridiculously cool," said George Aye, a designer for a consumer products firm in Evanston. "It's on the lips of almost everyone I know."
Another potential buyer made no secret why he lusts for a mobile phone -- a product many see as a commodity -- from a computer-maker new to the business.
"Apple knows me when it comes to technology," said Paul Doughty, a Chicago commercial photographer. "You don't have to be a tech geek, you don't have to be on the bleeding edge, you don't have to be an engineer. I haven't even handled an iPhone, but I know exactly what I want to do with it."
Some see the iPhone, which goes on sale 6 p.m. Friday and costs $500 for the entry-level model, as a turning point for a gadget-crazed society. It combines two functions that people use every day -- their iPod and a mobile phone.
Throw in a big screen with a sexy touch controls and months of hype by Apple touting the phone as a revolutionary device, and a new cultural icon is born.
"We haven't seen buildup this big for any consumer product launch before," said Glenn Lurie, an executive for AT&T Inc., the iPhone's service provider, who was in the meeting with Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs two years ago when the seeds for the iPhone first were discussed. "It's surprising even us, all the attention."
One reason is Jobs, whose knack for designing visually appealing but simple-to-use tech gear, combined with his showmanship, has helped sell more than 100 million iPods since 2001. It's a category-killing product, with 70-plus percent market share, that competitors including Microsoft Corp. have so far failed to threaten.
Now, with the iPhone, Apple is flexing its gadget muscles and wants to change how people think of mobile phones.
"What makes all the Apple products special, and particularly this one, is that they are absolutely beautiful," said Karal Ann Marling, a University of Minnesota professor who specializes in American pop culture. "The design is always cutting-edge."
That's what drew Tyler Tessmann, a student at Roosevelt University, to the Apple store on Thursday. He was first in a line that began forming about 3 p.m.
He says he will be relieved in line early Friday morning by a friend, so he can get to work. But since a customer can buy two iPhones, both Tessmann and his friend will get a device.
Tessmann said he wants to make sure he gets his iPhone now, before the first batch sells out. That is what has happened in the past with new video-game consoles, he noted, as demand outstripped supply.
"My guess is for at least two weeks, this will be like the game systems," he said.
The potential for the iPhone to change the mobile landscape, as the iPod altered the music industry, attracts people such as Doughty, who now has a mobile phone that only makes calls. He hopes to get an iPhone sometime soon.
"The access to the Internet, to e-mail, is where I want to be," he said. "I'm tired of lugging my laptop around."
The photographer concedes there are plenty of smart phones that offer such access, but it's the iPhone he wants because of its big, interactive screen.
"I find that when I can put pictures into people's hands, either as a print or on a machine, it becomes a more intimate experience," he said. "The cachet of having a really cool phone will help, too, as the people with the high-dollar clients work with the latest technology."
Cachet and design have been Apple hallmarks under Jobs' leadership. The company has developed a cultish following for its computers due to their ease of use and virus-free software. The iPod has only enhanced that following, making it more mainstream.
Author David Kuo, a former special assistant to the Bush administration, said the cultish behavior is more akin to religion. He called it "Appleism" in a recent post on Beliefnet.com.
"Apple isn't a cult anymore, it has become a full-blown religion with scores of millions of followers," he wrote. "The frenzy around the iPhone brings to mind the clamoring throngs that greeted Jesus at the height of his ministry."
In an interview, Kuo, who calls himself an Appleist, said it's "hysteria for a single company. It is total and utter irrational exuberance."
As an example, he cites how Apple is telling customers to "trust" the controls for tapping out a message on the touch-screen keypad, a feature some early reviews have criticized.
"Just let go and trust," Kuo says of Apple's message, comparing it to how a religious leader would ask followers to believe.
In a Wall Street Journal interview this week, Jobs said it is the "most advanced keyboard in any mobile device ... iPhone users will quickly learn to trust its intelligence to correct their mistakes."
Outside the Apple store Thursday on Michigan Avenue, Neeraj Addagada, a medical student, said he plans on buying an iPhone Friday. He stopped by the Apple store to get information.
Addagada asked Apple clerks, clad in black T-shirts that said "The Wait Is Almost Over," how many phones the store would have in stock.
"They don't know, nobody really knows," he said of the scant information Apple has made available. He expects a long line downtown, so he plans to go to a suburban AT&T location to get a place in line at about 2 p.m. Friday.
George Croitoru, a graduate student at DePaul University, said he'll wait a bit longer before buying an iPhone.
"I've thought about it, but I'm not going to change carriers just for the iPhone," he said. But if his contract was up now, "I would probably take the plunge. Apple hasn't failed me."
Alan Zurek, a project manager for Zebra Technologies, which makes printers for bar-code labels, is a phone free agent, meaning his contract is up, and he's considering buying an iPhone. But he cites one big drawback: "I want something at least a third of the price."
And if there's one big hurdle Apple faces when it comes to the iPhone, it's the price.
Zurek said he will most likely pass on the iPhone.
"Not every company can be the best in everything," he said. "But it would be a lot of fun to have one."
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ebenderoff@tribune.com
mhughlett@tribune.com
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
