Here we are in September and wouldn’t you know it, Apple released another version of the iPhone. Arguably the most successful smart phone to date, the iPhone routinely captures the attention of Apple fanatics and detractors.
If you’ve ever held a conversation with me about cellular phones and/or mobile technology then you know I’m a faithful Apple supporter. Usually, I’m fully submissive to every single idea that they’ve ever had (let’s not even talk about that Apple Maps fiasco…or heaven forbid we bring up their failed attempt at a music social network).
For the most part, I’m still an extremely loyal brand ambassador for Apple products. What’s not to love? Their products are consistently cutting-edge, easy to use, and cool to own. When I was first able to afford my own iPod, I hurried to buy because I was enticed by the allure of social status and intrigue the Apple brand afforded me. I felt cooler. I felt more interesting. As I acquired more Apple products, I felt that the brand became a part of me..
None of my Apple products were as much a part of me as my iPhone. I mean, I literally carry it everywhere I go. For the majority of the past four years, associating myself with the iPhone has meant that my self concept was associated with the sleek, cutting-edge, superior qualities that the iPhone embodied.
Early in our relationship, it was easy for me to defend my precious self-validating iPhone against petty competitors. You have a Nokia? Nahh, you can’t seriously think that your phone compares to mine! Blackberry? Bah! Who uses BBM in 2013? Palm Pilot? Pssh! Styluses are for sissies. I gladly volunteered my time as an ad hoc salesman for iPhone.
Then things started to change.
I began to notice that my arguments for why iPhone was superior than other phones sounded weaker and weaker until they were ultimately untrue. I ignored this for a while and thought, “You’re tripping. iPhone is still the best thing out. Everyone has one. They have to be doing something right.”
This went on for a while until about a month ago when I decided that I’m going to leave iPhone behind.
I told myself that I wanted to learn something new. I told myself that Apple’s innovation seemed to plateau. I told myself that I was bored with iPhone. And while all of those things are likely to have some part to play in my decision, I feel that there are psychological rumblings deeper in my subconscious.
Simply put: the iPhone brand just does not represent me as well as it used to.
Because I identified so closely with my iPhone, the realization that we may not be as perfectly matched as I thought severely disrupted my psyche. I reached a point where the tension between why I thought I owned the iPhone (it was an extension and validator of my self concept) and my reality (there are cooler phones out there that more closely resemble my self concept) finally manifested itself in an epiphany: I’m leaving iPhone.
Think about the premise of movie, Inception. The engineers had to implant the seed of an idea deep within their target’s subconscious so that it could develop into actions that the target believed to be their own. In a similar way, the cognitive dissonance I experienced with my iPhone led me to this current state of dissatisfaction. Social Psychologist Leon Festinger coined the term, “cognitive dissonance,” in his book, When Prophecy Fails, in 1956.
My urge to abandon my iPhone was exacerbated with Apple’s latest release. I originally purchased an iPhone to separate myself from other phone users who weren’t as cool as I thought I was. Not only did Apple fail to appropriately innovate in a way that reinforced my perception of my personal coolness, now even MORE people around the world would have access to the technology due to its 5C extension…or as one source put it, “The First iPhone You Don’t Want.”
Meanwhile, all of the other close competitors’ advertisements seem to be speaking directly to me now…or, at least about people like me. Take the new Nokia, the phone for the photographer–or Instagram addict. How about the Moto X by Google? It’s the phone that let’s you customize every aspect of its appearance and operate touch-free. I think even the most staunch iPhone support can yield some innovation ground to the industry’s heir apparent, Samsung Galaxy.
What do you think? Am I just a simp being suckered in by all the new phones coming out? Are you getting tired of your iPhone too? Discuss it in the comments or on twitter.