So Apple did something

Apple is always tricking its customers into buying their latest and greatest new products. One way apple does this is through their updates. Once you buy one of their products apple will send out updates. Which sounds great right? Wrong! Think of it this way. Say you have an apple product like the iPhone for two years, or the average time between upgrading your phone based on a cell plan. If an cell phone continues to update the software it can destroy the hardware in the phone.

But I must say "Thank God!" Apple has finally decided to make updates free! It use to cost $99 for an update from Apple. On a PC the updates are not only more frequent but they are free. It only makes sense that updates now be free with the mobile devices taking over.

It does make purchasing an apple more appealing now that the updates are free. But this does lead me to believe Apple will be charging more elsewhere to make up for their 25% loss.

The Influence of Advertising

After watching the video Art & Copy what really caught my attention was how people purchase a product based off of the connotations affiliated with a brand. In an advertisement for beer we can see a nearly naked woman covered in beer caps. This advertisement is obviously for men. It says to the viewer’s subconscious “Hey if I drink this beer then I could have women that look like this hangout with me.”  

In the advertisement Size Sassy in Special K's "more than just a number" campaign a woman goes to a store searching for jeans, but upon arrival she notices none of the jeans have numbered sizes. The Special K speaker states “Focus less on the number and more one how the fit makes us feel.” This advertisement speaks to women because it has an attractive, but not over sexualized woman in the commercial that many women can aspire to look like. It also addresses an issue every woman can relate to: finding the right jean size to purchase. Sure the size 11 fits the best and allows you to be comfortable, but if you can fit into those size 7 jeans then you have validated that you haven’t gained weight since your boyfriend left you. Who cares if there is a slight muffin top? You’ll just pull up the pants a bit higher so it’s less noticeable.

People buy what they wish their lives could be. If a brand can successfully create an advertisement that associates their product with a feeling customers are missing in their lives or are seeking for then people will be driven to loyally purchase that product.  

Another thing that interests me from Art & Copy was the genesis of some brands and how they have made an impact of on our everyday lives. For example, Google has been around for many years and almost instantly it became a huge hit. Now Google owns two-thirds of the U.S.’s search engine market. How did Google get so popular? It became a verb with the phrase “Google it.” Don’t know something? Google it. Need to spell a word? Google it!

Another brand that has become popular and have made and an

unforgettable impression on consumers is Nike's “Just do it" campaign. Although you may not be a pro athlete this does not mean the slogan is unrelatable. Nike stated after they released their “Just do it” campaign that they received many emails from people of all different backgrounds how Nike’s slogan has influenced their personal lives. One man wrote it that it helped him to kick his smoking addiction. A woman said it gave her the power to leave her boyfriend. A young boy was able to gain the courage to ask a girl out after being empowered by “Just do it.”

Something as simple as a feeling or a phrase empowers brands to not only sell their product but to change a person’s life. Whether this is something small like purchasing Special K to get into a smaller pants size or something as large being empowered to quit a lifelong addiction through a simple slogan, advertisements have the power to influence our lives. 

Freud's Structural Theory

Shortly after Sigmund Freud's daughters death in 1920 he published a book called The Ego and the Id. This book explains Freud's structural theory, the motivations and choices and individual makes. Freud believed that every individual had 3 different levels of awareness. 

1.) The Id: functions in the irrational and emotional part of the mind. This operates according to the pleasure principle and seeks immediate gratification. The Id has no regard for consequence. At birth a baby's mind is all Id. It wants what it wants, when it wants it. Typically if a persons Id is too strong they are considered uncaring to another persons feelings.

The Id can also be broken down into two separate components that make up the Id: Eros and Thanatos. Thanatos consist of the aggressive, or death, instinct. Eros consists of personality and the sex, or life, instinct. Eros also contains the Libido.

The Libido, a.k.a. our sexual drive, is instinctual psychic energy that in Psychoanalytic theory is derived from primitive biological urges and that is expresses in conscious activity. It constantly seeks sexual pleasure and self preservation and is the force driving our decisions. 

2.) The Ego: is the rational part of the mind. The Ego operates according to the reality principle and is extremely objective. The Ego is considered the control center of the personality; it constantly tries to compromise between the Id and the Superego. It desperately tries to avoid displeasure or pain. The ego's responsibility, in short, is to gain the Id's pleasures without suffering consequence. If a person's Ego is too strong they may seem cold, extremely rational, and perhaps even distant.

3.) The Superego: This is where our conscious is held. These are our values, morals, and standards we hold as an individual. The Superego drives you to follow your aspirations and to strive for perfection. Its role is to store and enforce rules on the mind that society and parental roles have placed upon us, this comes from it ability to create anxiety and guilt. It sets the rules for which the Ego must strive. The Superego is the last part of the mind to develop. If the Superego is too strong a person may feel guilty most of the time and may even have insufferably saintly personality.

Personally, my Ego is too strong. Although I am quite humble, I am a very rational person who can seem to serious at times. Which one of three states of awareness do you believe you are too strong in? Leave what state you're too strong in the comments below. 

Welcome to Google, Bing Users

It comes as no surprise, Google is more favored than Bing. Google even became a commonly used verb after its first few years of operation. Got a question? "Google it". Even the employees at Microsoft, the creator of Bing, prefer to use Google as their search engine. 

Microsoft also created Internet Explorer, the lesser know 11th plague God put on this earth. If I couldn't trust Microsoft to make a semi-half decent browser then what faith would I have in their search engine? But hey at least got Microsoft Word right.

Personally, I prefer Google. I use Google Chrome as my web browser so Google is my default search engine. But even before the times of Chrome I have prefered the nearly effortless experience I get with using Google. I don't know if its the cute interactive logo during special occasions, like when the Google logo became a keyboard one day and you could play mary had a little lamb. I don't know if its the broadness when I type in a search that helps me find the result I want. I don't know exactly what it is that keeps me as a devoted Google user, but I do know that I never want to switch.

Years ago I recall using Bing and hated it because its searches were too narrow and didn't have as many choices as Google. I decided to do a side by side comparison of Google and Bing searching "Mountain Goat". Bing has a nice clean modern style to it, but its logo is

quite frankly stupid. What is that? An arrow? Initially I don't like the suggestions Bing gives me to search, Google at least keeps track of where I like to go and remembers. Bing was competent enough to find my search but suggested about a million other animals as "related topics" and showed up with pictures first.

When I typed "Mountain Goat" into Google I got the most relevant websites to my search first, then pictures. Now I don't know about you, but when I am using a search engine 7 out of 10 times I'm searching for a website. Google also doesn't try to get me off topic like a child with ADD. Google owns two-thirds of the U.S. search market, that means it will find you what you're looking for. It does not have to distract you and attempt to pull you off topic like Bing.

Google already does all of the functions needed in a search engine. Google is familiar and user friendly. Google is so well known and used that Google, unlike Bing, does not have to advertise their search engine to users. Why switch to Bing when it has no specific advantages over Google? Plus who could resist the adorable graphical interfaces Google creates?

Altschul Semiotic Analysis

I chose to analyze the signs of an advertisement for Altschul Orthodontics. I chose this ad because I have a personal connection to orthopedics and found the advertisement to be quite humorous. In order to analyze this advertisement I will be using semiotics, the science of signs and method for viewing our world. 

Semiotics is broken down into two terms ideology and mythology. The Webster dictionary defines Ideology as a system of ideas and ideals, the study of their origin and nature. Mythology, defined by Dr. Kevin Williams, is the stories we live by. (Williams)  I will be using both of these terms to help me find the signified of the signs in the advertisement I have chosen.

A sign is defined as anything that points beyond itself or has meaning beyond itself  This means that virtually anything can be a sign. The two ideas that compose a sign are the signifier and the signified. The signifier is the physical manifestation of the sign, the sound, or the letters on a page. Signifies is what the sign stands for, a mental concept. In the advertisement I have selected there are numerous signs; here are four which I analyzed.

Crosswalk: The crosswalk in the image signifies teeth. The crooked teeth signify the difficult social steps experienced through life and how much easier those social experiences would be with straight teeth. The crooked sidewalk also signifies the funny looks and judgments people make about those with crooked teeth. The sidewalk looks unordinary and absurd, it’s not taken seriously. That signifies the way someone might look at you and as a result they may think you are absurd or not take you seriously as a human being. The straight crosswalk signifies confidence and aspiration. With straight teeth you can gain more confidence and have bigger aspirations. It also signifies a purpose for a destination.

Blue sky: is where the straight crosswalk is leading to, since the crosswalk signifies straight teeth which signify happiness the blue sky signifies the opportunities and happiness that come from getting your teeth straightened.

The Foliage: the foliage is plentiful across the street vs. the dead dirt on the side of the street the viewer is on.

Dirt: the dirt on the side of the street the viewer is standing on signifies the place the viewer would be in life without/ before getting their teeth corrected. That place would be not very prosperous, not very successful; nothing is going for them just as nothing is growing in the dirt.

These signs are symbolic because they all represent a meaning beyond what the object actually is and the relationship between the signifier and the signified is arbitrary.  In the advertisement the crosswalk is suggesting that the orthodontics can fix any set of teeth. The signs are using images to make a statement, which means the signs are rhetorical. The sign showing the “jacked up” crosswalk is rhetorical; the orthodontist does not care about how it looked before, they are making a statement about the results of their work.

Straight teeth are a code of dental hygiene. Having straight teeth signifies being responsible. Just as not having straight teeth signifies a lack of responsibility. Being responsible also correlates to success. Thus enforcing the signified “road to success” the crosswalk signifier signifies.

As children we do not want to take the responsibility to take care of ourselves. If we give into this temptation when we become adults then we are irresponsible. Once we are aware of the world around us and are able to be influenced we then start to focus on the responsibility of taking care of ourselves. We gather this from advertisements and movies where people have perfect teeth and we believe that if we are not perfect then we are a failure. Our teeth are just one of the many things that we as a culture believe must be perfect; so we take care of them and if they are not naturally straight we apply braces to them.

            The text I have chosen presents false consciousness and psychological terrorism. Society has told us that we must look a certain way, lest we be rejected. Fear of rejection leads the members of our society to invest in materialistic enhancements, like straight teeth. We essentially compete unconsciously with others to further our chances of success; whether that is socially or economically. Since these ideals have been placed on us by society they are not our own and are a way for us to be separated by our inherent values. If you make more you can afford you can afford the materialistic enhancements.

            We are constantly under attack by advertisements and images which apply pressure on our ideals. The modern world as we know it has been socially conditioned by media, that is to say, “training” individuals to conduct themselves in a way approved by society. 

            Our society undergoes psychological terrorism, over criticizing topics such as obesity while promoting unhealthy degrees of “being thin”; this is only one example. There countless others, such as the emphasis on staying “forever young” while showing complete disgust towards aging. Other ideals go so far as to promote our society as a white dominated culture and anyone else would be considered an aversion. The problem is if you do not fit into society’s “box of perfectness” then you are either forced to fit in or accept defeat. An example being, when Beyoncé became spokeswoman for L'Oreal makeup and hair care products L'Oreal lightened Beyoncé’s complexion. L’Oreal was highly criticized for making Beyoncé appear whiter or “more idealistic”; only adhering to the idea of white dominated society.

"Myths are the narrative stories which provide answers to the questions of identity by making it possible to identify with those events and beings that exemplify in a clear and powerful way the relationship with the sacred that under girds human life."(Burke) Myths administer models which dictate human behavior in a society, which provides a link between belief and behavior. The myths answer the identity questions we have and give reasoning to how we go about performing tasks. The reasoning behind Americans taking care of their teeth better than our sister culture in England could be because bad teeth are a stereo type of our old culture, so to distinguish us from the old culture Americans take care of their teeth.

In our culture everyone strives for the “American Dream” which is to be successful and living comfortable. In order to flaunt that you are successful and are able to live comfortable a few codes must be met, like having nice or perfect teeth.

ISA or Ideological State Apparatus comes into play with the advertisement and its semiotic meanings. ISA seeks to keep people in the social and economic place they are in. The other social classes are controlled by the social elite. The social elite have set the criteria/ codes for being successful. One of which are being attractive, but to be considered attractive one must have straight teeth. Advertisements themselves are a way of controlling our culture to work harder.

The Repressive State Apparatus or RSA also comes into play with the signs in the advertisement. With the high cost of dental care and lack of help from government many people in our society find it difficult if not impossible to maintain the economic base. 

Even in our legal system you must be cosmetically up to date. Congressmen and Senators are now being treated like celebrities; because they are in the spotlight they enhance their likeability by staying cosmetically attractive. During presidential elections the “more attractive” candidate typically wins.

Hegemony allows ideology to be re-enforced. Dr. Kevin Williams defines Hegemony as “a preponderant influence or authority of one group over another.”(Williams) Through advertisements these ideologies of how a person should aspire to be are heavily unloaded on the population of our culture daily. As a result our culture anxiously tries to become what they naturally are not. 

The semiotic analysis of this advertisement and its signs clearly show the formation of thought every person wakes up thinking every day and how they comprehend the society they live in. It shows the unobtainable “perfectness” every member of our society strives for. 

Mythology & Racism

When you hear the word racism what do you think of? Trayvon Martin, the KKK, a burning cross? These are the extreme cases of racism that typically come to mind, but what about subtle racism that hits us every day?

But before we look at subtle racism let us look at the definition of racism. Racism: A conventional, formulaic, and oversimplified conception, opinion, or image. One that is regarded as embodying or conforming to a set image or type. 

Professor Alvin Alvarez explains subtle racism "These are incidents that may seem innocent and small, but cumulatively they can have a powerful impact on an individual's mental health. “These incidents can be anything from being made fun of in school for being different to being ignored by another individual to making judgments based off of stereotyping. Racial stereotyping dehumanizes our fellow humans. We only see them as a characteristic instead of having a life.

 

After 9/11 seeing someone from the Middle East on the street casted fear into the hearts of the American people, because the event of 9/11 middle easterners have a stereotype of being hostile and hating America. As a result most people ignore, make judgments, and even harass people because of their Middle Eastern race. 

Another myth we experience in our everyday lives is the myth that a mixed-race person only hold one of the many different races they contain.— For example, when we see a mixed Caucasian and African American person we tend to associate the stereotype that addresses the most promenade characteristic of them. 

Some of the oldest race based stereotypes that impacts our everyday lives can be easily found our kitchens. The products we have in our kitchen promote racial stereotypes to promote their products.

 We cannot continue to act upon our interpretations of stereotypes. We cannot continue to dehumanize our fellow humans. We need to not allow our impulses to act for us, rather we need to see all peoples, no matter their ethnicity as a living human being who have values, a family, and a purpose to their lives. We shall no longer look at a stranger as an empty husk. 

The New iWipe

Earlier last week Apple released its two new iPhones, the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. Three short days after launch Apple had sold over 9 million iPhones. That is quite large number, considering the differences from the previous iPhone 5 are miniscule. 

Do we really need a new iPhone each year? No! At least not while they continue to make piss poor advancements to the technology. Oh great, my phone has slightly higher resolution than my last phone. Thats worth $299 each year for a new phone. And on top of  paying $299 you can get either a better camera OR have your iPhone in one of five colors. For that price, it better have not only the amazing camera, but all five colors on it, and the capability to wipe my ass; I call it iWipe. 


Especially since Apple is secretly destroying your older iPhones with its updates.

Have you noticed that every time your older iPhones updates more and more things become inaccessible? That's because the new software "updates" eventually shut your phone down, forcing you to purchase the new model. 

With the new iPhone products not much has changed; if doctors and scientists were to make advances at the same rate as Apple we'd still be curing polio. 

As it stands, a new iPhone customer should expect greater technical changes to their iPhones. As of right now the technology is controlling our society rather than society controlling the technical advantages the iPhone gives us. The iPhone caters to what Apple wants people to have rather than what the people need.