Galaxy S8

Much ado about nothing.

Replacing your mobile phone today is like replacing your computer, something you used to do every couple of years and now do every six or seven. You see the functionality is good enough. Now it's solely about fashion.

I believe we need cultural signifiers. But they're disappearing in front of our very eyes. Buy that status iron today, because tomorrow we'll all be getting our cars on demand, owning nothing. And if you've got a phone with LTE, which has been around for half a decade at this point, your device is good enough, you don't need a new one. And now that they're making you pay the full price, now that T-Mobile has revolutionized the mobile sphere, people are scared, they don't want to pay the better part of a grand for a new handset. Of course they were paying that sum before, it was just buried in the contract, illustrating how subterfuge works, kinda like in concert tickets, but do you really need a new phone for a grand?

Most people don't think so.

Look around, very few people are using the latest hardware. And they don't care. I love my iPhone 7 Plus, but if Verizon didn't give me $650 for my iPhone 6, scared I might jump to another provider, I wouldn't have purchased it.

So what we have is media telling us a story is important when it's not. Either you're part of the Android or Apple ecosystem and chances are you're not gonna change, it's like trying to turn a Trumper into a left wing acolyte. Now it's about services.

Make no mistake, like Verizon, Apple and Google are doing their best to lock you into their ecosystems, doing a good job along the way. But it's got little to do with the handset. You don't need a new device to use Google apps or Apple Music.

And speaking of Apple Music, now that they've marketed to everybody they've got the e-mail address/credit card for, have they hit a wall?

But that just illustrates that the focus is now software.

You don't want to own anything, you just want it available when you need it. Everything else is a souvenir. Souvenirs can be treasured, but they're a sideshow in the acquisition economy.

People like cool new stuff. But most don't need it.

The days of cool hardware are done. The focus is on what the hardware, which is good enough, can do. Software reigns. And not only productivity apps software, but music, art, anything that can be accessed/streamed.

The ball is back in the creators' court. The retailers are taking a backseat.

What are you going to do with this opportunity?


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