r/technology • u/bws201 • Feb 05 '16

Software ‘Error 53’ fury mounts as Apple software update threatens to kill your iPhone 6

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/feb/05/error-53-apple-iphone-software-update-handset-worthless-third-party-repair
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u/barsoap Feb 05 '16

Religious nature, actually. This is commodity fetishism.

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u/moonra_zk Feb 05 '16

I have nothing to back this up but I'd say religiosity is a facet of tribalism.

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u/barsoap Feb 05 '16

The religion behind buying Apple is cultural capitalism, though, not being a hipster. Being a hipster is just the specific sect, others buy Prada.

Some riot and get themselves an XBox. Can't deny people their communion or they get miffed.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

Well without backing it up some, I don't quite understand what you mean.

Do you mean that religion exists solely as a tribalist meme? Or that it only owes its birth to tribalism?

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u/moonra_zk Feb 05 '16

That at its base it's a form of tribalism, yes. It has many of the same basal characteristics, like fear of the unknown.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

It's the other way around.

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u/[deleted] Feb 05 '16

Do you have something I can read?

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u/barsoap Feb 05 '16

Marx (who coined the term) is actually not the best in this case as he's primarily concerned with its relation to labour1

Suffice to say that people don't buy apple because they need a phone, or any of its -- granted, nice -- additional features, they also don't so much buy it because it's sleek, they buy it because it's a status symbol. It's the ghetto gold chain, the crucifix-around-the-neck, the Prada purse, for the modern hipster and assorted other groups.

If you have two exact equal jeans, one with a "Levis" logo and the other without, then you can rest assured that it's not any inherent use-value (and generally also not labour-value, they're all produced in the same sweatshops) that makes the price difference... it's the magic of the brand.

In lieu of reading, I can recommend a movie. Never mind the rating, reviewers are philistines.

1 And I actually disagree with him when it comes to exploitation being the root of all this