I am rich application for the i phone!?
why do wealthy people like to spend money to show off their power? is this limited to only the rich? what does this say about what our society values?
conspicuous consumption - when people spend money to purposefully show off their status and power
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6 comments:
It's interesting that power is still immensely desirable in our society when it's stripped of it's value...like in this case, people want others to know that they're rich not because of all the stuff they can buy, but just because.
-Miranda
wow...when I first read this, I was shocked. It just seems pointless to buy this application, esspecially for a thousand dollars. Even if I had the money, I would not buy that application. This got me thinking about what this says about our society. Are we that conceded and selfish as a society that we need an icon to tell you if you're rich? I agree with Miranda, that people still want to show off their power and wealth. It's still something that people want and strive for. It makes me wonder how the creator came up with this icon in the first place.
-Bibi
It is the same thing as cover your iphone with gold or diamond. It's mainly for the purpose of displaying income or wealth. I would not do it. But if someone is willing to pay the money, it is not an unacceptable thing since he/she is creating revenue for both apple and the developer.
Interestingly, a poll shows more people favor to keep it in apple store.
http://answers.polldaddy.com/viewPoll.aspx?view=results&id=838507
-Yuanshi
of course this is not anything new. it shows the dispaity of wealth and poverty, the haves and the wanting be haves. as long as we have this system of capitalism, you're going to have those who want to flount their wealth. not to long ago, many young folk were getting kill for their $200 pair of nikes. now it's their iphones or their side kicks. look at those who come into 'new' money. many (not all) want to buy several expensive cars and hosues that are not enviornmental friendly, it's call materialism or high consumption.
To Yuanshi - I would argue that this is actually different than decorating your iPhone with expensive items...the purpose of that decoration, besides possible aesthetic appeal, is that people see it and infer that you are wealthy. The especially disturbing thing to me about the I Am Rich application is that it's mainly for personal indulgence. Not many people see the screen of your iPhone...I picture someone looking at their phone and being comforted by the little icon that waves "don't worry, you're still loaded!"
-Miranda
Aside from being pretentious, I don't think the developer of this application intended it to be taken seriously, but instead used to show that there are a lot of people out there with a lot of money and not a lot of brains or creative ways to use the money other than buy stupid applications. I actually thought this app was a good idea because the application itself could be used as social commentary in showing that people will buy ridiculous items even when we are having an economic meltdown
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