In the past 50 years, Apple has made an impact on the world of technology and society like few other companies, according to experts. Today, the products from the American group are synonymous with innovation, social status, and lifestyle.
Approximately 2.8 billion people worldwide own an iPhone or another Apple device, representing about 27% of the global population.
Fifty years ago, in a small garage, Apple gave birth to the idea that technology should be personal. This redefined what was possible and led to the development of tools that enrich life, as stated by the American technology giant on the company’s anniversary on April 1.
Social Status and Lifestyle
According to Katja Rost, a sociology professor in Zurich, Apple was one of the first companies to grasp the potential of technical transformations. “Over the past few decades, the American company has greatly contributed to technological progress.”
Many Apple products have served as technical pioneers when launched in the market, notes Matthias Riedel, a sociology professor at the University of Applied Sciences in Bern. He believes that they still hold a significant place in society today, even though there are now technically equivalent competing products.
“Apple products are symbols of innovation, social status, and lifestyle; they contribute to the emergence of a global digital and interconnected communication and consumption culture,” explains Mr. Riedel. From a sociological perspective, Apple products are more than just technical devices, he adds, emphasizing that they also reflect societal changes, such as the rapid acceleration of social life diagnosed by the German sociologist Hartmut Rosa.
“Apple products are now symbols of social status, particularly because they are expensive and demonstrate their owner’s affinity for technology,” notes Katja Rost. “They also create dependence because once you own an Apple product, you generally buy others.”
All technical products, such as smartphones and computers, play a major role in today’s society, both for communication and daily life, according to Ms. Rost. “Anyone who does not own a smartphone nowadays is completely lagging behind.”
Modern information technologies have brought about social changes and accelerated them, states the sociologist, referring to the concept of “creative destruction” coined by the Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950). Innovations destroy old structures, techniques, and markets to make way for the new, she explains.
New Needs
According to Katja Rost, new information technologies have also created new needs and superseded the ones that prevailed before. Among these pushed-aside needs, she mentions social interactions on trains and buses or the time dedicated to maintaining relationships.
Matthias Riedel, a sociologist who has been researching touch and physical contact for over 20 years, emphasizes the impact of digital technology on mental health. The constant use of smartphones and applications reinforces stress, addictive behaviors, and dynamics of social comparison but does not replace immediate physical proximity, socially necessary, he believes.
With the increasing technological dependence of humans, essential skills, such as orientation, memory, or communication abilities, are outsourced to “smart devices,” he adds. This can weaken resilience and personal skills in the long term.
The two sociologists agree that the exceptionally wide dissemination of information technologies from Apple and other technology groups has generally promoted individualization, a phenomenon observed in all countries and constituting a global evolution.
Uncertainties
Katja Rost compares the criticisms against major American digital groups like Google, Meta, and Apple, which are increasingly heard in society, to those of the “Luddites” during the industrial revolution in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Led by the mythical figure of “Ned Ludd,” British textile workers destroyed machines in the 19th century, blaming mechanization for destroying jobs, lowering wages, and producing poor quality.
Technical mutations bring extreme insecurity, notes Ms. Rost, pointing out that those who fear it tend to look nostalgically at the past.
During times of upheaval, societal norms and values are generally redefined, she adds. As many people today feel lonely because of social networks or despite them, there is also a “retraditionalization of society” taking place, she explains, citing the return of engagements, family gardens, and camping vacations as examples.
Voices are rising to restrict smartphone use in schools or ban social networks for certain age groups, notes Mr. Riedel. He highlights the increasing concentration of power within technology giants and the influence they exert on shaping opinions through social networks driven by algorithms.
This article was automatically published. Source: ats
