Disclaimer: I am addicted to my iPhone.
That being said, I am thoroughly disgusted by Sprint’s new iPhone commercial that I seem to see at least twice every time I turn on the TV.
If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a synopsis. It opens with a sweeping shot of a city that cleverly manages to look both suburban and urban, technologically advanced and environmentally friendly. Logos of familiar apps dangle above the skyline. The narrator even sounds like a guy who would own every Apple product on the market.
This narrator, in his frank, strangely familiar voice, boasts in the words of Sprint that the iPhone can do anything. That’s not me exaggerating, that’s verbatim. They literally say that with over 500,000 apps available, it can “take you anywhere, do anything.”
It seems like a pretty bold statement to make, but I’m a devout follower of the device from a Verizon customer’s standpoint, so I didn’t really complain about that slight overstatement.
The real problem I had with their marketing strategy, something my roommate actually pointed out, was the sickeningly ironic combination of the closing shot and a question and answer sequence. They ask, “Why would anyone want to limit the iPhone?” They answer, “We don’t.”
All of this being said while a little boy, no more than 8 years old, sat with his brown, bush baby eyes glued to the screen of an iPhone.
Something just isn’t right with that image. The juxtaposition of a small child hunched over a device while claiming it is capable of doing “anything” just doesn’t work for me. In fact, it rather turns me off.
What ever happened to the days when parents used protective settings on TVs and computers to protect their children from things that aren’t fit to be seen by innocent eyes? Children who have access to the latest technology would scoff at the dinky, pixilated screen and nonexistent Internet access of my treasured GameBoy Color I got as a kid. The clunky plastic frame was purple, my favorite color, until I smothered it in Pokémon stickers.
The fact that the Internet has made knowledge so accessible is a wonderful thing. The fact that Apple and other companies like Motorola have made the Internet so portable is also a nice luxury.
But condoning children’s unlimited access to, well, “anything,” is disturbing. And it seems like the better the technology gets, the younger the children become as they rip open their presents at birthdays and Christmases to reveal the sleek packaging of these complex machines.
My 11-year-old cousin is the proud owner of an iPod Touch and a laptop. I know times are changing, and this is becoming commonplace, but she’s the closest thing I have to a little sister. It’s scary that she can access the Internet from any remote location of her house. My aunt and uncle are extremely attentive parents, as I’m sure many parents are who buy these things for their kids. But it’s the Internet. It’s alluring. And it’s dangerous for young, curious minds.
I know that parents can’t and shouldn’t control every move their children make.
But the fact that Sprint is openly promoting children to use the iPhone while claiming that it is completely limitless is totally ignorant and irresponsible.
