Are Apple Stores A Utopia Or Dystopia?

Many places, things and other topics fall under the category of either being a utopia or dystopia. A utopia is seen as “a place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in respect of politics, laws, customs, and conditions” (“Dystopias: Definitions and Characteristics”). While a dystopia is very different. “It is a futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system” (“Dystopias: Definitions and Characteristics”). Utopias can frequently be mistaken for dystopias
because of the perspective and opinions of certain people. For example, if everyone in a society was equal and the same, some may see that as a utopia because there would be no one better than anyone else. Others would see the society as a dystopia because that would result in a boring lifestyle and the people would never feel special or greater than others. The citizens of Oceania think the society is a utopia but in reality they live in a dystopia that they mistake as perfect.
Since the Thought Police keep the society safe, all of the citizens of Oceania believe the society is a utopia. The citizens in Oceania think the society is a perfect place because everyone is safe. The citizens are safe because there are people called Thought Police. The Thought Police spy on people to hear what is going on and these police can also see what everyone is doing. The idea of Thought Police make the people who live in Oceania feel safe. The people know that nothing bad will ever happen if the Thought Police do their jobs since they track people down if they know that they are up to something. “The Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to”(Orwell 3). The Thought Police make people feel like they live in a perfect place since no crime should occur. When someone gets caught committing a crime they go to the Ministry of Love where they would be tortured. The Ministry of Love is a very dark place, “There were no windows in it at all. Winston had never been inside the Ministry of Love, nor within half a kilometer of it. It was a place impossible to enter except on official business, and then only penetrating a maze of barbed-wire entanglements, steel doors, and hidden machine-gun nests. Even the streets leading up to its outer barriers were roamed by gorilla-faced guards in black uniforms, armed with jointed truncheons”(Orwell 4). The Ministry of Love keeps the people of Oceania safe from the criminals. It also teaches criminals that they did something wrong and that is not how the society should run. Some people believe the Thought Police and the Ministry of Love really keep Oceania under control and a perfect place, while other people think they are really ruining the society. Even though the people of Oceania thought they were living in a utopia they are actually living in a dystopia. The people in Oceania have no control over their lives at all, it is all controlled by Big Brother. Therefore, Big Brother controls everyone, all of their actions and all their words. “It’s a beautiful thing, the destruction of words. Of course the great wastage is in the verbs and adjectives, but there are hundreds of nouns that can be got rid of as well. It isn’t only the synonyms; there are also the antonyms…”(Orwell 51). This quote is saying how Big Brother is erasing words from the dictionary which is not under anyone's control. It is a significant quote because it is creating an illusion between the dictionary and the world, the dictionary is being ruined just what will be happening with the world since no one is in control of what goes on. No one in this society even thinks about trying to change the way things work because you will be caught by the Thought Police. “Your worst enemy, he reflected, was your nervous system. At any moment the tension inside you was liable to translate itself into some visible symptom.”(Orwell 63). This quote is saying how nothing can even be a thought in someone's head and not turn into something bigger especially when it comes to thinking about changing the government. The thought police will catch people and will most likely put them in the Ministry of Love. This is the reason why the society is so harsh and serious, because no one can even think about revolting against the government. A perfect society would be the citizens working together and making it a happy and safe place to be but instead Big Brother takes over and does it all his way.
Ever since April 1st, 1976, people felt like the world was evolving and becoming flawless because of the release of apple products.
People in our society refer to apple products as a utopia. Apple is considered perfect from the things their products are capable of and of the atmosphere in their stores. A customer says that, “customers are enchanted by ‘relentlessly smiling employees,’ interesting architecture, and an atmosphere that feels like more of an event than a retail store”("Are Apple Stores a Retail Utopia?”). The employees in apple stores are always happy to help and always have an answer for questions the customers ask them. They do the best they can to help you choose the correct item that fits you. The employee will walk the customers around the store and show them all of the features each item provides and the store even allows the feature of being able to test it out before you buy it which is something a lot of users love. A customer says, “you can actually touch the product, and that means you can see how it works. You can feel the keyboard, interact with the software and look at the screen… you can’t do this at most computer stores”("Are Apple Stores a Retail Utopia?"). Having the actual products in the store in a huge benefit of the users because they can test them out. Most computer stores do not have the actual working product available, sometimes they will have a replica that does not actually operate. Ever since the release of apple products the way the
world works has been effected and apple only made it more efficient and more perfect but others will disagree.
Some people believe that the invention of apple products has only made their life harder with its flaws. Iphones themselves have had a bunch of problems from them bending when being put into a pocket to calls being dropped from something interfering with the signal. People noticed a problem with reception with the Iphone 4. It only occurred when the bottom left corner of the phone was being covered while you were answering a call. Users says, “Shortly after Apple released the iPhone 4 in June 2010, users starting noticing a problem with reception. When gripping the phone around the lower left-hand corner of the device, the signal degraded or calls were dropped”("Four of Apple's Biggest Missteps, from Maps to MobileMe - CNET.”). This problem was eventually fixed after many complaints. Recently the new Iphone 6 Plus came out and the recent complaints about that were that it was bending when customers would put it in their pocket. Users say, “There also have been reports, and photos and videos, that the new iPhone 6 Plus bends easily when placed in someone's pocket. The 5.5-inch device, introduced Friday, features a thinner and larger aluminum body than the 4-inch iPhone 5S. Experts say Apple's quest to be thinner and lighter also comes with the consequence of making the device less sturdy”("Four of Apple's Biggest Missteps, from Maps to MobileMe - CNET."). Customers say they would rather have a smaller phone over a bigger one for the convenience of it. Smaller phones are much easier to carry around and fit into pockets. Away from the size of the Iphones, the navigation tools were not useful at all for IOS users. Comments said, “iOS users immediately noticed problems with everything from navigation to simply searching for an address. Complaints included a lack of details, distorted images and erroneous directions. Grand Cayman was a sandy island devoid of roads. New York City's Manhattan Bridge resembled a roller coaster, and things elsewhere were just plain out of whack”("Four of Apple's Biggest Missteps, from Maps to MobileMe - CNET."). The only reason people would use navigation is to get them to a destination so if the tool can not do that then what is the point of having it. The pictures are also a huge help while trying to get to a destination because it can show you what you need to look for but the tool was not even providing that. The flaws of apple products make it very hard to work with and hard to describe as perfect.
The citizens of Oceania think the society is a utopia but in reality they live in a dystopia that they mistake as perfect.
Utopias and Dystopias can be mistaken as the other one very easily because of perspective and opinion. 1984 and apple products are just two examples when people have mixed opinions about them. Typically in books the authors have techniques to lure the reader into picking a side. Apple products are advertised as a utopia because if they told everyone about the flaws then no one would be interested. Determining whether a topic is a utopia or dystopia may be easy or may be very difficult based on the situation. Utopias typically have futuristic items and features while dystopias are more on the controlling side, like Big Brother. Utopias and dystopias can be difficult to decipher sometimes but based on the traits and definitions of each they are very
different.