There are things we can all agree on in this life, things that aren't really up for debate, things that aren't subject to the old adage of "there is no right and wrong, only popular opinion" (thank you Brad Pitt circa 12 Monkeys!). One of these things is the naked quality of the new iSheep 6. It is beautiful. It is sleek. It is a wonderful piece of equipment with few peers on the current market.
But all of this comes at a price and not just the extortionate amounts of cash that have to be handed over to purchase, what is effectively, a toy. Our freedom (if it ever existed) and our anonymity will cease to exist because of this product and the company that produces it. I was recently asked for my opinion on the new iSheep and I stated that I would not be buying one because this new version makes it even easier for the man to take your details and sell them to the highest bidder. It makes it possible for the man to listen in to your phone conversations. It makes it possible for the man to know where you are at any time of the day or night and to, once again, sell that information to the highest bidder. I'm sorry but it is nobody's business where I am, what I'm doing, who I talk to or what I say.
Not only are they invading and evaporating what little privacy we have left, they are charging us for the privilege!
Just think about that for a second.
Great breakthroughs in the news such as the phone-hacking scandal will cease to exist because the practice will become completely undetectable. Don't believe me? Here's a test - turn on your iSheep and shout the words "Allahu Akbar" followed by the key words (these are important) bomb, explosion, death, to, the, infidels and pedophile. Give it a few minutes and someone will be breaking down your door. Why? Because if certain buzzwords are uttered together with a certain frequency, you raise an alarm. Think I'm crazy? That's fine. You Google the words "child" and "pornography" and you see how long it takes for someone from the cast of The X-Files to knock on your door with a warrant. Trust me, it happens and more often than you think.
Easier still - go to download the new Bookface Messenger app and see what permissions it requires to function.
Access to pictures - check.
Access to phonebook - check.
Access to emails - check.
Ability to post on your behalf - check.
Location services (tracking where you are) - check.
The list goes on! "Most apps require those these days" I hear you say. That doesn't make it okay! In fact, the fact that you know this and go along with it WILLINGLY anyway speaks volumes.
There are no stupid questions, just stupid people.
So that begs the question, why do people buy it? To misquote dead Jim Morrison in Wayne's World 2: "If you build it, they will come...and throw their money at it!" The iSheep 6 is a testament to the overwhelming power of advertising and branding. From the very beginning, The devices were marketed as being slick, cool, unique and the best...and were priced accordingly. Advertising works when people do exactly what they're told and the iSheep in all its incarnations is the perfect model of this. People display absolutely no agency when it comes to the iSheep. We are no better than the black birds of flight we deem beneath us - "it's shiny and I want it."
It's unfair to cast every owner in this light.
There are three categories of iSheep customer.
1 - The idiot with more money than brains and NO agency.
2 - The sheep who does what everyone else is doing and buys it because it's "in".
3 - The person who does their homework, realises that the specifications of the phone are for them and buy it, completely ignoring all the downsides, of which there are too many to list in my lifetime and become just another sheep.
A fool and his money are soon parted.
A fool and his iSheep will remain in blissful ignorance for life.
Break from the norm and do your own thing. Don't follow the herd like everyone else. If you really have to waste €700 on a new toy, I will take your money, I will spend €695 on a lengthy holiday for myself and I will buy you a squeaky dog phone for €5. At least the man can't hack into that.
Don't conform, stand out from the crowd, be yourself and have your own personality - that is what separates greatness from mediocrity.
Or alternatively, BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.
Never accept the world with which you are presented.
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