I believe everyone is pretty familiar with the series of productions from Apple Inc., the iPhones.  A majority of students even owns one or multiple iPhones. IPhone is a smart phone invented and sold by Apple Inc. Recently, Apple released a new version of iPhone known as iPhone 6s. It is shocking that after selling eight generations of iPhones, Apple still manages to market their new product and reaches an incredible amount of sales. Apple’s successful marketing strategies help themselves to break their own selling record.

On Apple’s home page, the name of its new product iPhone 6s is written in bold, and the “s” is bounded with a square like shape. This square like shape attracts people’s attention and distinguish iPhone 6s from their previous product iPhone 6. Whenever people browses Apple’s home page, they will notice the change immediately. Apple’s slogan for iPhone 6s is “The only thing that’s changed is everything.” Because iPhone 6s has a similar design as iPhone 6, a lot of Apple’s customers complain about the lack of development of iPhone 6s. By using this slogan, Apple makes a logic error on purpose in order to mock the critics. Apple refers to the famous saying, “Do not judge others by their appearance” and suggests those who criticize the similarity between iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 are judging through the appearances of the phones only and ignoring the inner differences.

Interestingly, Apple does not put any statistical data on their home page since the major customers of iPhones are people from 20 to 40 years old.  Most of them are addicted to cell phone and favor technologies. However, only very few of them are professionals and can interpret the data. Most of the customers purchase iPhone only for its fashionable elements and convenience. As a result, instead of putting all these verbatim data on their front page. Apple chooses to compress all of its professional information in the “Learn More” tab and makes the homepage more vivid.

Last but not least, Apple announces their new product on September 9^th 2015. However, their sales will not begin right away but in about 2 weeks. They have pre-order option online but only a limited number of iPhones are available. Apple does this every year when they market a new version of iPhone. This is a marketing strategy called hunger marketing. The company limits the sales of a certain product intentionally in order to make people long for that product more eagerly and increase the demand.  In this advertisement, Apple uses relatively small fonts to notify the customers that sales will begin at 9.25, and the pre-order option implies that this product will be sold out really soon. Consequently, customers who might be hesitating will purchase the new iPhone decisively since they will worry about the incoming sold out.

People who live in modern society seem to have an endless discussion about our excessive dependence on technology. A controversial issue is whether technologies such as e-books should replace paperbacks. While some argue that unlike paperbacks, e-books can save countless trees and thus protecting the environment, others contend that paperbacks can help the readers build a more direct and close relationship with the author and understand the literature work better. In Super Sad True Love Story, the protagonist Lenny is a huge fan of paperbacks. However, during his trip, one of the passengers complains about the “wet socks” smell of his book. Lenny’s obsession with books isolates him from the society since the future generations view paperback not only as an inconvenient media but also as a disgusting product due to the smell of it. Through this passage, the author expresses some mixed feelings. He concedes that paperbacks will, sooner or later, be replaced by some technologies much as vehicles replaced carriages, e-mails replaced pigeons and missile replaced cannons. However, he decides to regard this phenomenon as a natural evolution instead of judging it. The point that the author tries to demonstrate here is not whether paperbacks will disappear but to what extent it will disappear. In the novel, people view Lenny as a weird person and estrange him only because he reads book. The author emphasizes on the judgments that people around Lenny make in order to show the readers that he hopes people will stay neutral about paperbacks instead of criticizing them. The author exaggerates the scene sarcastically so that readers are able to realize how ridiculous it is to criticize someone because of the media they choose to get information from. Technologies will diminish people’s interests in paperbacks for sure, and the author knows this trend is unstoppable. Nevertheless, he wants readers to realize that there are still people who prefer paperbacks, and no one should ever judge them.

The podcast “Eye in the Sky” introduces audiences a new technology called Project Angel Fire, a surveillance system that enables the police to monitor and track down every crime that happens in a city, and arouses the conflict between safety and privacy.  Some people suggest that implementing this system can conspicuously help the police arrest criminals; whereas others argue that this system is an intolerable invasion to their privacy.  However, there is one significant issue that both sides have not addressed yet.  The major problem that this surveillance system might bring is not the violation of privacy but the excessive power it has granted for the government.  Coincidentally, George Orwell demonstrated how excessive power can foster dictatorship and thus making the society dystopian through his novel 1984.  In that novel, the government, as known as “The Big Brother”, monitors civilians through a surveillance system and punishes people for making “improper” statements such as complaining about the government.  People nowadays do not get punished for grumbling not only because of freedom of speech but also because the government is not able to track what people has said.  Nevertheless, this surveillance system offers the government a chance to dominate the whole country.  It is not essentially true that the government will execute absolutism after implementing this system, but this undue power creates a potential risk and indirectly endangers the society.  As a result, people should consider more about implementing this system instead of making an impulsive decision.

In his reflection upon “Eye in the Sky”, he argues that people should not implement this surveillance system because of the potential risk it creates regardless of its efficiency on solving crimes and keeping the city in order.  All of his statements are based on the theory that he keeps reaffirming: excessive power will develop dictatorship.  He does not deny that “It is not essentially true that the government will execute absolutism after implementing this system”.  However, he still insists that the lurking danger people will risk after implementing this system is way more important than the benefit that the system will bring to the society.  His comments are irrational since it is not likely that the system will cultivate dictatorship.  First of all, this society is built based on capitalism.  Unlike the dominating political party in 1984, none of the parties in USA that can rule the country.  In addition, it is clearly stated in the podcast that this system cannot track individuals vividly, thus contradicting his comment about “track[ing] what people has said”. Last but not least, even though there is still a minor possibility that the government will execute absolutism after implementing the system, the benefits that the system brings people surpass the potential risk.  People should worry about their lives in the moment instead of in the future.  As a result, the government should implement this system and make the society a better place.