If Steve Jobs and Apple, Inc. don't have any say in what Disney and Jobs'
former company PIXAR produce, explain why it's like 1984 again?
| by Joe Leo, Columnist |
continued... from: previous page
The big message in this film (one of many, but this is the Mac-centric one) is that we can't let technology rule our lives. If it does, we will become slaves to it and it will eventually overpower us. Delves into the realm of the "Terminator" trilogy. The robots designed to help make life better for humankind turn on their creators and are intent on ruining the human race.
Now that's not exactly the theme of "Wall-E" but in a deeper sense, underneath, it kind of is.
This film being a Disney animated flick, one would never think that a message that deep would come forth-- especially since it's a "kids" movie (but it's also for adults too). Scenes of the machines serving the humans, but really, the humans are the machines. No life to them, no interaction, no self-awareness. The robots are the lively ones.
The movie tells us that we need to be in control of ourselves first, and second, of the technology we use. Not be controlled by it. In fact, those of you who saw the film will agree that the machines in the film feel threatened when the humans decide it's, time to go back home to Earth. (Those of you that read past the warning on the page before this, don't say I didn't warn you).
It's also weird how 1984-ish the movie "Wall-E" is, now that I think of it. What was that Apple commercial in 1984 all about? Rising against the machine. The PCs of the business world that seemingly controlled the user. Except with the Apple Macintosh, the user can break free of that mold by being in control of the experience and using the machine as a tool to help in daily life.
The connection's so crazy, you won't believe you didn't make a correlation between the two!
This message would be the total opposite of what Apple would want to send out, right? Wouldn't Steve Jobs want his company to sell more and more iPods that make people oblivious to their surroundings and listen to their music all day? Or sell more Macs so that kids and adults can be glued to their screens, surfing the web and talking online with iChat all day?
It reminds me of a comment an acquaintance of mine said to me the other week. In my other job freelancing for a major weekly paper in my hometown, my assignment was to interview five actors (20-30 years older than me, and I'm still in my late 20s) performing in an upcoming play.
I e-mailed the main person with my interview questions and asked her to forward it to the rest of the group. She got back to me real quick, but she did comment to me, about how in her age group, they don't e-mail, text message, or chat. How it's all so impersonal. They like to "talk."
While that woman was right about her age group being used to face-to-face communication or speaking verbally to one another on the phone, she is also with it in this modern day age, so she uses the tools she has available. Like, e-mailing me back. (She wasn't mad at me, by the way).
What my generation and those following behind it (all the young ones) have gotten used to is that form of communication, and it's very true. Text messaging and e-mail are very impersonal forms of communication. Jay Leno joked about it one night on "The Tonight Show." How people these days use the cell phone to text message instead of communicating verbally.
The iPhone... what did Apple create it for? To help us live our lives easier by not letting us have to worry about how to use it, make it work, or think too much about all the technological details. The Mac mantra of, "it just works" and improving upon what was already out there, plus, rolling it all into one easy-to-use package. Reinventing the phone, or the wheel, if you will.
Ah, the cell phone. Perfect example to reference to. How about selling more iPhones? Especially with the next-gen iPhone (3G) coming out next week, and the previous generation a year-old-to-the-day yesterday this time last year! (Just make sure to recycle your old cell phone or premiere edition iPhone because of the idea coming up on the next page).