Australian T3 - May 2018

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certain tech brands

areratherlikeyour

more modern kinds

religion. Usually, that’s been se

as a bit of an insult, but now o

CEOhasjustcomeoutandsai

“Yes,wearemodelledonacul

OnePlus, as you probably k

makes excellent flagship-type

mobiles at low, low prices.

Nowadays it’s a fairly standar

phonebusiness,butwhenitstarted

out as a thrusting young ‘disruptor’,

youhadtoallbutbegpermission

to beallowedtobuyoneoftheir

handsets, then await delivery

when you became a chosen one.

In a very interesting recent

interview, OnePlus CEO Carl Pei

toldWired: “We wondered if there

was a possibility of creating a

brand that also feels more like

a club or like a religion.”

To this end, in one notorious

publicitystuntnamedSmashThe

Past, would-be OnePlus acolytes

were encouraged to smash their

phonesandsendevidence,fora

chancetobuyaOnePlusfor$1.

So,ofcourse,whilesometrue

believersdulydidreceivethe

salvation of an even cheaper

flagship-grade blower, plenty did

not and were left to contemplate

the mangled wreckage of their

previously beloved iPhone. Or,

okay,iftheypossessedabrain,

the mangled wreckage of some

crappy old phone they’d had idly

sittinginadrawerforafewyears.

Silicon Valleylujah!

As Carlexplainsit,“Ifyoualready

subscribe to a religion and you

want to change religions, there’s

a switching cost or an initiation

ritual... If you’re already subscribed

to another brand, then to join us,

sacrific

that Mr Pei was so open about this,

althoughhewasatpainstosaythat

this approach was borne out of his

brand’s youthful arrogance, thus

suggesting they’ve moved on since

then to become more, well, normal.

You have to say that there is a lot

about tech worship that is awash

with cultiness – yes, I said cultiness.

Themoreextremedisciplesof

Android and Apple are like the

is mightily hard to shake.

Lo, the black sea could turn to

desert, and the mountains crumble,

before I give up my devotion to

my Naim Mu-so, the blessed Apple

iPhone and my aptly named Sage

coffee maker.

There are rituals/cup matches/

gigs for us to attend – or at least

watch – as well. In a church, you

will see conservatively dressed men

with no sense of humour telling

you what to think and promising

salvation. Or am I thinking of Apple

keynotes? You see, it’s so easy to

get the two confused, isn’t it?

As with religion, tech delights

and challenges us with moral

conundrums, charismatic prophets

(okay, maybe not usually all that

charismatic. Hey, there’s Elon

Musk!) and astronomical profits.

You get the feeling that some

brands desire the contents of, if not

your heart or your immortal soul,

at the very least your bank account

and all of your data, yay verily,

unto the very size of your shoes

and when you last used the khazi.

In the hands of the cunning

mister Pei, this becomes a playful

and amusing way of marketing

tech. But let’s not fall too far into

blind obedience to higher powers

and mindless zealotry, eh?

In church, you’re told

what to think and

promised salvation. Or

is that Apple keynotes?

o

n

n

it:

w,

u have

sacrifice

an

I’mprettysure

st establish

lig ionsdon’t requir

ysuchthing;it’sjusta

t dipping in water a

learning me old boo.

Many cults,however–event

latively harmlessones–certain

like toaskfor abit of financi

I th ght it wasr re get behin

lt/tam/ba l

I

wild-eyed devotees of certain

faiths that you tend to find hanging

around shopping centres handing

out flowers. And some of the more

hardcore OS botherers are heading

in a decidedly militant direction.

Plenty more of us are more

comparable to football fans or

lovers of certain rock and pop

bands. You know, the types who

receive fanletters written in bodily

fluids, or who cannot be heard over

the screeching of their audiences.

Discover more at techradar.com/au WINTER 2018 T3 21

Opinion

Duncan Bell is

spirited away

At last a tech CEO comes clean: certain

brands really are like religious cults