http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/19/usb-ihub-is-the-perfect-knockoff-accessory-for-your-apple-centri/
The article above is a piece on the tech blog Engadget. The piece details a new unofficial product featuring an Apple logo. I thought this was amusing, as even non-Apple product makers understand the brand identity of Apple and seek to capitalize on the iconic "Apple" image. Whether or not this product does anything innovative or is even a useful product, it will certainly gain more consumers than a non-Apple USB four port accessory simply because of the association consumers will place with the image.
The fact that this product was designed in the manner that it has been speaks volumes about modern ideas of production. The goal has shifted from attempting to provide technology that is new and expands upon previous successful designs and has moved towards trying to appeal to consumer's brand identity. Hundreds, possibly even thousands of foreign and domestic companies have made unofficial products to accompany Apple products, all attempting to jump on a bandwagon created by hype and image.
Imagine if all of these companies worked towards creating innovative, open source products, and how that would change the landscape of tech design. As a nation, if we want to move towards a consumer identity that embraces new ideas and smaller design companies, we need to have an incentive for companies to do follow suit. As long as we keep blindly supporting Apple by not only buying Apple products, but off-market products designed to keep Apple afloat, we will hinder and repress designs that could come to shape our future.
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