by Xi Lin

Created on: May 26, 2008   Last Updated: April 21, 2011

Not So Forbidden Apple

"Whoever said money can't buy happiness simply didn't know where to go shopping."
-Bo Derek

Consumerism has radically changed throughout the years. Traditional shopping involved the consumer analyzing the different materialistic needs and weighing between these factors to determine what to buy. In today's world, such information necessary for analysis is constantly changing. As Louis Bucklin explains, "Frequent changes in price, style, or product technology cause consumer information to become obsolete. The greater the time lapse between purchases, the more obsolete will his information be" (52). The constant stress of sifting through information has evolved shopping into the quest for superficial pleasures. While some people still try to acquire as much knowledge as humanly possible about potential items for purchase, others succumb to the selling of sensual exoticism. And "all of a sudden,' says a reporter on the exhibition of 1834, there is boundless enthusiasm for strangely shaped furniture" (Benjamin 3). This cultural revolution radically sparked in the 1900's with consumer's enjoyment of abstract fantasies as Rosalind Williams elaborates:

Over the decades, the dominant tone of these expressions altered. The emphasis gradually changed from instructing the visitor in the wonders of modern science and technology to entertaining himAt the 1900 exposition the sensual pleasures of consumption clearly triumphed over the abstract intellectual enjoyment of contemplating the progress of knowledge. (199)
With the turn of the twentieth century, Paris reigned as the artistic capital of the world and by the end of the century, U.S. cities such as Los Angeles and New York blossomed with culture as well. Movies, media, and music had a major influence on American culture and fashion; accordingly, retail stores adapted to take advantage of these proliferating customs by appealing to the senses and creating alternate realities of shopping.

The great prospering company of Apple was one of those adapting companies. Created in Cupertino, California on April 1, 1976, "Apple Computers, Inc" began as a company that primarily sold computer software and hardware. In January of 2007, it dropped the "Computers" portion of its name to reflect the company's growth into consumer electronics at large. Today, Apple has about 200 retail stores and establishments within five countries, and is also credited with the invention of the iPod, Macintosh computers, and other

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