Dear Cameron,
You ask: "Was the miniskirt an 'invention' or an evolution? Was it a
'new symbol of women's freedom'? " etc.
As is implied in your long list of questions about the status of the
mini skirt, it is obvious that one could argue the mini skirt was a
reassertion of the old model of repressing women via what Marcuse would
call "repressive desublimation". That is, society told women they were
free to flaunt their thighs as a way of society reclaiming the
sensuality of women as an object of men's attention. Hide it = we
control it. Show it = we control it.
Freedom of speech is potentially a similar example of repressive
desublimation. That is, we invite all members of society to speak up and
have their say, then we get on doing what we were doing before, but now
it is easier because we have a more compliant society that thinks,
because it has spoken, it has been listened to.
There is an interesting piece in the Sydney Morning Herald, by Mark
Jones, about "What's next in store for Apple?" (March 20, 2012).
http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/whats-next-in-store-for-apple-20120319-1vf9l.html
He talks about gadget fatigue and its danger for companies such as
Apple, but his major point is the success of app stores. He says,
"Deloitte, a multinational professional services company, [has] . . .
recently acquired US-based mobile app developer Übermind" to assist them
is setting up a private app store.
What he doesn't say is that Apple, with its highly successful iTune/app
store is blocking itself from this corner of the market precisely
because it wants to totally control apps on its many iOS devices.
The immediate outcome of private app stores, where companies create
their own apps for in house and client use, is that Android devices ARE
set up for this exact scenario. Presumably Windows 8 will allow the same
freedom and potentially allow for the apps to be used across all Windows
8 devices and not simply phones and tablets.
(I'd like to be able to use many of my iPad apps on my PC or even on my
desktop Mac. Some have other versions, but unlike Kindle which runs of
everything, most iOS apps are stuck in iOS land. I might be one of very
few people who'd like to do this, but I am very sure that lots of
business users want this exact ability along with the ability to control
their apps and their implementations of their apps.)
As a casual user, I can put together an Android app in a day of so and
give it to my friends and even put it up on Google's store. This sounds
a lot like the Internet and making web pages. It sounds like freedom?
While Apple was the only store selling ice cream it was possibly right
to exploit its advantage for all it was worth. Who can or wants to argue
with $100 billion? But, the $100 billion is starting to look more like
an anvil than a life jacket as Apple has to deal with the unimaginable
wealth it has accumulated through trivial innovations.
I never liked mini skirts; I still don't like mini skirt.
cheers
keith russell
oz newcastle
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