Ok...I'm going to go on a tangent here (as off topic as this still is to the point of the original topic), and before I do, here's the link I just visited and watched this 20min. video you keep referencing...
The Golden Circle Theory - Simon Sinek Discusses How Great Leaders Inspire Action (VIDEO)
...so yes, I watched precisely what you are referencing and using to label me as a consumer.
Firstly, you are absolutely, 100% wrong in your assessment. Period. You are wrong. Why? How? I'll explain. The video describes how a company sells a product...specifically, how Apple sells a product differently to consumers vs. other companies (who haven't found the same success). The basis of the information says that a person is emotionally attached to the company before the products even come into place...it then goes on to a connection to the philosophy of the company and how the consumer believes in that philosophy...lastly, it describes how the consumer would ultimately buy the product offered because they would be it regardless of change, competitive products or innovation/lack there of.
So how were you wrong? Because I don't buy my products based on an idea. I don't buy my products based on visual representations, marketing strategy or the influence of "need" from corporate developers and designers. I'm not a person sold on words.
You want to know how and why I buy my products? It's completely and perfectly simple...
Because it works optimally for me. Period.
The iPhone/Macbook works in my life in better ways than other devices. The size, the OS, the app selection, the camera, etc etc etc. All of these things build to a preference. A PERSONAL preference...based on historic performance, based on customer service quality, based on reliability, based on ease of use, based on technological offering, based on integration with my other preferences (computers, car, etc). It's a personal preference, not a label.
I also buy products based on what I see as worth while investment. The 5S offers a range of new features over it's predecessor...it also presents a new product in the lineup which yields better resale value in the future. Do you realize that I probably would still have an iPhone 4S if iPhone's didn't sell so well on the private market? I haven't come out of pocket more than a negligible amount since the 3GS, and I continue to get the new iPhone's because they both offer new technology vs. the old, but they also essentially come gift wrapped to me...I'd do it with cars too if it would work, but unfortunately, as soon as I drive my car off the lot I'm sitting in a hole that I have to work my way out of, so I tend to make use of them for a far longer stretch.
Am I an early adopter? Absolutely. Sometimes to my ever lasting regret. I adopted HD-DVD when it was released because I enjoyed mating my high definition TV with a true high definition format. I spent a lot of money on it, and quite a bit more on the discs themselves...and then the tech died, and was overshadowed by blu-ray...I thoroughly love video games, so I'm always an early adopter in consoles. Are they the best outlet for playing specific games? Certainly not, computers can be a far superior outlet, but my preference is to have a console to play my games on...i buy the new consoles when they come out, and I enjoy them for the entertainment value I get out of them. I often like to share these experiences with people too, hoping that a person like myself might see something I express and take that into consideration when they are looking to purchase something.
I mean I wasn't aware that early adoption of technology equated to blind investment in an idea.
I'm a bit offended that you'd be so generalizing in your description of me. For one, you haven't discussed anything with me in any where NEAR enough detail to have an accurate deduction on the type of consumer I am. You've also not looked at the entire spectrum of consumer products I personally buy...and probably never would, because I don't really share them honestly unless someone asks. I'm typically not a person to brag or show off...and I'm certainly not a person who buys things in the simplistic nature of wanting others to see what I bought. Not at all.
You say that you didn't infer anything negative or attacking with your comment, but let's be honest here...that's exactly what you did, regardless of how you want to sugar coat it. You wanted to point out that you felt I was a person who bought products FIRST because I wanted people to know I had it first...I bought products based on this guy's "golden circle" idea, and idea that implies that a person really doesn't buy a product because of it's usefulness or offering, but because of what they are fed visually before a product is even in front of them. Basically, consumers that are sheep to put it bluntly.
Now no offense, but I literally couldn't care less what your degree is in...it gives you no real insight into why or how I buy things. Do I buy a new iPhone when it comes out every year? Certainly. Is part of the reason because I want to have the newest offering of the iPhone? Absolutely! But that logic could be applied to anything...new cars, new house, new TV, new boat...I mean I'm a tech junky, I like to have nice tech toys, and I spend a lot of money doing it. Do I do it so other people see that? Not even slightly. I don't care if you know I have a nice car or ride the bus to work...it just doesn't matter to me (unless you ask, and I care to tell you). You sit and explain how the chip set in the iPhone is not a big deal because you have a CompE degree...whoopty F'n doo. It's a better chip set than the iPhone 5, it offers more horsepower to the device itself, more function mated with the M7 chip and it continues the line of flawless performance from the iPhone that I have come to expect...while also balancing new technology and features found only on the 5S (in the Apple product lineup)
I'm honestly kind of done with the conversation. You had an inaccurate opinion and I just explained how you were wrong. Take it or leave it. I'm still quite curious why you felt the need to bring it up in this thread though...almost in a troll like nature...because looking at the subject matter of the thread, and my general response to it, your comment was kind of out of left field.
At no time did I say anything about any Apple product or component of Apple product being the "best" on the market...I don't make blanket statements like that unless I'm speaking about a product FOR ME specifically. I never have, and I never will.