the announcement of the iPhone permanently broke all business people's brains
the announcement of the iPhone did these things:
- announced on a big stage in a big event by a celebrity CEO
- announced with the thrust that it would be *the future*
- announced as though this was a historical event
- delivered on these things
now every inventor thinks all new inventions need to be announced this way IN ORDER TO BE big and futuristic. the invention that starts small and slowly increases in relevance is taken for granted in favour of big publicity stunts and showmanship. there is always a quest for the "next iphone" and so CEOs are convinced they need to only look for big, showy, "dangerous" products instead of smaller, working products
Elon Musk is the perfect example of this where he is more of a celebrity than an inventor and doesn't actually invent anything but insists on announcing it on a big stage in order to capture that iPhone magic
...and he's not alone, tech feels like it's full of these guys now- it's become less about making useful products and almost entirely about publicity and loud press demos
Elon Musk is Steve Jobs repeated as farce- (for all the criticisms I have about steve jobs, he at least seemed to be able to turn a product) it is all show, it's all smoke and mirrors, there's no product except the feeling of witnessing history, captured and repackaged for people who were dissappointed they missed the iphone. the showmanship IS the product. and it's farcical
