[Swordmaker]

This is so absurd as to be humorous. . . again raising the idiotic idea that Apple customers are a cult and that Apple stores are temples for the cult. . . because they are well designed for appearance and functionality.

This so-called professor, who claims to know so much, actually demonstrates her cluelessness about Apple, a company which has sold 1.2 BILLION iOS devices, based on the few hundred people who queue to buy devices on a release day at each Apple store that "“And yet it's a cult. Right? It's so obviously a cult.” . . . "Right?" she asks. . . she doesn't know. She IS clueless.

Thanks to Freeper NYer for the heads up. . .

[Swordmaker]

This is one of the most absurd and hilarious articles on Apple I think I have seen, taking the Cult meme and raising it to the heights of ridiculousness. . . as this so-called Professor takes a tour of Apple's store and anything she sees is interpreted as a Religious Trope. . . She would interpret ANYTHING as such. If Apple had a traditional cash register and a line of people queuing to pay, she'd claim they were acolytes waiting to receive the host and holy blood in the wine sacrament and blessing of the priest! Everything in the Apple Stores is there because it is intended to deliberately build the RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE among the CULT LIKE FANS in this idiot's opinion, even the huge doors on the Apple Stores and the religious stairways upward. HILARIOUS! — PING!

All Hail, St. Jobs!
According to this "Professor"
Ping!

The Latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword “ApplePingList” on Freerepublic’s Search.

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[freedumb2003]

I will go with cult.

When the rest of technology has passed you by and you wait in line at midnight for catch-up devices at twice the market prices, how can it be anything else than a cult to the brand?

[buffaloguy]

Sarah honey,
I think you need to get out more. A picnic perhaps. Or professional would be good too.

[Rebelbase]

Apple stores are just one of many temples of consumerism.

Every city and town has temple districts. Some are fancier than others.

[Talisker]

...says Robles-Anderson ... medievalists who think about God’s omnipresence, his connection to certain physical objects, and the meaning of that material culture, would be hired by cloud storage companies. “They’re dealing with the exact same problems,” she says. “Are you files really on your personal device or are they in the cloud in the sky?”

Exact.Same.Problems.

[House Atreides]

It is a silly article and was, I suspect, written apparently solely as an excuse for showing the beauty of a number of Apple stores.

Perhaps the author can do an article on a Devil Worshippers’ Temple used by Android users who have, as one of their main DV tenets, a belief in the need to hate Apple, Apple products and Apple users. Just kidding, of course.

[who_would_fardels_bear]

In that last pic, is that the hanging apple of Damocles?

[rdb3]

...the Feast of St. Jobs...

LOL!

[rawcatslyentist]

Forget about your silly whims, it doesn’t fit the plan.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

The answer is: yes.

[Cronos]

I don't think this is absurd. This is very good marketing. Apple products are good, but over-priced and they have a fanatical following -- why? I don't find them especially innovative - they ARE, but not some super innovations. What they are great at is marketing and sales. You buy an apple product and you stick with them.

A very good company to emulate for marketing and sales

[dennisw]

Send in the clowns, the clones, mindless urban Konformists and the AppleBots.

[ctdonath2]

When Carousel Mall in Syracuse N.Y. opened, some reporter likewise asked a professor of theology if it was akin to a cathedral. Of course, the prof agreed, and in great detail (”a temple of consumption”).

[x]

This so-called professor, who claims to know so much, actually demonstrates her cluelessness about Apple, a company which has sold 1.2 BILLION iOS devices, based on the few hundred people who queue to buy devices on a release day at each Apple store that "“And yet it's a cult. Right? It's so obviously a cult.” . . . "Right?" she asks. . . she doesn't know. She IS clueless.

Because the reporter didn't do her the courtesy of cleaning up her quotes?

It's not hard to make somebody sound "clueless" if you print all their comments verbatim.

Whether Apple Stores are in some way "temples" is a valid, open question and one that some cultural conservatives might answer in the affirmative.