iPhones From a Sociological Perspective

iPhones and the Functionalist Approach

The first generation iPhone was released on June 29, 2007, the most recent iPhone, the sixth-generation iPhone 5, on September 21, 2012. Its use has increased dramatically not only attracting the young generation but users of all ages. Statistically, the USA has proven to be the top country of iPhone users.

Let’s think like a sociologist applying the sociological imagination (seeing the strange in the familiar) term (coined by C. Wright Mills). Have we ever asked ourselves the reason we desperately want to own an iPhone?

Since we are both a material and nonmaterial culture, we consider the iPhone as part of our constructed physical environment generating the belief(s) that one will gain status, popularity, acceptance, and power if we own one.                                                                                   

The Apple iPhone serves as a mini computer, mp3 player, phone, camera and more. It has a touch-screen interface, so everything you do is right there on the large screen. With countless iPhone applications available for download, the iPhone is used as a phone, iPod, camera, video camera, and GPS device and web browser. Besides these explicit functions, what is its main goal of the iPhone in a functioning society?

Reflecting on Emile Durkheim theory of functionalism, the iPhone serves an important role in keeping society together. Its latent function is to help people boost their social standing and so people will buy it just for this. People will try to keep up with the pace that the rest of society is going. Of course no one would like to be left out from the inventions that the market brings to the public.

However, viewing this through the opposite site type of lens of a conflict theorist (Karl Marx), inequality exists among different groups (classes) because not all people can afford to own an iPhone and for this reason, the conflict theory states that “conflict among competing interests must be the basic, animating force of any society. “(Conley, pg. 29)

So What's Up with the "Apple 5"?

Everyone knows that Apple is always coming out with the next best iPhone.  Where will it end? And why do people keep buying the same phone?  Is it devotion to the company?  Is it because of the quality of the product?  Or perhaps it is simply a social trend.  The individual in this interview even states that she doesn't know what is "new about what she calls the "Apple 5."  The phone as an object itself has a primary purpose as a means for communication.  However, a functionalist would suggest that that is simple one of the manifest functions or intended purposes.  Today, phones tend to have latent functions as well.  One of these is the cell phone's further expansion into the social world though social media.  An anthropology professor, Tanya Luhrmann, at Stanford conducted a survey among 200 students at the Stanford and found that many of the students almost regarded the iPhone as a personal attachment to their bodies.  It contains so much of their personal information and personal aspects of their everyday lives that it seems to serve as "an extension of the mind and a means to have a social life."  (Luhrmann)  We see from Luhrmann's findings that a latent function of the iPhone would be this idea of it be an extension of our social lives.  This  concept of the phone being a social extension let's us explore as to why the Apple "iPhone" specifically is the phone of choice for many college students.

Remember those original Apple commercials with the nerdy PC guy and the hip Mac user?
It is clearly seen by the outward appearance of the two different "computers" that Apple is trying to appeal to a certain group of society, specifically young, college-age individuals.  Apple used these commercials as a base for marketing their products.  Now when anyone hears Apple they think, " Oh yeah.  They're cool!. They make excellent products," so to speak.  This approach made it a lot easier to Apple to market the iPhone when it came out because people automatically assumed it was a great product by default.

Going back to the interview with the girl in line for the new iPhone we see that she could not even tell you why she wanted the new iPhone but only that everyone in line wanted it.  This brings up an interesting possibility of one of the latent functions of the iPhone.  Could it possibly be that the iPhone serves a role as something that defines you as "up-to-date" in a sense?  Maybe having the latest iPhone keeps you current as the older model is obsolete after a year.  Critics of functionalism would argue that this outlook on iPhone users labels them as complacent and justifies the status quo.

The Positives and Negatives

          In the past decade the amount of time we spend using technology in our everyday lives has dramatically increased. This is especially true for the iPhone. Prior to 2007, we did not have the smartphones we do now; all mobile computing was restricted to our laptops. However, in 2007, Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone, which changed our lives. Today we no longer primarily use our phones to make calls. Now we can access any information we want due to the iPhone's access to the internet. In a survey conducted by DigitalMediaIX, it was reported that 58% of college students own an iPhone, making it the most popular among college students. However, the increasing popularity of the iPhone has affected college students both positively and negatively.

               Our generation has seen an unprecedented use of technology both inside and outside the classroom. The iPhone has resulted in many positive effects for students. With its web access, the iPhone allows students to access information wherever and whenever they want. Examples include Blackboard (which has an app designed for iPhones), used in college courses to communicate between professors and student and among students. If we view a college campus and the students and faculty that attend it as a society, we see the importance that the iPhone plays in their lives. Many app developers have also created apps targeted toward college students for use in their education. These include Khan Academy, an education app and website, whose mission statement is “[to provide] a high quality education to anyone, anywhere.” Its video tutorials allow students to access other forms of help with their studying rather than the traditional tutoring received by another person. With the ability to quickly and effectively communicate important information to others, the iPhone allows students and professors to stay in touch with one another. Drawing back to the survey conducted by Stanford University, studies found that 70% believed their iPhone helped them stay organized and 54% felt they were more productive.
            However, the increased use of the iPhone has not gone without causing negative effects on students. This increased use has made college students dependent on their iPhone. In the same Stanford survey, 41% of students claimed that losing their iPhone would be a “tragedy.” Another effect that could be deadly is texting while driving. It can always be seen in the news how many people die from car accidents caused when someone is texting while driving. Advertisements and laws have been made to help decrease the use of texting while someone is driving. However, in the classroom, the most popular use of the iPhone is for social media (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.). This is a distraction that could harm students academically if they persist in the use of social media while in the classroom. Robert Merton believed that dysfunctions could arise within a society. The use of social media in the classroom because of the iPhone is one such dysfunction. It distracts the student from what their purpose in the classroom is, to learn.

Works Cited

Conley, Dalton. (2011). You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist. NY: W. W. Norton.

Crossman, Ashley. "Functionalist Theory." About.com Sociology. About.com, 2011. Web. 15 Apr. 2013. <http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/a/Functionalist-Theory.htm>.

Hope, Dan. "IPhone Addictive, Survey Reveals." LiveScience.com. LiveScience, 08 Mar. 2010. Web. 12 Apr. 2013. <http://www.livescience.com/6175-iphone-addictive-survey-reveals.html>.

Nahapetyan, Margarita. "Apple's IPhone Is An Addiction For Students." Apple's IPhone Is An Addiction For Students. N.p., 11 Mar. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2013.