Nate Lanxon
Nate Lanxon is CNET UK's Senior Editor of News and Features, and covers every aspect of technology for Crave. He also enjoys popular-science books, obscure Japanese animation and plays 'technical metal' on the drums, whatever that is.
Wednesday 30 July 2008, 2:46pm
Owning iPhones doesn't make us friends
Apparently it may surprise a small number of people to know this, but simply owning an iPhone does not automatically make you friends with someone else who owns an iPhone.
I was on the train from the office the other night, reading the Web on my iPhone. Sat across from me was a girl, also using an iPhone. She noticed and raised her iPhone to show me that she, too, had an iPhone, and smiled at me accordingly.
Mostly, that's fine. People on trains habitually look miserable during their journey, and smiling at someone is always nice. However, her reason for smiling at me was purely because we both had iPhones -- a 'meeting of minds' over N95s, BlackBerry Curves or Sony Ericssons would not have caused this moment of atypical kinship.
Now, if you're a one-legged albino midget, and you bump into another one-legged albino midget on a train, that's a reason to strike up a conversation (especially as you've probably both fallen over). Simply owning an iPhone is not.
But it happened again a few days later, only this time it was with a bloke in a cafe. He talked to me for a good five minutes about how great he thought the handset was, and asked why I got one.
"I'm a journalist -- I didn't buy it. It was free."
That certainly stumped him, but it only encouraged him to talk to me more about the 'amazing things' Apple has done for the phone industry and how he recently bought a MacBook Pro.
I'm more than happy to talk tech with strangers, and I love being a part of the passionate tech community. But Apple isn't such an uber-niche group that it requires complete strangers to walk over and proclaim "OMG, I use an iPhone as well!"
Does it?
Comments on this post
You have an iPhone?! OMG so do I! iPHONE BUDDIES!
Posted by Rich Trenholm on Wed 30 July, 2008 3:16 PM
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Actually, those of us that don't own, and have no interest in owning, any Apple products are considering setting up a friendship group. But you can't join. Because you've got an iPhone like every other ****
Posted by Ian Morris on Wed 30 July, 2008 3:19 PM
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How sad is it when people are whining that someone talked to them. "oh no....a stranger talked to me".... Get over yourself. So a stranger acknowledged that you had an iPhone. It is a conversation piece right now.... big deal..... IF you really are that concerned.... take you phone...head to the mountains....and find a cave to hide in.... that should keep you far enough away from having anyone try and be human by conversing with you.... Get over yourself.
Posted by Anonymous on Wed 30 July, 2008 4:02 PM
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Well done on missing the point entirely. I'm totally all for people randomly coming and speaking to me, but this was SOLELY because we both had Apple products, and the first chick didn't even want to talk! Some regards, Nate
Posted by Nate Lanxon on Wed 30 July, 2008 4:16 PM
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Aw, I think that is really quite nice. In todays society when a pleasant !Good Morning" or a smile is getting as rare as hens teeth I think any excuse to have a bit of banter with a stranger has got to be a good thing. Back in the dim and distant past AA patrol men used to salute any motorist displaying an AA badge ( the car club that is, not people with a drink problem!); and don't VW Beetle owners do something similar?
Posted by Anonymous on Wed 30 July, 2008 4:32 PM
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Haha Nate, I heard you on radio 5 live a few days back! You actually gave a damn good interview and I only realised it was you at the end when they said your name; I didn't know it was within you to be so serious! However, surely all conversations are started by some common interest. For example, if you were wearing a band's shirt, and someone else was wearing the exact same shirt, surely somehow that would be acknowledged? Like with the first girl a simple smile may suffice, or a suitable reaction might be that of the second dude. Although, talking about something you both own can only go so far, and then bragging about how good it is when you both own it is surely a no-no?! Oh well. Don't moan. I find people to be generally nice. Although being part of the I-phone community isn't really niche enough to warrant the second guys response. Let's go beat him up. Using your i-phone, and then boast about how you've got this really cool "pain"-app that only you can purchase.
Posted by Robert on Wed 30 July, 2008 9:11 PM
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Well, pardon my french, but you're a prick. People are being nice and trying to be communicative, in a world where technology is taking a good part of your social life. I, for one, wouldn't want to be a friend of someone so into himself. I'll be friendly with the person who smiles at me, even if it's only because of my iPhone.
Posted by Bruno on Thu 31 July, 2008 3:16 AM
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I'm with Ian Morris People who have iPhones don't deserve friends. They shouldn't be friendly to each other, nor anyone else... they should just sit down and think about what they've done.
Posted by Jamie Abrahams on Thu 31 July, 2008 1:48 PM
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Mmm.. maby this is a good reason to get an iPhone after all(tech wise there are far superior phones to the iPhone). Next time im on the train, I will look out for some decent looking bird with a iPhone, strike up a conversation with her and maby get lucky...
Posted by Scip on Fri 1 August, 2008 10:03 AM
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I have to agree with the p**** school of thought. Maybe if you made a little effort the lass might have wanted to talk but given your blog you probably gave her a slightly pretentious "Do you know who I am? I do web videos and everything you commoner!" look and put her off, because to be fair you are coming across a little "holier than thou" about it. You're not better than these people because they chose to have an iphone while you got a freebie, so show some respect.
Posted by Dave Clark on Sat 2 August, 2008 9:49 AM
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Well if a girl waved a phone and smiled at me on a train i wouldn't complain thats for sure!
Posted by Steve on Thu 7 August, 2008 9:54 PM
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Dude... come on - that's so AWESOME! There's a lot of iPhone haters out there, but it's sooo cool that people with iPhones feel in some way connected to each other. It's like driving around Cornwall in a VW Beetle - EVERYONE has one, yet they ALWAYS give a friendly beep when they pass each other on the street. It's a beautiful thing, bringing people together :)
Posted by Mo on Tue 19 August, 2008 9:10 AM
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Without trying to put words into someone else's mouth, I think Nate's point is that he'd rather a stranger say hello for no reason rather than because they share a phone. And it is true that it would be unlikely with any other phone. Maybe it's because iPhone owners see themselves as being early adopters or something, and for many it's not something they've experienced before. I dunno. I'm just guessing.
Posted by Adam on Thu 21 August, 2008 4:55 PM
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Nate, what canI say, you are a bit of a door k'nob'. Far batter to start a conversation about an iphone that that irritating cold sore on your upper lip! My advice to you is to try and take yourself a little less seriously. Cheers, Dominic.
Posted by Dominic on Thu 11 September, 2008 11:09 PM
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You know what, I'm not surprised about this behaviour. I have two friends who own iphones and they have tried to convince me (quite passionately) that I should drop my Nokia and my current network and convert to the wonderful world of the iphone! I don't see that behaviour in people who own other phones. It is amazing that a phone can make people who perhaps wouldn't normally talk to strangers unless asked for directions, but will open up because of a kinship with a phone. Pixie
Posted by Pixie on Tue 14 April, 2009 4:06 PM
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