First Hong Kong Apple Store draws massive crowd on opening day - Page 2

... and now he/she comes here.

We'll make you happy ConradJoe.

I was happy with the product. It is an excellent product.

But purchasing products, IMO, does little or nothing WRT general happiness. At least not for me. I'm glad I learned that while I was still a kid.

Yet here you are, in a Forum devoted to discussing such products..... (and one you are consistently negative on).

Hypocritical.

That is something I don't understand either. They are a corporation, and not an entertainment venture. I can understand being a fan of a movie star or a singer. But I don't understand being a fan of a consumer electronics company.

I have a Vox guitar amplifier. I think that it is cool that the early brit-pop bands like the Beatles used Vox amps. I also think that Rickenbacker guitars are cool, for the same reason. But I bought the amp because it was a good choice for what I wanted, and not because it made me part of a club.

Perhaps you misunderstood my comment about what happened "a million years ago".

I will stipulate that I am a horrible person in every way imaginable.

Now give it a rest, please.

1) You stated you bought a consumer electronic in college to stave off depression. I don't tend to think of college students as kids.

2) You're also reading way too much into the term happy. Again, being happy with a purchase does not mean you're finding a panacea for your depression.

"A million years ago, when I was in college, I was feeling depressed. I went to a local stereo store and bought a dbx compander for my sound system. I thought it would cheer me up."

Oh, I read your comment. Starting off with hyperbole doesn't mean you can imply that the rest of your comment was also in jest, especially considering the additional comments you've made on the topic.

I hate those events. Horribly fake and nothing to do with Apple products or software.

: …pure and complete happiness?
: Pot smoker, no doubt!

I believe only stupid people are happy, they live in perpetual certainty, they bear NO doubt.
Like people use to say, the devil is in the detail, a good lived life as well.

…
Felicidade sim,
Tristeza ñ tem fim.

Sadness has no boundary nor end,
Happiness do always end.

My lousy translation from a Brazilian poem.

No such implication was intended.

But don't let that stop you!

Seeing only Fenders back in the day I too thought it was cool when something different came on the stage with the Beatles. Vox and Rickenbacker... very strange... very desirable.

I remember too that there were several people in our small city that also loved talking about guitars. It made them happy and, in their own way, they were a club. Guitars were a part of their passion for music and their enthusiasm was electric (pardon the pun) when they got together and passed their guitars around and discussed the different sounds they made. It may not have been specific to one company but there were also Gibson fanatics and there were Fender fanatics.

There's a certain type of energy created when people connect with and enjoy certain products. Early VW vans, early Honda CRVs (as examples)... and, in Apple's case... all or most of its tech products. ... and because of this Mac User Groups were created. Clubs to share this enthusiasm and energy.

You might not get it and, in a way, I find that sad (not that I feel sorry for you) that someone isn't able to participate in that type energy... but to each his own.

Don't worry about me - there's plenty of stuff I enjoy. Everything from subatomic physics to the local underground music scene. Buying stuff, however, doesn't do much for me.

Just last night I went to a couple of different shows. The first was in an industrial loft, in a building populated by artists and machine shops. 4 different bands played, the third being the one I wanted to see. They play "noise jazz", and I had missed their prior show, in a basement across the street. The headliner, who I had not heard of, was GREAT. I bought one of their CDs.

After that, I went to another show in the basement of an apartment building. More great music. I saw my buddy Brendan there, who plays guitar with a neo-punk band I saw a few nights previously, playing in a defunct retail store surrounded by trucking companies.

Earlier this week I want to a lecture at Harvard Medical School regarding recent advances in mind/machine interfaces.

But going to a newly-opened retail store at the local mall is not something I enjoy. Indeed, it is not something I even understand. But I can live with that deficiency. To each his own.

Has a single human being ever lined up to buy an Android?

Not like they line up to buy an Apple.

Really?

For a company that competes with two cartels, Windows vendors and Android vendors ( strangely the two cartels whole looks alike ) Apple deserves applauses.

: Not humans, Droids.

Do you, by any chance, drink Dos Equis beer?

I don't always shop at malls, but when I do, I prefer the Apple Store.

Keep buying, my friends!

Oh... I get it now... you seem to be saying two different things. 1. Equates their happiness with buying things. and 2. Equates their happiness with going to a newly opened retail store.

Two entirely different things.

Buying things is a personal pleasure that can only benefit you and going to a newly opened store can be a source of sharing something with other people who have a common interest.... very similar to the activities that you describe as your type of enjoyment. Hey... some people get a kick out of going to stranger's funerals.

... and, as we've both said, to each his own.

Love that meme!

Let me put it in the simplest way possible, as I view it.

Many activities can be considered pleasurable to people... Buying stuff, feeling part of community, posting on forums, eating food they like. For people within "normal ranges" they find a balance of happiness and stress or somehow just push on.

Medically though, unipolar depression and bipolar depression are quite unique cases where chemical imbalances, differences in brain structure etc. can be observed, on top of behavioural and emotional symptoms. With depression, it's not like you feel things are "sucky", it's as though the "bottom has dropped out from under you", and this feeling persists for days or weeks at a stretch. Suicidal ideation, even if philosophically considered in "normal" states, takes on an edge of more planning than usual. "What if I..." etc.

Without medication or psychological counselling, anything can help alleviate some symptoms of depression... Such as excercise, love, friends, sex, Apple products, Android products, a hike in the park, lectures, music, work, study, books, eating and so on. Recreational drugs can boost feelings but have short-term and/or unpredictable longer-term effects.

For sustainability and stability though I think medication with appropriate psychiatry and psychology form a good base from which you can then apply those things that are pleasurable.

The analogy is high blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol. Yes, lifestyle, diet and herbs can all help but in combination with suitable medication you get the best outcome.

I'll get off my soap box soon but mental illness is not a moral weakness, nor an excess of emotions. It is a distinct and treatable medical condition. Unipolar depression can be curable if there are one or only few occurrences and a later age of onset. Bipolar is treatable but not curable at this stage.

I'm sorry to hear that. Buying technology stuff always brightens my day! Waiting in line? Not so much.

20 MEGAbytes? That would hold, what--about 20-25 porn pictures? Maybe 4-5 MP3 songs?
For $1499? And people whine today about PC laptops costing over $1000... \

I do understand that dbx companders were recently found at a dig site in Africa's Rift Valley. It proves that homo erectus used analog audio tools.

Our late 80s 11 X 17 printer cost just over $19,000... and the IIci and 17 inch monitor rang in at over $7000.

You're right. Possessions aren't the core of happiness, nor should they be. If you're trying to fill a hole in your life with an object, then it will fail, save for a short period at best.


Waiting in line usually irritates me. But keep in mind that getting into line with people that have some interest in common can be a social event.

Anyway, at this event, once the store was open, you honestly didn't need to wait in line for more than 10 minutes to get into the store. It was no big deal, and everyone has iPhones and iPads to pass the time.