the iPhone vs. the iPhone buzz

I didn't buy an iPhone last week. However, I read so many articles about them, I felt like I did. The front page of the Saturday (June 30) issue of the Myrtle Beach Sun News business section even had an article picturing people in Charleston, S.C. (a 2.5-hour drive away), waiting in line for the iPhone. They looked vaguely similar to the people I'd seen in newspaper photos waiting for the iPhone in New York, L.A., and everywhere else hip enough to have their very own Apple store.

I recognize the power Apple holds over us, but after reading a bunch of articles and books about poverty in America, it's kind of hard for me to plunk down $599 for a telephone. And I actually wouldn't be plunking it. I'd be charging it to my medium-high-interest credit card, where it and months of other purchases wait to actually be paid for.

But I have read some very interesting things about the iPhone, and some very interesting things about the iPhone buzz. David Pogue, at the NY Times says it "matches most of its hype." Pogue also said, in another article, "With its new iPhone, Apple pulled off two masterful feats: creating the machine and creating the buzz around it." This reminds me so much of so many technical advancements in new media and other technologies in the past few years. So many things are announced with so much fanfare, but when the product or the technology is available, it just doesn't live up to the hype. Ten years ago, the Internet would change our lives. The only thing it's exceptionally good at though, is selling me things.

But the creation of hype, of buzz, of hope, is really what a lot of industry is actually about. Getting people excited about things is big business, and being able to get people excited about new media is hot big business. Maybe that's the popularity of Apple. They can really back up their claims. Sure, the iPhone took about 3 years from rumor to product, but they really nailed it when they did ship it.

Buzz though, is an interesting creature. "Viral" marketing has tried to sell buzz, but nothing can really replace word of mouth. Nothing can replace magazine and newspaper articles discussing your product. Nothing can replace news segments on television. Advertising that can't be paid for, the "buzz," is the most valuable. But the buzz is fickle. Burn the buzz once and the buzz won't take kindly to you next time. You don't even get the shame-on-me second chance to burn it again. And the buzz-savvy consumer is very intelligent. He or she can always tell the difference between real buzz and paid-for hype.

How have buzz (the un-buyable word-of-mouth marketing) and hype (the paid-for marketing) changed since the shift to the Web? Well, you can say they've just both found more audience members. You can barely vist a Web site without seeing an ad for something. I can't even check my gmail without seeing an ad for a shoe store. I can't check the weather online without seeing an ad for refinancing my mortgage. I can't check my email without getting offers for drugs. But the buzz has been infiltrated. People are paid, well-paid, to sit around and type up ads on messageboards and forums. Posing as regular users, these sentries infiltrate and try to scam you into buying things. The savvy consumers see right through it, and the buzz is protected. It has an even bigger audience too. No matter what product you want to discuss, there's probably a place on the Web to do it. Your real life friends aren't into talking about the iPhone? That's okay, just find a million new friends on the Web that want to nit-pick every nuance. The buzz has grown, because people can talk to more people.

What will be the long-term effects of new media on buzz? We'll have to wait and see. Short term though, I haven't bought an iPhone, but I'm eager to try one out in person. If that's all the hold the buzz has over me, maybe it needs to work harder.