Without getting too hot and heavy on the issues that plague American society, including rampant consumerism and an idolization of brands that through excessive use of advertising give a false sense of comfort and belonging to shoppers, let’s dive in to this incredible news item from Fortune. They’re reporting that Bloomingdale’s, a store that sells name brand designer clothing for ungodly sums of money, is holding a sale this weekend at their flagship Manhattan store at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue. If you spend $1500 there, then you’ll be entitled to a free Apple iPad. I can’t make this stuff up folks. People who buy jeans that cost over $200 can save $500 if they all trample each other in an attempt to get Apple’s latest (and frankly useless) toy.
If you’ve got the kind of dough in your bank account to spend on high end clothes, then you probably don’t have any right to complain about the iPad’s price tag. Shoppers looking to buy $1500 on high end clothing and then sell the iPad for $500 may as well just shop at places like The Gap or Banana Republic instead since their clothes are just as good, but available at a third of the price, and manufactured by the same little Filipino boys and girls that make $1200 Gucci dresses.
Ask yourself this: do you really need another device in your house to access the internet with? Wouldn’t you rather spend the $500 you were going to blow on an iPad on something more useful like a new smartphone or how about one of the new MacBook Air computers? Trust me on this. And if you’re so hell bent on getting an iPad, at least wait half a year for the new version due to come out in April. It’ll probably be faster, lighter, and better in every possible way imaginable.