Some redditors clapped back at criticisms of the price when Issey Miyake is involved. — Apple
Apple just dropped a new limited-edition, possibly useless, but definitely expensive wearable iPhone accessory: the iPhone Pocket.
It’s a cloth purse-like, well, pocket for your iPhone. It seems sort of like a phone chain or strap meets narrow purse. The fabric is meant to stretch to fit not only your phone but also some other necessities.
Apple collaborated with Japanese fashion house Issey Miyake to create the new product.
“The design of iPhone Pocket speaks to the bond between iPhone and its user, while keeping in mind that an Apple product is designed to be universal in aesthetic and versatile in use,” Yoshiyuki Miyamae, design director of Miyake Design Studio, said in a statement.
The iPhone Pocket is debuting in eight colors for its shorter strap design, which will retail at US$149.95 (RM619), and three colors for the long strap design, which will retail at US$229.95 (RM950). It is being marketed as a unisex wearable that can be worn in many different ways.
But if you were in middle school in the early aughts (this reporter writes from experience) and were blessed to have an iPod, you might remember a similar product called the iPod Sock.
The iPod Sock differs from the Pocket because it wasn’t marketed as a wearable or a fashion product. It was marketed for protecting your beloved iPod from damage in your purse, backpack, gym bag, whatever.
Popular YouTuber and Apple tech enthusiast iJustine posted a TikTok about the product similarities. She had a box of original iPod Socks from the 2000s, which came in blue, green, pink and gray.
Reddit’s r/technology has a rousing conversation about the new accessory. One user thought that the iPhone Pocket ad was debuting a new budget iPhone for roughly US$230.
Another responded, “Omg. I finally opened the article and it really is just a piece of cloth. for >US$200.”
Other users accused Apple of being deaf to the current economy and the state of the average person’s finances. A surprising amount of users are comparing the new accessory to the “mankini” from Borat – maybe it’s the lemon colorway.
But users say they know a luxury designer item when they see it. Some redditors clapped back at criticisms of the price when Issey Miyake is involved. There are fans of the designer house that would pay money for a luxury item by the designer of the infamous Steve Jobs turtleneck.
Apple isn’t the only company leaning on nostalgia to sell things. Motorola released a new Razr phone that folds and flips open, reminiscent of the popular Razr phone of 2004.
Even fashion trends are coming back around, with articles from fashion sites claiming corsets, tube tops and platform boots are coming back en vogue, proving everything old is once again new, at least where fashion and phone accessories are concerned. – oregonlive.com/Tribune News Service
