iSheep

iSheep was originally a SanDisk marketing description of users of iPod music player instead of SanDisk's own Sansa player.

The iSheep mascot, listening to an iPod.

The marketing term is borrowed by some in technology sites and Internet forums as an insult to a person or a group of people who is a fan of Apple Inc. products, especially those who tend to purchase products from the brand not regarding its actual value or functionality, but the brand name, logo and the status symbol associated with it.[1]

The term is often used by android users to bash Apple fanboys who over-advocate or promote the 'Apple cult' in online discussions, those usually involve fanboy wars over popular smartphone brands or manufacturers.

History

Origins

The term was introduced in May 2006 when SanDisk launched the "iDon’t" campaign to advertise the SanDisk Sansa.[2] iDon't calls on "free thinkers" to "break-free from restrictive formats and a single source for music," with slogans such as "You do not need to follow." The Campaign's site offered T-shirts, posters, and stickers featuring a monkey and asking, "Are you an iChimp?" Another image showed a sheep and says, "iSheep say Baah." while another showed a donkey trying to bite a carrot dangling in front of its face with the slogan "iFollow."[3][4][5]

The iSheep campaign was abandoned in July 2006, to give way to the "Lil'Monsta" mascot campaign.[6]

Behavioural patterns

A common behaviour of “iSheep” is labelling new features and capabilities of products of competitors (e.g. Galaxy S4 in 2013) as superfluous or feature creep and flooding online forums with their criticism, while labelling similar features on Apple devices as innovative,[7] which is a form of double standard. One example is the Galaxy S4's “dual camera” mode, which allowed capturing photos and videos from both cameras simultaneously, which was labelled “feature creep” by forum users.

More examples are fast charging (Samsung Galaxy Note 4 in 2014), wireless charging (Galaxy S3 in 2012), multi-camera systems (HTC One M7, LG G3, Huawei P20 Pro, Huawei Mate 9), AR camera (Sony Xperia Z2 in 2014), water resistance (2012: Xperia V, 2013: Galaxy S4 active, 2014: Galaxy S5, early 2016: Galaxy S7), 1080p front-camera video recording (Galaxy S4, early 2013) and 2160p video recording (Galaxy Note 3 in 2013), all of which were features Android-based mobile phones had years ahead of iPhones, which were labelled as unneeded and/or superfluous by critics on forums and social media by the same people that would consider it as innovative when Apple introduced the feature on their mobile phones years later.

In addition, Air View on the Galaxy S4 (released early 2013) was often mentioned in essay articles that labelled it as feature creep.[8][9] Unlike “Air View”, the similar 3D touch feature on iPhones since 6s (late 2015) is not known to be repeatedly labelled as “feature creep” by critics.

Another observation is that the same Apple iPhone users who historically stated the slim build of Apple iPhones as a reason for purchase (e.g. iPhone 6, iPhone 6s), purchase the iPhone 11 despite of its 8.3mm thickness,[10] which means that the thickness suddenly does not matter when Apple made a mobile phone thicker than usual.

This behaviour is caused by a mixture of cognitive biases, including the sunk cost fallacy, confirmation bias and cognitive dissonance.[11]

Apple is notorious for historically favour design over functionality and robustness. One example is the iPhone 6s, released on September 9th 2015 was equipped with a battery that could only hold up to 1715 mAh, which is considered rather menial compared to other mobile phones such as the Galaxy Note 4 (2014) with 3220 mAh or the Galaxy Note 2 (2012) with 3100 mAh.


References
  1. "www.vectronicsappleworld.com/2006/0804.asp". Archived from the original on 2007-05-20.
  2. LC Angell (May 22, 2006). "SanDisk launches 'iDon't' anti-iPod campaign". iLounge. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  3. Lance Ulanoff (June 12, 2006). "Are iPod Owners Sheep?". PC Magazine. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  4. "Une campagne de pub se moque de l'usager de l'iPod, mouton de la mode" (in French). AFP. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  5. T.O. Whenham (May 23, 2006). "SanDisk launches anti-iPod campaign". Mobile Magazine. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
  6. "SanDisk Sacrifices 'iSheep' Ads To 'Lil' Monsta'". PC Magazine. Retrieved October 12, 2012.
  7. PsychologyToday article: “How Emotions Influence What We Buy – The emotional core of consumer decision-making” (unquestioned brand loyalty)
  8. Video “Feature creep plagues Samsung's new Galaxy S4”
  9. Article on the Galaxy S4 by phys.org
  10. TheVerge.com article: “Apple’s new iPhone finally sacrifices thinness for battery life – Function over form”
  11. VentureHarbour.com article: “9 Cognitive Biases That Influence Buyer Decisions” (published 2019-07-09)
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