Products like iPhone 'offer true benefits'

The chief rabbi for the UK, Lord Sacks, is attempting to defend a statement he made linking Apple to an overly consumerist culture, says AppleInsider. "The consumer society was laid down by the late Steve Jobs coming down the mountain with two tablets, iPad one and iPad two, and the result is that we now have a culture of iPod, iPhone, iTune, i, i, i," he initially commented at an interfaith reception held in front of the Queen last week. "When you’re an individualist, egocentric culture and you only care about 'i’, you don’t do terribly well."

The problem, he argued, is that consumerism creates ingratitude because people become unhappy with what they already have. "The consumer society is in fact the most efficient mechanism ever devised for the creation and distribution of unhappiness," said Sacks. He suggested that people should instead spend time thanking God for what they have.

Sacks' office has, however, since issued a statement to AppleInsider on the matter. "The Chief Rabbi meant no criticism of either Steve Jobs personally or the contribution Apple has made to the development of technology in the 21st century," the message reads. "He admires both and indeed uses both an iPhone and an iPad on a daily basis. The Chief Rabbi was simply pointing out the potential dangers of consumerism when taken too far."

by MacNN Staff