Remediated media is very common with all technologies, but one company tends to stand out. Specifically Apple’s products have encapsulated remediation by combining all of their products into one small mobile object: the iPhone. The iPhone has remediated the Mac laptop and the iPod touch to generate a networked society that was revolutionary in the cell industry. Apple’s iPhone press release shows how combining the Internet and music in one device removes the necessity the iPod or potentially even a Mac.

Apple® today introduced iPhone, combining three products—a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod® with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, searching and maps—into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting users control iPhone with just their fingers. iPhone also ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, which completely redefines what users can do on their mobile phones (Kerris and Dowling).

In compacting the iPhone with Apple products, the iPhone simply becomes the iPod and Mac. With this, the iPhone results in refashioning the iPod and Mac to produce a product with all-encompassing functions Apple.

The consolidation of the iPhone interface with the iPod and Mac has helped establish Apple as an exclusive network. Within the Apple software, iTunes, iCloud, and iPhoto are programmed in each device to produce connectivity between the products. Therefore, with the production of the iPhone, already purchased music in iTunes, photographed images stored in iPhoto, documents held in the iCloud, and more can be shared interchangeably with the Apple devices. With this, networks within Apple products are constantly associated to the software because when an Apple iPod or Mac user purchases an iPhone, their music, images, and documents can be directed to the iPhone. Furthermore, in consumer culture, the network of this software in iTunes, iCloud, and iPhoto heightens the iPhone. “iCloud allows users to sync their data across multiple devices. For example, a document created on your Mac is automatically synced to your iPad and iPhone. Therefore, your iPhone becomes more valuable if you also own a Mac or iPad. In other words, the more Apple devices you own, the more valuable each of those devices become” (Tablot). Ultimately, the synchronous software in Apple’s devices makes the iPhone become more powerful in linking the products together to produce a network.

The iPhone not only established a network through the software (iTunes, iCloud, and iPhoto), but within applications like iMessage (a text message application) and FaceTime (a video chat application). With iMessage and FaceTime, only Apple owners are capable of communicating with other Apple owners with these applications. Because of this, Apple users are held in another networked community sustained by their product. This network created by Apple products makes the iPhone a spectacle because of how it emits an exclusive communication with other Apple users. Because of this, Apple is not seen as a product but a network with other users and with the products and software within the device. This network constructs the iPhone as an ideal way of life through the concept of connectivity. Because the iPhone has a conceptual vision with the network, the iPhone can be considered a spectacle. Debord identifies the spectacle as, “capital to such a degree of accumulation that it becomes an image” (Mirzoeff, 265). The more Apple products a person has, the more valuable the products become, therefore owners are ‘profiting’ on the consumption of Apple. While Apple is making their products a system of capital, Apple’s products are not viewed individually, but as a broad concept of networking through the software and applications. Because of this, Apple has created the iPhone as an abstracted spectacle through the layers of networking.

1. iPhone as the Virtual Window