The Anti-Allegory of the Cave

Flickr pic by Wsyz

So there are lot of pictures and articles and hubbub... but it took me a few days... and an actual visit to realize that Apple's new store entices us into Plato's cave, rather than escape.

This effect is heightened when you go down on a nice sunny day. There are those who argue, and rightly so, that Fifth Avenue commerce is hardly reality, but in a literal sense, there are obstacles, climate, risks, food, beauty and so on. But what do shoppers do, they step down, away from the light. They position themselves in front of the screen that projects images that aren't there, merely forms. Or perhaps they put on headphones and listen to musicians scattered across the globe. Perhaps most ironic, that for the obsessed, it was their own philosopher-king that drew them into the cave.