Apple Threatens Wedding Industry Jobs with New Patent
Still basking in the success of their recent iPad launch, Apple are not content with grabbing massive market share of the music, entertainment and mobile phone markets. A recent Patent Application shows that they plan to take a slice of the Wedding Market too threatening jobs and livelihoods.
The Application shows a wedding invitation system where wedding party members could access maps, calendar reminders, gift lists and receive wedding invitations electronically through their smartphones. If brides and grooms and wedding planners start moving over to this new system it could be catastrophic for thousands of creative wedding stationers around the world.
Apple iPad
“This could be a serious threat to our livelihoods and our staff’s jobs. We have put our life savings into our wedding stationery business, Ivy Ellen, which launched at the National Wedding Shows in October and recently showed at the prestigious Designer Wedding Show. The irony of course is that much of the artwork for our cards is prepared on Apple Macs, being a Mac fan I’m very disappointed in them,” – says wedding stationer, Jeremy Corner, Ivy Ellen Ltd.
One of the advantages of the new system is that it is could be more environmentally friendly as it uses a paperless system and therefore appeal to the Green Wedding sector.
“Three to four trees are planted for every tree cut down to make the paper for our wedding stationery. Our products actually grow forests. According to The Sunday Times scientists have found that performing two internet searches is comparable to bringing a kettle to boil. God knows what C02 those billions of daily internet clicks are really emitting, but online wedding stationery systems certainly won’t be planting trees like our FSC accredited suppliers are” – says Jeremy
He continues: “I think it will be a real shame if couples move away from traditional invitation sending. It feels so special to receive something personal like a wedding invitation or wedding thank you card through the post. Your wedding is the one of the most important days of your life, it deserves more than an email.”
Read Ivy Ellen’s blog http://ivyellenweddinginvitations.co.uk/weddinginvitations/
Details of Apple’s new patent can be found at patentlyapple.com
Details of Paper’s great environmental story can be found at twosides.info
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This is the first I had heard of this. Apple really are trying to cover every angle to get customers nowadays. In my business I have already noticed RSVP cards have been replaced with a simple email address in the invitations. Although this move from Apple may not have a detrimental effect for a while to come, it is still a worrying prospect. We are going to have to play on our customer's traditional values and convince them the old paper invitations are the most romantic way to go!
Call me crazy, but – Apple isn't covering any new ground here. My livelihood isn't any more threatened than it was before the iPad was launched or this patent came to light. I can already bring up all that information on my phone or computer, on a website. We can't just decry the technology for competing with our business; we have to adapt to the technology and even use it to our benefit. And, ultimately, the market – the customers – will determine what they want to buy or use. Blaming Apple because we've attached ourselves to outdated business models isn't useful or productive.