voracity | # 201 | 2010-08-27, 17:20 | Report

I'm not quite so fixated on the idea that Apple is bad that I've ever felt the need to put together a dossier on their bad behaviour. BUT...

My instinct tells me Apple has a rotten core. It's told me that since the 80s, and I haven't seen anything that's changed my mind. I think their business model --- i.e. control everything --- is socially dangerous if it gets out of control, but ultimately this approach is not very robust. Apples/Macs were beaten by PC clones in the 1980s because of this; the iPhone/iPad will be beaten by Android(/ChromeOS/Meego?) clones for the same reason.

Apple is just a company, every company looks after its own interests, and I have no problem with that so long as the company doesn't wield too much power. (Apple is nowhere near wielding too much power.)

I have a bigger problem with Apple users (not all, of course). There's nothing wrong with liking and recommending a brand, but Apple has a disproportionate number of users who go well beyond that kind of thing. Like born again Christians, an uncomfortable number of Apple users feel they need to spread the word, and spread it _hard_, and I've never had much patience for preachers. They also make claims about design and usability that have never made sense to me. Apple certainly polish and simplify their products better than any other company; but polish and simplicity are not the same as good design and usability. Much mischief has been caused by this false assumption.

Apple and the cult-ure that surrounded it never bothered me in the past, because it didn't affect anything I did. But these days, ideas promoted by Apple are starting to infect my world and are limiting my choices. Restrictive app stores; locked down devices; DRM; the bundle-everything-possible philosophy; the reintroduction of subscription business models; support for royalty-laden rather than free standards; Apple-like hardware interfaces; simplicity for simplicity's sake. I'm not suggesting these are unique to Apple; but these days I have to worry about them because of Apple.

But it's not all bad. There are two things I would like to thank Apple for: the first is taking touch-screen interfaces very seriously; the second is their dedication to polishing their products. I hope the latter rubs off on competitors (apologies for the bad pun).

sepehrsfmech | # 202 | 2010-08-27, 17:29 | Report

i left it for a day and it reached 200 posts wow

ysss | # 203 | 2010-08-27, 17:43 | Report

This thread has grown legs and a ****.
It's now running around and ****ing everyone in the ***.

ootpek | # 204 | 2010-08-27, 18:16 | Report

Heh...my cousin has one. He is a fat fingered 300 pound troglodyte with no fashion sense. The day he bought one it became uncool.

Ironically...he hates it too. Haha.

jedi | # 205 | 2010-08-27, 18:20 | Report

My popcorn has run out. Anyone got any spare?

Dave999 | # 206 | 2010-08-27, 18:27 | Report

Use your Iphone to call in some more

RFS-81 | # 207 | 2010-08-27, 18:41 | Report

With an OP like we saw, what happened here is pretty much the norm in loosely moderated internet forums like this. The only thing that amazes me is that people start threads like this without realizing what will happen.

shallimus | # 208 | 2010-08-27, 18:46 | Report

Post-ironic faux-confusion? Or what?

It's not OP's first day on the internet.

pagesix1536 | # 209 | 2010-08-27, 18:59 | Report

Apple's not going anywhere... even if you dislike their products, the products you do like will still be measured by how they compete with an Apple product. They set the bar, and everyone else tries to play catch-up.

slender | # 210 | 2010-08-27, 19:08 | Report

What bar? UI fluidness bar and easiness of usage by mobel: "One size fits all"