Why I hate Apple

Posted by Kromey at 5:11pm Jan 3 '12
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Debated whether to put it here or on Computers, but ultimately I think it will get better exposure here, and despite the manifesto-esque format I do want to discuss it.

Microsoft catches a lot of bad rap as being the tech world's "evil empire", and I'll certainly concede that despite a lot of positive changes at the company in recent years it's not an entirely undeserved moniker. Apple, on the other hand, seems to get a free pass no matter what it does.

Not from me, though.

First, I'll give credit where credit is due: Apple has one helluva damned good marketing department. Possibly the best one on the planet, as it has convinced millions of people -- and not just the fawning fanbois, either -- to purchase the iPhone 4s despite the widespread audio problem Apple has ignored since launch. 108+ pages of customers complaining about the same issue on Apple's "support" forum, and not even a simple "We're aware of the problem" in response? Nor even a weasel-worded "We're looking into it"?

Talk about shitty customer service. And it's hardly unique: it's right on par with, for example, the still-unfixed iOS 5 Safari cache bug -- an issue that's been plaguing Apple slaves -- er, I mean, customers -- for roughly as long as the 4s's audio problems, albeit though with far less noise.

But shitty customer service isn't really enough to truly hate a company. So long as they put out decent products that let you do what you want with them, there's still something to love, right? Right!

Too bad Apple's not in that category, though. For starters, Apple's definition of "freedom" tells you all you need to know -- they don't want you to use their products as you, the paying customer, want, but rather they want to control every facet of how you use them. Their war on Flash was a perfect example of that -- they couldn't let Flash, nor any other app framework, onto their devices, lest they undermine their own profits from their app store.

You want true freedom on your portable devices, look no further than the myriad Android devices, where in addition to Google's app market, you can also install one from Amazon, your carrier/manufacturer likely pre-installs their own, plus you can even find adult-oriented marketplaces like MiKandi (Google it at your own risk -- NSFW).

Apple will have none of that. No, instead of giving you the freedom to use their devices your way, you're given "freedom from" competition to Apple's products. Even without getting into the totally arbitrary and capricious Apple App Store approval process, Apple's own official developer terms prohibit any app that duplicates the functionality of an official Apple app, as well as any app that doesn't give Apple's greedy accountants a slice of the pie for in-app purchases -- as with Apple's ban of Sony's e-reader.

And we haven't even mentioned the "Apple tax" that forces Mac customers to pay (sometimes considerably) more for comparable hardware specs than Windows or (even more so) Linux users. Ah, now we have.

Apple is a company that litigates offensively (in both senses of the word) while hypocritically denouncing similar behavior in its competitors; Apple uses legal threats and action in attempts to stifle free speech/press, and usurps assumed police authority to coerce people into allowing Apple investigators to search their house; Apple is a company that blames others instead of simply apologizing to its customers when it screws up. In short, Apple embodies everything its fanboys and apologists denounce in its competitors while simultaneously and hypocritically making excuses for in Apple's behavior.

Not to speak ill of the dead, but I do have hope that Apple's disgustingly anti-consumer business practices will change now that infamous control-freak Jobs is out of the picture. In about the same way that a snowball has hope that Hell will freeze over before it melts...
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