So, I’ve been getting the question quite a lot lately, and I’ve decided to finally just spell it all out for everyone. Not only are people asking me online, but offline too. So now I’ll just tell them to go to the blog and they can read the whole rant for themselves. First I’ll go into the plethora of legitimate reasons, and then the final not so legitimate ones. :) Now you people know I’m a Microsoft and Dell fangirl. Will love both brands forever and a day, so obviously this comes from a slightly biased place. It doesn’t make the facts any less true.
These are not in order of importance, just in order of how I remember them.
First – the “if it’s not an iPhone” commercials… really? I can’t read books because I don’t have an iPhone, I have an HTC Arrive, or an HTC EVO 3D (Windows Phone 7 and Android) that can prove otherwise… just soooooo arrogant and SMUG. The way they act that if you don’t have these devices you can’t do all of these things, that are FLAT OUT LIES! Most of the features of the latest version if iOS have been part of the Android operating system and even Windows Phone 7 for quite a while.
Second – People just follow them because everyone else does, and often they REALLY don’t even know why. They say “oh Apple is just better”… really? give me some hard data on that, cause all I see is “more expensive”. most of the people that say that can’t pinpoint exactly what it is that makes Apple “better”. They talk about hardware quality and service, but sure if you spend the same amount of money on a super high end PC, you will get that same build quality and service. I have always purchased Dell XPS machines. They are a bit more expensive, but the service and build quality is extremely better than an Inspiron model. The reason is Inspiron is priced for the general market. The hardware and service isn’t going to be as good as an XPS machine. You get what you pay for. It’s not that Apple is better, it’s that they are more expensive because they use higher quality parts. You can get the same high quality in a PC.
Third – Articles like this http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2389248,00.asp that state…”Apple’s HTML5 demos, for example, flat out won’t function unless you’re browsing with Safari. So much for “standards.” which also interesting in that article is that Safari was either last or second to last in EVERY SINGLE BENCHMARK they did. suuurreee Apple is “better”. This is an article that kinda set me off one day. Seriously, why must Apple control every single point of the user experience? Their demo will ONLY function if you are browsing with Safari? Even though it has been proven that Safari is one of the worst browsers out there?
Fourth – When I get an email from Barnes and Noble that you can no longer browse for books within iOS’s Nook app. Really Apple? Are you THAT threatened by another book store that you have to limit their app?? Why not let the USER decide which app they like best.
Which leads me to Fifth – Apple thinks theirs is the only way of thinking, so it doesn’t let you do anything with their devices besides what they decide is how you should best use them. They don’t “allow” you to use flash on iOS, they don’t “allow” you to think about how you work, and let you customize exactly what you want to see on your home screen (such as Android with widgets). They make you use their products in the way they think is best, and I’m here to say, that what is best for you isn’t always what is best for me.
Sixth – People always saying that it doesn’t get viruses… it only doesn’t get viruses because they only have a 10% market share of the computing world. If a hacker could take down a major corporation by writing a virus for Apple, they would, and they will….as evidenced by today’s news of a Mac virus http://gizmodo.com/5899352/mac-flashback-trojan-find-out-if-youre-one-of-the-600000-infected. The truth of the matter is that of course they are vulnerable to viruses, it’s just that there are less corporations and less of the entire population using the products. The people who create viruses are going to want the widest spread infections. That means they will go after the largest market share of the population.
Seventh – The crazy crazy fanboys. I admitted at the beginning that I’m a Microsoft and Dell fangirl. When Windows 8 is released, I’ll probably buy it. Will I wait outside to get my copy? No. They are legions of sheep blindly following Apple into the depths of eternity. If Apple makes it, they will buy it. These people and some of my FB friends have made Steve Jobs into something along the grounds of Christ-like. As if buying an iMac or iPad has changed their lives so drastically, they have lost their own personal savior, and he was here to save their souls from technology sin. Steve Jobs was just a business man who was a genius in marketing and a genius in making you feel stupid if you didn’t buy his product. Speaking of….
Eighth - The releasing of their products. People ask my husband why he doesn’t like Apple. They need to understand that he has been using a Mac since around 1985. Hands down, that’s longer than anyone in his FB friends have had one. He exclusively used a Mac up until 2001, when we got married. We think Apple products are easily overrated, and overpriced. The biggest complaint I have with them is their crafty marketing to slightly tweak an iPhone or iPod and call it a new model, year after year. They had the technology to make a product better and/or the same as the current market, but refuse to do so, because they have secured their place in the industry around mobile phones and mp3 players. Both of which, Apple did not invent. They are just milking the fanboys every year instead of putting all of the technology they can into a great phone, they decide to space it out so that you “need” to upgrade next year. Then when people try to distinguish one from the other they get all upset! Don’t call it an iPad 3… it’s just the iPad! Yes, Please make it impossible for me to find the right case for my particular device. ”I have an iPad”… “ok what year did you purchase your iPad, that will help me determine if I need to sell you this iPad case or this other iPad case.”
Ninth – Now, I know it’s not nice to speak ill of the deceased, but the Steve Jobs worship. This bothered me before he passed, so it’s not like I didn’t think this when he was alive, so I don’t think I need to change my opinion just because he’s passed on. What he did, was take existing products and make them better looking, and arguably easier to use. In my opinion, he was the master of marketing and telling you that you needed one of his products. I feel sad for his family, close friends, and colleagues for their loss. I don’t feel sad for ANYONE who thinks they knew Steve Jobs simply because they bought an Apple product. Get over yourselves! Also when he took back over Apple in 1997 he stopped the companies charitable efforts, and there are tons of reports on how hard he was to work for. Then everyone says that Steve Jobs was such an innovator! Really he wasn’t. He was not the first person to invent an mp3 player (Anyone remember Creative Zen or Nomad or the Diamond Rio?). He was not the first person to invent a tablet (Microsoft was releasing tablets 10 years ago!). He was not the first person to invent a smartphone or an app store (Remember the apps available for the Palm Treo). All of these things existed before. The one thing I’ll give him is that he was an EXCELLENT marketer. He knew how to package a product, make it pretty and give it mass appeal, and make sure that everyone wanted it. Which now leads me to…
Tenth – iOS. iOS is the EXACT same user interface that Palm Pilot had back in 1998. It’s a wall of apps. Yes, it’s much prettier than it used to be on the Palm, but it’s the SAME USER EXPERIENCE! Now we have Android with widgets where I can glance at my tablet and know exactly what my todo list is, my calendar for the day, the items on my shopping list, which of my favorite blogs have been updated, how many calories I have left to consume for the day, and the latest emails I’ve gotten. Without opening anything! Just by looking down at my widgets on the home screen of my tablet. With Windows Phone 7 I’ve got live tiles. Same thing. I can look down and see exactly where I stand with Twitter and Facebook notifications, emails, my calendar, to do list, etc. There is no reason to have to stare at a wall of apps and open several different things to be able to find out what’s going on in your day, and people think that THAT is easier?? They just don’t know any better, and are following the crowd that tells them the iPhone is the best thing ever.
The not so legitimate reason I hate apple is that I know Microsoft products inside and out. I can fix anything on a PC. When I stare at a Mac screen to try and fix something, I’m a bit lost, since I don’t work with it everyday, and let’s just be honest. I do NOT like feeling lost on technology. :D
So there it is. My top ten reasons for hating Apple and their products. I’m sure there are more, but this rant is already longer than most of my posts, and so I’ll end with this… don’t blindly follow a company or their products, do some research and find out what products best suit YOUR needs. Don’t follow the crowd. Stand up for yourself and get the technology that best fits you. If it’s an Apple product, I will stand behind you, as long as you have checked out the other options first.
Sarah Kimmel
