Apple toys…
Continuing our discussion from Tuesday about rampant commercialism, I find Apple annoying. Contrary to many people’s opinions, they’ve become like a Wall Street bank—too big to fail! It would have been enough that they tried to control the ebook business to turn me against them, but I’ve disliked them for years. Starting with the old toaster MACs, they’ve never made a computer that I like. Of course, in my old day job, powerful UNIX workstations were required, but I still had to make presentations. Between Microsoft and Apple, my cursing vocabulary became extensive—in several languages, mind you. It was the opposite of trying to crack a walnut with a sledgehammer. I needed the latter and Apple just couldn’t deliver. Still can’t.
Now that we’re on iPhone 6, I suspect that the geeky gadget lovers are having paroxysms of delight and orgasmic gizmo-dreams. Who knows? Maybe that iPhone has more computing power than those old workstations, but that’s comparing Apples to oranges. Modern servers and workstations still make anything Apple makes about as useful as William Shatner’s tricorder—flashy but fake. It’s all window dressing, even the apps. That goes for Samsung smart phones too. (I’m an equal opportunity kibitzer.) You own of these, you’re a slave to your apps. Just try to combine their functionalities or add new functionalities. Just try to read all those sliding icons (tiles, in MS 8.1 terminology) when you’re on the beach. And just try to make your data secure—some Hollywood starlets found out the hard way that it’s not.
I laugh at the modern generations complaining about the NSA’s invasion of privacy when they seem to do everything with their phones to guarantee that their privacy will be invaded—not by our government or a foreign government but by commercial interests eager to sell them something, anything. Can your smart phone connect to a wi-fi network? The iPhone can. Is that network safe? Most aren’t! Sure, Apple said their iCloud’s security wasn’t the source problem for all those nude starlet photos. The users didn’t have the security settings right. Same for Facebook, Twitter, and so forth—get those security settings right. Apple says they aren’t responsible for how stupid people use their iCloud. That’s like the NRA saying they aren’t responsible for school shootings. Both are enablers for criminal elements.
“Apple picking” is another place that Apple just doesn’t care. They resisted the tracking and kill switch for years. Why? Because a stolen iPhone probably means a new iPhone! Your carriers don’t care if someone steals your phone either. They get to write another contract—and you get to buy another iPhone. And they can charge you even more for your data plan because iPhones are data hogs, with each successive version becoming worse. They probably do care if you text and drive. A dead customer is no longer a buyer. Still, a recent proposal for including software that will detect motion and turn off your phone, fell flat. Hmm….
And your personal credit data? With the new credit system Apple unveiled, you’d better make sure no one steals your iPhone or iWatch. It’s bad enough that you have to run your fingers through a pencil sharpener to use these damn things, but it’s worse that Apple is in cahoots with Target, Home Depot, and others to make our financial lives available to crooks. I’m expecting any day now to see an offer from Apple and major stores along the lines of “we’re so irresponsible with your data, buy a data insurance policy from us.” It makes me want to go live in the Canadian Northwest Territories where the nearest cell tower is at least one hundred miles away!
Let’s face it. Apple is only interested in making money. They are the epitome of uncaring, corporate greed. They always have been. At least Bill Gates is trying to atone for his corporate sins. What’s Apple doing? Not much. They give some equipment away occasionally because they want to stimulate new business. Their equipment is Apple specific. Microsoft has had a much tougher job, trying to make their stuff compatible with all OEMs. Apple’s pretty much worried only about Apple. They don’t give a rat’s ass whether their equipment works with anyone else’s. That’s the Apple way. Lock you in. And people fall for it. It’s like heroin addiction. Once you start with Apple, you’re hooked.
Apple claims it’s the face of innovation in the tech world. They’re not. No way! Innovation in the tech world is found in the software, and every Apple product kills that innovation. A software developer is forced to use their paradigms and only their paradigms. If he also wants to write for androids, for example, he needs basically to do it twice—one for Apple, and one for the rest of the world. We used to see that in the ebook business and elsewhere. It’s wasted effort. Apple only believes in standards when they dictate the standards. Remember FireWire? You don’t? That’s because USB beat the crap out of it. (To be fair, FireWire offers certain advantages over USB, but the battle was a bit like Betamax v. VHS—FireWire might be better, but USB is cheaper.) I predict the same thing will happen to other Apple products. They’re overpriced and all too often incompatible with everything else. Innovation occurs when there are many users using many different devices. Apple only cares about Apple users.
We shouldn’t forget about Apple’s exploitation of cheap labor here and abroad either. While every device manufacturer does this, Apple for a long time outsourced 100% of their hardware, making lots of blood money for those shareholders. That was Steve Jobs et al. Now, under new management, they claim X% of their product line is made here in the U.S.? What parts do that X% represent? And, do they exploit American workers now in place of foreign ones? Will iPhone and iWatch users even care? Apple’s probably counting on a continuing don’t-care attitude from its gizmo-orgasmic user base.
Who are those shareholders? I’d be willing to bet that both the NY Times and Disney are heavy investors in Apple stock. That would explain the glowing reviews of the new Apple unveiling compared to when the new Samsung Galaxy hit the market. Or, is everyone just tired of their ordinary old Rolex and enthralled by the iWatch? Maybe the iWatch is like a Rolex on Viagra. Or, are NY Times, ABC’s reporters, and other pundits brainwashed by Apple glitz. Even their stores look futuristic, after all, even if their products aren’t. The technology already existed. What didn’t exist were the exploitative manufacturing processes that made these products cheap enough for the gizmo-lovers—and other gullible consumers willing to swallow another glitzy PR and marketing effort.
In case anyone’s wondering, I have no axe to grind here. In other words, I neither own stock nor support Apple’s competitors (although some of my mutual funds might have shares in both Apple and Samsung—can’t control that). My axe is rather dull, so it needs grinding, but I’m just an outside observer, looking in, with a different perspective than most. Technology for technology’s sake seems to be driving the markets now. Having the latest gizmo seems to be the new incarnation of “keeping up with the Joneses.” Apple exploits that fad to the hilt. So do the thieves and crooks. To borrow a title from Heinlein, I’m just a stranger in a strange land—a bit of Luddite and a whole lot of cynic who knows this post will fall flat with most of you because you have your heads in the iCloud.
And so it goes….
