Give our Apple back!

Lousy title, I know. But I can’t help but feel so disappointed with Apple as of late.

Little by little, just as I’ve stated in a(n inaccurate) previous post:

Seriously, someone should file an anti-trust case against these guys for monopoly. I’m baffled as to why Microsoft is the only one being scrutinized for such “practices” – when Apple seems to have been doing it since the release of the iPod.

That was written January 2007 (and I’m sure their practices have been going on longer than that) But it looks like the world is finally seeing Apple as a “bad guy.”

You know what breaks my heart the most? I actually believe in their products… what I don’t believe in is their “actions” of late.

I was willing to get on board the whole “benevolent dictator” ¹ Ok, we all know he’s an asshole, but we can’t deny that what he demands is the best for the company and its customers aura Jobs had led Apple with, because bottom-line was that innovation was what fueled Apple. They tell us what we want and a lot of times they turn out to be right. It’s like a parent to a child; the child bitches and moans, but at the end of the day, the parent knows best.

That’s how I saw Apple when I decided to switch over.

But that didn’t mean I was aware of how undemocratic it was; I just was willing to put up with it for as long as what they did turned out to be what was best for technological evolution.

Now, it’s just getting ridiculous. How much of a control freak the company’s getting with regards to the App Store, how monopolistic it has always been with iTunes functionality, etc. It has gotten so severe that even normal people are now noticing it.

What’s utterly frustrating is that the reasons why we “believe” in Apple, are still there (or at least we hope they are); that is to say they still make best-of-breed products.

The reason why they’re so profitable, or why they got their iconic status despite small market share, is precisely because their products speak for themselves. Simply put, it didn’t fucking matter if there was competition, because they still had, and made, better stuff.

They got in the cellular industry so late in the game, but look at how the iPhone is killing everyone else; isn’t that proof enough that they’ve got the chops to take on the competition on a level playing field?

But now, they’re trying to squelch the competition; which suggests that they’re now “driven” for all the wrong reasons. What the fuck is Apple so afraid of, that it has to resort to such monopolistic practices?

So what if Google makes kick-ass voice-based applications? The Apple I know wouldn’t [be a hypocrite and] ban applications simply because they “duplicate features of their applications” (or applications that they might release in the future), the Apple I know simply takes on the challenge and releases better stuff.

Then there’s the whole lack of transparency when it comes to explaining inconsistencies in their policies. As a moderator of a board that has its share of “nitpickers” I can understand the need for making exceptions and forcefully applying authority… but at least we try our best to explain ourselves when people get concerned.

Apple on the other hand, denies applications left and right, and doesn’t even take the time to work out a solution should the developers want to “correct” whatever issue that got their applications banned/rejected. That’s just tyranny, plain and simple.

This isn’t the Apple I know. What the fuck happened to the Apple we all knew? Maybe its soul was located in Job’s old liver, who the fuck knows. But all I know is that this oppressive, paranoid monster is not the Apple people have grown to accept (and even love).

I’ll end with some food for thought; excerpts from Jason Calacanis’ “newsletter.”

Years and years after Microsoft’s antitrust headlines, Apple is now the anti-competitive monster that Jobs rallied us against in the infamous 1984 commercial. Steve Jobs is the oppressive man on the jumbotron and the Olympian carrying the hammer is the open-source movement

Apple will face a user revolt in the coming years based upon Microsoft, Google and other yet-to-be-formed companies, undercutting their core markets with cheap, stable and open devices. Apple’s legendary comeback ability will be for naught if they don’t deeply examine their anti-competitive nature.

Making great products does not absolve you from technology’s cardinal rule: Don’t be evil.

It also doesn’t save you from Scarface’s cardinal rule: Never get high on your own supply.