StreetVerse

Why the iPad is good (and why I hate Apple)

Posted By: Sally Vox
Filed Under: Opinion on April 23, 2010

A PC running Windows 7 is like a Scion with manual transmission. It is affordable, sleek, and allows you to be in complete control of your vehicle. An Apple computer is like a luxury car, with automatic transmission and computer controlled navigation. It helps you drive when you are drowsy, and slams the brakes when you are about to crash. This takes away user control, however, and you pay a big premium for these conveniences.  Apple acts as a technological nanny—holding your hand in order to get things done safely and efficiently, while restricting you from doing things that may end up hurting you (but dammit, sometimes you really want to do it).

The iPad, for all its deficiencies (which are plenty), is a device that has caused all the major companies to follow in suit with their own tablet devices. But Apple has something that makes theirs different: complete fascist control over their closed system. Everything that runs on an iPad must be approved and stamped with Steve Jobs’ apple shaped seal. But in these times of growing technological complexities, the masses appreciate simplicity. It just works. After all, centagenarians, cats, and corgis naturally know how to use the device without reading the instructions. While critics can list page after page of missing features, the large number of iPad sales reflect how little the public truly cares. As long as it “just works”. But is it because Apple fans are simply sheep buying the newest toy, or is it something more? We must dig deeper. The words of Marcus Aurelius ring true: “Look within. Let neither the peculiar quality of anything nor its value escape thee.” Apple at its core seeks to simplify the user experience. It wants to take the headache out of computing. It wants to ensure that we are able to accomplish the essentials with speed, efficiency, and style.

But I hate Apple. I hate them so much. This whole Adobe/Apple war is getting out of hand. Apple is blocking Flash, and even Flash apps, citing that they are a drain on resources. While their arguments have some merit, their handling of the situation is becoming pretty infantile. Steve Jobs’ ego seems to grow daily, and it may only be a matter of time before efficiency gives way to heavy handed, corporate fascism. We can see this in both the restructuring of iPhone developer requirements and from its increasingly strict censorship of what Apple deems “inappropriate” apps (yet allows Safari to browse objectionable material anyway). Do you really want Apple to tell you what you can and cannot do with your device.

The growing number of Apple hipsters is getting a bit annoying. I don’t really care if you buy shiny toys, but don’t act like you are better than me because of it. Remember when people used to call their phone a cellphone? Now it’s an “iPhone”. Have you seen my iPhone? My friends always try to show off their latest app, their newest game, but never seem to be able to hold a conversation on the phone longer than 3 minutes because of dropped calls. Surprising how this smartphone can’t even make calls properly.

And don’t get me started on their god awful pricing. At times, they can charge upwards of 80 percent premium for similarly specced PC products. People tout the lowest capacity iPad as 499, but with 3G (to me, a necessity) it goes for 630, plus 30 dollars a month in fees. Not such a good deal, anymore (But hey, when you anchor 999 to an audience, 630 sounds like a steal). I’ll go over pricing in the future, and how Apple milks your purchase month after month (with a smile on your face).

Their products are becoming less and less innovative (the iPad? A big ipod, really?), which is predictable given their current position in the market. They are the top dog, eating up market share faster than a fat guy at Hometown Buffet. Why fix something that is obviously not broke. And out in the boonies, Microsoft has become the new underdog, trying to redefine the game through advancement in user interface and user experience. With it’s new Windows 7 Phone Series, and its rumored Courier tablet, Microsoft is becoming what Apple used to be—a visionary company that seeks to improve rather than to rehash. The tables have turned, and honestly, I have Apple to thank for it.

Competition is good. Even though I hate Apple, and will probably never buy any of their products (though I may consider it if the iPad gets a pressure sensitive pen stylus for drawing in the future), I have to thank them for waking up its competitors and beginning a new surge of technology that will shape our day to day lives. Either that or blow us all to hell.

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