Thoughts on Apple today

[pointedview]

Note: this is also available on my Facebook wall, but since I plan to deactivate my account there again at the end of this week, I figured it ought to live out its days here. :)I used to be a big fan of Apple. I still think of them as pioneers in industrial design. However, I've become a tiny bit uncomfortable with the immaculate closed system they

Comments

[jasondemotte]

I have to confess, there is some part of me that gets a bit of perverse pleasure from all this as someone who was just there during the internet boom of the late 90s and saw all the MS antitrust commentary from hardcore Apple fans who were chomping at the bit to get a chance to bash on Microsoft. While this isn't quite the same, and I'm not saying that all those people who bashed on "Micro$oft" (ugh) back then are happy about Apple today, but like I said, perverse pleasure.

And I agree, the 90/10 approach is a good idea. Mistakes happen and I don't think showing such a legendary figure in Apple's history like Steve Woz an iPad should be a firable offense.

[pointedview]

*chuckles* Well, if we're confessing, I was certainly someone who chuckled at the Bill Gates Borg picture on Slashdot in those days, and who was pleased by the government investigating anti-competitive practices. Not because I was a hardcore Apple fan, but just because back then, Microsoft truly seemed a juggernaut, and I didn't like the imbalance in the marketplace.

So, you are certainly entitled to some satisfaction over seeing how the worm has turned. :)

Microsoft, Apple, Google ... and yet, I find it reassuring to note that in Microsoft's real heyday, nobody saw Google coming. There may well be a company out there today that, in the next five years, establishes primacy ... and the cycle continues.

[bossladydewitt]

I am kind of having issues with them only because I've had an iPhone for about four months and managed to crack the glass. It should be warrantied for a year but the warranty does not cover cosmetic damage, which I find to be complete, excuse my language, bullshit, if only because I think a warranty should cover anything.

Though I also have to say it is probably also part my stupidity for not purchasing AppleCare protection but knowing me, if I had, the iPhone would have broken anyway after the plan expired, so paying the extra money would not have helped.

[pointedview]

Oh, no, how frustrating! Hearing things like this makes me wonder what sort of durability tests they put the things through, if any. I am sorry that happened, and I agree that the warranty should cover the glass, because mobile devices take a lot of wear and tear. We take them with us everywhere, and so they're exposed the elements, dropped, occasionally sat upon, and so on.

I know how you feel -- I've bought extended warranties before and never used them, and then wished I had them on devices that broke. Mostly, I just dislike this cycle of planned obsolescence that has infected our technology. It feels like nothing is made to last anymore intentionally, so that we'll have to purchase something new.

My little LG is four years old, and the OK button on it has been glitching a bit for the past several months. Not due to being dropped: the button just seems to be wearing out and becoming hypersensitive. I miss the days of durability.

[bossladydewitt]

Yea, I know what you mean. I had a little Samsung cell phone before hand that really just made phone calls and I was okay with that. I had that phone for about five years and only replaced it because my iPod decided to crap out around Christmas this past year (that was about four years old). My cell had been due for an upgrade anyway, so we figured combine the two items together.

I do really wish the glass was covered, the thing was the way it broke was I tripped and fell with it in my hand. It's not like I through it to the ground and stomped on it. It was a legitimate accident caused by this freak happenstance where I tripped over air and stood up to find a giant crack. I called the Apple store to see if it was covered and they said that it would cost $200 to replace the glass! The phone itself costs $300! I am not paying that! Sorry, as much as I love my iPhone I'm going to a third party to repair it. I found a place that will do it while I wait. I am not terribly excited to have to trek into the city but...I am not paying $200

[pointedview]

Two hundred dollars?

*puts on her spectacles to make sure she read that right*

That ... wow. Just wow.

I hope the third party can do it for less, 'cause that's a lot of moolah.