They Don’t Know

So, a couple of weeks ago…  WWDC or some other Apple convention went up on the Internet… and I didn’t really care for a couple of reasons.

Apple’s focus is no longer computers: The iPhone 4 was the only thing at this convention.  At least it was the only thing I could find… These used to be big hardware releases and OS updates and new tweaks to programs and now it’s… the iPhone.   I didn’t really want an iPhone in 2008 and I don’t want one now…  and this was pretty soon after a keynote where they did nothing but pat themselves on the back over the supposed awesomeness of a really big iPod-touch (iPad).   Meanwhile, updates to laptops and desktops and the venerable Mac Mini are quietly released to the website and I’d have no idea about them if they weren’t rebroadcast by tech blogs… as if the macs are robbing time from the iPhone and iPad and their many new iGimmicks.  Also, we don’t even hear much about OS X anymore.  Now the focus is iOS… a neutered, locked-down phone OS notorious for its closed and coddled nature.

Meanwhile, the iPhone 4 is kind of shitty.  They’ve given it an external antenna you can thwart by holding it wrong.  They’ve made both sides of the phone glass which, while more scratch resistant, seem that much more likely to shatter catastrophically when dropped… and since this thing is small and slippery, it’s going to get dropped a lot.   They haven’t given it the ability to survive without a desktop computer (If you do not have iTunes installed somewhere, you will never be able to get your iPhone activated).  I read an excellent article about how Apple and it’s lead designers were dedicated to useful, durable functionality that understands and respects it’s user, and how this latest iPhone seems to be dropping that notion on to the pavement.

Also, my macbook is getting kind of shitty… but it’s more because iTunes is and OSX are getting updated every fortnight for yet another iPhone/iPad feature and each version is more bloated than the last.  I also keep wondering if I want to get a new apple laptop, or a mac mini, or just install iTunes on my PC and transfer everything over.  The allure/advantages of having an apple doohicky nicer than an iPod are starting to fade away… apparently so much so that Jobs isn’t even trying to hock them anymore.

Apple is being contradictory when it comes to developers: Look at OS-X, and you get all sorts of “based on open source” and “developed collaboratively” and all that pretty shiny… but then when you ask for a copy of the SDK… and you’re not a student… you have to pony up cash.  The iPhone exacerbates this:  You have to pay for the Development Kit, and then there is no guarantee that your program will be allowed in the app store…. and the only thing they seem to give you is an iPhone simulator as opposed to letting development stuff on the phone itself because they are really protective of their platform and revenue streams… So my understanding may be a bit off, but it seems like that means:  You end up paying money for an iPhone and a software development kit to make programs for the iPhone… but you will not be able to install your programs on your iPhone unless Apple says it’s okay and you’re okay with everyone in the world being able to buy it.  That’s kinda fucked-up.

Apple is being mean to other companies… and not even the right ones. So, Gizmondo wasn’t allowed to the keynote, which is understandable as Gizmondo paid money for a shadily obtained pre-release iPhone 4 and ruined the surprise for everyone…  But Apple also seems intent on punishing companies like Google and Adobe and Amazon for daring to stand up to them and call their tactics a blend of lazy and unfair/unprofessional… Accusations I mostly agree-with and find sort of sad considering that Apple got back into the PC game by chumming up with IBM and Microsoft.  I feel like Apple should be working with these companies.  Say stuff like “we’d love to have flash on our phones but we need to work with you on making it work with our stuff better…”  But they’re not doing that.  They’re just throwing temper tantrums and suing every other phone maker who happens to make a touch-responsive candybar phone and writing nasty public emails about other products and getting noticed by the justice department.  I feel like they are burning bridges with companies they used to work-well-with and even laud publicly and use to bolster their own superiority.

Meanwhile, the company I feel they should be punishing is AT&T.  AT&T is capping data usage and causing what I feel is a majority of iPhone complaints with crappy networks and service… they’ve bungled the last four iPhone releases with underprepared activation servers.   They’ve neutered their customer service reps and caused all sorts of unpleasant nerd rage.  Why can’t you scorn that company, Apple?  I know several people who would love an iPhone “If it weren’t for AT&T”.  You could probably double your US sales if you made a CDMA version… but not even letting tMobile have a shot at it is silly to me.

Steve Jobs is turning back into his old self:  Once, Steve Jobs was a visionary who guided a young company into a spotlight and convinced lots of investors to give that company oodles of money and ended up making lots of really cool and coveted products with it.  Then, his success turned him into a combination of Howard Hughes and Zapp Brannigan: Obsessive and controlling and foolhardily confident… and the CEO that he hired to run the company ended up firing him because he was that much of a pain in the ass.  Steve went off, found another software company, ended up helping Pixar do some really cool stuff, and apparently learned his lesson enough that Apple asked the magic to come back.  Jobs then turned the company around by going to each project, evaluating whether the public would find it imminently cool, and promoting/shitcanning appropriately.  Also, as much as I sort of fear and mistrust the man… I will happily admit that Steve Jobs is a divining rod at figuring out both what the public thinks is awesome, and the exact dollar amount they are willing to pay for it, (so Apple can charge $1 less).  But the thing that wrecks all that is haughtiness.  Steve got into a Poo-Don’t-Stink zone about the time the LC’s started rolling out and started going for more of what he wanted over what people were willing to pay-for… and I feel like that old Steve is coming back.  The iPhone 4 is an example of something that is not as good as it could have been.  It feels rushed and overhyped (even for an apple product) and like something allowed to sit too long in the reality distortion field.

Maybe it’s just because I’m becoming older: I loved apple when I was 8 and had a IIe and a eventually an LC.  I brought an old (but still useful) performa 6300CD to college with me along with my brothers old Gateway.   I lovingly acquired a 12″ powerbook as a graduation gift and then had a macbook given to me for Christmas the same year the old (but still useful) powerbook was stolen.  I have bought Apple products for people I love in my life and they were all well-received.  But maybe jobs felt my market (nerdy with disposable income but not particularly trendy) wasn’t good enough for him anymore.  Maybe he was expecting me to have kids that I’d want to give the iPhone-to.  But for the time being, I’ve just lost that lovin’ feeling.