There’s a big detriment to being who I am. I spend a large portion of my day defending myself and it’s mostly due to Apple. It’s the same thing we go through as Yankees fans and the old “they buy championships” rhetoric. I reply to that with a simple argument of demographics creating capital for the franchise. If they have the money to hire good player who win, why would they buy players who lose? Then I make the antagonist realize that they are upset with the MLBPA for not instituting a salary cap, not with the franchise who is playing the hand it is dealt. That’s an easy conversation to win. It’s based on jealousy but people who have been watching their team of choice flounder since they were children.
The Apple thing seems to be born out of real hate by some people. I understand it to a degree. I used to be a spiteful Apple guy. I wouldn’t so much as watch a quicktime video because it was built on their platform. I wouldn’t even install the quicktime player. Ten years later I have a MacBook Pro, 27” iMac, Mac Mini, Mac G4, iPhone 2G/3G/3GS/4, iPad, and a Time Capsule. Ten years ago, Apple was also borrowing money from Microsoft to not go bankrupt. Steve Jobs says, “Yeah, things were on the rocks.” That’s underselling it, Steve.
As a teacher of technology, I run into many many students who want to know what my tech setup is and something about me gives away that I’m a Mac user. A solid 50% of them balk and say “Apple sucks.” So I say back, “Ok. Why?” and more often than not I get “because it does.” I tell them I understand. I used to think it was for artists or people who don’t know any better but I did what most people have done in the last 3 years. I bought an iPhone because it was new, cool, and commercial and when I was bowled over, I thought “What else has Apple been up to in the last decade?” So I gave them a try and I was hooked.
Am I a fanboy? No. I actually have decided that I don’t like that term. To me, a fanboy is someone who defends something blindly. Some Stockholm Syndrome-esque person who ignores fault and defends the shortcomings. iPhone doesn’t do ABC or XYZ to which a real fanboy replies something about how it doesn’t matter or it shouldn’t do those things or flat out lies and says “Yes it does” (usually with the similar tone that 8 year olds bicker with “are too” “are not” “are too” “are not”). Did the iPhone multitask before last week? No. Should it have? Yes. Did Apple tell us it’s because they wanted to take their time and get it right and release it when it’s perfect? Yes, they sure did. Now, ask me if I believe it? I believe there’s SOME credibility to that. They are perfectionists. But I don’t blindly co-sign to all that leaves Jobs’ mouth.
Macs are insanely expensive. People call it “Apple tax.” The imaginary payment you make just to own an Apple. A Lexus is just a rebranded Toyota with fancier wood burl trim yet people pay much more for them. There is a name brand “fee” associated there. Just like designer clothes that don’t use any special thread. Apple has an advantage. In the Microsoft world you have many hands in the mix. At Apple, they create the hardware and the software so they can make sure it all plays nice together.
People scream about the app store for iPad/iPhone and the tight closed system. Have you ever owned a Palm device. I have from 1996 through 2007 until iPhone. Palm made the hardware and software like Apple and native parts worked great. Every developer could create and sell an app and my Treo needed constant reboots throughout the day (sometimes it decided for itself that it was time to reboot). I’ve had Windows phones. Microsoft made the operating system, HP (for example) made the hardware and everyone else made applications. Three parties trying to leverage each of their portions against one another spread out over countless manufacturers and models. And guess what? Microsoft claims that with the Windows Phone 7, they’ll be controlling which apps can make it onto the phone.
I got the first iPhone and it worked. I tried a MacBook Pro and it worked. The iMac works better than the laptop. The iPhone 4 is better than the 3GS which was better than the 3G which was better than the 2G. Everything I get from them works as advertised and appears to be the best it could get and then the improve on it. Be sure that the next iPhone device and OS is already being designed and developed.
Does it have shortcomings? Absolutely. No A2DP until OS 3.0 was a joke. Multi-tasking taking 3 years to create was terrible. Battery life still sucks - even on an iPhone 4 I can see it in less than 24 hours that I’ve had it.
So what’s the point here? I’m done with the fanboy routine. I made a choice to use Windows for 15 years because it was the best for me. Now OS X works best for me and my purpose and I’m choosing to do that. If John Doe creates a company with a superior product, I’ll go there. I’m not loyal out of blindness. I stick with what works. It’s why I traveled for 15 hours looking for an iPad and now it’s replaced 80% of my computer time. It’s why I spent 13.5 hours trying to order the new iPhone. It improves my life by being better than the last one.
Their products work and look good doing it. They are expensive, but I’m not skipping the rent check to buy an iPhone. I’m a fan. Not a fanboy. Fanboys are the Apple haters who say “just because it does” when I ask them “why do you say that Apple sucks?” No rhyme, no reason. Just blind love for what they know, and blind hate for what they don’t.
