No longer the Apple of my eye

http://business.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?265709

I have so far never purchased an Apple product. And it will be a long time before I will. Not unless they stop their bullying tactics. I hate bullies you see, and I like my freedom.

Yes, I do own 3 iPods. The first one, a 30 Gb video ipod, was given to my father by his company as part of some Sales conference gift. The second, 4 Gb, iPod Nano, slim and slender, was a gift from some friend or relative, I don't remember which or who. The third iPod, another Nano, but part of the rounded square series, was won by me at an inter-Bschool quiz held by Infosys. And I cannot describe the sheer joy owning these 3 has given me. The sheer beauty and design of the these products, at that time, was unmatched.

Apple products are usually the best looking and best designed. Using them is sheer joy. Simple, elegant, classy. Genius.

So why am I saying that I won't buy Apple products for some time to come ? And why am I blasting Apple ?

For a long long time I used to really admire all Apple products. And I still do for their design. And I love their software as well. But some where down the line, I started disagreeing with their philosophy. 'Think Different' is their motto - how can I when they control all the apps and service providers and software on all their products ?

Lets start with the Macs. I used to always admire their design, those pure white pristine beauties. But, they were always too costly. Now I don't mind paying more for the cost... but then I don't see the point in buying a Mac and running Windows OS on it. And Mac OS, despite being good, is not compatible with so many softwares. But until this point, I had no problems with Apple. In fact, I used to admire them 100%.

I took serious exception to their behaviour with the launch of the iPods. I would have preferred a simple folder system, where I plug the iPod in, copy my songs onto the iPod HD, and voila ! If I want some classification, let it be folder based. Now I understand iTunes offers multiple viewpoints, so you can classify and view songs, by different meta-data labels associated with each song. And maybe it was difficult to implement this system with the PnP, Copy & Paste system. (Though I don't even think they tried.)

But they could have at least allowed me the option of having a Folder system as opposed to the iTunes system. Like Sony. Like Cowon. Like everybody else. But no.. they want to maintain their 'control' and yes, they wanted to make money via iTunes. Fine.

Things got out of hand with the launch of the iPhone. I was gushing over Apple's design technology then. But then, when it was launched, they pulled off a cheap trick. Your phone was 'locked' to one carrier - in the US, AT&T. What the hell ? Why the f*** should have to stick to AT&T ? This is monopolostic behaviour, this is bullying. And whatever reasons they might give, I can't palate them.

So now, for the iPod, I have to buy music, movies and ebooks only from the iTunes store. For the iPhone, and now for the iPad, I can transact and navigate myself only through Apple approved Apps. Go to hell - I ain't buying your products.

Right now also, I am looking to buy a Phone. A smartphone. Either way I wasn't going to buy the iPhone. Firstly, it is way too highly priced in India. Secondly, the idea of being locked to Airtel or Vodafone, makes my blood boil. Thirdly, I am very excited with the Android mOS - and the implications of an open source OS where millions of people can easily contribute awesome apps.

And to my great great delight, I realised I didn't enjoy using the iPhone so much. One app at a time ? No multi-tasking in the iPhone ? Ha ha. Try again. I enjoyed the Sony Ericsson Experia X10 and the Motorola Milestone much much more. I am yet to try the HTC Legend (out of stock) and the HTC Desire (not yet launched in India), but I have seen enough videos and read enough reviews to know how good they are. I haven't yet bought the phone - but it isn't the going to be the Apple iPhone for sure.