Why I Avoid Apple Products

[bassclarinetl2]

Up until 1999 I didn't own a computer, and I never really gave much thought to buying one.

Then in the early part of that year, Apple did something that made me sit up and take notice and make me interested in buying one....they came out with one in purple! 

Unlike other smarter people that would shop for a computer based on something that was actually important, the fact that it came in purple was the most compelling reason I would have had for owning any sort of computer at all, at that point in time. And Apple was the only one to tease me with my favorite color.

But I procrastinated about it for about 8 months...just long enough for my dad to decide to give me his old P1 with his OEM Bundle From Hell™ (he downloaded everything he could find on Tucows and installed it all).

It had issues...lots of them, and instead of enjoying a life of "it just works", I was forced to learn a whole lot more than I had anticipated, with all the troubleshooting that had to be done "out-of-the-box". (this isn't a bash against PC's in general, remember that it was a used computer set up by someone that overloaded it worse than any OEM does with a new PC)

I could have been a stupid "happy Mac user" but because my father enticed me with something that appealed to me even more than purple (free!), I was instead forced to learn and tinker with things that most Windows users don't even know exists. That machine, by its very nature, forced me to become a power user....fast. It became a challenge, a competition between me and a machine, and I was determined to win.

For the last 24 hours I have been contemplating what the last 10 years of my life would have been like if I had bought that iMac. Would I be the computer nut I am today? Would I even be coding?

I was a whole different person with a completely different way of thinking, and Apple knew that. "Think Different" isn't a command, it's their target consumer. For a long time they have been very good at making pretty things that appeals to clueless people. I am not saying that all Apple users are clueless, just saying that you are pretty clueless if you consider "pretty" to be the most important or only reason to buy something, and a lot of Apple's customers do think that way. I know because I once thought that way, I almost bought a purple iMac!

Then they hold on to you by using fear to keep you, convincing you that you are happy and don't want to change that by wandering off into the scary world of the unknown. The famous Mac vs PC ads serve a dual purpose: to convince Windows users that they would rather have a Mac than deal with "scary Vista", and to convince Mac owners to stick with their product and not try anything new unless its an Apple product. It's a form of brainwashing. "Stay Clueless" should be their company motto.

Today, the most compelling reasons I have for choosing something else over an Apple product all comes down to choice and freedom. I like being free to choose from many options, and unless Apple decides to give me that, I'll continue to stay away from their products.

I want to choose my hardware, my software, and everything else...not allow a company to tell me what to use, where I can shop, what I am allowed to buy, who I can code for, etc.

-app103 (February 21, 2009, 11:49 AM)

And the Oscar goes to...

I feel the same way, Macs (IMO) are overpriced aluminum boxes that a cheaper non-apple computer can run circles around.  </vent>  Still macs have their uses (and it isn't just as a doorstop) ;-)

[tomos]

re the Apple Wheel

didnt Ethyar have that in the "News" a couple weeks ago ... anyways - second time round, I noticed a couple of gems
"everything is just a few hundred clicks away" lol
and the predictive text examples

[Carol Haynes]

Yes it has been around for quite a while now (I'm sure it was around here a few months back). Still the oldies are the goodies ... I love the spec proposed for the next model!

[Tekzel]

Each new development is interesting, though. This appeared in Windows Secrets a couple of days ago.
http://windowssecret...%26feature%3Dchannel

 

-OldElmerFudd (March 05, 2009, 09:34 PM)

Thanks for this!  That was hilarious.  I almost fell out of my chair laughing at the end when the lady made her comment about people using computers for actual work instead of ****ing around.  I also enjoyed the 45 minute email message.  I also loved the popup that said "to conserve energy use, the screen will go black after 4 seconds" or something to that effect. Great video.

[redstarnyc]

I love the $2,599 model with 8 gb hard drive.



I avoid Apple because of the closed ecosystem.  I want to know that I'll have some backwards compatibility and that I can replace and upgrade the hardware as needed.

Besides, if you're not in design or advertising who really is using a Mac for work?  Everyone acts like Mac is taking over when they still don't have even 15% of the world market.

Only in the twisted Macworld is 9.61% marketshare dominance.

As I said to my wife when I persuaded her to sell Apple a couple of years ago, they're not a computer company, they're a consumer electronics company. BIG DIFFERENCE.

[grapeshot]

However if you buy an apple desktop / laptop you got as much choice to run things on it as a windows based one, which disproves the quotated text. What's with the apple hate?

A few years ago I bought into the Apple myth and got myself a Mac mini.  It was very nearly the dumbest thing I ever did.  Not because the Mac didn't work, or wasn't "cool", but because I found that it didn't work better than my XP machine did.  It had it's own quirks and PITA (pain in the a**) features.  In the four or so years that I've owned it, I've never cottoned to it, and it's little more than an expensive toy that I occasionally use for some video editing.  (Which I admit, it does an excellent job at -- but it's not something that is essential for the things that I do for work or recreation.)

What especially has crawled up my fanny is that smug jackass who plays the Mac guy on those ads.  He epitomizes the smirking, holier-than-thou, patronizing attitude that I catch from a LOT of Mac users, all of whom seem to think I'm dim for using a PC, and that Windows is just a very shabby poor country cousin to the hip OSX.  Well, darn it, I LIKE my XP machine, and use it DAILY for everything.  I even like my Vista machine, which serves me as a media center. 

One thing that I have discovered about the Mac is that yes, it's true that anything you can do with a Windows machine you can also do with a Mac -- but it will cost you $$ and your choices will be much more limited.  I found that even for simple utility programs, I would be nickle and dimed for them.  Nor was I happy when I realized that my version of the OS became nearly obsolete since I've owned it, and I will have to keep upgrading to the latest one if I ever want to keep all my Mac software up to date.  (Just try buying software for Panther.  Go ahead, I dare you to find anything.  For pete's sake, Firefox 3 isn't compatible with it, and I'm stuck with FF2!)  As near as I can tell, the principle that Apple operates under is how to maximize what they take out of my pocket. 

As for the iPhone...well, I think I'll just wait for the Palm Pre.  I've had quite enough of Apple for the time being.

[justice]

This phylosophy is why people love and hate apple.

[housetier]

Apple should go with the trend and rename itself "iPple". It follows the popular if not overhyped scheme of small i followed by a capital letter and looks about as ugly as the company when they start suing their consumers again.

[Deozaan]

This phylosophy is why people love and hate apple.

-justice (March 10, 2009, 04:14 AM)

Yep, that pretty much sums up Apple. Except for some reason they think they need to make cheap crap like this twice the price (or more) of the good stuff.

[Carol Haynes]

I had a situation the other day that a friends daughter was pressurising her parent to buy her a MacBook for going off to university. She has lots of expensive software (bought by her parents) that only runs on Windows and when I asked her why she wanted to spend much more money on a MacBook than get the latest (and very nice) Sony VAIO for about half the price for a lower spec she had a number of answers:

1) Apple is Greener

I had a look at the Apple website and they are now marketing themselves as greener than other manufacturers. I really can't see how they have the gall to suggest this since they use exactly the same components (actually technically older and lower quality components often) as any other laptop - bought in motherboards, nVidia graphics etc. They claim the body of the laptop is made from fully recyclable Aluminium but they are far from unique in that (eg. Samsung make aluminium laptops) and what they don't say is that plastic is also recyclable so it isn't by any means a unique feature.

The other thing that made me laugh was they were claiming how efficient the new MacBook Pro batteries are (with up to 8 hours usage time). They claim they last 3 years in normal use whereas all other manufacturers expect you to change your battery every one or two years. This is a bare faced lie - I have yet to meet someone who had to change a laptop battery within two years and Apple are so confident in their product that they still state the battery is only guaranteed for one year (despite the 3 year claim). Given the claims they made over iPod battery life forgive me if I need to be convinced on this argument. Add to that the MacBook Pro has to be returned to Apple to have its battery changed when it does die - to me this is totally unacceptible and actually be definition shortens the life of the battery because you can't remove it when you are using the machine on mains power for extended periods.

2) I want to be able to carry my whole music library

I pointed out that the Sony had as standard more than twice the hard disc capacity than the basic MacBook and that to buy a system with the same hard disc capacity would be exactly twice the price!

3) It has more memory

The Sony VAIO NS20EP has 3Gb of memory as standard - none of the MacBooks (even the most expensive) come with more than 2Gb as standard and you will probably have to pay Apple's inflated prices to expand memory because you can't get into their boxes to install an upgrade.

The Sony VAIO costs £500 (list price) whereas a not quite equivalent spec MacBook costs £1200.


It turns out the real reason was that she had been staying with a family with three children all of whom had been extolling the huge advantages of their very pretty MacBooks.

All this spin, lies and religious zealotry is really annoying when you are trying to present a rational recommendation to a parent paying for a laptop for a child to take to uni. If she had been going to uni to do a graphic design course I could easily have support her choice but she is going to do English - so all she needs is a browser and a Word Processor!

[tomos]

It turns out the real reason was that she had been staying with a family with three children all of whom had been extolling the huge advantages of their very pretty MacBooks.

-Carol Haynes (March 17, 2009, 04:52 AM)

what Apple really know how to do is to make full use of the craving factor

[fenixproductions]

@Carol Haynes

If she had been going to uni to do a graphic design course I could easily have support her choice but she is going to do English - so all she needs is a browser and a Word Processor!

-Carol Haynes

Forgive me my ignorance but what is so special in Macs to make them better than PCs for graphic design?

I must admit: I worked with them 2 months only but never saw a single thing (which cannot be done on PC) to prove such myth.

[Carol Haynes]

I agree but a lot of graphics companies use Macs - (just about the only ones that do unless you believe Hollywood where even full body scanners in hospitals are powered by Macs) and so it isn't unreasonable to argue that someone going into that field may be at more of an advantage to have knowledge of Macs.

[tomos]

I dont know much about it (I should )
but AFAIK if you're preparing stuff for publication/printing I believe the mac fonts are much more suitable and/or successful

[f0dder]

It turns out the real reason was that she had been staying with a family with three children all of whom had been extolling the huge advantages of their very pretty MacBooks.

-Carol Haynes (March 17, 2009, 04:52 AM)

Isn't this the reason why most mac-users end up with a mac? To look smart. And make outrageous claims like "photoshop filters run faster because photoshop is a mac product!"

[fenixproductions]

And make outrageous claims like "photoshop filters run faster because photoshop is a mac product!"

-f0dder

That part is funny for me

In my life I was running Photoshop on PCs dozen times and have never had any problems with it. On Mac - about 10 times and:
- 3 times Photoshop switched off without any notice in the middle of the work,
- once it even restarted my machine.

For both scenarios I had to start from the biginning because it corrupted PSD files I've been using.

Well, as app103 already said: buying computer because of the way it looks isn't the wisest thing to do.

[40hz]

So much for bulletproof.



 

[Deozaan]

So much for bulletproof.
 (see attachment in previous post)
 

-40hz (March 17, 2009, 01:28 PM)

Blue Error Window of Death? BEWOD?