Oct 10
1
Apple vs Google
How can I defend Google while slating Apple? How can someone put Apple down for their “we know better” walled-garden approach to the AppStore, the iPhone and iPad, while on the other hand defend Google’s invasive “if you need something to be private, you probably shouldn’t be doing it in the first place” attitude? It’s a tough one, honestly. Google is by no means perfect, but there are key differences to the way these companies operate and while I believe that they’re both “the devil you know”, I do feel at least that Google is somewhat more defensible than Apple.
Here’s how I see it.
If I was trying to browse porn :
Apple wouldn’t let me, while Google would, but wants to know what kind so that they can target better ads during the experience.
If I’m trying to rent a movie :
Apple demands that I do so via iTunes and puts barriers in front of any other way, while Google wants to know what kind of movie it is so that they can suggest alternatives and profile my preferences.
If I’m trying to sell my PC :
Apple tries to sell me a Mac, an iPad or an iPhone, while Google doesn’t care because their products don’t often care what your platform is.
I find Apple’s approach insidious, distinctly creepy even. Like AOL in the late 90′s, they seem to be intent on ignoring the internet-at-large and redefining it to suit their purposes. Vetting their appstore, denying flash, insisting on a mac-only development model (now recently reversed), Fairplay DRM, iTunes. It’s all about control – the control that Apple has over what you can see and do on the products they sold you, usually so that they can sell you more products.
After the fact, I don’t believe it feels like ‘owning’ an Apple product – it feels like renting. First generation products are intentionally crippled to ensure that next year’s model is a must have and despite the fact that this policy spits in the eye of their most loyal followers, the Apple fanbois lap it up and open their wallet year on year.
My Latitude breakdown : home is where the heart is, I suppose
Google is nearly as bad, even if we use the same adjectives - insidious and creepy. If you’re not careful after you sign up for a Google account, they’ll know nearly everything about you. Simply by signing on with their latitude service for example, they can deduce where you work by noting your position from 9am to 5pm most week days. At least they’re not shy about admitting it, but it’s still a big deal. And their approach to privacy over the years has proven to be only slightly better than Facebook themselves, the undisputed masters of privacy cock-up. It still surprises me that Google’s high profile blunders with Buzz and Streetview didn’t harm their brand far more. Dont’ people get it? Don’t they realise how invasive this stuff is?
So, really, this is an imperfect choice between two high profile monopolists. But I will never accept that a faceless corporation knows better than me when I chose a course of action and I will therefore never own another Apple product during my life.
Google might know what I’m doing in the near to mid-term future, but at least they won’t judge me while I’m doing it.
Sep 10
12
Apple : All About the Money
The problem I have with Apple is that everything they do, they do for profit. Not the consumer, not the industry, just their profit. Yes, their hardware is top class (iPhone 4 notwithstanding), but there’s just too many little things about using Apple products that keep ramming the point home.
1. Pods, Phones and Pads all use proprietary power interfaces. Mini, or even Micro USB is pretty much the industry standard now, but if you want to conveniently charge your iDevice at more than one place, get ready to buy lots of extra proprietary cables.
2. iTunes. Until January 2009, “Fairplay” (riiiight) DRM added to all purchased tracks restricted how you could play your music. In a nutshell, the main restriction was that you had to use Apple iPods to play it. In January 2009, Apple announced that music bought from iTunes would now be DRM-free and allowed you to remove the DRM from all your previously bought tracks, BUT then went on to charge you for the privilege, despite the fact that any tracks you bought thereafter would have no such DRM applied to them. So much for rewarding customer loyalty. Amazon MP3 customers had a good chuckle. Movies and TV shows still have Fairplay on them today.
Bashing Apple shouldn't be this easy
3. If you want to put some music/video on your Pod or Pad, you have to use iTunes. Not only does this mean that you have to install this Apple abomination on your Windows/Mac PC (no linux support, sorry), but it also nudges you towards using iTunes for future purchases. Subtle. Well, not really. If there’s a way to get your music on to your Pod or Pad that doesn’t involve iTunes, I’ve not yet found it (beyond using Linux and something like Rhythmbox or Banshee).
4. Crippled first generation devices. The iPad is an astonishing example of this. The “magical and revolutionary” device went on sale on April 4th without a front facing camera. No big deal – they sold by the million. Then on June 24th, just 11 weeks later, the iPhone4 is released to much fanfare. What’s this? Why, it’s a front facing camera and a high-profile announcement of Facetime, allowing you to make video calls to other iOS devices. Except, you know, the iPad that you just bought a few weeks ago. But it’s a great sales ploy, because despite this insulting omission, the iPad did sell well and next year, all these rich first generation iPad owners will throw their money at Apple for an iPad with a front facing camera so that they can Facetime away to their heart’s content.
There are other niggles, examples of where Apple’s drive for profit won’t let them admit the real world exists. They force you to use AAC instead of MP3 (a legacy of Fairplay). They ship their OSX devices that can’t play any video out of the box except iTunes video unless you add third party codec plug-in Perian (which takes some searching).
And of course, there’s the whole head-in-the-sand approach to Adobe Flash on their iDevices (so if you want to see the Disneyland site, don’t use an iPad).
But they know how to market and by god do they sell. And why not? Only techies care about this stuff and possibly only half of it at that. Some techies will even extol the virtues of AAC over MP3, how Flash (and perhaps Disneyland) was overrated anyway and why they’d quite happily fall on a big technical sword for their lord and saviour, Steven P Jobs. Good luck to them.
Not for me though. I prefer to think different.
Posted in Technical by .