Why I Dislike Apple

I always rip on Apple and people assume it is because I am a 'PC' guy. There is only a partial truth to that. A Mac is just as much of a 'PC' as any computer running Windows. PC by definition means 'Personal Computer'. Is Mac OS any less personal than Windows?

Let's clear the air of a couple things. The only 'camp' I am partial to is quality. I don't care who builds it as long as it is built right using industry standard components I can replace in as little time as possible. Therein lies my first and likely biggest problem with Apple. Design. As aesthetic as everything is in the Apple universe it has traditionally been one of the LEAST tech friendly in terms of repair. You could tear down three standard laptops from nearly any vendor in the time it takes to disassemble nearly any Macbook. Sadly with the introduction of Ultrabooks and the 'thin and light' categories many companies have followed suit in making the machines more diffiult to repair. Very few vendors offer a simple to open and care for mobile device. Apple's desktop computers, the iMac line, has seen many copy cats in the AIO space. Disassembly is time consuming and cost of parts for replacement is ridiculous in most every case. Fortunately the majority use standard RAM and hard drives but not all.

Now, quality. Do you really think Mac is that fantastic? No! The long running joke for Mac owners is if you want to upgrade you buy a new one. Apple has made great strides in making their laptops better in recent years thouh. Personally I prefer my heavy VERY WELL BUILT older Elitebook. A couple worthwhile upgrades for any good laptop is RAM and SSD. Those things have brought new life to an older PC allowing me to get several more years from what would often be considered old for a computer. Sadly, folks doing aftermarket upgrades to their Macs have gotten screwed when Apple decides the hardware you're using isn't authorized by them. My machine has granted me freedom to use a greater variety of replacement options due to standards. I dare you to try that on a Mac or consumer class laptop. A combination of tiny screws, snapped plastic cases, or highly inegrated mainboards can drive you to insanity. Tech friendly, that's how I like my machines!

How about desktops? Touchy subject. I won't run anything I don't build. It's that easy. I get to pick and choose every last component that goes into my system knowing full well that my machine will either be the best at the task I have built it for and just able to get by while I test/tweak/build something better. There isn't a prebuilt system on the market available for less money that would exceed the quality of anything I build. There is definitely a plethora of cheap though. How about Apple? They aren't cheap but guess what, they aren't the highest quality either. For what you pay on their high end desktops I can typically build a superior machine for upwards of $1000 less having the exact same or better components! On their lower end for standalone computers they have the Mini. I will give them credit, the design is quite nice. However, the market offers better solutions like the Intel NUC and Gigabyte BRIX series. For many users everything onboard is quite suitable. I personally love my NUC PCs. The most amusing thing about the Mac Mini is the primary tool required for disassembly, a putty knife! You literally pry the case apart, grab a small Philips screwdriver and take it apart. RAM is standard, hard drive is standard. Relatively friendly for repair and upgrade if you ask me. But still other solutions on the market now give Apple a run for their money.

Anyone for an iMac? Just as with the rest of the PC industry I am firmly against the all in one (AIO) design. AIO means you get crapped on if any one major component fails. Screen failed? That'll be hundreds of dollars. Motherboard? Hundreds of dollars. That is assuming you can even get the parts. That is true of both Apple and non-Apple AIO systems. Other things, you get that AIO and the next model comes out with a bigger higher resolution screen. Well hey, you could just get a similar screen and have it as a second monitor but then you run the issue of not having matching screens or having different resolutions. Maybe you only have room for one screen. Again, had you bought the Mini you could change your monitor at will. Any standalone desktop computer regardless of size gives you more flexibility in choosing peripherals. Most new computers are even dual monitor ready so you can run two nice large monitors and even get matching ones for far less than going the AIO and/or Apple route. All Apple desktops computers have standard monitor connectors as well giving you choice equivalent to the rest of the industry.

What about other devices? FruitPhone, FruitPads, etc, etc. What Apple has done with many of their successes hasn't been entirely revolutionary. Not in the least bit. All they've done is taken existing technology and made it pretty so people will buy it! I've had a Linux based touch screen phone long before the iPhone came out. Apple just took a Palm Pilot and added a phone. Bazinga! Now everybody wants one. Heck, I have owned them. I owned a 2G and a 3G. Once my carrier had a decent Android phone I dropped the iPhone like a lead brick. I couldn't wait to get away from Apple's jailed gardens. The only reason I wanted the iPhone was it did things I wanted like have PDA functionality without being a Crackberry and running Windows. I was and still am seriously disenchanted by the idea of Windows in my pocket. Google did a fantastic job in acquiring the Android development team (did you know Google didn't 'invent' Android?) and getting it onto phones and then into tablets. Ooh, tablets. How about that iPad? Again, Apple took existing technologies and ideas and made it pretty. Nokia and Archos have had tablets for a very long time. And how about the Sharp Zaurus? There's a nice touch screen Linux PDA/tablet. Long before the iPad but well after the Newton.

Wait, what about the iPod? Again, same as above. Make it pretty, make it easy, advertise the crap out of it. MP3 players have existed for quite some time. The iPod didn't hit the market until 2001. The very idea of a digital audio player has been around since 1979 and commercially available starting in the late 90's.

Are you seeing the trend? Apple isn't doing anything terribly innovative! They are just pulling the wool over your eyes to convince you that you need to spend significantly more money for a shiny product rather than spends much less on something equivalent or the same amount on something better!