Yeah, I still haven’t changed my mind, if you were wondering. I’m going to jump from one thing to another and talk about them as they pop in my mind, no particular order whatsoever.

The cult of Apple…1/2

“Yes, yes, my precious…” – That’s how Apple fanatics sound like and yes they are real. I’m from Romania, Europe in case you’re dumb, somewhere in the East if you’re a real idiot. I would see on youtube people standing outside for hours and even days in front of an Apple shop just to be the “first” of their group to get their hands on a new product, it didn’t matter if it was cold outside or a tornado was about to hit. The people needed that iPhone like they needed food. Well, I guess that’s how dumb people in civilized countries act. I remember people, friends of mine and friends of friends that actually went bat shit crazy when a new iPhone launch was just around the corner.

It was one summer, I remember going out for a run and later at night met with some friends and went of for a drink. Friends of friends came and went but I saw something that made me angry at that time. A few days earlier one of “those” friends asked me for some money, I didn’t judge, he had money problem and I understood so I gladly lent him a hand. Yeah turns out that fucking prick who was so poor and usually couldn’t afford a beer now had the new iPhone. Of course I was mad, told him a few things and they weren’t nice, trust me. Don’t think I was judging, I couldn’t afford a phone like that, I was more mad at the fad, the faux facade that he was putting on. It’s like you don’t have enough money to flush the toilet and you’re getting one of the most expensive phones on the market. Oh, the hypocrisy. Hope that new phone helps you pay the rent. LMAO

The phone wars. Remember when Apple fans always used to brag out loud with their new gadgets, “my new iPhone is better…because”. Just like in those “I’m a mac and I’m a pc” commercials, only this was in real life. Each time we gathered for a party and such, somebody had to mention their phone, be it an Android or an iPhone. Man, those arguments went all night. And one thing lead to another…and you can imagine so many not so funny situations. Damn phones!

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The “meh” factor…

Macs baby, Macs! No not really, they were very niche in Europe. Since when? Since always! Europe was ruled by IBM compatible clones ever since the dawn of computers. Hell, even Romania had their own line of computers. Look it up, learn some history boi!! Yeah, there were Macs in western countries, but even there they were niche, mostly used in educational programs and designer and/or art businesses. Productivity was the main factor and so was cost, that’s why PCs became the leading choice. Customization was a huge factor, something that Macs always lacked or had but only to a certain degree. Yeah, even today, people don’t care how stuff looks as longs as it works.

The “wow” factor…

Yeah, nobody can deny that Macs always looked cool, at least starting with the mid 90s, before that they looked horrible. The 2000s brought a new aesthetic to Macs, almost see-through cases, colors. Just wow. They were beautiful, just like the colorful iMac G3, and let’s not forget the laptops. Candy everywhere! I was fascinated, I really was! Then they moved to pipes, to the color white, then to silver, black. Beautiful simplicity! Some do really care about how their stuff looks and feels while they are working.

Music on the go…

Ohh, the iPod, everybody loved it, including me. My favourite was the Mini, because, well, it was small, hence the name. This gadget revolutionized the music industry as we know it and that’s a fact. I came from a time when having a CD Sony Walkman was cool, yo! It was small, but a lot of music was in there, somewhere and all in the pocket of your jeans. Ohh, and colors, colors again, yes a bunch to choose from. Personalization at it’s finest. Good job Apple, you killed the iPod, congrats. You’re now offering that ugly big screen iPod Touch. If I wanted something huge in my pocket or in my hand while I was running or doing any other sport I’d just take my goddamn phone with me. Thanks for killing the mini!

1984 won’t be like 1984…

Well, neither is 2019, it feels like 2014, everything is just a bunch of bullshit, so fuck it. Innovation? I’m gonna talk about that a bit later along the article. Now I’m talking about the ads, the Apple commercials. I don’t remember ever seeing an ad that sucked, they all had that wow factor or had something relatable. I think that’s what got me into Apple products, the ads. Everybody was amazed by the iPod commercials for example, the ones with the black silhouettes dancing on a brightly coloured background while listening to music. Outstanding!

Then there were the iPhone ads, mentioning their use in science and projects for the betterment of mankind, insert Robin Williams, some nature, some African kids and you’ve got yourself an Oscar, for an ad. Yeah they used a large amount of high profile people. To be honest, I’m sold, those ads got me. So you win this round, Apple. Give some beers to your marketing team, they’ve earned them. Make that beer ice cold, baby!

Uhh, let’s not forget the books and the movies. Who doesn’t love a great comeback story, right? You know, Pirates of Silicon Valley, Jobs The Movie. Well these things got to me, they really did, because I was a nerd, mostly. I always saw Apple as one of the greatest tech success stories of all time. Now, not so much.

The hardware…

I’ll skip design on this one. Tell me why is it hard to buy a pc? I’ll tell you why, too many to choose from and not a good one in sight. Garbage, I’ll tell you, and I’m a pc user. Apple made a few products and it was and is always easy to know which type of computer is right for you. Kudos! Macs always had power and I’m not just talking about the architecture, they had more than enough hardware for high load usage such as video, music and so forth. Don’t get me wrong, the Mac Pro packs a huge punch, but I don’t agree with the way that trash can was designed to be upgraded, not at all. Yeah, try upgrading stuff on your own on your Mac laptop, good luck, or on the Mini for that matter. And on the iMac, heck the whole line of computers is a pain in the neck to upgrade components. I don’t need no Mac genius to crawl inside my computer to change my RAM, I’m perfectly capable of doing that on my own. #rant

Design and stuff…

Well iPhones always looked good and some still do, I believe design stopped after 4S, the iPhone 5 was just a 4S that played basketball. Tall, but still the same phone. The others, well, looked nice, but not so durable. Remember #bendgate? It’s happening again with iPods, out of the box and Apple says it’s fine, things like that happen. Wait, what? You stupid motherfucker! Quality control just like a guy with Parkinsons doing eye surgery. Find out more on this here, Rich from ReviewTech made a nice video explaining this issue. Heck I fucked up an iPhone because I forgot it was in my back pocket and I sat down in the car. Bummer!

My cherished iPhone 4S is cool, but I’s covered in glass so I always had to be extra careful with my phone, it was like having an egg in my pocket for crying out loud.

In regards to design, Apple has nothing new to bring to the table, heck they’d might even take things out, just like they did with the audio jack. * Insert Samuel L. Jackson voice: #motherfucker

Well, they could always make the screens bigger and bigger and bigger…there is absolutely nothing I think Apple can do in regards to designing new phones. It’s done, it’s there. Curved screens? Pffff…too niche! How about foldable? You gotta be kidding me!

The cult of Apple…2/2

Nothing brings more sales like some brainwashed fanboys, amirite? Dumb is and dumb do! Keep on buying an ultra expensive phone while you can’t pay rent, just because this offers you some fake sense of higher status. You’re a fucking idiot! I see things from a different perspective, I always try to imagine if a product actually is worth the money I’d be willing to pay for it. Does that cost reflect its actual usage? In most of the cases it doesn’t so that’s why the iPhone is a trap. The iPad used to be cool, but now it bends, or who knows, maybe it’s foldable and that’s actually a feature. Haha, silly me!

I’m guessing it all boils down to choice and money, mostly money. Nowadays I feel hesitant when I think about Apple products, I didn’t before. Strange, isn’t it? Yeah, gimme back my audio jack and maybe I’ll change my mind, a little bit. We all know that’s not gonna happen, but can’t a man dream?

I hope that with this decrease in sales Apple might take that chip of their shoulder and get their shit together.

To end this article, I’d like to say it comes at the perfect time, right with the #10yearchallenge. In all this time, you’ve read what has happened to Apple from my point of view. In the back of my head a voice keeps whispering “if Steve was still here…”. Not a ray of hope in sight.

Goodbye Apple,

Yours truly,

Mike

I’m sorry Apple, I don’t love you anymore. I waited all these years, hoping for something better but now it’s too little, too late.

Sounds kinda’ corny, doesn’t it? Well let me tell you you a little story about me and Apple. I first came into contact with an Apple branded computer in the early 2000s, back when they still used the Power architecture. I was amazed by their performance and their design was awe inspiring. I had a custom AMD computer at that time, so comparing those was just like the saying, comparing apples and oranges. I was in school, a computer nerd disassembling anything I could get my hands on and hopefully putting them back together. I could not afford a Mac for myself so I always hung around a friend of mine’s place just for kicks, his parents were working abroad and they always sent him all the coolest and newest gadgets.

Fast forward a few years, I was in highschool, patiently waiting for any news about the “new” phone that Apple would be announcing soon. It was 2007, I was hyped. And then it happened, Steve was on stage with the phone in his hand. It wasn’t just a phone, it was THE iPhone. I was stunned, worlds had collided at that moment and I definitely knew I had to own one. That launch was and will be a moment in tech history. That was the start of a new digital era.

Later that year the iPhone was available for the US, me living in Europe had nothing, i had to wait. Guess what I did? I had a friend of mine from the US ship me one all the way to Romania. It altmost cost me an arm and a leg. Nice! Well, not quite because it didn’t work on the cell networks from Europe at that time. I was heartbroken. It was cool nonetheless. Even though I couldn’t use it as an actual phone I carried it with me everywhere, mostly as because it had an awesome camera and I could get my music with me. Everybody asked me about it and also looked at me like I was from outer space or from the future when I held that iPhone. I actually felt like the rich kid from the block, with the coolest gadgets and shit.

Apps didn’t work, because of course they didn’t at that time, so I eventually sold it on eBay some weeks later. Yeah, I went back to java and Symbian phones, what a crappy day that was. So I found myself without an iPhone, but after using one even with limited functionality, I knew this was the future. I knew I’ll get another one when the right time will come.

And I didn’t get one, if you were wondering. After using my first Android from HTC I started having doubts about the IPhone. Yeah, I never went for my main idea, never got an iPhone, instead a cheap ass Android phone that started making competition on the first waves of smartphones, and an iPod. Music is life baby, had to own on if you were on the move and needed that specific playlist, wherever and whenever.

So it’s 2010, I bough a Galaxy S1, sold it, couldn’t get myself to spend “that” much money on an iPhone. Yeah they were expensive even then. I got a Lumia phone because I was deep into mobile and game development. It sucked, I knew Microsoft would fail on mobile again. I was stuck with a dumbass java phone, again. So one year later the S variant of the iPhone came out and I bough one. Eventually, the kid in me remembered why I wanted one and believe me, I was very happy with my phone at that time. It was just perfect, fragile nonetheless, it lacked things I had come accustomed to while using other mobile operating systems, but I was happy and made the most of it.

If you’ve reached this part of the article, by now you’d might think I’m some Apple fanboy, well I’ll tell you for certain that I am not and never was. Apple products were never perfect, were mostly hard to get your hands in and upgrade them but they made up by design and functionality. They felt perfectly made. If you’d look at the timeline of products you will see a shift in “design” right after Steve’s death.

I believe that the iPhone 4S was the last great mobile that Apple has made, after this they ran out of ideas.

History time…

If you look back in time, from the garage where Apple stared and the corporate giant it has become. Remember when Steve was giving Big Blue the finger? Well, ironic isn’t it? You’ve may have read books or seen movies about the company and about Steve Jobs. You can draw your own conclusions. I never cried like others when he died but I did feel a void inside my stomach. Yes he was a visionary, yes he went through people like a knife through butter but at the end he came up with design-perfect products.

The Apple cult, where owning an iPhone or a MacBook shows off your economical status. Uuu, look at me, I’m rich, I’m a hipster, I’m an artist and all the bullshit in between. When a new product launches people are attracted to Apple shops like ants to honey. Well, I could never understand that.

Almost at the end…

I always admired the style and functionality of Apple products in a way, but that’s long gone. At the time of writing this article Apple has had its first loss in years now. The smartphone industry is “saturated”, the iPhone doesn’t sell well for the first time since its launch. Boo..hoo! You’re not the same company you were a few years ago.

I’m not gonna buy a Mac Pro unless it’s absolutely necessary, a laptop probably not, an iPhone most definitely not. They took a huge risk in 2007 when they brought it (iPhone) to the masses, but now they are just pulling shit out of the hat. Took out the audio jack, why the fuck don’t you just take out the fucking speakers out for good? Apple doesn’t innovate anymore, that’s why I don’t love Apple anymore. Taking stuff out is not innovation, putting a bigger screen doesn’t mean anything. After all these years people (Apple fans) have started to notice these things and it was about damn time! You assholes!

Apple used to innovate, they made awesome stuff. I loved the way the designed their products. I could never say the same things about, for example Dell or any other computer manufacturer. Back in the day I couldn’t compare an iPhone with any other Android smartphone. They had a certain complexity within their apparent simple design and it took you a while to figure it out. Amazing!

Just a little more…

I went on a rant in this article but I don’t care. Maybe if Steve would have managed to put OSX on a Vaio, things might have turned out a lot different. I still have my iPhone 4S, I love it, it needs a new battery but other than that, it’s a good backup phone. I also keep it as reminder of the Steve Jobs era, when Apple was cool, when I loved Apple. Even today I still wonder if those “amazing” Apple ads made me love the iPhone. They did have quite a thing with those ads, they were catchy, very relatable, maybe that’s why…

I guess I’ll have to order myself a new battery from China and repair my iPhone 4S because I surely won’t get another one, ever. I’m done for now, see you guys in part two…