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…