Apple can fail like any other vendor
I don’t normally dig into the tech mainstream in this blog, but Mike Arrington’s Techcrunch article on his woes with Apple devices and services does catch my attention for the following reasons:
1. It’s a pretty high profile complaint about Apple.
2. I am quite surprised about the number of failures that he lists in his blog post.
I have very little experience with Apple’s products, although I know a number of people who absolutely love them.
For my part, I’ve never found a compelling reason to switch from the Microsoft world to Apple, mainly because my work environment is 100% Microsoft and I’m very comfortable with that.
It does concern me that Mike is using his personal experience as the yardstick to base a significant part of his opinion. However, he isn’t alone in expressing these opinions.
For my part, I’ll be curious to see if Apple reacts publicly to Mike’s article. My gut says no, but we’ll see.
Scott M.:
Meh. I read the article. For a guy with a lot of Apple gear he doesn't seem to have been an Apple user long enough to know that (1) you should never buy the first generation of any of their products and (2) MobileMe (formerly .Mac) is pretty useless for anyone with more than casual needs. On the other hand, he does seem to be a savvy enough writer to know that complaining about Apple is a sure-fire way to boost your readership, in the short term at least.
Not to say that his concerns aren't valid in places, but it's easier to identify a broad range of problems when you have a manufacturer that not only makes the hardware, but also the OS, the retail experience, the content delivery system, and web services.
20 August 2008, 10:15 pmMark Dykeman:
You've got some good points there.
As far as readership goes, Arrington's was already pretty large before this article. He's generally not afraid to share a negative opinion, either.
21 August 2008, 7:39 am