There is not just a single Apple
Friday, 31 July 09
Obviously thanks to the recent moves of Apple a lot of guys are Qutting the iPhone. This may appear sensationalism, but I think that every time an hardware vendor is trying to say what software can run and can not on his hardware, there is just one thing to do: to protest loudly. The issue is so important for our future that there should be a law explicitly prohibiting all the possible forms of software censorship, at least about hardware that is sold to end users.
My feeling about this issue appears to be pretty common: on one hand I love this great device. On the other hand I'm really upset with Apple, and there is the smell of the worst kind of marketing-driven decision process behind what they are doing with the App Store. Why we have this mixed feeling, loving and hating at the same time the same company? Because actually there is not a single Apple.
Basically who is designing and coding the phone is not the same guy that's going to exclude Google Voice (or another application) from the Store. I know many programmers and designers, and there is almost a constant trait among them: they love freedom. Apple's designers and developers are creating a great device that makes our live better, and I bet they love to see the latest great stuff running on the iPhone. As a developer and designer you are just badly happy when there is something new and cool using what you built.
But there is the other Apple, that is, the dark side of the company, not happy enough selling a lot of phones but willing to earn more money performing partnerships with carriers in order to earn even from services, and then being forced to obey to carrier logics and needs.
I don't want to quit the iPhone, but I want to imagine that there is a direct link between the iPhone designers and me: they want to bring to me the best user experience, but part of their company is fighting against them and customers. So the first thing I'll do is to jailbreak my phone again trying to get the most of the device, hoping that if the marketing guys at Apple are not smart enough to realize that this moves are not the ones of the company that will dominate the future of mobile devices at least will be able to understand that there is some kind of customer reaction that is better to avoid.
My feeling about this issue appears to be pretty common: on one hand I love this great device. On the other hand I'm really upset with Apple, and there is the smell of the worst kind of marketing-driven decision process behind what they are doing with the App Store. Why we have this mixed feeling, loving and hating at the same time the same company? Because actually there is not a single Apple.
Basically who is designing and coding the phone is not the same guy that's going to exclude Google Voice (or another application) from the Store. I know many programmers and designers, and there is almost a constant trait among them: they love freedom. Apple's designers and developers are creating a great device that makes our live better, and I bet they love to see the latest great stuff running on the iPhone. As a developer and designer you are just badly happy when there is something new and cool using what you built.
But there is the other Apple, that is, the dark side of the company, not happy enough selling a lot of phones but willing to earn more money performing partnerships with carriers in order to earn even from services, and then being forced to obey to carrier logics and needs.
I don't want to quit the iPhone, but I want to imagine that there is a direct link between the iPhone designers and me: they want to bring to me the best user experience, but part of their company is fighting against them and customers. So the first thing I'll do is to jailbreak my phone again trying to get the most of the device, hoping that if the marketing guys at Apple are not smart enough to realize that this moves are not the ones of the company that will dominate the future of mobile devices at least will be able to understand that there is some kind of customer reaction that is better to avoid.
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Comments
1
02 Aug 09, 17:33:21
Apple has always been about control (at least Apple with Steve in charge). Whereas Bill was happy to "settle" for ownership of the OS, Steve wanted the OS *and* the hardware it ran on. Look and feel lawsuit, squashing the clones... Apple wants full control.
18 Aug 09, 12:19:13
I agree and disagree. As a hardware designer, I am intimately aware of the costs of developing and making these phones. One of the major hurdles that all of the cell phone companies have is covering these costs. The market won't support the true price of the phones, so they get it back with partnership deals. It's unfortunate, but true.