Ten reasons why Apple is not good for you -

Apple has outsourced most of its PR to the US technology press which means that most of the “news” you get about Apple is all positive. In the interests of balance, we give ten reasons why you should not buy an Apple product.

 

  1. Apple fanboys. Most people who buy Apple products are fairly ordinary uninformed types. But the people who attract attention are Apple fanboys. They are usually found scouring Web 2 based sites screaming at hacks who they think are writing nasty things about Apple. The usual complaint is that the hack in question works for Microsoft, whereas in their view he should be working for Apple. Deep down they know that Apple products are not worth the cash and are fundamentally insecure. The danger of buying a product is that people might call you an Apple fanboy, by which they mean you are smug git, who thinks that Coldplay are a great band and who cannot get a girlfriend.

  2. Apple costs more. When Steve Jobs moved to Intel chips he was effectively turning his Apple Macs into PCs. The only difference is that the huge price mark up became obvious. While other PC makers, such as Dell do have a high mark up, Apple takes the biscuit. Most of the time it gets away with it because it pitches its products at the high end of the market.

  3. Apple makes its products using partners in China who use child labour and regularly have to be disciplined by Jobs Mob over labour practices.

  4. Apple's build quality. In the 1980s Apples had a nasty habit of catching fire. However during the 1990s the build quality improved and it gained a reputation for reliability while Windows products were full of Blue Screens of Death. However more recently that seems to have slipped dramatically. The recent MacBook Pro had cracked screens and colour problems. In comparison with OS-X, the latest version, Leopard was decidedly buggy.

  5. Apple always denies that there is anything wrong. Apple has made a name for itself saying it is better than other PC makers. However, for years it's had a policy of denying that faults existed with any of its products. It will purge user bulletin boards of posts and complaints that it does not like. It will only be if a media storm gets too much that it will actually do anything about it. It often will agree to replace faulty products if customers sign lifetime NDAs saying they will not talk about the problems in the media.

  6. Apple is a closed shop. Apple makes a fortune out of keeping its customers in a locked pen of products. This means that you have to spend money when and where Steve Jobs says you should. The iPhone comes locked into providers like AT&T who many have criticised were not up to the task. For a long time you could only buy DRM content on iTunes. Apple also insists that you spend more money than you need too on things that will work with its toys.

  7. Apple products are insecure. In every cracking competition the Apple computers are usually the first to be cracked. This would be OK if Apple did a Microsoft and admitted that it needed to spruce up its security act. Instead it attacks Microsoft for security flaws. If Apple machines were attacked as often as PCs then every Apple would be part of a botnet. Apple usually points to the fact that there are no “viruses” for the Mac. One reason is that Apple only has four per cent of the machines in the US and so a virus writer is not going to get it to spread if it writes code in OS-X. A similar security in obscurity clause exists in Linux desktops. Apple machines are not safe by design, but at the whim of the hacker, which is not a good state to be in.

  8. Apple does not let you do basic things to your own computer. The PC is wonderful in that it allows you to take the back off and tinker with it if you need to. If you have a laptop you can replace the battery if it goes wrong. Apple insists that you have to take it to one of their repair people to do something which is incredibly basic.

  9. Apple believes you need to replace its expensive products every two years. Jobs' Mob has run foul of EU consumer laws because it did not want to support its electronic goods for the EU minimums. Apple tends to “refresh” its products regularly and to encourage you to move on it ignores its older gear. While technology does improve, the old gear should continue to run and you should not be forced to buy new gear to satisfy a company bottom line.

  10. Apple acts just as evil as Microsoft in areas where it has control. Although it has an image of being a laid back, almost hippy outfit, Apple's actions are similar to those of Microsoft nearly a decade ago. It is extremely hard on competition or those who do not fit its “image.” Itunes, and its App store is strictly controlled and the company moves to shut down competition wherever it can. Sometimes this is simply blocking access to its App store, other times it is a letter from m'learned friends.