Apple - Forgetting How They Became Successful

How Far The Apple Has Fallen From The Tree

We are all familiar with the story of companies who break ground, do great things, and grow so bloated that they choke on their own excesses.  Such is the case with Apple.  As you may recall, I was a huge fan of Apple, and we adopted much of their ecosystem because it really did just work well together.

Well, fast forward - now it is the end of 2022, the country has hastened its descent into Communism, Steve Jobs has passed on, and here we are.  Apple's products over the past 3 years have declined so much in quality that our last purchase, an M1 Macbook a year ago, constitutes the last product purchase our family will make from Apple.

Let's look at the litany of things that have led me to this conclusion:

• Of the 5 pairs of Air Pods and one Air Pod Pro, half of them stopped working during the warranty period and had to be replaced.  One (mine) has quit after the warranty period, and I have gone back to corded earbuds, which work better than the Air Pods.
• The Bluetooth stack on the iPhone is so jacked, that it constantly loses connection with car, Air Pods, or whatever it is connected to.  This causes thing like Apple TV, iPhone, or what have you to pause while playing shows, or so on.  The Air Pods also lose pairing after a few months, and have to be constantly deleted and repaired in order to continue working.
• iPhone quality has dropped, and innovation has tanked, to the point where I have an iPhone 11 (the 14 is now out), and I have absolutely no desire to upgrade.  It used to be that each iteration I wished I could upgrade to - or at least every other, there was such a large jump in technology.  Now that is such a thin shave, it isn't worth upgrading.  In fact, newer devices have suffered from quality issues that have stifled the desire to be on the bleeding edge.
• Mac computer performance and reliability have degraded significantly.  First, both our older and newer Macs all have freezing problems.  Second, compatibility issues plague their feature and software.
• Interoperability has stagnated - to where the "new" features they tout in the WWDC event are groaners that make you wonder why their heads are so far up their asses.
• Apple recently increased their service fees for Apple One plans, with absolutely no added benefits.  Why?  Do they need the money?  No.  Just because the can.
• I had always admired Apple's commitment to customer privacy.  They had stood up to the FBI on a case as tough as the terrorist in California whom the feds wanted Apple to unlock their iCloud account so they could investigate their motive and methods for carrying out their attack.  However, this year Apple sided with the CCP to block Airdrop in China, preventing protesters from their primary means of communication in protesting the draconian measures China's Communist government put in place to supposedly control the spread of COVID.  And, they were considering removing Twitter from the app store solely because Elon Musk bought it and was cleaning up its illegal activities.  This has gone way too far, and Apple has turned out to be a supporter of Communism, and come out strongly on the side of censorship and against free speech.

So, all-in-all, Apple's quality has gotten so bad, that I am changing my recommendations:  DO NOT BUY APPLE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES.  However, if you already have them (like I do), is it worth it to drop them and switch?  That has a whole host of costs associated with it, including time to convert.

Conclusion

Here is what I would recommend as reasonable:

1. If you do not own Apple, or merely have iPhones but no other investment in their ecosystem - DON'T BUY.    Go ahead and switch, get off the Apple ecosystem.  What are the alternatives?
• Google, who has committed just as egregious fraud, suppression of speech, election interference, and more as Twitter, developed Android, and I am sure has malicious code in there to do something.  However, Android is easier to root, and you can obtain versions of AOS that break the controls of Google.
• Windows is actually working quite well, but it's developed by a company whose founder has come out as a climate change alarmist, who thinks that is caused by too many people on earth, and further it is his solemn duty to orchestrate mass murder of millions via his "charitable" foundation, the drug companies, and his lab in Wuhan that developed the COVID-19 disease and released it to the world.  It's a terrible time to be alive.
• Linux is probably your best choice - especially check out Ubuntu and Ubuntu Touch.
2. If you DO own Apple, has their quality sunk so far as to be worse than the competition (Android, Windows, Chrome, Linux, etc.)?  Well, no, probably not.  It's probably not worth switching, especially if you are heavily invested in the ecosystem of products and services.  How would you switch all your playlists, songs, etc. in iTunes, magazines in News +, and more over to Spotify, or others?  And what would you gain?  Honestly, the only good choice is to switch to Linux.  I have been using Ubuntu for many years in the desktop/server environment, and it is fantastic.  Lots of support.  They also have Ubuntu Touch, a mobile OS that works on some 50 or so different smartphone models.  I believe it will support Android apps and app stores, so it should be well-supported.  I'd like to know if any of you have gone this route, and what your experiences have been.  Post your replies below.