Amplify the Obvious

Inside the Apple Bubble

Shawn Blanc points to an essay by Dana Levine about the iPad mini that brings to mind a couple of issues with the Apple “community”. The essay basically says two things - the iPad mini, mostly because of its size, is quite nice to have. And the lack of a “Retina” display isn’t that big of a deal.

Now I don’t disagree with either point. But what I find odd is that someone would treat these two things like they have discovered something new and exciting. Only inside the Apple bubble would these be treated as insightful observations. People who don’t live entirely in Apple’s world have known about small form factor tablets - they have sold in the millions. Only inside Apple’s bubble would someone “discover” that you can still have a nice, useful tablet without state of the art resolution.

Until the release of the mini, the consensus of Apple fans seemed to be that the iPad was pretty much the perfect size, and all those silly little Android tablets were missing the point. And that the Retina display was yet another innovation that put Apple a cut above of the competition. But once the mini got released, suddenly the consensus changes - there are lots of reasons why a smaller tablet is a great thing, and hi res displays are nice, but certainly not a requirement.

This self imposed blindness that so many subject themselves to is going to provide more surprises in the future. Someday Apple will introduce something very much like Android widgets to IOS, or are going to bring out an iPod Touch with a 5 inch screen, or an iPhone that is not just taller, but wider, too. Or a touch screen laptop. And these will be received as further Apple breakthroughs, and people will write essays about how cool they are, and be oblivious to the fact that out in the real world, these aren’t breakthroughs at all.

My point isn’t that Shawn Blanc or Dana Levine in particular are guilty of any of this. But certainly the Apple community as a whole is. There is a whole wide world out there, full of cool things. Just because Apple hasn’t done it yet doesn’t mean something isn’t cool.

Breaking Out of the Walled Garden

So if you don’t want to be part of Apple’s world anymore, but you have a house full of Apple gadgets, what do you do?

First, I’m not going to be so fanatic about it that I’m going to cost myself a lot of money. I have an iPad 3 that is only a few months old, and I’m not just going to go buy a new Nexus or something. But when the time comes to replace it in a year or two, I’ll be looking at Android devices.

My iPhone 4 is another matter. It is now 2 generations old, and will probably need to be replaced in the months to come. There are lots of attractive Android phones to choose from, so this will be the easiest device to switch.

Now I also use an Apple computer. My Macbook Pro died recently, and I’ve been struggling along with an old G4 Mini that I had in my closet. It is very much out of date, and needs replacing. But what is the alternative to Apple for computers? A Windows machine? Sorry, Microsoft is as bad as Apple, and I rid myself of them years ago.

So I don’t really see an alternative to buying another Apple computer. I’ll probably buy a used one so Apple doesn’t make any money, or maybe a refurb, so they don’t get their usual profit margin off my purchase. But I don’t really see a way around buying another Mac.

As I slowly migrate away from Apple, on the software side, I am making sure I don’t get locked into their world. I sync with services that are cross platform - which means no iCloud. Toodledo or Google for tasks, Google for email and calendars, Simplenote for text, Dropbox for whatever. All these services have compatible apps on various platforms, so if I go to Android or to Amazon or to whatever, I can still get at all my stuff.

Windows?

If you follow the tech press at all, you have probably noticed all the upcoming Windows devices - tablets, hybrid tablet/laptop devices, lightweight laptops with touch screens. If Windows 8 is any good at all, it really seems like Apple will finally have a viable challenger.

But as interested as I am in moving away from the Apple ecosystem, I really can’t see myself going back to Microsoft and Windows. Microsoft has a long history of making mediocre software, and the current Windows drives me nuts when I have to use it.

Crappy alternatives is why I have so many Apple products in my house. When it is time to replace my mobile gadgets, I can easily see myself moving to Android. But I don’t see any way to move away from Macs.

Android OS Updates

Lots of buzz in the Apple blogosphere (here, and here and lots of other places) about how Android phones don’t get OS updates often (or at all). Like Marco, the geek in me finds this a bad thing, and a big drawback of Android.

But this view is dependent on thinking of a smartphone as a little computer - you expect regular OS updates like Apple does with IOS. But if you are a normal, non geek, perhaps a phone should be more of an appliance - you buy it, use it the way you got it, and if you want the latest and greatest, you go buy a new one. More like a piece of stereo equipment, or a kitchen utensil, or a non-smart phone. Especially as Android phones keep getting cheaper, smartphones become more disposable.

In short, I doubt that the lack of OS updates is a big deal for most Android users. Most are non geeks, and don’t know or care that they aren’t running the latest and greatest OS release.

Does Apple copy others?

BGR has a nice side by side picture of an iPhone 4 and a Prada phone from 2006. The reader can decide if they look more or less similar than a Samsung phone does to the iPhone.

The latest version of Apple Mail for OS X features a conversation mode pretty much identical to that found in Gmail. The upcoming version of IOS features an alert mechanism pretty much like that found in Android. I don’t have a problem with Apple copying others - but I do have a problem with them suing others for doing pretty much the same thing they do themselves.

Phone costs

A good summary of why it doesn’t make much sense to buy a $50 phone on contract. I touched on this before myself.. low cost phones make much more sense if you are going prepaid.

So if there is a new, cheaper varient of the iPhone 4 that gets released along with the iPhone 5, I hope there is also a low cost plan to go with it - currently AT&T doesn’t let you use an iPhone with their prepaid plans. 

Why be seen as the bully?

Apple continues to try to use the legal system to stop their competitors, this time in Japan. Leaving aside the many issues surrounding patents (software developers hate them, lawyers love them), is this really a wise thing to do in the long run? 

Certainly with tablets, Samsung, and all other competitors for that matter, have had almost zero impact on iPad sales. So I don’t see what Apple really has to gain. But they do have something to lose - goodwill. Apple is ‘cool’ now, and has been for many years. Why put that at risk by acting like a bully?

WIth phones, Samsung and others have had plenty of impact. But is suing competitors really the best way to compete? Are all phones that are a black rectangle with icons really “copies”? Again, I don’t see why Apple wants to create ill will by being the industry bully, especially in an industry where they are already so successful.

Due Today

I use the Toodledo service for my tasks and todos. On the iPad, Pocket Informant works nicely as a calendar, and it syncs with Toodledo. On the iPhone, Appigo’s Todo is pretty good, especially now that they finally added better syncing.

On Android, the best task list with Toodledo syncing that I’ve found is Due Today. If you use Android, I highly recommend it. It is only a couple of bucks, and works on both phones and tablets. It syncs great, is quick, and easy to use.

My only complaint is that it uses white text on a black background. This is pretty common on Android for some reason. Just another little thing that keeps Android from being as nice as IOS.

The good news is that the developer is working on a change to the color scheme to allow black text on a white background as god intended. 

Apple: threat or menace?

I know it is the fashion right now to bash Google. But I remain more concerned with Apple than with Google. Here are some reasons.

• I’m nervous whenever a company gets so big and dominant. Apple is no longer the scrappy underdog - they are the biggest tech company in the world.
• I don’t like the idea of my tech experience being controlled by a single company. Once you buy into Apple’s world, it is easy to get trapped there. You see the internet via ‘apps’, you only sync between Apple gadgets, you only buy stuff from Apple stores (online or brick and mortar).
• Apple is really, really ‘closed’. If I want to buy an Android app, I can get it from Google’s store, or Amazon’s store, or in many cases right from the developer. I can only buy IOS apps from Apple. And of course, Apple restricts what is for sale in their app store based on changing and inconsistant criteria. 
• Apple does what is best for Apple, not for their customers. You used to be able to easily buy an Amazon book directly from the Amazon app. Apple made Amazon remove that link - which makes things worse, not better, for users. The only reason I can see for this change is the hope that more users will buy books from Apples inferior book store. They are free to do this of course, and I am free not to like it.

Of course, Apple makes great products. My house full of them. But more and more, there is a price to pay when buying Apple gadgets. You have to live in their world. At some point, it won’t be worth it anymore.

“Device Restart”

My T-Mobile Android phone has started sending me messages from time to time that “Restarting your device regularly can help performance”. They recommend you restart your device every week!

It appears this message is coming from T-Mobile. Not very comforting. Do they send this to all their phones, or just Android phones or just LG phones or ??