Scoble gives an honest critique, and I actually agree with him, mostly

The infamous Robert Scoble gave a thorough brow-beating to Apple a little bit ago, and I completely missed it. And by "thorough brow-beating," what I really mean is an honest critique that should be considered.

Oh, crap, I know, I'm supposed to be a big Apple fan, and jump all over him like the trained puppy that many fanbois have become. Well, that's not gonna happen. I may be an Apple fan, but fan != fanboi, got it?

I'm doing the whole "I'm an Apple fan" disclaimer stuff now so that the people who are already getting irate with me will just pipe down for a minute, take an Ambien or something, chill out, and clear their minds.

Now, onto the critique. There are a few really great points, and the entire premise of the article is absolutely true. Apple has done what few others have managed to do with regards to brand positioning and customer loyalty. It really is amazing. Nevertheless, having countless devoted fans does not correlate to perfection. In fact, far from it in Apple's case.

Now, before we go any further, this is NOT a Mac vs PC thing. I really could care less that you're happy with WindowsXP, Vista, or, hell, even Ubuntu. I'm just elaborating on a few issues that I personally have against Apple, and the people who will defend them regardless of logic.

A computer is a computer, right? It's a very complex system of complex systems. Apple promotes itself as the perfect computer. Nothing ever goes wrong with it. Anyone can use it. And "it just works." Well, except when it doesn't "just work," and when something does go wrong with it, and when someone can't use it. You know, kinda like the rash of bunk 20" and 24" iMacs they released?

Scoble points something very important to consider here:

"how DARE you be an Apple user and not know you needed to flash your PRAM.” Translation: any idiot can use a Mac, but not really.

He then goes on to point out how he is not a MS shill, which I do believe. Nevertheless, many of the Apple warriors will still ignorantly believe that he is a shill. I just figured I, as a self-admitted Apple fan, would weigh in here as well:

Apple is not perfect. Mac's are not perfect. And to the crazed Apple fans who would beg to differ: You are not perfect either.

Don't sit there and tell me your Mac has never crashed. Don't tell me you've never seen a kernel panic. Don't tell me that everything "just works," because it doesn't.

Sync any phone with your computer, other than an iPhone, and tell me it "just works." Without 3rd party tools. Just using iSync. I'm betting there's more than a handful of you out there that would just be SOL.

How about the "I can find any software for Mac." Most of the time, yes. All of the time, no. You can't manage AD groups, because MS hasn't released that to Apple. Is that Apple's fault? No. But, the fact still remains that there is at least one thing you cannot do on Mac that you can do on Windows.

And, let's talk about user-friendliness. It's not. It's a computer. You still have to do things that are more complicated than pushing a button. Like, repairing permissions. And trying your best not to leave .DS_Store files all over a freaking network.

Another thing that really ticks me off is the whole cost argument. I don't care much about the "well if you're comparing specs they are relatively inexpensive..." shut up. They are expensive, and you know it. You get treated like crap if you do not buy the AppleCare warranty, and you know it, that's why you buy it, right? The expense of a new Mac may be justified to you, but that does not negate the fact that they are expensive.

So, let's recap here: Macs can crash. Macs are not perfect. You can't do "everything" on a Mac. Macs don't "just work." And lastly, Macs ARE expensive. So, now that this is over, you can go back to your regularly scheduled illogical reasoning and call me every name in the book. Thank you.

Posted by MtheoryX on 11/28 at 11:41 PM
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