Face it, you’re in love – with an overpriced iPad and the feeling of inclusion that comes with it.
The ‘fanboys’ are the zealots that blog about every iWhatever rumor; they’ll clap from the front row at every Apple presentation. But the rest are merely wooed and starry-eyed: they’ll gladly part with hundreds of dollars every few months, and blissfully swim in the ecosystem.
And, ignore everything else, even the evil stuff.
Like the finest of lovers, the good part is very good, and the
Apple ecosystem can be a fantastic and comfy place. This lover leads: Apple usually makes incredible products that out-innovate the enemy. They also have the uncanny ability to predict consumer trends, and the rare power to create those trends as well. It’s a lover you want to show off, because if an Apple logo’s attached, it’s often a smashingly good experience.
But some of Apple’s behavior is just smashingly bad – and totally evil. And not only do they get away with it, it’s almost as if it’s not even happening!
Blame the ridiculous tech-fashion love affair. Apple stands for svelte innovation and chic technology, but this adulation almost blinds people to the dirt. It explains why Apple could so easily paper over its sweatshops in China, why they could effectively bully and gag journalists from telling the real, miserable story.
It also explains why people will burn through iPods and iPhones, while ignoring the environmental ramifications of all this disposable gadgetry. And China has a hideous environmental track record, but that’s actually part of the reason why so much manufacturing is outsourced to Asia. In fact, many Asians will tell you that cities like Los Angeles are fresh-air paradises compared to their sweatshop hometowns. If Apple is a leader in tech, they’re also a leader in this environmental destruction.
And what about these nefarious tracking files discovered in iPhones and iPads? Well, investigators in Japan, Germany, France and South Korea are now asking questions. But Apple is playing stonewaller once again; in fact, we don’t even know the extent of the privacy violations or what this file really is. Sure, security researchers discovered latitudinal and longitudinal tracking – and synching back to Macs and PCs – but we have no idea how this information is being stored, shared, or aggregated.
Yet if history is a guide, this will blow over as quickly as it arrived. Apple is smartly managing this one, and it may never make a blip on the mainstream consumer radar.
And the media may be the biggest part of the problem – the endless fawning and worshipping, even though Apple treats them like dirt! It’s almost as if missing out on the iPad announcement is death to a blogger or journalist. But in the process, these same blogs and newspapers may be missing the much bigger picture – and perpetuating this ridiculous glow. Because Apple is evil, too.
The Heavy Guilt
hmmm…
billie ray martin
glad you mentioned it.
Thank you! Finally.
Not to mention Apple’s suing every Android maker claiming ip infringement etc. They will sue you to death, as if they invented the smartphone! They think they invented the App store too (see Amazon lawsuit.)
cdp
agreed. awesome article
Vincent Pollard
That article is truly terrible! You could do much better. There is a point to be made there if only you bothered to make it
Marco Polo
Im not an apple fan boy, i just use mac because all the ones i’ve had, have worked and still do
The Music Biz
Wish I could ignore this…
And in other news, everything is crap and we’re all going to die!
Peter J. Garea
Pretty interesting read. Apple is evil?
Not well researched. the tracking info is not sent back to apple and it is not exact locations on areas stored in the file in question. why not criticism of any other manufacturer of mp3 players. what are they made out of…. dirt?
I hope this hater who wrote/researched this does not use any apple products. Stick with a crashing PC to continue authoring crap.
typical apple fanboy. why does it even matter if it’s going back to Apple – at least right now? it’s secretly storing and synching
right now we have no idea how bad this is or what it’s doing exactly so I’ll reserve judgement
::MW
Typical idiot comment. Any comment defending someone attacking Apple when the points made are shody at best is a “fanboy”???
there is a reason there is a bite out of the apple… beware the mark of the beast (or just boycott Apple products and forget that every single mobile handset manufacturer has the same capacity to monitor and report on your location). Either way, the meek will inherit the earth while everyone else is tweeting about the end of days
Tyler Durden
is apple evil? yea… apple is, i agree with the article.
it’s the sad and unfortunate truth. Anyone who disagrees with your article, are exactly the people you’re writing about. Word up.
The PR department at Apple has the easiest job ever. All their customers, as well as the general public, has already been brainwashed by them!
Um, so where do you propose Apple manufacture their devices…in Michigan? Ever tried to make a competitive mass market consumer electronics product domestically? It is a stretch to imagine that the enviromental impact of factories in China is Apple’s responsiblity any more than it is that of factories kicking-out blenders/LCD TVs/radios/mp3 players/scanners/digital cameras/etc….
Paul,
I usually agree with everything you post 100% but there are two things that need to be cleared up.
1. The iPad is hardly overpriced. As a matter of fact… one of the main problems with it’s competitors is that it can’t produce tablets at the same price point Apple can.
2. Let’s stop with the Fanboy crap.. because at one time that meant Mac users. That is not the case anymore. The average owner of an Apple product… uses “Windows” as their desktop/laptop PC. This includes users of the iPad and iPhone. So what fanboy used to mean does not really carry the same meaning except to say that the definition of an Apple fanboy is a constantly moving target. How many companies wish they had that problem.
3. You state “It also explains why people will burn through iPods and iPhones, while ignoring the environmental ramifications of all this disposable gadgetry.” but this is not solely an Apple problem. This can be said of almost any electronic device.
4. I hardly agree with everything Apple does but you’re going to have to actually prove points instead of making generic statements because the same things can be applied to Google although Google has the general public fooled into believing that they’re soooo open and giving away stuff for the “goodness of mankind”…
@Tablazines
I must take issue with this “everyone’s doing it” response that seems to be materializing in response to Chinese outsourcing and environmental abuse. I’m not sure I follow the logic at all. So, Apple is the leader in this space – they are innovating and leading the marketplace by leaps and bounds, and they are a huge producer of phones and gadgets. They are making billions upon billions as a result of these innovations, and the marketplace is imitating their every move.
So, somehow because “everyone is doing it” Apple abdicates its important responsibilities on environmental and worker issues? Even though they are leading the charge?
To me, this sort of response typifies the issue: everyone is jumping to Apple’s defense, as if it’s a black-and-white issue. Remember, Apple is a huge and important subset of “everyone,” and they have the power to change what “everyone” else is doing. That includes how they outsource, compensate, and create these products.
/pr
Tablazines
Yes, the ipad is totally overpriced in my opinion so let me just break down the math. It’s $499 (entry version) plus $130 for the wireless — need I go on? on the higher-end 64GB model you’re well over $800 — maybe not a lot to you but a lot to me. Not hating but it’s just a money pit for really a toy, just like a sportscare or something. and hey that’s cool– I like toys, but I can now buy a netbook that does a lot more for $300. Or what’s a kindle… $200-something now (would have to check on that)?
But I can’t believe how no one seems to care at all about the sweatshops and toxic dumping these devices entail. Foxconn (who I’m guessing that you’ve never heard of) does all of APple’s dirty work, plus the stinkin’ Chinese government exerts controls on any reporter who dares step near one of these sweatshop plants. Where I will add new controls are also put in place to prevent worker suicides and prevent stories of repetitive stress, low pay, and depression from leaking out.
Go on, enjoy that ipad and keep applauding Apple blindly. because they CAN change this if only their drooling consumers would make them.
Charles Dixon
great article today
Who’d have thought it? A tech company focussed solely on its own welfare as measured by today’s stock price!
The article is both interesting and impartial, which leaves me wondering at the slavering response of the “cognoscenti” – those mindless souls whose brains have so been thoroughly washed in Apple juice.
Known to only a very few scholars, there was apparently a third stone tablet but, sadly, Moses dropped it on his way back down the mountain. It contained the Lost Commandments, which included:
13. Thou shalt speak no ill of Apple, which is perfect in all things.
14. Remember thou attack PC if Apple is criticised for any reason.
15. Refer to 13.
16. Apple can do no wrong
17. Refer to 15.
…
Love this article!