Today something very unexpected has changed in me. It’s something I would never have imagined with all that I know about tech and the companies I love, but I considered buying a non Apple product vs Apple.

I am an Apple geek. I have lived breathed and pretty much survived on Apple products since the Lisa II. I’m not new to the Apple way of doing things. I am a passionate defender and promoter of the Apple way and that passion has been Apples foundations thanks to millions of Apple fan boys and geeks like me who continue to promote and push the Apple world for its simplicity, efficiency and reliability.

There is so much more tinkering you need to do in a PC box and yes if you want something very specific you can create something very personal building your own PC but those things should always be left to really geeky geeks. Or those anal types who think that fixing computers is something that makes you seem cool even though they really should not ever need fixing if they were built and designed right in the first place.   I’m not talking about the frankenstein monster of some nutters PC Build.

I’m taking about the other 98% of people being productive with no crashing, no viruses, long term reliability and future proof software updates. Mac beats PC’s hands down every time. Just take it out of the box, switch it on and it just works .All that pain and worry of crashing, missing drivers, viruses, and just poor quality and design are for the PC users who think is normal but these things are rarely if ever to be experienced by a Mac user and that’s what makes Mac’s a really cool computer.

So what this blog about then?

A lot of us Mac geeks that have supported Apple all our lives and constantly getting that positive message about Apple to the not so enlightened are getting more and more disheartened with the ever increasing software hiccup’s and confusion of product lines and their naming systems. The slow upgrade cycles on the Macs is intolerable for pro users.

There is a vey strong feeling of disillusionment. The Macs are not getting the latest chips and the software updates (in general) are becoming bloated and confusing. iTunes is a Frankenstein iOS is never tested before release (it seems).

Apple is becoming more like the confused windows platform and to put petrol on the fire the PC world has been catching up to Apple. Its actually (dare I say it) looking appealing to switch and build a PC rig or a hackingtosh just to get the hardware I need to be productive.

Mac Vs. PC used to be so obvious it was light vs. dark. 

It’s just not good enough for Apple to have allowed their software to become a confusing monster on so many levels of its eco system. Even the iPhones are getting confusing in their myriad of different options and un intuitive and complex filing system and as for iClouds issues?

What happened to simplicity and ‘It Just works’?

Apple is supposed to make it ‘Just work’ and I understand tech is getting more complex but that’s supposed to be Apple thing, make it ‘Just work’.

Things should be instinctive to the user before they have to even think that they actually need to work anything out. That’s what Apple used to do best.

Apple needs to streamline their entire product line and its naming systems, which don’t work anymore. We just want a cohesive set of MacBook’s, Mini’s, and Mac Pro’s. All with the latest fasted chips in. I don’t want to wait 3 years for an upgrade on a Pro machine… that’s not even funny.

Get the dam software working and strip out the bloat. Make it simple. If need be, have two options on the iPhone 1)simple and 2)advanced because there’s too much to navigate and stuff is buried in deep and its confusing.  Build in obvious intuitive navigation so we can find what we are looking for.

Get Siri to be your Genius so we can ask Her/Him  how to do/find something on the iPhone and it can tell us and show it simply with a small animated gif .

Think of all the time and money you will save with all these Apple users currently needing to visit an Apple store for info Siri could provide.

Why is this mess happening?

I know people will blame Tim Cook (maybe there is some truth to this) I’m not blaming him I like his way for doing things as a person and he is not Steve (we all have to accept that) .

Tim seems to be a logistics person, more like a company man who is good at growth and such. He is doing a great job growing Apple but you can only stretch an elastic band so far before it breaks. This I feel is part of the problem. Tim is opening new markets for growth and Apple is being stretched beyond what it can cope with.

The core of Apple is to
1) make great things
2) make those things great.
I know what i just did there but I doubt Tim would disagree with the point I’m making.

If the Apple brains (which is its core) are spending more and more time tweaking Apple for new markets like India and China then they are not focused on the 2) make those things great.

This polishing of the great things Apple makes is paramount to keeping the halo effect. Releasing new products that don’t work as expected or crash or don’t get hardware updates in a timely manor is taking the polish off Apples sparkle.

It seems (to me) that Apple spending a lot of time trying to fulfil market growth by making what they already have translate in a different market segment on the planet. On paper this is good for the bottom line but it feels like short thinking for quick profits now. if Apple loses their Halo then they are just another tech company and the phone and computer business is becoming comparable as others catch up.

Everything needs to be perfect and its no longer the case and while Apple continues to be slow on hardware upgrades and pushes out buggy software updates the competition is catching up very fast and Apple no longer looks like the cutting edge poster boy/girl we love and cherish.

I think this is the issue at Apple. Taking the core brains at Apple off innovation and perfection just to re work old for a new territory rather than fixing polishing and advancing the simplicity of what they already have. Resources moved to department working on tweaking everything for new markets seem to me to be whats happening. I don’t know this but it sure looks like the focus is all about new markets to me.

Add to this that they really are trying to add new things to wow us and what you end up with is a very over stretched talent pool in the brains and talent department at Apple.

Tim continues to look at growth as the business model but buggy software and slow upgrades with the late hardware improvement will allow the competition to overtake . What then?

The halo will be lost and that market share based on expansion will disappear in a puff of smoke as some new competitors product over takes a stagnant iPhone or Apple computer.

Mass market People are flaky and not loyal to very much in retail but your true Pro users and long time Apple fan boys/girls are very loyal but we are also stretched.

The grass roots are fed up. Well I certainly am and I just want that polish brought back to everything including the hardware upgrade cycle. I want a really Pro computer from Apple which is way past due now. I find it unacceptable to be left waiting once again this time for 3 years.

Apple needs to take a really hard look at what they are doing and streamline it all while putting in place a stronger team working to deadlines for the halo effect. My personal feeling is that Apple (since Steve left us all) is a bit like a team of lost but extremely talented people they are in the fog when it comes to being focused on what is most important with too many opinions about what should be done. I see Tim doing an amazing job on the growth and expansion as well are global unity but if you spread the butter on the toast too thin you won’t taste the butter at all. The core (products and software) out the door has to be perfect.

Apple feels like a internal company trying to keep it all together at the min and not quite doing it well enough for us high bar fan boys, granted they are untouchable and still beyond reproach in their fields but when you have had the cream why settle for milk and thats why the fan boys are fizzing because we know just how good Apple truly is and its not been like that for the ‘it just works’ mantra for some time.

I think my big fear is that I can see it changing if Apple delays getting a grip on quality and simplicity and keeping the core Pro users on side.

Apple needs to sort out iTunes, iCloud, the updates, streamline and update the product lines before the true supporters start saying get a xx as its just as good and cheaper and more flexible (something PC users have always used in their arguments in the past).

No i have not bought a competitors box. It makes me angry Apple put me in this position to think about doing so but I’m too loyal so I’m throwing my dummy out the pram with this blog while I wait for the new Mac Pro.