Thursday, January 5, 2012

Are you an Apple Hostage?

I don't know if you are familiar with the Stockholm syndrome. In 1973 a bank in Stockholm got robbed and the bank employees were kept hostages for 6 days. The weird thing is that the hostages became emotionally attached to their captors and were defending them even after they were released. Since then, this was referred to as the Stockholm syndrome.


Apple is spending millions to keep their users clipped to its products. Take a look at this:
 
  1. You can't download OTA MP3 and save it to the device, it should be from ITunes.
  2. You can download apps only from the Apple Store.
  3. If you are Bahraini, screw you, you have only the Bahrain or Saudi Apple Store which contains either sex stories apps or Islamic calenders. No Angry birds.
  4. You can't trick apple to change your Store to US to get more stuff. You have to have a credit card, even if you do have one, is not smooth to install.
  5. You can't replace the battery or have a backup one use this one only.
  6. No you can only charge iPhone with this charger, what? oh no, no microUSB.
  7. Flash? Who needs it?
  8. You can only buy applications, music from ITunes not from another site.
  9. You cannot test your app without a license, buy a developer license and install your app.
  10. Last but not least expensive products that locks you down.

Despite that the guys from iPhone Dev Team spend so much time to hack the OS and unlock it. Every user is waiting for this jailbreak yet they don't confess. Now it is nice that IOS users have some degree of freedom after this latest jailbreak, but this should not be necessary. "Apple really needs to trust their users with their own devices." -- grant

That is what's happening between Apple and their users. What really baffles me isn't Apple, but Apple users! It is like they are saying "My kidnapper didn't beat me every night and sometimes I even got cake."



Are you an Apple hostage? I'm sure not.

5 comments:

  1. Each user is waiting for the jailbreak, but they do not recognize. Now is a good, IOS users have a certain degree of freedom, this latest jailbreak, but it should not be necessary.

    Jailbreak iPhone 4S

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hussein, do I detect some frustration? Read Edward de Bono's Sur/Petition and you'll see why Jobs and Ives followed that closely. The only way you get such a slick package is by end-to-end control of hardware, software and media.... and that comes at the costs you mentioned - my bro in Montreal sent me iTunes gift I cannot get in London - never mind the steep market value USers can afford but not ROWers. I made a career of remedying American arrogance abroad, learned from escaping French arrogance as a teen, and I'm afrad the Brits joined in in Apple's case (Jon Ives was just knighted on behalf of HM's serfs). I'm afraid Amazon, Google or Microsoft (in alpha order) are no better, so the only escape in DIY heaven in Open Source, which is fine for talented geeks like you (pls. take that as a compliment) but not for the general public.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Maybe a little research would give your article some credibility.

    1. Angry Birds is available on Bahrain store.
    2. You can buy music from other stores. There is no DRM restrictions nowadays so music bought from Amazon can be played on an iPhone.
    3. Micro USB adapter http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MD099ZM/A
    4. User replaceable batteries were relevant when batteries used to die after a few hours. How many people do you know have extra batteries, yourself included?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Hussain Mahmood,

    looks like you have done some research to defend Apple (classic Stockholm Syndrome) before replying to few of my points, I applaud that but I'm sorry that you took the article so literary.

    1. I said no Angry Birds in Bahrain and you quickly Google it? That still doesn't mean Bahrain store is better than US store. So you didn't defend that point.

    2. My Point wasn't buying music, who buys music anyways, we all download them for free from Mediafire which you still cannot do this on your iPhone without ITunes. So you didn't defend that point.

    3. Of course there is an adapter, there is an adapter for everything, how else can Apple make more money out of you guys? Creating adapters to everything so you can pay for stuff that suppose to be free. Not only the products itself cost fortune but they make you so cling to it you buy all the accessories.


    4. No, I don't know any people who carry extra batteries with them but I do know A LOT of people (myself included) whom their battery died after extensive charging and we couldn't replace it.

    Man how come you trust Apple so much if they don't trust you.

    The only reason I replied to you is because you said my article is not credible. Or else I would have taken your comment as positive.

    ReplyDelete
  5. @Andrew

    Thanks for your comment, I totally agree with you its all a grand design strategy that is working surprisingly GREAT

    ReplyDelete

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