What I love about Apple

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8

This commercial marked the beginnings of a new era: the era of personal computing. I have to say as a software developer, I have to recognize the significance of this. If it weren’t for Apple, the world of computing would be a very different place - it is because of them that the computer has become an everyday appliance.

Apple has never been known to be a company that follows standards; they’ve demonstrated time and time again that they much prefer to be the ones making them. They started out as the underdogs, fighting against IBM, and eventually Microsoft, and today they are the most profitable company in the world.

For raising the bar in the production of consumer electronics, and effectively breathing life into the industry that provides my livelihood, I am grateful to Apple.

What I hate about Apple

How damn narcissistic they are. That, and the way that they exploit consumer loyalty to charge mammoth prices for each iteration of their product line, while offering only modest improvements. Apple products are treated like they are literally treasure. My favorite example of this is the MacBook air. It retails for a thousand dollars, but is out-benchmarked by lower quality competing OEM products that cost in the low hundreds.

I hate the Apple development environment. They make it absolutely impossible to develop products in any way but their own. While Xcode has some pretty amazing features (clang, objective C, ARC, storyboarding, NEXTStep), I find it frustrating to be forced to develop code in something with an interface that reminds me of the original iTunes. As a developer with an extremely customized development environment, I feel like I am riding a tricycle when I use Xcode - and I am used to feeling like I am driving a Camero.

Why I’ll never buy Apple again

Because Apple isn’t for developers, it is for average Joes, old ladies, and… (sigh) college students who hang out at Starbucks.

tl;dr

Apple is the new big brother.