[PC World] As Apple Rots, iPhone Users Revolt - Overclock.net

jbranton · 08-05-09

Quote:

Users are turning against the iPhone. Call it the summer of our discontent, but these hot, sticky months are proving an excellent time to not buy a smartphone. Apple and AT&T have only themselves to blame.

Now, we must wait for the two companies to learn their lessons and, just maybe, for a new iPhone carrier to emerge. If you are thinking about upgrading to a 3GS and can stand to wait, you might find a more attractive option in a few months, especially if the iPhone's downhill slide continues.

What is upsetting iPhone users?

App Store -- Do I really need to keep making the case that having Apple as the only vendor of iPhone apps is bad for customers? The rejection of Google Voice, potentially a killer app for smartphones, should prove that Apple doesn't care about its customers.

The App Store approval process seems capricious and arbitrary. Spend time and money to develop an application only to have it denied for reasons nobody can quite articulate in advance. Developers would flee the App Store given a chance. They should have that option.

Yes, that would mean porn for the iPhone, but besides that I am no longer sure what Apple's ironhanded control of iPhone apps is getting me as a consumer. I appreciate if there are apps that Apple doesn't want to sell, but should Apple be the sole arbiter and supplier? Certainly not.

The Apple monopolies must go.

Multitasking -- I did not expect multitasking to become a big deal so soon, but Google Latitude makes an excellent case for it. The iPhone OS is capable of multitasking, but Apple limits it to a few applications, such as the music player. Multitasking needs to be available to non-Apple other applications, too. It is available on iPhone competitors.

AT&T -- I am not wild about Sprint advertising that I am paying $50-a-month too much because I am using an iPhone instead of a Palm Pre. I am not wild that Apple adds tethering to the iPhone but I don't get to use it. I am not wild that I am still waiting for the ability to attach pictures to SMS messages. I am not wild about slow speeds and dropped calls. Is AT&T listening? Doesn't seem to be and I'm not wild about that, either.

I do not expect that, by Christmas, another smartphone will offer an applications library or music store to match the iPhone. I am not expecting that in 2010, actually.

But, with Google's Android smartphone OS due to appear on up to 20 devices before year-end, new options are appearing. Palm's Pre isn't getting better at the moment, just more attractive by comparison. Especially price comparison, as Sprint helpfully reminds us.

iPhone developers should, right now, start supporting other platforms because it is in their best interest to do so. It appears likely that Android and Palm's WebOS will support better applications than iPhone and building them now will put the heat on Apple to improve its game.

I am not sure what to do about Apple's control of the music business, except to notice it's become a monopoly, which is something that is bad for consumers. If Apple were wise it would offer an API that allows any smartphone to work with iTunes. This will happen eventually, but why not now?

The sense of smug superiority that we iPhone users have enjoyed has worn off. Now, instead of being the ones who've chosen, we're pawns in the games of AT&T and Apple. What used to be mere annoyances have become real pains. And the companies that ought to be our friends are the causes of our frustration.

If there were someplace to jump ship to, iPhone users, instead of upgrading to the 3GS would be changing platforms. Maybe by the holidays such a place will exist or Apple and AT&T will have been forced to change their customer-hostile ways. In the meantime, waiting is the best option.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/16964...rs_Revolt.html

DISCLAIMER: I did not write this article.

Urufu_Shinjiro · 08-05-09

+1

Coopa · 08-05-09

Sooner or later there going to have to straighten themselves out.

HiddenPenguin · 08-05-09

This person is asking for Apple to completely reverse the way they they do business. Everyone knows that they've always kept their things locked down.

corky dorkelson · 08-05-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by HiddenPenguin

This person is asking for Apple to completely reverse the way they they do business. Everyone knows that they've always kept their things locked down.

This ^^^

People need to stop crying about all of apple's proprietary methods. It has been this way for years and years with them. If you don't like it, don't buy into it. There are many choices in every arena that apple has their hands in.

Lord Xeb · 08-05-09

Downfaill of apple so they can get their heads out of their asses!

Kryten · 08-05-09

This is right on the money. One of the biggest reasons I don't have an iPhone is the the App store lock down. The second? It's an Apple product. Sure, they look nice, but I'm not a pathetic trendster maggpie.

I'm holding out for a carrier to offer the Palm Pre over here in the UK, or until I can get my hands on a Sony Ericsson Satio. Both are leaps and bounds better than the iPhone.

smash_mouth01 · 08-05-09

I'm happy with my Nokia N96, I heard that it can play Quake 3 arena now I'm just trying to figure out how to do it and I also need to get a copy of the pc version to get the files

Pheatton · 08-05-09

I really have never been a fan of Apple in general. My buddys who use Macs always ask me why. What do I tell them? The exact samething this article states. Apple wants to sell you a product then turn around an tell you what you cant do with it. I buy a product I can do what ever I want with it. The other thing that i cant stand is their business practices, the cost for the flashy box full of normal of the shelf Intel parts. The only reason IMO to buy a MAC is for pure music and video use.

When will Apple learn you cant sell their products for the prices they charge with the crappy quality we keep seeing?

Kryten · 08-05-09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pheatton

I really have never been a fan of Apple in general. My buddys who use Macs always ask me why. What do I tell them? The exact samething this article states. Apple wants to sell you a product then turn around an tell you what you cant do with it. I buy a product I can do what ever I want with it. The other thing that i cant stand is their business practices, the cost for the flashy box full of normal of the shelf Intel parts. The only reason IMO to buy a MAC is for pure music and video use.

When will Apple learn you cant sell their products for the prices they charge with the crappy quality we keep seeing?

I doubt even the music and video uses. Sure, the programs are better, but the computer itself isn't any better at computing the editing.

If you're a video editor and you feel you need an Apple computer to go head with taht, you're basically paying a massive premium for the programs.

But no-one with a Mac seems to admit that. They like to talk about how nice they look.

Pure example: My mate was going on about this the other night. We all entered a gadget show competition and vowed that if one of us winned we'd share the lot between us. We got onto a discussion about one of the macs in the prize lot and all my friend kept saying when I said Apple are over priced pieces of :turd: is "yeah, but they look well nice"

My friend is slightly retarded, so I let it slip.

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[PC World] As Apple Rots, iPhone Users Revolt

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