Ok, so I may not like Apple.

I have become known at work as the guy who doesn't like Apple... or Facebook... and according to some people Verizon. While I am not a fan of these companies I do believe they have value. (with the exception of facebook)

I thought that I may be able to explain why I have these feelings about Apple, but I have realized that there are some Apple fanatics out there that no matter what I say I am still just flat out wrong. But let's give it a shot anyway. My main issue with Apple is that they do not open their systems (try changing a battery on an iPhone) to the public. When it comes to development they not only screen all apps submitted to their store, but they also deny them simply because there are already 5 apps in the store that do that function.

Additionally, Apple has made a practice of taking other companies trademark names and using them in their product lines with little to no regard to the original copy write owner. While this isn't an earth shattering thing, it does make it pretty clear that they don't care what other companies do or stepping on the toes of others. Some examples of this include the "i"names. This line came from HP who had the iPaq line which included a desktop and a touchscreen PDA. iPhone was a trademarked name on the market from Cisco when Apple introduced their "iPhone".

Then there is the multi-touch patent that Apple filed and received for their touchscreen. This patent was eventually overcome, but was filed without any thought to the fact that 2 years before the iPhone Adobe TED presented this at one of their conferences.

Finally, the pricing of Apple product has turned me away from their products. Price is a huge factor when it comes to the technology I purchase and this is because it changes so often that I never want to overspend on something that will be "old" in 6 months. I feel that they charge so much for 2 reasons. First their products are known to be easier to use and less complex than a Microsoft product. Second, a premium brand name can fetch a premium price for no other reason than the brand, look at Rolex! Since I am a techy, the first reason for paying more does not apply because I can fix pretty much and issue involving a Microsoft product. I am not and have never been a brand names guy. My clothes are not normally high end brands. My cars are not high end brands so why should my phone or computer be?

Despite all of these things, I will give it to Apple for being innovative and creative in their products and having a time to market that no other companies can seem to keep up with. Also, they have managed to build a brand loyalty that borderlines on fanatical addictions. This is truly something that every other companies would love to figure out how to create. This kind of loyalty is something that only drug dealers and Apple have ever been able to accomplish and for that I applaud them.

Now as for facebook, just check my previous post for an explanation of that. And as far as Verizon goes, I don't have any particular dislike for them. But I think just because I happen to be a satisfied T-Mobile customer must mean that I can't like Verizon? I love free market and you know what it takes for free market to work? Competition!

Facebook and I Are Getting Divorced

Over the past few weeks I have had an uneasy feeling when thinking about facebook beyond my dislike for Mark Zuckerberg, In general, something just doesn't seem right about it and I am uncomfortable with it. When this feeling shows up I make changes to get rid of it and this time is no different. So to get rid of it... I will be closing my facebook account on 3/11. I have spent over a week now informing my friends on facebook that I will be leaving and letting them know that I am going to be available on Twitter and this blog. The question that is constantly asked though is why am I leaving facebook? There are 2 main reasons:
1) Personal information security
2) Facebook drama
To expand on these items, the personal security issues are obvious in several ways. First, Mark himself has been quoted saying "They are the dumbasses who give me their information". Facebook considers all information saved on facebook to be theirs (your photos included) and that is why they have never provided an export tool to export your photos or contacts out of facebook. Also, facebook is selling your information tto third party advertisers and this will very soon include your cellphone number. Think that facebook does not have your phone number? Ever check facebook from your cellphone? Then they have it! Facebook also uses an "opt out" approach for all of these things. This means that you are automatically enrolled in whatever they choose to do with the data you gave facebook that they now "own"!

For the record anyone who would like to purchase my information from Facebook, can feel free to contact me directly and I will sell you my information!

As for the drama of Facebook, anyone who has used it for any length of time can account for some drama in their life due to Facebook or communications made by someone on Facebook. People seem to think that they can use Facebook as a sounding board or as a way to vent about something that is occuring in their life, but it creates this whole perception of people that is just not correct. Sometimes people seem incredibly negative or down on Facebook because of the comments they make but when you call them all is fine. Additionally, the tone and inflection from people is just not reflected in the way they post. When you write a book or a story, you use certain words and phrases to create a tone and symbolism of something while when you post a sounding board post to Facebook none of the items are there to indicate tone. It is just a recipe for disaster.

Combining the two concerns above with my gut feeling, has lead to me to closing my account. So as of the 11th... so long Facebook. You will not be missed.

Mark Zuckerberg, I am not a fan.

I watched social network a few months ago and now I hate Zuckerberg even more... I did not know it was possible, to hate that self righteous, better than though, facebooking, revengeful, bastard even more. I mean what kind of pretentious son of a bitch makes a movie about how they screwed people out of their ideas and built facebook as a way of getting laid, but then sums it all up with we currently have 500 million users and are one of the most used websites on the internet?

And yet, people still use it! Shawn Parker was way smarter, but his interest in young women and drugs did him in. I mean Parker had to build P2P before he wrote his app, not to mention he was 16! The only thing Zuckerberg did better is he took his friends advertising idea! Had Parker did that, Napster would have never had to go subscription based and there probably wouldn't be an iTunes or iPod. Napster would have come out with the Napster MP3 player and it would have been kick ass from day one; running some sort of open sourced android or something. In a parallel universe somewhere, you and I are listening to our billions of songs (downloaded for free) on or 1 Terabyte Nappers (Napster iPod name) with no idea of what facebook is/was/ or could be.

But I digress, in reality my dislike probably stems from the fact Mark Zuckerberg made 3.4 billion dollars last year and I did not. Hmmm, do you think the zombpoc website could do this, help me make 3.4 billion that is. Technically the website idea was not mine, but I could steal it, taking a page out of Mark's play book!