I listened with interest to Jamie’s self confessed rant on the Coolsmartphone podcast number 4 where he describes in great detail his thoughts on Apples actions around the patent lawsuits. It is really worth a listen, not only does his passion come across but so does the complexity of the situation and how easily people’s views can be swayed. One other thing the rant did was lead me to the question, Is Apple A Beauty or the Beast?
As both Jamie and Leigh mentioned on the podcast, interest in the technology arena has grown exponentially and people are now interested in corporate affairs. Who is suing who and why, who is working with who and what does it mean for the consumer. Unfortunately for Apple, too many headlines consist of the words “Apple sue xxx, product xxx could be banned” however the corporate beast is simply doing what it is there to do – making money.
In technology terms Apple are a wonder. Fame was found on the back of a visit to Xerox Parc and the subsequent licensing of the GUI that was demonstrated, followed by the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. There have been many ups and downs ever since but 1998 saw the introduction of the iMac and the style icon that Apple is known to be today had truly arrived.
The iPod arrived in 2001 followed by the revolutionary iPhone in 2007 and of course the iPad in 2010.
Apple is now in the same league as Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Ford. Wherever you go in the world people will recognise the logo and the products.
I’ve stated before that I am no great Apple fan but take a good look at any modern Apple product. The Macbook Air, the new iPad, iPhone or iPod. Every single one of the has an certain style and elegance. Speak to almost any Apple user and they will wax lyrical about their device. Sure they have their faults, what modern machine doesn’t but almost all of them will tell you how simple they are to use and how polished they are. The Appstore is still the biggest with arguably the better apps. Most developers have publicly stated a preference for developing for the iOS platform, there is more money being made through the appstore and the quality control is undeniable.
The beauty of Apple therefore speaks for itself.
The world however is changing and it leads to the question of whether beauty is enough. Corporations have to be seen to be responsible both in their business dealings and their social dealings. The banking crisis and the perception of the massive corporations is a prime example of this. I am in no way comparing Apple to Barclays or Lehman Brothers however the fall from grace of companies that were not so long ago held in high esteem should serve as a warning – enough negative publicity and the beauty that you currently have can soon turn into an uncontrollable beast.
Examples of fallen technological companies are all around, IBM, Nokia, RIM – all still big companies but at one time or another all had dominance in their sector, even the great Sony are having problems. Could Apple go the same way? For now probably not however should the tide of public opinion turn they could find themselves in a very sticky situation that is rather difficult to escape from.
On balance, Apple have been and are still a beauty, its a brand people trust. Great care must be taken not to abuse that trust as the fall from beauty to beast is a hard one to recover from!
What do you think? Is Apple a beauty or a beast? Let us know over on our forums.
If you removed the iPhone from every celebrities hands and replaced it with something else equally recognisable (HTC One X?) – then you’d see the tides turn.
It’s an aspirational brand, and with good reason. Quality is high, reliability and consistency are great, support is also strong.
I think they get a tough break in some circles. The boycottapple trend is laughable, not only for the fact that the very people boycotting them would never have bought an Apple product in the first place.
Love them or hate them, the market would be a very different place without them – and not (IMHO) for the better.
Google are selling there new tablet at a loss so no other manufacture can compete in the market with them and nothing is said against Google on this site…….!!!!!
The nexus used software they knew they didn’t own but when apple try to stop them for doing this apple is the bad company …
i started coming here with my M600 for correct and unbi-est reviews on products but now i will be going else were enough is enough for me reading every artical mentioning apple and not the other sides to the story…
all the best … Johnny…
im also gettin sick of reading about apple bashing all the time on this site and it always seems to be from simon. hes written 3 opinion pieces in the last few weeks all ranting, usually wrongly, about apple stuff. the guy is obsessed!!!! id much rather read about facts or have more varied opinions than feed this troll anymore.
We all have our opinions, as Jamie shows with his defense of Apple, both here: http://www.coolsmartphone.com/2012/07/06/opinion-patents/ and on the podcast,
which seem to have been overlooked.
We all have our opinions, as Jamie recently showed in his defense of Apple both here
http://www.coolsmartphone.com/2012/07/06/opinion-patents/ and on the podcast, which seem to have been overlooked.
I listended to the podcast last week and ive just read that forum post. doesnt look like jamies defending apple hes complaining about apple being the focus of nearly all patent reporting which simon is only confirming with this post. he keeps posting stuff like this as well and hes always making apple into the bad guy.
I take your comments on board but please, show me where i’m making apple the bad guy here?
your always posting about lawsuits apple are involved in and you make it sound like apple is doing something wrong in them. you even made out a judge was an apple fan ffs!!! 2 weeks 2 opinion posts about apple based on nothing. you claim your no great fan of apple but your asking readers opinions on them with stuff thats either a tiny rumor or this one which is just asking for a flame war to kick off.
Your idea of apple bashing is interesting, Apple have been and still are a beauty – what part of that is apple bashing??
http://www.coolsmartphone.com/2012/06/30/opinion-google-you-have-failed-again/ about google and not too complimentary
and http://www.coolsmartphone.com/2012/06/23/opinion-apple-and-the-new-connector/ isn’t exactly apple basing!
http://www.coolsmartphone.com/2012/06/23/opinion-apple-and-the-new-connector/ not sure where the apple bashing is here either??