I have always thought of myself as a realist and what I am about to describe will be the downfall of Apple. There are probably some die-hard Apple fans who will curse me for this, but, I am right. The biggest problem I have with Apple right now stems from the iPad. The iPad, as I have repeatedly said, is not worth anything. The iPad, being a glorified iPhone without the convenience or calling capabilities, has been called a great product. The original idea behind the iPad was a tablet, but it quickly turned into a larger version of the iPod Touch that was more a multimedia center than Mac Tablet. Instead of using their OS X operating system, they used the iOS which is going to be integrated into OS X Lion (10.7). Instead of dealing with the primary issues of computing, they choose to simplify. I think their OS is FINE THE WAY IT IS, but there are a few things that they could change to be better than Microsoft (I know a few die-hard Apple fans who LOVE Windows 7):
GET OVER YOURSELF APPLE!!!
Sounds crazy, but I mean this from the bottom of my heart. Apple thinks that everything they do will be revolutionary…this is not the case. Stop trying to create new products and FIX the problems that exist. On my MacBook Pro and a few of my colleagues computers, the trackpad slides up and locks in the “clicked” position, the OS takes up 7 GB, the glossy screen is a HUGE mistake (a lot of money in repairs is required because everything is noticeable, not to mention that there is debate on whether or not a glossy screen damages vision), startup times vary from 20 seconds to 1 minute, and the annoying sound that the CD drive makes on boot. Summary: GET OVER YOURSELF APPLE, YOU MAKE MISTAKES. FIX THEM BEFORE CREATING SOMETHING ELSE!!!
Address Issues with Compatibility
Why can a Mac user not play .wmv or .avi movies out of the box? Why must 3rd party software be installed to write and format an NTFS drive? Why must a user install flash? Why do HFS+ formatted drives not work with Windows? Apple, one of the greatest reason NOT to make the switch to Apple is compatibility. If a user can’t access his or her files from another partition because it is in the HFS+ architecture, (s)he wont switch.
STOP PUSHING YOUR PRODUCTS
When it is time for a new product to be released, I will have to download an update for the older version which simply tells me that there is a new version available. Really!? Apple, you send out emails, the news is all over the web, but you feel the need to directly push it to my computer by making me install an update, which eats up hard-drive space. Really!?
LOWER THE PRICE!!!!
Just because you can make a product out of aluminum, doesn’t mean that you can charge someone $1300 for a decent experience. There is no reason that you cant drop it down to the $500 mark because you will get a HUGE increase in sales. When I first purchased my mac, I was very hesitant because of the price. Your $2,000 MacBook Pro is worth at most $1,500.
Stand Behind Your Products
I find it terribly worrying when I am considering to buy an Apple product and I have to wonder if they would fix the product if it breaks. If something is your fault, Fix It FOR FREE within a day because people have things to do! I have to get my screen repaired on my mac, but I have so much work, that I cannot part with my computer for a week. Also, give FREE LIFETIME WARRANTIES!!! If you think that your product is good, then support it completely. By doing this and lowering the price, volume in sales will greatly increase.
In summary, make it more like Linux: compatible with everything, lightning fast, less intrusive on hard-disk space, supported for life, and cheaper (OPEN-SOURCE IS OPTIMUM).
