An open letter to Steve Jobs

Dear Steve Jobs,

Let me ask you something, Steve. What happens when a company is confronted with a problem too large to patch up with an open letter and a gift card? Who gets hurt when the focus shifts from loyalty to profit? Why should anyone support a company that can't even stand up for itself, let alone its customers, in the face of monopoly and greed? I don't know, Steve, but I want to know why you're begging to find out.

Why does a company of such expressed defiance of the status quo have to make excuses instead of a difference? Why do customers of no threat to a revolutionary, but imperfect, system get punished for their curiosity? Why do those who line up to purchase the pinnacle of Apple's success get a sharp stab in the back when the frenzy has become profitable enough for you?

What becomes of a company that uses money as its sole motivation, Steve? Who protected the reputation of Apple when even the fruit itself was more popular? But, perhaps most perplexing, what have the loyal done to warrant such rejection?

We know you have answers. You could write a book, perhaps several, refuting every single one of our points in painful detail. We ask not for such elaboration, just a simple honesty. But ask yourself first, Steve, are these answers, or just excuses? Do your counterpoints explain our misunderstandings, or justify your actions? Answers don't justify, Steve, the truth needs no justification.

We are sure you are aware of the fan club that has formed around you. Mere months ago, a new member couldn't fit in edge-wise. Mere weeks ago, any one of those countless devotees would have sold their first born son to meet you. And now, as of mere hours ago, they wouldn't spare you a casual hello if they saw you on the street. Don't take it personally, Steve, it happens to every CEO at one time or another. The power comes in being able to think your way out of it. Inaction will get you nowhere. An open letter and the proverbial juicy steak won't work twice. There is a third choice, obvious to anyone who is smart enough to choose it. It does not involve succumbing to the record companies. It does not involve becoming an extension of AT&T. It's different, it's radical, it's Apple as described by yourself, it's the natural progression of a company set to change the world, but it's being ignored by a company not mature enough to step up to the plate. It's all around you, yet it's not within you, therein lies the issue.

But it occurs to us, the formerly loyal, that perhaps you don't want change. Perhaps you're right where you think you want to be. That's fine, and better in a sense. We feel no need to stand by a company that does not stand by us.

We apologize, Steve, for asking for mutual loyalty. We apologize for connecting the dots looking forward. And we deeply apologize for being so naive as to assume that the company that taught us to think different, actually would.

If you want to talk, you know where to find us.


--The iPhone Development Community.

We need to talk...

As time progresses, it is becoming more and more obvious that Apple is not entertaining our tireless efforts to do what we should be allowed to do in the first place: install 3rd party applications on the iPhone. If we sit here and allow the iPhone to become a closed platform, we will inevitably get what we're waiting for instead of the outcome we want. If there is one thing that common sense will tell you, it's that a business is supported by its loyal customers. Well, it seems that Jobs has forgotten where his interests are. He seems to care a hell of a lot more about how many iPhones/iPods/iMacs he sells daily than about us, the ones who were waiting in line on launch day, the ones who take every opportunity to sing the benefits of a mac to a family member or friend, the ones who pushed Apple from the edge of death to the unprecedented success it takes for granted right now. He is going to close the iPhone with this next firmware update, and for what? To stop people from unlocking it? Fine, Steve, you can do that. I understand he is contractually obligated to do it with at&t. But why, oh why, would Apple decide to come down on the iPhone Dev Community like we did something wrong?

If we don't do something to get our point across, our iPhones will become worthless, proprietary pieces of crap in the snap of a finger, and Apple will still be raking in the cash. If Apple closes the door for all 3rd party apps, they will have no one to compete with, and no motivation to improve the phone. I honestly think that they're not even going to update the iPhone with flash and iChat. Why, you ask? Well, why give it to us for free when they can come out with iPhone 2.0 and get us for even more money.

I know what you're thinking. How can we, the minority, stand up against a huge corporation like Apple? I don't know. But we need to think of something now. If we don't try now, we don't have a chance once the iPhone is closed for good. So, instead of just hitting the back button and blowing this off, or calling me an idiot for trying, please just try with me. I can't do anything alone, but if we stand together, we can do it.

Check out the post on hackintosh to reply: http://hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7933

I am the ch

The death of Apple Computer inc.

It was a move that had a strong impact on few. Jobs, in his turtleneck and jeans, using those impressive/superfluous visual effects and carefully chosen vocabulary, informed all of us that this company was now simply Apple inc.. It has little meaning for those who can't read between the lines, but for those who can, it's a devastating change. To see beyond the mere erasure of a word from the title of what is, quite possibly, the most prominent electronics company on earth, we need to look back to a time far removed from the present, the invention of the personal computer.

Who knew that a quiet boy with a slightly odd last name would grow up to change the world? Who wouldn't? As they say, it's always the quiet ones. But, technicalities aside, Steve Wozniak did for the computer what an experienced agent does for his young talented client. A budding artist can be more intelligent than the world has ever known, but he will get nowhere without the experience of those who know what to say and when to say it. Wozniak did not invent the computer, he invented the personal computer. He took the technology of the elite and brought it to the masses. He implemented the obvious intelligence of a computer in a very unobvious way, and for that, Apple Computer inc. was founded. For over 30 years, Apple Computer set the standard for consumer level technology. They did it with the computer. They did it with the mouse. They did it with the iPod. They didn't do it first, but they were the first to do it right.

For 30 years, they redefined the rules of supply and demand; they told us what to demand, and supplied it. For 30 years, they catered to the unapparent needs of every customer, showing us what we really wanted, that which we didn't know we couldn't live without. For 30 years, even the computer geek could stand together with the average consumer in the eyes of Apple Computer inc.. But 30 years is up, the alarm has sounded, and Apple Computer informed us in the form of a glowing apple that this 30 years was only the beginning. The beginning of what, we ask? We may never know. But this last one year was the beginning of something more: the beginning of the end.

For 30 years, Apple Computer inc. redefined the computer, now Apple Computer redefined itself. Apple Computer is now just Apple, no computer, nor the geeks that they serve. Apple has changed its target market, and the geek demographic is in a frenzy assumed to be unconnected. What is this iPhone? Why is Leopard so unappealing? The answer is not what you think. It's not Apple's problem, not anymore at least, it's you. It's who you are, the technology zealot that you claim yourself to be. It's the fact that you are so obsessed with Apple that you are now excluded from their focus. Apple wants to cleanse itself of the "nerd" image, which means getting rid of you. That's right, you were once Apple's most beloved child, now you're being disowned.

For 30 years, Apple was the company we once knew. Though they have morphed into a still-misunderstood entity today, some things never change. Apple has always, does now, and will continue to bring technology to the masses. The iPhone is fantastically revolutionary from the standpoint of the average person. Leopard will enable countless people to do seemingly impossible things, like accessing their computer from a remote location, imagine that. Yet, you fail to see the magic in all this. All over the 'net, there is Apple hype in unprecedented form, yet you're left in the dark like the rest of us. You've been using VNC for years, and your phone is already free from the "watered-down" web. Why is this Apple's greatest moment? Because now is the time that Apple inc. sheds its last obstacle to virtually limitless success. Apple has stopped appealing to the computer geek. Now, you, me, and the rest of us reading this are the "other" people. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. And now, Apple isn't fond of us.

Apple's products have always been the perfect balance of complexity and simplicity. They appeal to the beginner in all of us, the part of us that just wants to use their computer without the hassle of problems, but still wants to be able to have problems to solve if we want them. Now, Apple has removed the complex side of their products, the balance that only the true computer geek could truly appreciate. We are no longer the masses that Apple appeals to. Apple Computer inc. claims that it has simply changed its name and no more. But Apple Computer has died an undeserving death. The Apple that has been the subject of many a nerd's passion has been replaced with an all-too-undeserving substitute.

Rest in peace, Apple Computer inc., one of many victims of the unfortunate importance of the almighty dollar.

The Final Frontier

So you've got 300+ channels to watch, hundreds of DVD's to play, a crapload of homework to do, and yet you still get that feeling deep inside. That feeling that even TV is too productive for you right now. So you do nothing...literally...nothing. You go to digg.com "upcoming stories" and click through pages of crap with absolutely no interest at all. You're not alone. I, too, suffer from ACD, or Addictive Chronocide Disorder. Only you can stop the murder of innocent time, so read on (or don't, I could care less, I'm just doing this for myself)