I have often found myself reading critical opinion articles regarding Apple and its products. Almost always, I would skip to the end of the piece and check whether the journalist would come up with something like “However and despite all I have written above, I will keep buying Apple”, just to feel reassured about my choices. This piece will not end like that.
This is not a love letter to Apple, neither a break-up one. This is a long overdue article I have been wishing to write ever since Apple made its biggest design blunder ever, present iPhone X. Today, more than a year and a few devices later, I feel justified about my opinion back then and I can finally say what I should have said a long time ago: Apple has lost its marbles and today poses a threat to technology and therefore democracy.
To clarify things, I own and use daily Apple devices. I first worked with Apple computers at university, back in 1999 and I have gone through three iPhones and one iPad. I have never owned a Mac, though I really wanted one a few years ago, and, yes, I don't want to keep you in suspense, I will probably buy more Apple devices in the future. However, my reservations are currently at their highest and I think I have a few interesting points to make. So, bear with me, if you will.
Apple is far from “perfect” or free from mistakes, scandals and wrongdoings, in its long, twisted history. Ranging from its work ethics and practices, it's exploitation of unregulated and dangerous labor, it's product, guaranty and price policy and its stance against its customers. On the other hand, one cannot but appreciate its stance on privacy, especially in view of what is happening with Facebook, Google and most of the tech industry recently. Being a real tech behemoth, one of the most valuable companies planet-wide, if not the most valuable, having penetrated billions of households and influencing other tech companies, perhaps even lawmakers, is the reason Apple is a multi-threat company, on multiple levels. Why? Because it has the power to set trends and influence the shape of things to come in the world of technology. Knowing how important technology is for communicating, is the reason I perceive Apple as dangerous even for democracy.
There is this thing called “de facto standard”. It means that something becomes the standard or the prototype for everything similar, just because of its existence. Apple being Apple, has become the de facto standard in the world of technology. A big responsibility that more often than not, is being abused. I don't care to praise what is done right, but I do care to focus on one particular aspect of Apple's practices, which is the promotion of technological elitism. This, of course, does not mean that we should close our eyes to other issues that plague the company, like the ones that I mentioned just above.
Now, Apple being Apple, is the trend setter of the tech world. An unsightly iPhone X sporting a barely justified notch on the top of its screen, quickly became a trend. Various Android devices copied that which they shouldn't. Unfortunately, the mimicry does not end there. For the past year and especially during the last few months, we are seeing more and more Apple's choices being copied from the Android world: rather expensive hardware, locked-up devices that are not user repairable, disregard for common technology standards.
Every mistake Apple has made over the years is finding eager imitators, renting credibility to its choices. The “forbidden fruit” of technology is forbidding innovation and openness by being blatantly copied in unthinkable ways. Apple still holds high the flag of privacy protection, but does so at the cost of hardware and software limitations. Its competitor's, are content with just following along. Their alibi is even less credible since Google, the company behind Android, doesn't share the same privacy reservations. Standards are not used anymore to connect different users, but to segregate them in market groups.
Today, a smartphone is not a luxury accessory. It is a needed commodity for communication and a tool for journalists and citizen journalists alike. A locked-up system running on a locked-up device, is a safety and privacy compromise. A device that does not comply with the industry standards, is a device that poses serious limitations to its user and his ability to operate under different environments and circumstances.
Apple, as well as Google and Facebook, need to rise to the circumstances and declare once and for all where they stand on matters of user privacy, standards and device repairability. Just a few days ago, Apple and Facebook called for an American GDPR-like regulation. Perhaps they are on the right path, but maybe this is not enough until we get to a full e-privacy bill, applicable world-wide. Still, no word has been uttered about how the industry will move forward with standards development.
With smartphone usage estimated at almost a third of world population, we cannot consider Apple or Google as just software and hardware vendors. Technology should be open otherwise we can only guess the dire consequences closeness and blind imitation will have in the long future.
Oh yes, Apple can really bite!
