Why I Don’t Buy An i
I don’t buy iAnythings. Most people are in disbelief at this principle and question how I can refrain from buying such stylish, trendy and ubiquitous gadgets while others simply surmise that I’m trying to be coolly rebellious and anti-establishment. Right. The real story behind my anti-iAnything life principle is simply because the iExperience doesn’t live up to my life expectations.
Essentially, I bought my first mp3 player in 2001, which turned out to be the great-granddaddy of the iTouch – the 1st generation iPod. I was ecstatic with it, from the sleek look to the awesome touch wheel and the sheer amazement from the uneducated masses as they stared and wondered what it was. Nevermind that 6 short months later, a friend bought the 2nd generation iPod with twice the memory space at two-thirds the price. Then just over a year into the relationship, it happened – the headphones port stopped working properly. This should’ve been a relatively easy fix, but the kind people with the slightly impatient tone at the Apple store told me that iPods weren’t meant to be taken apart and its parts weren’t meant to be replaceable. If the iPod were built by Germans, it’d last a lifetime. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. Instead, it was built to be cost effective, so the iPod was built to be a flashy, trendy gadget that would be obsolete in under 2 years, and becomes a trendy paper weight if anything malfunctions.
In essence, I’m the kind of person who would spend the time researching the product that best suits me and is willing to spend the money on it, and subsequently keeps the product until it falls apart, is lost or stolen. For some reason, most of my gadgets get lost or stolen. I wouldn’t, for example, buy a gadget whose obsolescence is almost guaranteed within the next year, like the iPhone. Historically, the iPhone has been superceded by a new version within 1 year of release. In fact, the iPhone 3G was superceded by the iPhone 3GS in under 11 months at the WWDC. Of course, it doesn’t help matters that the iPhone was released without MMS capabilities or being able to forward SMSes, which made me think that Apple were complete doofuses for releasing a phone without such basic functions. Now with the upcoming release of iPhone OS v3.0 (the beta of which can already be found on the notorious Pirate Bay), Apple is as usual going out of their way to offer slightly useless but incredibly trendy apps, such as voice memos, stock apps, shake to shuffle and stereo bluetooth.
As for the iPods, each generation has been released on average just 9 months after the previous generation. Gen4 saw 3 releases within a year, and anyone who bought the first of Gen4 upon release got the proverbial finger from Apple as they released the iPod Photo just 3 months later. Granted, most gadgets or phones suffer the same short life cycle, but when this is coupled with a distinct refusal to replace parts, it’s a complete deal breaker for me. Of course, after the recent WWDC, I’m sure many like me are wondering how long the current iTouch/iPhone/iEtc will last.
Disclaimer: This article was written as an expression of personal opinion regarding a gadget with reference to suitability to my personal life. All points of view are welcome, flaming is welcome if you can handle a woman scorned. For further information, please click here.
