The Case Against Apple - My Rebuttal

msitarzewski@gmail.com (Michael Sitarzewski) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:01:17 GMT

Today, someone I've never met, but hold in high regard wrote a piece on how Apple has become a monopoly. Jason Calacanis jasoncalacanis published an email entitled "The Case Against Apple--in Five Parts." You can find it: here.

This is my rebuttal to each of his five parts.

1. Destroying MP3 player innovation through anti-competitive practices.

The Zune Marketplace and the Zune software will only work with Windows. Microsoft did exactly as Jason said, and created something that only Windows users can enjoy. As a Mac user, I'm locked out of the Zune and can't participate - even if I wanted to. Apple iTunes software on Windows works to allow Windows users to enjoy their iPods and iPhones as equals to the Mac platform.

Apple built the entire iTunes ecosystem from scratch, against all odds. Apple was able to convince the major labels to allow legal downloads, with copy protection, where others had failed. Without Apple, and those early days, who knows where we'd be with downloads. The fact that most music stores (including iTunes) sell DRM free songs today is directly attributable to Apple and their stronghold over DRM'd music. Without it, Amazon would never have been able to convince the majors to let them sell DRM free content in an effort to re-level the playing field with Apple.

2. Monopolistic practices in telecommunications.

Apple's iPhone is available to users of AT&T's service, exclusively, in the US. Step away from the US, and what carriers is the iPhone available with? If you want the exclusive to end with AT&T, give Apple a reason not to renew. Convince everyone you know to leave the iPhone behind and switch to something better (or worse for that matter). When people leave the network, Apple too will leave AT&T in the US.

The fact of the matter is that Apple's total control over the device is the envy of every handset maker on the planet. It has changed the game.

3. Draconian App Store policies that are, frankly, insulting.

Jason, step back for a second and put yourself in Apple's place. One day, someone inside Apple went out on a limb and suggested that Apple create an interface for buying Apps directly from the phone, and from within iTunes. Someone agreed, and so it started. They planned, pitched, planned, wrote code, and so on until it went live.

Do you think for a second that the infrastructure they planned took in to account the demand they've seen for the App store? If they'd known that there would be over 50,000 Apps, and more than a billion downloads in the first year, don't you think they would have done a few things differently? Apple created something so amazing and so well adopted that they're having a hard time. They're figuring it all out along the way. Give me one example of another company that got something this large right the first time.

Ultimately developers will deal with this as long as they can write an App over a weekend, submit it to the store, and make $100,000 in a week. There is no other App store in existence that can even come close to those numbers. And before you scream "stronghold" understand that Apple only has 10.8% of the mobile phone market. Apple controls 100% of the Apps on 10.8% of the phones in the market. That's far from a monopoly.

Give it time, it's only been a year.. That scale and growth is unprecedented in history.

4. Being a horrible hypocrite by banning other browsers on the iPhone.

Apple's entire brand is built on reliability and trust by the consumer. Think of the irony of your earlier statement as it relates to number four: "It sucked to have to buy anti-virus software and reinstall Windows every 12 months, so moving to Apple's rock-solid and virus-free OS was, in a word, delightful." If Apple allows programs that were able to execute their own code on the iPhone, Apple would lose the ability to control said code. If that happens, the risk of malicious code exploits increases dramatically. I for one, don't want a phone that's as susceptible to malware as Windows Mobile and Symbian. Apple's control of the platform protects its users from the very things you left Windows for.

5. Blocking the Google Voice Application on the iPhone.

This one has yet to play out, and I'll admit this is the first action that has truly baffled me. I bought and paid for GV Mobile before it was pulled, and it still works perfectly. Google Voice is a revolutionary product that will eventually rule the voice world - for business users especially. What gets me about this is that Google Voice isn't even a VOIP play, it manually connects two voice lines - leaving AT&T to make money on minutes just as before.

Questions:

1. Do you think Apple would be more, or less, successful if they adopted a more open strategy (i.e. allowing other MP3 players in iTunes)?

Apple's iTunes store would certainly sell more music, but as everyone knows Apple makes money on hardware, not music. Why is it that everyone wants to sneak in to the iTunes ecosystem? Apple built it from scratch as they were the laughing stock of the computer industry. Now that they're insanely successful, everyone wants to just pretend that they somehow deserve to be included. I call BS, and strongly recommend that any hardware vendor that wants to eat in to Apple's market build something better. Use Songbird as a platform and integrate it with Amazon's music store. It's there for the taking.

2. Do you think Apple should face serious antitrust action?

No. Keep government out of business.

3. Do you think Apple's dexterity and competence forgive their bad behavior?

No, but I do believe that the market will let Apple know when their bad behavior has gone overboard. That process may now be starting, but it's way too early to tell. We'll all know when Apple stops breaking sales records across their entire business.

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Quick Review: Rocketfish RF-MAB2 and the iPhone 3Gs

msitarzewski@gmail.com (Michael Sitarzewski) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:19:55 GMT

This is a quick "first impression" review of the Rocketfish RF-MAB2 Bluetooth Stereo Headphones, as used with the iPhone 3Gs. The short review: Yes, I can finally leave the silly Apple wired ear buds in my backpack, as a backup!

When I saw the RF-MAB2 on the shelf at Best Buy, I decided to look for reviews at Amazon (using the iPhone and Red Laser). A rep walked up and let me know that Rocketfish is BestBuy's in-house brand of products, so I probably wouldn't find reviews there. I did load the RF-MAB2 Best Buy page, and it was well reviewed (4.5 out of 5, with 10 reviews). I ended up leaving without making the purchase - because I wanted to do a little more research.

The next day I stopped back by and picked them up. I was completely geeked on the way home, like a kid on Christmas day. Yes, that's the way I roll with my technology.

The initial impression of build quality was just OK. The neckband is 100% plastic, so I was a bit put off. The RF-MAB2 is a behind the neck headset, with two triangular ear pieces, about 1.5" on each side. While I've never been a behind the neck kind of guy, the cool kids seem to like them. They're comfortable enough, so that's become a relative non-issue for me. I'm not a runner and I don't do exercises that jar the body, so I can't say whether or not the RF-MAB2 is good for joggers. I sit in coffee shops and work on a computer.

Setup was as easy as it gets. If you have experience with Bluetooth and pairing there was nothing unusual. If not, the pairing instructions were well done, and clear.

The audio quality is pretty remarkable given how much I paid for the RF-MAB2. Apple wants $10 more for their "premium" wired ear buds, and to that I can safely say these are a much better value. There are 5 sound processor modes, some better for voice, and some better for music. The bass is deep enough, and the highs nice and crisp. Remember this however... I sit in coffee shops and work on a computer. I am NOT an audiophile, but these sound terrific to me.

Call quality seems to be fine. I did a limited test with @torreybelle in a noisy kitchen with a playing 5yr old. If I talk to you on the phone, be sure to comment on the call quality. I'll update the post with feedback.

I was able to listen to podcasts pretty much the entire day with a few hours of idle time, and the battery still had more. The iPhone needed charging before the headphones, as a matter of fact. I can't speak to the battery life under each possible use case, but overall I'm happy with what I've experienced. I'm not on the phone much at all but listen to podcasts like a mad man.

There are some downsides.

As with any Bluetooth Stereo Headset or A2DP device, you have to remember that iPhone 3.0 doesn't support AVCRP. That simply means that you can't use the controls on the device to do things like fast forward and rewind. You can still do those things from the iPhone, and iPhone 3.1 is rumored to have a full AVCRP implementation. Basic controls like answering calls, volume, etc. all work of course.

Getting the RF-MAB2 to pair with the MacBook Pro and the iPhone was no problem. However, switching between the devices was more difficult than it should have been. It works, but needs a little more hand holding than I wanted. Alas, I bought them for the iPhone so that doesn't matter. (Ok, I'll tell you. You have to turn Bluetooth off on the iPhone, then choose the headphone profile on the Mac. Reverse the process to go back to the iPhone.)

All in all, the value and quality of audio you get for $69.99 is pretty amazing. I've been using Bluetooth devices since the 1.0 spec in the 90's, and I'm just elated at how far the products have come. They're not perfect but we're getting really close.

Bottom line? Best Buy has a 30 day return policy, if you don't like them, the risk is theirs. I think you'll really like them. Buy them here Rocketfish™ Mobile - RF-MAB2 High-Definition Stereo Bluetooth Headphones

zerologic

The Case Against Apple - My Rebuttal

Quick Review: Rocketfish RF-MAB2 and the iPhone 3Gs