/dev/null

A white Apple iPhone 4S arrived today via UPS Express. I got it to replace my iPod touch, mainly because of the camera:

• I can confirm that the picture quality is quite acceptable, for a phone.
• However the most prominent (negative) feature of the iPhone is the bigger size and weight compared to the iPod. Of course you can also get that, if you buy one of the predecessors of the 4S.
• Also I like the white color.  You don’t see the fingerprints so easily
• Free entertainment: It takes a while to understand how your privacy is compromised by iCloud (so many features to turn on and off)

Well, it’s official. Apple has now announced it’s bringing the
App Store concept to the Mac and it looks like they’ll be
restricting apps with FairPlay DRM too for good measure. When we
first began talking about the problems with the App Store on the
iPhone and iPod Touch, people wanted us to drop it and stop
talking about the DRM tricks being pulled by Apple on the grounds
that the iPhone wasn’t a general purpose computer (it is, and the
iPad is too) but rather an appliance.

Is this a glimpse of what Apple has in store for the future of computing?

Learn more: http://www.defectivebydesign.org/macappstore

Ever wanted to buy an iPhone 3GS without T-Mobile contract? Now you can buy mine on eBay! Starting at 1 EUR

So, why is that? I love to embrace change. I hate DRM, and I hate big companies that forget what innovation means, I hate company policies that prevent me from using the full potential of my computing device. Microsoft used to be the evil company number 1, but nowadays things change: I see Apple and Google right before Microsoft. They are the successful ones now, and they need to defend that position (I would do the same). They need to earn a lot of money for the share holders and they need to comply with a lot of different contracts they have with other companies. Probably, they can also not experiment anymore to the full extend. Whatever.

Apple products are still normal products, they don’t offer some kind of enhanced lifestyle experience. I am constantly confused when people start talking about their Apple products and how easy and irreplaceable  they are. It’s true, if you buy one Apple product, than you need another one so you don’t run into compatibility issues. Isn’t this exactly what Microsoft was blamed for?

Fact is: There are other good and quite usable smartphones beside the iPhone. Of course if you managed your whole Music library via iTunes, it’s hard to change. But why do I use iTunes? Right, because I bought an iPod once and then I was forced to use iTunes. Then I found out, that iTunes for Windows is somehow slow, so I had to buy the Mac Mini. Then I found out, that the PC keyboard layout is not really usable on a Mac, so I had to buy a Mac keyboard. Then my gray PC mouse was looking strange right next to the white keyboard, so I had to buy an Apple mouse. And so on. What kind of fucked up lifestyle is this?

I agree that Windows Mobile is crap, if you compare it with the iPhone. Not sure about the next version, but that’s not the point. I gave up waiting for the next Windows version many years ago. Fact is, that Windows devices are no option right now and it will probably still be hard to sync them with alternative operating systems or your Google account in the future.

Then there is Google with Android. I had an Android phone until recently, because I thought I might be interested in app development. I didn’t like the user interface (looks like the last 10 years didn’t happen), I don’t like Java. The music player is not what I expected. Then there are the OS update issues, everyone is talking about. Maybe Google learns how to handle that, maybe not. I don’t feel like that should be my problem.

The only remaining option is Palm. I thought they will simply run out of money. But now they were bought by HP. For now, I can trust them, if they commit themselves to WebOS. WebOS supports app development with standard Web technologies like JavaScript and HTML, which is exactly what a Web developer is looking for. So, because I embrace change, I ordered the new Palm Pre Plus last week. My first impression:

• After entering my Facebook and Google account details, it already knows all my contacts, my email and my calendar out of the box. The iPhone has a lot of different apps (some cost extra), but the built-in functionality is still very basic.
• It doesn’t wake me at night, just because a new email arrived. Still don’t know how to disable that vibrating alert during the night on my iPhone.
• I can copy any music or video file directly via USB to the device without using iTunes (that means from ANY computer). How cool is that?
• It’s black, features a modern user interface and multitasking. Wow!
• No problems with battery life so far. About the same as my iPhone.

For that reason, I am going to sell the iPhone now. It’s not a bad product, but I don’t feel like it’s the best I can get. I feel like I am forced by Apple to buy things I don’t really need or want. I want my freedom back.

Well, I was just informed via email that today is the Day against DRM. Yesterday, I read that 1 million iPads and 12 million DRM protected iPad apps were already sold by Apple. So I don’t feel welcome starting that discussion again. I have an iPhone as well, to be honest. Even though my Palm Pre Plus arrives today. Let’s see if that works for me and if the device is less evil. Anyways:

I guess the thing is that there were always activists that bought their bananas and coffee in that special fair trade store a couple of miles away. And there are the “normal” people, that just don’t care and buy their stuff in the super market round the corner. Of course their bananas were sometimes full of poison and of course the coffee farmers in Africa were badly exploited. On the other hand, the bananas are looking nice and the coffee is cheap. You can’t do anything about it and if you do, you are treated like the enemy of the working class. Because, obviously, poor people don’t have the money to buy the expensive fair trade product and others just want convenience after their 14h working day. That makes the whole issue a bit more complicated.

So yeah, there we are. At least it’s time to think again, before we (who can afford it) decide to buy the next product that is defective by design like the Apple iPad. A lot has changed already, for example Amazon sells DRM-free MP3 files, which was unthinkable a couple of years ago. I really enjoy to buy my music there and IMO it’s a lot more user friendly than iTunes.