No more bites from the Apple!

Yes, from today onwards I have decided to leave iTunes behind me. And the iTunes store, along with its music and Apps. And my iPhone, which is now on eBay. Even my MacBook is long behind me too.

But why, why such madness I hear you cry in that brain of yours? You may be thumping your keyboard like the Angry German Kid right now, screaming my name into your monitor, wondering why on earth one such as me would commit such a felony. Surely MacBooks are immaculate computers, a gift to us from above which upon adding one to your life, every computer-related problem suddently disappears and your life expectancy goes up by at least twenty more years.

Well, if I were to sum the next paragraph and several hundred words of my post up in one word; control.

Yes, control. Apple have too much of it and are taking it too far. Just take a look at the newest Mac Mini:

Ahh, pretty*

Notice anything unusual? THERE IS NO OPTICAL DRIVE!!

I mean nothing. Want to install something on it from one of those, you know, DVDs with software on it you bought just last year? Tough luck. Want to burn a CD from that huge collection you have been carefully building up for the past 30 years of your life? Tough luck. Would you like to watch a DVD? 'No', says Mr. Mac.

If you want to do any of these, ordinary everyday activities that every man and his dog, mouse and vole have been doing since people actually discovered computers could be useful for more than weekly accounts and typing letters to your nan, your only Apple-supported choice is to shell out £66 for one of these.

Or of course, re-purchase everything on the conveniently-placed iTunes store and Mac App Store that comes pre-installed on every Mac these days. For bargain prices such as £7.99 for albums which originally cost £4.99 on CD and go for like 99p on the used album market, plus you get one of those real existing physical CDs. And of course only software which Apple likes may go on the Mac App Store, no rooms for 'duplicates' or alternate options or free software, no sir.

I mean, I understand the need for pushing forward, and innovation and all that jazz, but cutting people off from things that are perfectly reusable, exist physically and may not even be available digitally does seem a bit backward to me. Also nice to know your big brother Apple is carefully watching everything you put on your computer and reserves the right to remove it at any time from their perfect walled garden of an online store. Hmm, I am beginning to like Microsoft again.

 

*I lied.

12/8/2012 Update: After ages of wrestling with my Android phone, I have finally decided to go back to Apple with an iPhone 4. It's great, because it works, unlike the Android one. I felt the need to rant as I value my optical media, but their iPhone is seriously the best smartphone out there. So this post is now quite pointless but still here for old time's sake.