"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?" William Butler Yeats, The Second Coming
My dad bought an Apple II in 1977, when I was a high school senior. He got it to help manage his real estate investments, which he worked on when he got home late at night after closing his pharmacy. I was fascinated with the thing, not because I wanted to figure out how to program it, or what was going on inside that cream colored case, but because of the really cool games I could play on it. Up until that point I had only played the Atari version of Pong. It may look boring now, but my friends and I would spend endless weekend hours staring at the flickering grey image on the tv screen. We would drink a few beers, smoke a few joints, and fire up the console, usually choosing the hockey version over the less interesting tennis screen. It didn’t take much to entertain us.
When I carefully inserted the floppy disk labeled “games” into the Apple II’s drive, I couldn’t believe the difference. The only game I specifically remember was one called Olympic Decathlon. You used key combinations to help the primitive, vaguely human collection of pixels run races, pole vault, high jump, and perform in other decathlon events. My dad claimed that his computer helped him get his bookkeeping done, but every time I walked into his home office he was playing one of those games.
By the mid 1980’s I was a PC guy. I remember seeing the famous Apple Super Bowl 1984 commercial and thinking it was ridiculously pretentious. Right around that time I began taking a real dislike to Steve Jobs. I saw him as the marketing guy behind Apple, and Wozniak as the brains. Jobs struck me as smug and arrogant, and I thought of PCs as the machines where you got work done, while Apple was for drawing pictures. I know that was probably a naive simplification, but that’s how I saw it.
After Jobs’ return to Apple after his NeXT debacle, he just seemed like more of a pompous narcissist. He designed, engineered, and packaged his image as carefully as he did his products. Everything about him was calculated, from his beard to that goddamned black turtleneck. I found him to be all style, and no substance. That probably wasn’t fair, but I was into MS- DOS and early Windows.
When my wife bought me an Ipod for Christmas in 2001 or 2002, it became the first and only Apple product I would ever own. It was a device to play music. I plugged it into my stereo system and I was smitten. I have to admit that it was one beautifully designed piece of technology. It was incredibly well built. I still own it, but I doubt I could do much with it and its outdated software anymore. I had gotten my first cell phone sometime around 1998, and I didn’t see the two devices as being even remotely similar in function.
When first Iphone was released in early 2007, I was firmly anti-Apple, with the only exception being my Ipod. I did use it to buy and play music. Still, it was already apparent that even Itunes was a locked down marketplace. Apple was the definition of closed source. Microsoft wasn’t great either, and Apple’s tech always provided a more user friendly experience, from what I was told. I had no first hand knowledge since I had never used it.
By then I had become deeply entrenched in Austrian economics and libertarian philosophy. Apple just really rubbed me the wrong way. That 1984 advertisement seemed more ironic than ever. Apple was Big Brother in my eyes, creating a world of conformists needing the next cool thing. George Orwell is probably still spinning in his grave. It didn’t matter to me that Apple wasn’t the government. There was something about those clean white lines and staged presentations that screamed totalitarianism. People I respected told me Jobs was a visionary genius, and I begrudgingly had to agree. That wasn’t enough for me to buy an Apple product, though. Once the smartphone became ubiquitous I naturally got an android.
I soon realized that I liked tinkering around with my phones. I had always been what I would describe as a tech fan boy. I spent hours messing with my work computers when I should have been actually working. I’m a lawyer by trade, and my aptitude is not towards tech or programming. This is not false modesty. I loved the idea of learning about the stuff, but I knew I didn’t have the ability to go anywhere with it professionally. I just really enjoyed playing around. That’s when I discovered that you could really tinker with Android phones. Unlike with Apple, they were for the most part unlocked, and I started modifying them. I particularly liked my Motorola Droid for doing mods, and owned a few of them over the years. I would go to sites like Android Central or Android Authority and learn how to flash roms, download weird apps, speed up the clock settings, and do all sorts of other stuff that really served no practical purpose. It was fun, but I bricked my share of phones. I couldn’t believe people would buy an Iphone and miss out on this joy. Both the hardware and software were inpenetrable. Forget even trying to get an Iphone repaired. The Apple ecosystem was like a prison.
”All in all, it’s just another brick in the wall" Roger Waters
The company became a symbol for me of all I disliked about corporate America: Commercialism, conformism, and living within the “walled garden” of their ecosystem. I couldn’t even look at Jobs on that big stage, wearing that black turtleneck, preaching to the masses. To me, it was oppression, the opposite of freedom.
Of course, Bill Gates wasn’t much better. I soured on Microsoft too. I started hearing about Linux but didn’t have the motivation to try it until probably 2014 or 2015. There were many fits and starts. I found it difficult to accomplish many work tasks on my basic Ubuntu machines, so I invariably went back to Windows. It wasn’t until this year that I finally made the switch for good. Being retired makes it easier.
In the meantime, my disdain for Apple grew. Revelations about Job’s personal life, his treatment of subordinates, and Apple’s exploitation of low cost labor overseas irked me. If you’re interested in reading more about Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson wrote the definitive biography. When Jobs died I thought that Tim Cook would maybe change things for the better. I do like him better than Jobs, but that’s a low bar. He continued the tradition of hype, fashion, and exploitation. If you’re interested in reading more about Apple’s labor practices in Asia, read the book Dying For an Iphone by Jenny Chan. Every “new” model was extraordinarily overpriced, but the marketing machine kept pushing them out the door. Every slight model change required the purchase of a new, overpriced charger. Every dollar was squeezed out of the loyal sycophants. To make matters worse, since the release of the IPhone 4 every user’s location is recorded several times a day with a time stamp. Then the information is transferred to an unencrypted file on your phone. This is particularly worrisome now that we know that Apple cooperates with the NSA Prism program.
As time passed I discovered bitcoin. I first heard about it at some Libertarian Party meetup in 2012. I dismissed it, to my everlasting regret. I finally bought some in early 2018, and have become more deeply committed the more I learn. I started following the young developers in the space like I would follow players on the New York Mets, my favorite baseball team. Knowing how modest most of them are, they would be embarrassed to know how much I revere them. So, imagine my shock when I discovered that many of them used the Mac OS and had IPhones. I know they are younger than me, and they know a hell of a lot more about computer science than me. But still. Apple just struck me as so antithetical to the idea of innovation, revolutionary tech, and most importantly, bitcoin. I couldn’t think of Apple and bitcoin in the same sentence, and I still can’t.
Late last year I found nostr. I had long ago abandoned all social media. I despised Facebook, Twitter and Google with the same fervor as Apple. I was incredibly disappointed to discover that the best nostr client, Damus, was only available on Apple IOS. I wasn’t shocked, just jealous. I didn’t care how good Damus was, though. There was no way I was going to give money to Apple just to find out.
Now Apple is threatening to remove Damus from their App Store. They also recently delayed approval of the latest update to the Zeus app before allowing it to remain. I understand the consternation this is causing, and I know they want to get back into the ecosystem, but I can’t bear to watch these brilliant, creative innovators grovelling before the small minded gatekeepers of the Dark Empire. I know that sounds overly dramatic, but it is how I feel. Apple is the status quo. Apple is a major cog in the old system. Apple is one of the problems that nostr and bitcoin solves. It’s not just Apple. As I said earlier, Facebook, Twitter, and Google are members of the same empire.
“Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.” George Orwell, 1984
I planned my own modest escape. Android is only slightly better than Apple IOS. It is a more open system, but those doors are gradually closing too. I decided to switch to Graphene, a privacy oriented, de-googled version of android. I ordered my Pixel 7 the other day and began the process of switching to Graphene. I needed to unlock the bootloader. At first I tried my linux laptop. After hours of installing packages and copying code into the terminal, I gave up. Then I tried it on my Windows 11 laptop. The process was even more complicated. I was downloading drivers, entering commands in Power Shell, and searching help sites for answers, all to no avail. Once again, I failed. I was angry and frustrated. In a last ditch attempt, and against everything I stood for, I borrowed my daughter’s MacBook. I connected the phone to the laptop, hit a few keys, and Voila! It worked. The bootloader was unlocked immediately. I had the phone loaded with the Graphene OS in minutes. Easy as pie. I was both happy and humiliated. I caught a lot of abuse from my family. You see, I am the lone infidel in an Apple worshipping house. It was a rough afternoon.
I’m not a very spiritual guy, but I had the irrational thought that Steve Jobs had exacted his revenge on me. In the end, the beast he built had helped me escape. I was grateful. Does it change my mind? No. I still hate Apple.
You may not be tech savvy but you surely developed other very useful skills in your trade: in particular spotting BS. I remember in my old Samsung phone I had a bunch of apps I couldn't uninstall and there were many processes and data sharing on the background that I never allowed and couldn't even stop, I always felt the machine didn't really belong to me, it was given to me on lease and Google was the real owner. I understand your dislike for Apple. The switch to graphene was my latest, a few years back I changed to Linux and that was around the same time I got into bitcoin. Now I feel all those things are related, it's about freedom of choice and being able to decide based on one's own best interest.
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I've never understood why Samsung builds of android are so popular. They have all the lock-down of Apple but with much shittier apps. Stock Android may be increasingly losing it's openness, but at least the apps work.
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I think they are popular because the hardware is (or was) good and it is (or was) easy to install LineageOS on it. I think I never used an Android device without changing the OS from day one, and Samsung was great in terms of quality and battery life and made it easy to root and change the OS. Once I bought a cheap Xiaomi phone of seemingly good quality. I had to wait 2-3 weeks before installing LineageOS on it, worst experience ever (plus I had to use Windows for that). The RAM was good, battery life also, but the screen on Samsung devices are like on Apple devices, whereas screens of Xiaomi were bad. I have read Sony also makes it easy to install OSes on their phones, plus they have a headphone jack.
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Exactly. I guess many of us are on the same path. You are just a few years ahead!
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What a great post, thanks for sharing!
I was Apple for 10 years until I found Graphene. There just wasn't a good / secure alternative until Graphene came along. Flashing on Linux does require a few prerequisites, linking to your previous post (as you suggested, might happen): #194904
For laptop, Apple beats windows (again, security / privacy) but these days I find I am actually able to get all my corporate work done using Qubes (Debian VMs)
I keep a Ubuntu laptop on the side for when the video calls play up though.
Graphene mobile / Linux laptop & PC for the freedom, and for the win :-)
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Just curious, since it is VMs running with Qubes, I am curious if you are always low in RAM in practice? I wanted to try Qubes but on the surface pro 6 I have to use swap memory all the time (8GB of RAM plus 8GB of swap memory I created to open 2 browsers).
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8 GB is low for running qubes, 16 is ok, 32 is great, I'm running 64
I effectively have a half-dozen isolated "computers" connected to a single keyboard and mouse (with copy paste ability)
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I see, thank you. So it looks interesting for recent computers
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it actually only runs on specific hardware (doesn't need to be recent) - you'd need to check the compatibility list
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Ah I see! Thank you. The compatibly list is quite massive, reminds me thr one for Wine.
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GrapheneOS web installer is great. It definitely shouldn't fail like that. You should report those issues so they can fix them, it really shouldn't be that hard. That it worked on MacOS was just pure luck and nothing to do with Steve Jobs.
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My attempts are actually documented in almost real time on this post. I think I failed to install a package on my Ubuntu package that was mentioned by @03365d6a53 describing his Ubuntu install. It definitely wasn't a problem with Web Installer. The jury is still out on a Jobs hex!
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Great piece!
I think the moment I realized I hate Apple is when they announced the iPad. Looked up the quote just now:
"Everybody uses a laptop and a smartphone. And the question has arisen lately, is there room for a third category of device in the middle?"
I'm like, no not everybody uses a laptop and a smartphone, and no one is asking if there's room for a device in the middle. It's just you asking how you can create artificial demand for a product that will make you more money.
I don't begrudge anybody trying to make a profit. I just hate when they get preachy about it, as if you're morally superior for buying a bunch of shiny useless crap.
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"You're on the other shore - you can leave the boat behind." The Blind Kung Fu guy
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"Old Man, how is it that you hear these things?’ -Young Caine ‘Young Man, how is it that you do not?’ -Master Po
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Ahh very nice essay. I respect your perspective here but Apple was almost dead.
Then the iPod came and saved their business. The iPhone made it trillion dollar company. Even to this day Apple is still trying to find products to complete with the profitability with iPhone with little success.
The iPhone really changed the world. They pushed the boundaries of design and user experience to leverage the power of broadband internet, computer application, and telecommunications.
As you know before the iPhone the form factors of phones was all over the place Android phones copied a lot of what apple was doing to be competitive. They pushed the convergence of these technologies forward.
But I often think of all the people they employ to protect people and their platform. Just imagine the scams that would happen if the walled garden wasn’t there. We see the scamming with shitcoins when left unchecked people will sell you a bag of dog shit for thousands and think nothing of it, But as with anything it becomes too big and too powerful and I don’t think humans have found a solution to this problem. I honestly think taking a 30% cut of commerce on your platform is ridiculous especially when the company is worth trillions. Yes we have regulations but that picks winners and losers naturally.
The points you laid out are valid reasons why I been thinking of ditching Apple. But making huge changes in your computing solutions is tough especially when you have to answer the call of the fiat mines every day.
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I don’t like Apple either but you have to give the devil his due. They are evil geniuses making very beautiful tech .
I’m currently looking at ways to extricate myself from their influence. Including a pixel 4a and graphene OS. 👍
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Commenting nearly a year late because I'm reading through the posts linked in the most recent Apple post, and holy crap, Olympic Decathlon! I went to a summer camp in the early '80s that had Apple IIs, and that was one of the few games there, so we played it like crazy, and decades later, that awful Apple audio of the Olympic theme song still gets stuck in my head!
(Also, great post!)
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You are the only person I have ever met who played that game! I think most people assume it's a figment of my imagination. I can hear the anthem now.
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Right? Such an earworm.
I feel like only folks who had the chance to play it back in the day are familiar with it -- it's not like Wizardry or Ultima or the Infocom games where there's been this lasting legacy.
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I guess it was a big deal back then: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olympic_Decathlon
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It was by Microsoft? Honestly shocked at that -- the only game of theirs I thought I could name from the pre-Xbox era (other than the ones packed with Windows) was Flight Simulator.
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I only know like 3 computer games, and Flight Simulator was the other one.
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Congratulations! This was the top post one year ago today.
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I think I was in the minority then. I probably still am.
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Don’t all companies need to be greedy and have a well functioning marketing machine in order to succeed big time?
Android and Windows are substandard as operating systems and the cool nerdy things are not commercially viable.
What can we do then? Stop using the internet and return to the caves until Bitcoin hits the moon.
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Apple is creepy and elitist. The only genius in the company left when they stopped building apple 2's. Steve Jobs' schtick has always been his shiny fascist edge and his wizard-of-oz like confab speeches.
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I think apple devices are secure.
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Why the hell do they use a bitten into apple 🍎 as their logo?
Even for an atheist/secular guy, that's some bizarre choice of symbolism.
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For me it would be:
Linux phone (no viable model exists yet) > GrapheneOS > LineageOS or similar de-googled ROM > iPhone > Vanilla Android with Google crap > Android with Google crap and manufacturer’s bloatware
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I don't know enough to answer the question. There are people here who can give an informed answer.
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Check out graphene OS on eBay, there are some people selling the service of loading graphene OS on your phone.
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I don't think I'd trust that, and it would be pretty embarrassing not to do it yourself! I ran across a guy on youtube who was thinking of selling pre loaded graphene pixel 7s.
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