Here's a List of Everything That's Annoying About Apple
There’s a lot we love about Apple. And, inevitably, some things we don’t love, also. In fact, it’d be no lie to say that Apple can be fairly annoying at times, and now one article has tried its best to collect all of these annoyances in a single piece.
Reader Richard brought the piece to our attention: its from the Guardian, and is entitled, “A brief guide to everything that’s annoying about Apple.” The whole piece is worth a read, and it’ll make you chuckle. Among the items its author, Steve Rose, condemns are the price of iOS and OS X devices, the cost of iPhone repairs, and, of course, that infamous U2 album.
In fact, though you might start nodding your head at the beginning of the piece, the further down you get, the more “annoying” this Guardian article becomes. Despite the company’s stance on user encryption and privacy (one which, we might add, placed Apple in opposition with the FBI, the U.S. government, and the President of the United States), Rose declares Apple to be the dystopic “Big Brother” its 1984-themed Super Bowl ad originally bemoaned. Odd.
The piece also calls out Touch ID’s issue with wet fingers, but fails to acknowledge that the second-generation fingerprint scanner fixes this (and, moreover, that incompatibility with wet fingers is a small price to pay for bolstered mobile security). Apple TV is also presented as a target, as well as “Mac lag” on older models and the Smart Battery Case (which, last time we checked, wasn’t an essential purchase – you don’t have to buy the accessory to use your iPhone!). By the end, you kind of feel like Rose was forced to put together a list of 25+ items, when his initial pitch consisted of maybe five or so genuine qualms.
Let's talk Apple Stores
Rose does have this to say about Apple’s retail experience:
Instead of a tried-and-trusted checkout where we can quietly queue with some decorum, Apple stores force us to seek out that smug, snotty-nosed blueshirt who’s lingering somewhere on the shopfloor with an iPad.
And it’s in this area I most agree with Rose. Not exactly in the sentiment described above (you can, after all, use the Apple Store iOS app to purchase your items from retail stores with ease), but in the general approach to retail and repair. Getting hold of an Apple Store employee is indeed a nightmare, not only when purchasing, but when seeking advice, assistance, or direction. I always feel whenever I’m in my local Apple Store that employees don’t care all that much about customers unless you’re looking to buy. This is a bad image to send out. That, and there is a certain smugness to Apple’s retail staff (at least here in Britain).
My main problem with the Apple Store, however, is the mountain you have to climb in order to facilitate a repair on an iOS or OS X device. Booking Genius Bar appointments is impossible at my local store (it’s block reserved as far as the system can go), and waiting as a walk-in customer takes up hours of your evening or weekend. This sends out a rotten message to Apple’s user base: one that positions Apple as being happy to sell you a product, but not to provide worthwhile aftercare.
Is it just me? Do you agree with Rose’s list? Or has Apple got it all right?