Apple Bias

I admit, I’m biased against Apple. If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you’ve probably already noticed this.

I’ve also been fascinated by the idea of fanboyism and brand loyalty.

So here’s my question: Why do I dislike Apple so much?

I love my webOS phone, but if I had to give it up, I’d be willing to give WP7 a try, or maybe even an Android phone. Anything but the iPhone really. But when you think about it, Apple is the one out there with the best specs on their iPhone, and the most polished OS. So why do I avoid it like the plague?

I’ve been wondering about this lately. The brand loyalty articles say that faced with a choice between equally valued options, choosing one will decrease your opinion of the others, right? I still think webOS has awesome potential, and I’ll admit… I’m a little bit of a fanboy. But why do I dislike Apple so much more than the other options?

The only thing I can come up with is that I dislike Apple’s policies so much that I refuse to buy their products, even if they are better. The more ground Apple makes in the technology market, the more frustrated with them I become. Am I the only one that thinks Apple is becoming a bit of a bully? They remind me of Microsoft as they began to face their anti-trust lawsuits.

Am I being irrational here? What do you think?

(I missed a post yesterday, so I post-dated this one. I’m not trying to fool anyone.)

The thing about App Stores…

(Oh, pardon me. Only Apple can call their app store the App Store.)

I have a little bit of a beef with those out there running “application delivery mechanisms.” Don’t get me wrong, I really like the idea. I really like that Apple is bringing it to the Mac, and wish that Windows would develop a similar technology (Linux has had it for years… but that’s the nature of Linux). The issue I have is the ridiculous restrictions that the device managers put on them.

Take this article for example. Apple is making rules about how other companies can sell stuff through their apps. I think this is a little too much. Because I can see no other move for this than to get more money off other people’s work. This is a little bit like Microsoft charging developers $5 to write a program for Windows.

I guess that’s the price of being on the platform though.

Are you meta-biased?

Meta: about its own category. In other words, a bias towards a certain bias. Or in this case, a bias about being biased.

It turns out, according to this article, much of what you buy is based on branding, or in other words, bias. You may think you make rational decisions, but apparently “you prefer the things you own because you rationalize your past choices to protect your sense of self.”

In my mind, this is like being biased about your preferences (or biases) you have towards certain companies and products. You justify your purchases based on what you already have invested in them. For example, I have owned Palm products for a while, and therfore I am biased towards their products. When something better comes along from another company, I rationalize my choices by downplaying that product and pinpointing things mine does better. This effectively strengthens that bias. At least according to the article. Do you think it’s true?

I’ve been trying to revisit my opinions with this perspective. For example, you all know my bias against Apple. Do I dislike Apple simply because I haven’t gone down that road? I’ve invested so much in alternatives, so now I avoid Apple? And to justify it, I find flaws in their system and point fingers at their ethics? How many of my opinions are affected by this? Am I really a victim of “fanboyism?”

Or maybe it’s not that big of an influence on our decisions, which is what I feel is more likely. Yes, I am biased. But I’m not biased to the point of ignorance. I pay attention, I know what’s out there, I know the relative strengths and weaknesses of a product. True, I have a preference, but that doesn’t mean I won’t see reason. I can stand in a grocery aisle and pick out a box of cereal without thinking about it all day, but I don’t blindly buy one product without paying attention to the alternatives. This, to me, is more about turning a blind eye to the things we don’t think are important. Maybe our decisions aren’t completely objective (surprise surprise), but I still think we can be mostly rational.

So yeah, I’ve been branded, but I’m not that loyal.

No more name calling?

According to this story (and others), those awful Mac vs. PC ads are over.

Hooray!

Why am I so excited about this? They were funny commercials, right?
Alright, I admit, they were very clever commercials. I did laugh at many of them. You gotta hand it to them, Apple does have that talent with marketing. The problem that I see, though, is that most of them were extremely misleading.

Extremely misleading.

For example, there are virtually no networking differences between the two. Each has their own idiosyncrasies. Both freeze up from time to time, and both have viruses (it’s true). I can name other things.

Worst of all, and the part that makes me glad they stopped, is that they pretty much degenerated into poking fun at Windows Vista. I agree, Vista was terrible, so I guess this was just a well planned marketing move. Still, I wish Apple had more class. (Interesting to note that now that Windows 7 is out, they quit. Gotta admit, Microsoft did a pretty good job with Windows 7.) While I can’t say much for what Macs actually do, I’m surprised to find that these commercials have convinced people that Windows is terrible. It freezes, it hangs, it’s slow, it’s less powerful and less compatible… the list goes on.

Is any of this really true? Not in my experience. It’s time for Apple to stop spreading the FUD.

And so it is I celebrate that these mis-informative and misleading commercials are over with.

Lets get back to actually talking about your product. Thanks.