Dubious Choices by Apple
1. When I first got my Mac, I of course wanted to load all my music onto it. I have my music collection broken down into folders and sub-folders by genre, artist, album, and song. I realized immediately that this wasn’t going to work with iTunes. If I wanted to keep the directory structure I had worked so hard for (and it has been very convenient for me when it comes to backups, sharing stuff that is not copyrighted, and so on) I was going to have to throw all my work away. iTunes will only play music that is in you “library” which means it has to be in a special iTunes folder. So effectively I had to either have two copies of everything I own on the same computer, or throw away my personal data structure. My freedom to choose how my data is organized was taken from me.
The next thing I thought to do was to just not use iTunes. But I wanted to use an Airport Express to stream music to the stereo. Guess what. It only works with iTunes. I should point out, by the way, that these limitations are CHOICES that Apple has made. It is not that they cannot allow me to use my own file structure (reference WinAmp or Picassa, programs which scour your files and build a library without moving anything) they choose to do so, and it limits my choices. The only reason I can see for this is to persuade me to use iTunes, which, as it turns out, is Apples primary portal for getting me to buy things from them on a regular basis, through the iTunes Store.
2. The Airport Express and Airport Extreme are further examples of such choices that Apple makes that hurt the quality of the consumers experience. The Airport Extreme is a good router. It comes with decent security, good signal, and even a networked USB port for printers and backups. But one thing that is conspicuously missing is any ability to plug your stereo into it. No, for that you also need to purchase (a now redundant) Airport Express. Another choice Apple has made that seems better for them than for me.
3. When I first attained my free iPhone, I vowed not to pay for an app until I was sure I was going to keep the phone. It was my plan to log on to the App Store and only download free apps, free podcasts, and other media which cost me nothing. In so doing I felt I was creating a freedom from using the device in my pocket as a vending machine. But once I actually logged in to iTunes, I was confronted with the unavoidable reality that anyone who uses iTunes must enter a credit card. This, in effect, took away my freedom to choose not to use the iPhone in a consumer oriented way.
Truly the list goes on. If you have an iPhone, for instance, you have no access to its file structure. You can’t use it as a flash drive without an App. You can’t run software of your choice on it without jailbreaking the thing and effectively breaking the law. You can’t use files that are already on your phone as ring tones, persuading you to buy them instead of making them yourself. These are all choices that Apple has made, and that I am highly suspicious of.
