I use Apple with no intentions to switch. At first I used Apple because they were the only ones doing what they did, and it was exciting. Then I used Apple because others where doing it but they did it better. Unfortunately I have to admit I can no longer confidently say that is the case. Tim Cook is not as good at steering product design as Steve Jobs was. However another reason it’s no longer as good is something that I think Tom Cook does better than Steve Jobs did, and that brings me on to why I use Apple now.
I trust it more than any other brand or system, it’s that simple. It’s not perfect, but perfection is the enemy of progress and at least they’re trying. I won’t use Samsung, because they are manipulative, corrupt and evil. I won’t use Google because I no longer trust them, and I don’t want to be the product, I want to be the customer.
One of the reasons Apple is no longer as good as the others is simply Tim Cooks ethics. He believes in privacy so much that he’s locked down his system even against his own company, so he doesn’t have access to a lot of the data other companies use to improve your experience. They also sell it for ads and use it for manipulation and lobbying. Apple doesn’t, and can’t, do that, because it doesn’t have access. If the police come looking for you Apple can’t give them your data, even with a warrant (and don’t say ‘but I don’t want to commit any crimes.’ First they came for the Jews, and I said nothing’)
The App Store is, currently, I’ll grant you, a hot mess. It’s a tricky thing to solve if you care about moderation the way Apple does, and their lack of your data means they can’t use algorithms the way Google does but I still think they could do much better even then. The keyboard also drives me nuts daily. Steve Jobs told them not to make it smaller, to pack more in, he explicitly told them people would curse Apple every time they accidentally hit the full stop key, and I do, daily. I hate it. But I would rather deal with that than the constant worry about what Google and Samsung are up to with my data.
I acknowledge that there is a price to pay for Apples quality, ethics and original design. Not everyone can afford to embrace the Apple system and that’s ok. I hate the idea I see a lot that there has to be a ‘perfect’ way of doing things, that if we can just find the one ‘right’ way we can live in Utopia. That’s not how the world works. My priorities are not your priorities. My opportunities are not your opportunities. And a diverse ecosystem is a healthy one. Competition is good. So people who prefer using Android are not wrong for using Android, people who prefer Apple are not wrong for using Apple. But if you value workers rights to a living wage and safe working conditions, and you think that corporations controlling and blackmailing governments are a bad thing, then why the fuck are you using Samsung? If you don’t care about such things though, and you just want good quality cheaply, go for it. But remember it still comes at a cost, you just don’t pay it up front.