Open letter to APPLE
This is an open letter to Mr. Tim Cook, the CEO of APPLE computers for everyone to read.
APPLE
c/o CEO Tim Cook
Cupertino, USA
Dear Mr. Cook,
As a long and exited Apple User and former ‚“Fan‚Äù of Apple computers and it ¥s operating systems I am writing an open letter to you today, that will also be provided to other press and public distributions as well for any public to read.
Why am I writing you, and why should you be interested in what an old APPLE-user has to tell you?
My history with Apple computers
First of all let me know you that I was one of the first users here in Germany that really loved the approach of Steve Jobs to create computer systems that are easy to understand and use, and are practically for every user ‚- a real Personal-Computer in the word of it.
That‚Äôs why I loved Apple from first minute. I Started out with Performa 5300, next it was the 8500, than the 9500. Then came the G3s, the G4s and finally G5 as well as Intel Pro Towers. Finally I bought MacBook Pro ¥s and another iPad Pro as well. You see, me and Apple have a long history.
I know all the MacOS-systems, been starting off with 8.6, 9.0, 10.x up to todays modern MacOS X structure. Which is brilliant in a way. But then again…
Now again why I write to you and why should this interest you?
Dear Mr. Cook, let me tell you that the path that Apple has entered since some years is a real dangerous one.
Apple has lost it ¥s path and vision
To be there for it ¥s CUSTOMERS. THAT has BEEN the vision of Mr. Jobs.
Ok true, Apple always had the concept of a ‚“closed system‚Äù, e.g. always only shared knowledge to his own strict rules and so forth. When it came to system changes or new developments. Fine so far as long as this lead to improvements of Apple as a whole. Which it did, for a long time. But no more.
Because the idea that Mr. Jobs once had, and what made Apple big and was famous for, to create units, apps and services for its customers that are easy to use and rock solid user oriented ‚- this idea has gone astray for some years now already more and more.
The ‚“commercial idea‚Äù these days has completely taken over and overflows everything that once was good at Apple.
What ¥s wrong with creating financial growth?
Nothing in first place. And no, I am not a stupid little critique user that doesnt accept Apples financial success. I am happy about it in a way also that Apple survived, once it was almost to crash and vanish from the computer scene in the late 90ies.
No its not forbidden to create substantial growth in capital income. But what happens these days with Apple is just getting rediculous as real ‚“service‚Äù there is no more. Just money, money, money instead.
Vanishing all good things there were…
Well, first Apple started out by stopping compatibility. You are using an older system? No sorry, you won ¥t get any support from us anymore. But even more that older computers aren ¥t accepted from Apple itself with compatibility by using only new systems anymore. Nor will there be ANY KIND of updates anymore for older systems.
‚“Buy new stuff‚Äù then you will be on the scene with Apple.
Now, next then there were all the good functions being stopped to be developed and vanished over time, things that were once easy as a breeze and now have become more and more complicated in usability.
Every new system developed from MacOS X 10.6.x on has not being developed to make it better, but to make it even more commercial ‚- ‚“!sorry this function (once has been free) is no more. Now you have to buy another app to use it!‚Äù – well ok. Commercialism.
But the most annoying thing that a ran into with Apple is it ¥s service. Or should I better say ‚“no service‚Äù?
That ¥s what Apple calles „service“?
Don’t believe me? Listen what happened to me.
Just the other day I had the problem that I wanted to buy some app from the appstore. Had entered a gift code into my Apple-ID which also showed up in my account as a plus.
But I could not use it for buying anything as the code was refused at clicking on ‚“buy now‚Äù. Instead the Appstore lead me onto the iStore asking me to enter the code again ! which was of course invalid there as already entered inside my Apple-ID. Thus invalid.
After 2 days of try-an-error and going round in circles by myself, I contacted the Apple-Support to solve the problem.
Therefore I chatted with a support lady named ‚“Nadine‚Äù who in the end couldnt help me out as the problem seemed to be more complex than she could solve it right away.
Point one in bad service: support-line ‚“supervisors‚Äù have a list which they work thru with the customer.
Your problem isn‚Äôt listed? ‚“Well, we ¥re sorry cant help you then‚Äù.
Ok, ‚“Nadine‚Äù than offered me the ‚“callback of a senior supervisor‚Äù (which means second level support) for the next day which I gladly accepted. In hoped that it would solve my issue. Wrong.
Next day came, but who called me was no ‚“senior supervisor‚Äù but the usual automated ‚“service hotline‚Äù asking me what problem I had!?!
So then again I had to explain the same thing all over again to the support guy who called me. Even if there was a close written documentary of things/errors that i had chatted with the support about the day before! well. Ok.
Then the guy on the line told me (again!) he couldn’t solve the problem with me either and promised me to connect me to 2nd Level support now, which he finally did.
Point two in bad support: who the heck should help customers if the ‚“support line‚Äù doesn ¥t?
Allright, lets go on.
The guy at 2nd Level support, lets call him John Doe, started asking me the same things all over again, „what kind of a problem i had“ and so forth – even if he had the written documentary in front of him, and always told me that this would have been written down in the report ! so I once again(!) had to explain my problem a third time as a whole story within last 2 days which I did to finally solve it.
Point three in bad service: what good are any written documentaries or reports that are written down from the first level supervisors, if no one ‚- even the guy from 2nd Level support ever reads them closely? Just too lazy or what…?
After I had explained my problem a third time from scratch, then the most annoying and exiting thing I ever experienced with any service line happened to me!
When I had asked John Doe WHY I would have to accept the Terms & Conditions of the iCLOUD-Service on my iPad if I DON‚ÄôT WANT TO USE that service, just to log into my iPad after restart and that I want to neglect that as I see no use in it ‚- Mr. John Doe just hung up the phone in the middle of my sentence!!!
SO THIS IS WHAT APPLE CALLS ‚“SERVICE‚Äù THESE DAYS???
I am very sorry but THIS is just redicolous, I am very sorry to be that harsh, but that’s the truth.
Apple users are left behind a big wall. ‚“Yes, please buy our products but when done please leave us alone with any trouble you have!‚Äù THIS is your philosophy these days? C ¥mon.
If this is the case then Apple ¥s big days are counted. For sure.
Big data is all you want?
Apple meanwhile has emerged to be a data mining company like Google and many other of those Hi-Tech companies that just collect the ‚“big‚Äù-data of its users.
No use for users rights, no use for being fair and correct in the way you all act when it comes to personal information!
Why do I have to accept and agree all of your rules, terms & services if I just want to use A PART of it, with no chance to escape that? It should be MY good right, my decision to wether give personal information to any company or not. I don’t want to be urged to do so, as this is equivalent to rape.
If its ¥ the iPhone that continuously sends data to any dozen Apple servers, if it ¥s the iPad that collects anything users do and sends it „home“ to Apple, if it ¥s the Appstore where all everything is being stored that a user has ever done or downloaded for years with no chance to erase it after. Even if you just try out an app which is erased from iPad after again ‚- it will be left in the user ¥s Appstore documentary for ever! with no chance of erasing it for the user itself. BIG DATA! Big brother is watching us. No 1984 was wrong: APPLE is watching us these days!
The computers (MacBooks as well as towers) that continuosly send data to any kind of a couple of dozen Apple-servers worldwide whenever using any of your services or apps, computers or iPhones and Pads ‚- data mining has become No.1 for Apple – not service and good products anymore.
The good APPLE days are gone
If a new MacOS or iOS system is released it ¥s not being optimized to be useful for the USERs but just for APPLE.
Good functions that once were applicable in heritage APPLE-OSs have vanished. And almost everytime users have to learn any system new from scratch.
At one system version the menu is here at upper right, another day it ¥s left or it has completely vanished and functions have been erased as only APPLE decides what is good for the user, NOT what the USER WANTS to have.
Havent you heared the sentence ‚“never change a running system‚Äù before?
If something is good, its good. So keep it! Why vanishing it? Develop it further to be more stable, more reliable or faster. But keep it!
A company like APPLE should work FOR it ¥s customers at any time not AGAINST them! It once really did when there was the vision of Steve Jobs of what to create as new innovative functions. But these days are gone. This is over.
Apple kills all the best things
Apple even decided to burry one of the best apps ever written ‚- iTunes.
With every update from iTunes version 11.x on the app lost its good functions, to be more and more focused on commercialism, not being faster, better functions, more convenient. for the user.
Now it calls customers: ‚“Buy songs, movies from within the app. Yes, come to our iStore and buy everthing. No, we don‚Äôt want you to organize your own music library anymore with iTunes. Now we call it ‚“AppleMusic‚Äù and you have to buy everything now!‚Äù
Instead of thinking how existing functions that users once loved for years could be even optimized, no, then we go ahead and burry the best products we have.
Same thing happened to the PRO-Apps. The music app Apple Logic for example.
When Apple bought Logic from EMAGIC (one of the best companies for DAW-apps we had in Germany this time) I was happy. Thought this was a milestone now…
What followed instead was the complete destroyal of the greatest functions this DAW had! Ok, even if Logic today still has been developed to be a good and usable DAW-app.
But what happened to the ‚“open structure‚Äù of EMAGICs Logic? Gone.
What happened even to Apples own great PlugIn ‚“Space-Designer‚Äù in the new versions? No more, gone…. just a few examples of many of them – gone.
More and more of the great functionalites of Apple apps and systems ‚- vanished to be substituted with commercialized ‚“none-useful‚Äù features and big-data collectionism.
What as a PRO-user do I want with any neat ‚“new icons‚Äù or ‚“newly desigened‚Äù emoticons, any ‚“wipe-features‚Äù and other funny bullshit bingo? We want a stable system (which MacOS X basically is) that has useful features for WORKING with it.
Even when playing with it or having other fun on Apple computers and items, systems and apps should only be optimized and added with functions that the USERs want. APPLE only sells the products that USERS really like and apprechiate.
Apple, listen to your users before you loose them!
WE DON’T WANT BIG DATA TO BE SENT TO DOZENS OF SERVERS ALL OVER THE WORLD, JUST TO USE YOUR PRODUCTS.
We as users want stability, compatibility, user-friendly features, ease-of-use as well as safe systems, and any access and control over our personal data. And we want a good and stable LONGTIME-support that is worth naming it like that.
Apologies Mr. Cook
Yes, I know Mr. Cook, I am fully aware that you CANNOT satisfy everyone and every customer. As the idea of how to use a computer or any other computerized item (like iPhones, Ipads and alike) are as different as its users.
BUT WHATS IMPORTANT IS THAT APPLE AS A COMPANY WORKS IN HIS ORIGINAL (Steve Jobs) SPIRIT FOR THE USERS ‚- NOT AGAINST THEM OR FOR ITSELF. As Apple once did when Steve Jobs had founded it. And THIS has regrettably changed for the bad.
No I am not nostalgic. And I am not saying that you are making a bad job as a CEO. When it comes to stockmarket you really do.
But again, start thinking to work FOR THE USERS not AGAINST THEM in really again start creating products that are what WE WANT.
As WE, THE USERs, buy your products in the end. And without the users that are convinced from what APPLE produces, no stockmarket growth is generated anymore in the future!
So APPLE change your habbits again, please!
Thank you.
A.R., a sadned former Apple-Fan