If you've read my blog for very long you probably know that I'm not a big fan of Apple, inc. I think that they have some very cool technology and in many ways I'd love to actually have some of it. A Macbook Pro would be nice to have because I think it's a really good laptop. I'd love to have a IPod Touch because it gives me the flexibility of using it as a mp3 and video player as well as allowing me to surf the Internet via wireless networks. Yet, I just can't bring myself to buy any of them because I just don't trust them.
Apple has shown itself time and again to only care about themselves and not their customers. They appear to be willing to do whatever it takes to further their agenda even if it means being dishonest and underhanded. They will even try to ruin the careers of security researchers if it will keep their public image intact. They are willing to try and increase market share for their Safari browser by sneaking it in an update.
I've heard and read horror stories about support when you have to send things off for repair. I've heard them deny that a vulnerability exists and then quietly fix it a month or two later. Then they have the gall to say that the fix wasn't for the earlier announced vulnerability but for something that was not publicly known. They don't seem to care that they release patches that don't fix what they say the patch fixes.
To me this all says that Apple, inc has an ethics problem and when it is this blatant I have a hard time doing business with them. It definitely affects the level of trust that I have in them. The question is will you and other customers continue to trust them?
Why do I ask this? It seems that once again Apple is sneaking things into their updates that they don't feel the need to inform us about. Ed Bott does a good job of chronicling issues with the latest release of ITunes 8 and some things that are happening when you think that all you are updating is ITunes and Quicktime. If what he and others are saying is true then not only is Apple sneaking things into the update process but they are also causing all sorts of problems with windows systems. How will Apple deal with these problems? That is the big question here. Not so much the fact that they are installing things beyond ITunes, although that is an issue that they need to deal with.
I've not installed ITunes 8 yet and won't until I know that the problems are fixed. Why do I use ITunes at all since I'm not an Apple fan. Because I bought a IPod Nano from my Brother-in-Law a few years back and I use ITunes because it came with the IPod. At that time I actually still had some respect for Apple. When my IPod dies I imagine I will get a different mp3 player and ditch ITunes all together.
