apple and the i-stuff

Why does Apple keep making bank and getting credit for stuff they didn't invent or pioneer? The iPod, iPad, iTunes, and iPhone are all stuff that Apple is making serious money on and for some reason is the company that is bringing these technologies and gadgets to the public. It doesn't really make me angry or anything, but its kind of upsetting in that confusing way. The iStuff I listed earlier is very commercially successful and are the products you think of when you hear 'music player' or 'digital music store'. The thing is, though, all of these things existed BEFORE Apple came along. MP3 players came out before the iPod, and phones that play music (and more) came out a long time before the iPhone. Not only were these i-things predated by other companies by as much as years, but other companies do them BETTER. Apple's products make you use their formats and software, where the PC alternatives to these gizmos do not require you to use iTunes or any other proprietary software.





You can use WMP, MediaGo or any other software you want, and the media files you use can be used on ANY other PC-based system. As long as you use WMA or MP3 formats, you are free to put those songs on any device you want that supports it. Apple, on the other hand, requires you to use their AAC format and iPod players with each other and only each other. With PC, you can just drag and drop the song files if you want control over your files. You are not told what to do, and to me that freedom is more important that ease of use. In fact, I've always had trouble with iPods. My mom and sister use them, and I'm pretty sure that, as the household Nick Burns, I've had to assist each of them at least once. So if they're not easy to use in the first place, why all the commercial success? If you're like me and most of the time when you want a single, only iTunes has it, try this: Get a CD-RW (not CD-R), then burn whatever singles you buy to that CD. It removes all of the copy protection and writes it as pure audio CD data. You can then rip that using WMP or something else. Then you can put it on your PC/Windows-based players and software, and then erase the CD to do it again.

What's even more upsetting is that is stream of revenue and fame has made Apple an authority figure of sorts. Gadgets, devices and such from other companies can come out as they please, but we've reached a point where consumers will deliberately wait for Apple to steal it. That's a special kind of BS. Apple has literally gotten so rich that it's able to do what it wants regardless of whether the public even wants it. For instance, the iPad does not support Flash. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure something shady went on to make that happen. That's something you literally have to program out of a device. And people will still embrace the iPad because Apple is such a big company. This is madness. If you're in the market for a new device, explore your options with other companies. Make sure there's always a Droid for every iPhone. Anyways, that's my two cents on the subject. Seacrest out.