BI Revolution

Apple Pivot, Will We Care
Agree. Apple is looking for another disruption not looking to milk iPhone / iPad sales. And this is an understatement:

"I suspect most of this has been due to the fact that Apple does not draw attention to its product pipeline and long-term strategy, choosing instead to embrace secrecy and mystery. "

Open vs. Closed
The bigger question, for us, is the OPEN vs. CLOSED question. Apple hasn't made friends in the developer community. Sure we bend, scrape, plead and cry to have apps accepted, but the taste left with us is sour and painful. 

Android is trying to tighten standards having played, "Come One, Come All" a tad too loudly, but Apple is fickle and a pain. Yes it is good to be KING, but no one is KING of anything lasting that doesn't also inspire loyalty, trust and love. 

Most of the developers I know, even the ones who are rich thanks to Apple's app store, don't look forward to wrestling with Apple again. Some have achieved "trusted" status now, but they remember the blood and tears it took to get there. 

So note to Google, never tighten to the point where your tightening feels or seems capricious and mean. Apple has seemed capricious and mean to several developer friends who requested to remain nameless. Were they scared Apple might make a horrible process even harder? You bet. 

Apple is testimony to the power of "insanely great". NO ONE jumps through the seemingly arbitrary hoops Apple is known for unless "insanely great" is attached. I'm a huge Apple fan and have been since buying the Apple II back in the day. 

Lately I've caught myself wondering if the OVER (what I gain by being an Apple supporter) is worth the UNDER (what it takes to remain loyal). That is a conversation NO BRAND wants their customers to begin EVER since all the negative things leaving brings follows. 

The watch left me cold. I rarely wear watches anymore, but when I do I want something from MoMA and their tiny phone on your wrist looked more Dick Tracy than cool watch (to me). I'm wearing a watch to dinner tonight and it won't be an Apple Watch. 

My updated AIR is nothing but a pain. It doesn't fit my hands, the keyword is impossible to tune, and the screen too small. I never use it preferring my old Air (from 6 years ago). I love my iMac with the huge screen (what I'm writing on now), but it too was a failure. 

We tried moving my 83-year-old father over to the big Mac screen but accessibility features were a torture and he is a Windows guy and will remain one. My Macbook I like, but it is getting long in the tooth and clunky. My iPad Pro I LOVE and that is taking the place of the new AIR (that I hate) and my MacBook. 

Long diatribe, but I share my journey as a note of growing Apple frustration. My new EXPENSIVE Air was a disaster I should have sent back, but I kept thinking it was me. I don't think that way anymore and that can't be good for Apple.