Cranky Windows Guy: Apple’s iPhone Bugs Stopped Me From Switching to a Mac

Bingo. Hit the nail right on the head there. I too waged the “do I switch to iPhone (and therefore Apple ecosystem)” war in my head for weeks and weeks when the 3G iPhone came out. I still haven’t caved for the exact reasons this article points out. Both the product and the company have serious flaws, and I have serious problems with that, that I can’t just push to the side because something is shiny & smooth & fun to use.

So I’m waiting for the HTC Touch Pro, and am sticking with XP.

Yeah, I’m a long time Apple user and am even guilty of using the “It just works” line on more than one occasion, but even I have to admit that the 3G iPhone release has been less than smooth. A LOT of bugs and very little in the way of fixes. I’m sure that they’ll sort the issues out eventually but how many customers are they going to lose in the mean time?

To answer your question about why Apple have a reputation for “creating lilly-white products that never need fixing”, it’s because, usually, they do (well, maybe not “never need fixing”, but certainly rarely). The trouble surrounding the release of the 3G iPhone is certainly not the norm for Apple who, as a rule, handle the introduction of new products, and transitions to newer platforms, extremely well. It’s just unfortunate that your first exposure to Apple products happens to have been one of the rare occasions where they have shot themselves in the foot. The 3G iPhone is definitely the most troublesome Apple purchase I’ve ever made (by a wide margin) and I’ve been using Apple hardware since 1989.

That said, I certainly couldn’t blame you if you decided that you didn’t want to have anything to do with Apple ever again. Apple are not doing their “Switch to Mac” campaign any favours at all with the iPhone in it’s current state. As I’ve already said, I’ve been a Mac user for nearly 20 years so Apple have had plenty of time to build up a lot of credit and goodwill with me. Because of this, I’m willing to (begrudgingly) ride out the problems until they release an update that’s stable and addresses all the issues. However, new converts from the PC world haven’t got a long history of effortless purchases and upgrades behind them and so are going to be judging Apple as a whole on their first impressions. This being the case, if their first experience with Apple is with a 3G iPhone, I can’t blame them one bit if it is also their last.

In all honesty, Apple stuff usually does “just work”. If you’re not so fed up that you are past being willing to consider switching to the Mac platform, I recommend that you don’t throw the baby out with the bath water by writing off the entire Apple product range based on your experience with the iPhone. Apple really do make some fantastic stuff and it almost always runs flawlessly right out of the box.

Hope this helps.

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