Gadget Castle

It may be the company that has taken the gadget world by storm and rewritten the rules for success in the world of technology; it may have got the whole world talking and raving about its products and the quality of its technology; and it may outsell all the competition put together; but I still think Apple and its i-prefixed products are overrated, not to mention overpriced. And the reasons I wouldn’t buy from Apple are:

• Too expensive: Forget the fact that Apple’s products are overhyped and overrated – if I were to include these reasons on my list, people would say I was prejudiced and biased and actually envious of the company’s “impressive” track record in the sales and publicity department. The bottom line is that all gadgets that have names prefixed with the letter i are overpriced, sometimes even costing double what a competitor’s product costs. To illustrate further, an iPod nano with a 2.2 inch screen costs around $150 while a similar MP3 player from a reputable competitor with a larger screen and more features costs just one third of this.
• Not standardized: Ever tried copying your songs from your iPod to your computer or to any other MP3 player? If you have, you would have racked your brains to find where and how your songs have been stored. Apple does not allow you to move your songs easily because they believe in copyrights and licences, right Mr. Jobs? Well, any product that is not standardized to interact with other gadgets is just not my cup of tea.
• Lack ordinary features: The iPod has no microphone, FM radio, or recording facility and cannot be used as a mass storage device like most other MP3 players of its calibre. Also, there was no support for MMS or video on early iPhones and  early models of the iPod did not feature a Search option. The latest product from the house of Apple, the iPad, lacks video playback or the ability to multitask, and it also does not feature a USB port or a camera, all of which are pretty much the norm for any gadget today.
• There is less tech support: So you claim your Mac is much more superior to the lowly PC with its horrid Windows OS, but if anything does go wrong, how much tech support do you have? With the more popular Windows OS, every Tom, Dick and Harry in tech support can talk you through a troubleshooting session blindfolded and with their hands tied behind their backs. A Mac on the other hand is a killer when it comes to figuring out why your screen just went completely black.
• Feature instant upgrades: Why buy Apple today when you’re going to be hit in the face a month or so later with an upgraded product that is much cheaper than the one you were suckered into buying? Ask any Apple gadget owner with a grouse and they’ll tell you their story. It makes no sense to hype your product, get customers to buy them, and then revamp it almost immediately and bring down the price just because your sales figures are poor.

So yes, even though my Windows may crash at times and I curse Bill Gates and Microsoft, there’s just no way I’m going the Apple way.

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This guest post is contributed by Barbara Williams, she writes on the topic of Computer Technician Programs . Email her at:  barbara.williams07@gmail.com .