Why I Regret Buying an iPhone

"It felt like a description of the Gestapo, without the torture and killing part."

so, aside from the terribly snappy uniforms, what exactly does that leave?  lets also consider that these are opinions by people that we don't really know anything about.  link-dumping your opinions doesn't make them facts, it doesn't even make them news.  and i may have missed the portion of your article that explains how you've gotten rid of your iphone (for all the oppression and tyranny and human suffering that apparently went into making it). 

You seem to equate Foxconn’s security practices with Apple. Never mind that the Reuters article was written on an HP (HPQ) laptop manufactured by Foxconn and transmitted over Cisco (CSCO) equipment, also built by Foxconn, it’s Apple that Reuters’ wants focus on, and that apparently necessitated an unauthorized and unwelcomed photo-shoot at Foxconn facilities in Shenzhen.

From http://iphonasia.com/

Dude, you need to jailbreak your IPhone if you want to experience all it has to offer.

Jess

www.anonymous-tools.se.tc

I just can't find myself agreeing with you on this perspective.

Don't get me wrong. I dislike the fact that suppliers like Foxconn have created such an unhealthy environment for their employees. But I am forced to point out that Foxconn is in China, and China is not a 'Friendly to the little guy' kind of place. There are human rights travesties all over the place. The fact that Foxconn is just another one is not a surprise and is certainly not Apple's fault, no matting how much secrecy Apple requires. Its a cultural thing there.

As to the unpleasent work environment in the US. I'm forced to call BS on that as well. Why? Because if it was that horrible a place to work, PEOPLE WOULD QUIT. You are not required by law to stay working for them. Go get another job. Problem solved.

To wrap this up I'm forced to agree with jsk's point of 'If you are so offended with all of this, why does it appear you are still using all the Apple products you've purchasedt?)

You're just figuring out that apple has nothing but contempt for their customers, partners, and staff?  Wake up and smell the obvious.  You've got a record of DECADES of products that basically tell their loyal customers to go fuck themselves, and they eat it up.  They changed CPUs TWICE in less than 10 years, obsoleting not only your hardware but all of your costly applications.  Their OS costs about 4X what windows will run you (up to about $600 on a new computer) They make their batteries difficult to replace so that you have to buy a new iPod every year.  They write their own applications to get rid of microsoft, adobe, etc so that they can lock down their platform for themselves.  They rip off a brilliant phone design (LG prada) claim it as their own and allow apps that conform to THEIR standards for acceptability.

I don't think the Gestapo is the right analogy.  It's more like North Korea and their concept of "Juche" or self reliance, and "Military First."  It makes the people wards of a state that despises them, It's a creed of secrecy that doesn't care if people die.  They took these lessons from the fashion industry.  Secrecy is king, exploit cheap foreign labor, it doesn't matter what your product does as long as it's stylish and flashy, and charge a BIG premium to unsuspecting suckers with more money than sense.

Bravo apple.

Wow, just wow.  I clicked to read the article thinking there would be something about the products.  But no, this is just a complaint about how they do business. 

Frightening Nazi-like tactics?!?!  Seriously?  Is someone trying a bit hard for link bait here? 

On the suicide, if you think that you know the whole story, don't.  One almost never does, especially from news sources.  Do you think the guy committed suicide only because of that?  And if he did you you think that maybe, just maybe, the guy had some larger personal issues at play as well?  Things are almost never so black and white as you portray them. 

You state this is al "so that Jobs can turn every Apple product announcement into a self-aggrandizing media spectacle that wouldn’t be possible without the secrecy mystique".  Funny how you state that.  Jobs is deemed a genius in marketing.  The secrecy (and some well placed intentional leaks) create hype.  Hype plus quality products = sales, just in case you haven't noticed Apple's financial statements in the last 1/2 a decade.

People and the media don't just buy into it because of the secrecy.  Don't forget the other 1/2 of that equation, quality products.  Yes I can just about hear you sputtering but, but, but already.  The reality is apple is not perfect but on the whole they made products quite a bit better than the competition.  If you haven't noticed all the new smartphones are just iPhone me-toos trying to find a feature that apple doesn't have and promote that.  There would be no android without the iphone. 

I really hope that writing is not your day job. 

Aaron Drake

So you wouldn't buy an iphone... because you think Apple treats its employees and manufacturing partners too harshly, in the name of preventing leaks and product security.

I've also stopped using/buying certain products because of unrelated things their company has done, sure, so I understand your sentiment, but what you're stopping it for really isn't as big a deal as you make it out to be, relatively speaking.

What I think is that what you really dislike about your iphone is something tech-related, some complaint that has been made before about it. Like no flash support, multitasking, AT&T, etc. But echoing a complaint that has been made hundreds of times doesn't push web hits, now does it?

So you are bashing apple in part because they run a tight ship and dont want their product info leaked out before they complete work on a project ? ... ok

I dont agree that the ruthlessness of Apple in ensuring secrecy in product design stage can be questioned based on hear say and events where they might not be at fault. But Apple does engage in a lot of ridiculously unfair practices that apple fans just dont not admit to.. iPods with irreplaceable battery is just one example, but there are many more. The manner in which apple goes about their apps for iPhone is again to protect apple's interest and against the interests of their consumers. Apple's primary philosophy seems to be to restrict the options available to their consumers so that they can milk them for longer. They are like the big brother, telling their consumers what they can do with the macs of iphones or ipods rather than letting them use it the way they want to. And that's where google's and microsoft's approach to is so much more respectable.

How bout this? You tell me details about some upcoming articles you are writting and I will share them with one of your competitors...

Good bussiness and marketing requires some secrecy. Stop whining and enjoy your phone.

Grow up Obama Voter!  Maybe your beloved BO can find a way to take over Apple (oops they have 500Billion in the bank maybe he should spread that weatlh) This is America and Apple can do what it wants with it's intellectual property especially try to protect it from idiots like you.

Don Tennant, I'm afraid your article betrays embarrassing ignorance of your subject matter or perhaps a dishonest agenda.  The following statement in particular has me shaking my head:

"employees are subjected to this nonsense so that Jobs can turn every Apple product announcement into a self-aggrandizing media spectacle that wouldn’t be possible without the secrecy mystique."

You appear to have no idea how important the secrecy surrounding product development is to Apple, it's employees and it's customers and yes, to Apple's suppliers and their employees as well considering the enormously lucrative nature of Apple contracts.

The monumental anticipation and excitement built up before every new product launch by the press, the bloggers and Apple customers is widely regarded to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars of free publicity.  This effect has launched dozens of Apple products on a surge of interest by consumers primed and ready to plonk down cold hard cash. 

Likewise, the lead it gives Apple means competitors are scrambling for months or years to try and catch up with a moving target that blindsides everyone time and time again. 

It cannot be overstated how important a business advantage this gives Apple over it's competitors who leak like sieves and so often launch new products into a sea of disinterest with any possible excitement drained away weeks or months before after vaporware promises and beta releases.

As such it is indeed very sad that a Foxconn employee committed suicide and the totalitarian environment in China is indeed not a nice place to be, but I don't know if Foxconn staff did anything criminal or whether the suicide was the result of extreme shame and remorse and neither do you, so beware what conclusions you jump to.

The fact is that high security is a fact of life for many government employees, military/diplomatic personnel and those in the financial, defence and other industries.  And yes, you will get a very unfriendly reception if you leak information or steal or lose very important objects or take pictures of sensitive locations in the USA as well as other parts of the world.

You'd better start boycotting a heck of a lot more companies and institutions if you're going to be consistent.

But most of all, do not denigrate how important a factor secrecy has been in the immense success Apple has enjoyed in the last 5-10 years.

-Mart

You have to give up sausages and any processed meat too, you poor thing. Ideology, it's a beautiful thing.

Troll Alert - yet another palm or nokia fan that just -hates- the idea that apple could steal  their thunder and push the bar higher than ANYONE else.

Now, all they can do is

1. Copy after the fact and imitate the iphone.

2. send spies to Apples plants and try to get their hands on unreleased products to try to get a jump on apple.

And Apple is supposed to just sit back and let these talentless pirates rip them off?  Nope.   Armed guards and shoot to kill, IMHO.  Espionage is no laughing matter, especially when you are the worlds premier tech company.

You absolutely could not have put it better. Extremely well-said.

U dum. Apple has guts and moxie. U not understand...

What lame, pathetic excuse to write a column.

Did you have a deadline coming up on to have something written soon? No ideas for anything worthwhile beforehand eh?

Look, if you cared about the background the manufacture of the products you purchase, you'd never buy anything from China ever again.

So until you've written a column declaring that, you're pathetic.

Oh, and while you're investigating, look at India and Mexico too. Some of their worker's and environments aren't too keen either.

Ah, Mumbai Don at it again. Sahib Tenant, you know better than all this, and write this tripe ANYWAY.

I'll rebut you in two lines.

• Apple is VERY SERIOUS about the letters N, D, and A.

• That's how it is ALL OVER the People's Republic of China.

But you knew this. And wrote this tripe anyway. Shame on you.

-Drunken Economist

  http://mindtaker.blogspot.com/

  http://twitter.com/drunk_economist

This is an art house whine if I ever heard one: "Apple is mean!"

Do you regret using petroleum products, food from factory processed animals, or manufactured goods from China? No? You only wring your hands over what is ultimately a discretionary consumer accessory?

Return your phone and get over yourself.

Don,

Here is what you need to do;

1.  Get rid of all Apple products you own.

2.  Buy nothing made in or with parts made in China.  (Good luck with that)

3.  Buy nothing from U.S. companies which don't treat their employees fairly.

4.  Remove all security from your computer so before you publish an article someone can steal it from your computer and get the credit and money for your hard work.  Remember your not buying product associated with China so you won't need money anyway:-)

So you feel really bad, but what are you going to do about it? Saying that you wouldn't buy an iPhone again means nothing.

If you really believe in anything you've written here, stop using it right away. Also, stop using anything else made in China, or anywhere else that doesn't have exemplary human rights. This is a problem in China generally. How many products can you find that are made start-to-finish in the USA these days and how many of those use exactly zero illegal immigrant workers (including the janitors)?

If you're going to spread bile-filled Nazi references, back it up with some action. If you're not going to purge your life of anything made in a Chinese factory, shut the f### up.

Thanks,

I forgot about the janitors!  Maybe he should also quit eating at restaurants because hidden in the back are dishwashers, some of which are working for nearly nothing!  Looks like Don has a real problem!

Hopefully you don't own any of these televisions:

Samsung, Sony, LG Electronics and Vizio or have anything from Sylvania - they sell one of Foxconn's netbooks...or use any computers from Dell, Hewlett Packard or enjoy PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox...or use a Kindle or talk on a cell phone made by Motorola or use any equipment that has an Intel or Cisco chip...

as for the Gestapo tactics I guess a lot of America is on the brink of National Socialism because at my job my internet use and email is monitored, so too with my wife, and some of it is even blocked. We also both signed non-disclosure agreements and gave away our intellectual property rights on stuff that we develop at work, you know, where they pay us to develop stuff, so the company can make money, part of which they use to pay us...and yes, people have been perped walked out of the building for violating those agreements...what is wrong with this country!!!!

Wow. How do you sleep at night knowing you are accepting money for this intellectually bankrupt shit?

Now that is a moral question worth answering, not this hand wringing, pseudo-liberal excrement that you pretend proves you have a conscience.

Do you live off the land in a remote corner of Alaska, only eating what you can kill, and only killing what you need?

Thought not.

You're a fucking CONSUMER like the rest of us, and a disgrace to the craft of journalism that you hopelessly aspire to be a part of.

Any guess on the average age of a Nike shoe assembly worker in China? How about the average garment factory worker? Or do you not wear anything made in China?

I think it's important to be consistent in your rants.

I really don't care about what FoxConn does! I lived in China and everybody works the same way there, it's simply impossible, to find an OEM who takes care of their employees. Additional security is justified, because of the problem of 'leaking', Apple introduces new technologies and innovates, and has to instruct their OEMs, the way they want things done!

Chinese culture is way to different than the West, in their minds a product is a product and for them it's difficult to understand the concepts of 'high quality', in western standards.

I have an iPhone 3G and I love it! I wished I had something like this 10 years before, it's simply awesome, its simplicity and the way it works, plus many other features! I don't regret for a minute, the moment I decided to have one, I was a multimedia kiosk developer in the 90's and the ways multitouch works is simply incredible!

I don't think people would care much for companies located in China, and their workers! You can't blame a marvelous piece of technology because companies the way China OEMs behave.

If it's not Apple it will be another company, I don't see any innovations in HP products ... nothing really outstanding.  So why do they need that much security? It's simple to protect their products and profit from it.

Without products such as the iPhone, the industry will stall and offer just performance! With the iPhone, many others decided to innovate based on what they see, and offer more features, sometimes too complicated to learn for the end user.

So I will regret buying and using an iPhone for all of the non-technical, non-product related reasons you put forth which seem to have to do more with law enforcement than consumer purchasing?

I thought I was going to read something about the iPhone's yet unknown shortcomings but what I come across some ramblings relating to Industrial security.

If you can't buy an iPhone because of this, then you better stop taking all drugs, abandon the use of all software, ...wait, the list is too long. Why don't you just retire to the Himalayas where you would not have access to the Internet and save us all the trouble?

Give me the phone and I will make it a doorstop.

OOPS~SEE FEB 20 PETER GUSTOV to get to the real "link" put out  by Topix.com about the REAL shortcoming in the technology of the iPhone!

~Nikkiva

I don't know about you, but my Nokia e63 mobile is a champ. Even their mobile online support is great. I'll take my Nokia over an iPhone any day. As many blogs on http://www.dozenmobile.com say, there's a wealth of cool new phones out there. But if I want to change phone companies, no jailbreaking here, I just have to change the sim. Take that apple!!

I for one would never buy anything to do with apple. its blatently obvious what apple are up too and all the suckers who follow apple and are brainwashed by them need to open their eyes. Not to mention the fact they make amazingly boring looking products anyway that are no way as good as they are made out to be. 

Oh I totally agree, my favourite app is TomTom. The ability to completely replace the GPS in my car is something that no other phone can beat. No other turn by turn navigation app on any other phone gets even close to the iPhone.

The iPhone4 has the most amazing screen, as well as all the apps is something that cannot be beaten. You really can find an app for everything. No wonder people are so upset when they break their phone.

ucrackifix.com.au

Well, I am so excited that I have found this your post because I have been searching for some information about it almost three hours. You helped me a lot indeed and reading this your article I have found many new and useful information about this subject.

wall mount TV      

Hey just wondering why you think big companies are bad?

I can see why they would hate it.  And of course the developers are going to keep the secrets to themselves - even though the should show us some of them.

Apple only follows secrecy because their products are extremely innovative. Also they want to make sure that their idea isn't stolen. So no wonder they are bringing such cracking products!

Apple is back in a HUGE way and it will be some time before they get knocked off their position at the top. So, clam down.

I’m an Android lover but it doesn’t change the fact that iPhone is a great product and deserves its popularity. If you want to be socially conscious, then it’s time to ditch those Nike trainers, DeBeers jewellery and stop drinking Coca Cola to be with.

Maybe he should also quit eating at restaurants because hidden in the back are dishwashers, some of which are working for nearly nothing!

I don't blame Reuters in searching for news and facts around Apple, but I don't think an agency that big uses such methods. Maybe you can "prove" that since Google doesn't show up anything, anyways thanks for all this.

Well, I can just about hear you sputtering but, but, but already.  The reality is apple is not perfect but on the whole they made products quite a bit better than the competition! thanks.

I love my iPhone and could never live without it! Well.. now that I have an iPhone anyway.

I still cant use my iPhone for  its been over 2months now, I regret not buying an unlocked iPhone 4 from  and use it with any carrier

Someone said "thier was no extended warranty - to even buy" for the screen, thanx.

It's not that I'm against China, but you can't really expect quality on China products. Why don't you buy a new coffee cup, this can be more useful when you sip your coffee in the morning....

In deeply knowing about iPhone I should say I haven’t little idea of it. But I think it was manufacturing fault because of discovering new apps and features; experimenting how it works through versions. courses online

They are running a multi-billion dollar business that every electronics company in the world is trying to copy or steal. These reporters are for all practical purposes committing corporate espionage just so they can get a scoop. So what if one is ruffed up a bit. He seems to be just fine and enjoying being the center of attention.

Bachelor of Dance Education Course

People and the media don't just buy into it because of the secrecy.  Don't forget the other 1/2 of that equation, quality products.  Yes I can just about hear you sputtering but, but, but already.  The reality is apple is not perfect but on the whole they made products quite a bit better than the competition.  If you haven't noticed all the new smartphones are just iPhone me-toos trying to find a feature that apple doesn't have and promote that.

Led TV

According to various sources, including China Radio International and VentureBeat, Sun was allegedly beaten during a search of his apartment by Foxconn security personnel. A few hours later, Sun committed suicide -- an act that was videotaped by security cameras.

The iPhone4 has a nice screen, as well as all the apps is something that cannot be beaten. You really can find an app for everything. The good thing about the iPhone 4 is it is easy to repair.

I would have to disagree with you on this I love mine. A game changing piece of kit. Being without it would be like chopping off a limb.

OK I fully agree that the conditions that the workers have to put up with seem appalling but lets be honest does anyone really think that that conditions are any better in any other factory that produces the products that we consume. Be it technological or even food. Apple aren't the only offenders.

i agree on the gestapo analogy - it's too heavy. but this policy is definitely not in accordance to human rights or worker's rights! money first is always flawed!

I also hate forced secrecy. I think it fosters abuse at the very least.

Thanks for an informative article.

Webmaster of kitchenaid professional 600 stand mixer