Let me just start out by saying, it isn't me. It's you. I admit it. I have been a fan boy. I'd have bought an Apple can opener if they had made one. But Apple has underwhelmed me as of late and if I wasn't tied to the ecosystem I would be looking at alternatives.
The following are a few reasons why I'm falling out of love with Apple and may be on the market for another love interest
Reason number 1, The Apple Watch
I tried. I really did. But after 3 weeks of looking for a reason to keep this thing strapped to my wrist, I gave up. To be fair, I don't wear a watch. The last one I wore was a Swiss Army Watch. Loved it. There has been plenty written about all that is wrong with the Apple Watch, so I won't belabor the point, but here are my top 3 issues in no particular order:
1. Where is the killer app? Is it Apple Pay? Activities? Messages on your wrist? I did find Messages on my wrist while riding my motorcycle helpful, but so is SIRI connected to my Bluetooth helmet. Nothing so far is a "must have" that I can't do without.
2. The battery is crap. If you try to take it anywhere there isn't power, say camping, it's dead in one day. I at least expect a watch to tell time for a month without winding it. Or charging it.
3. Its dependency on the iPhone. Take it 30 feet away from your iPhone and you have a $500 fit bit and Mickey Mouse watch. I still find reaching in my wallet and pulling out my credit card just as fast as Apple Pay.
4. The UI. No matter how I tried (and I do this for a living) I couldn't get the hang of the interface. It's pretty convoluted. maybe I just need to give it more time and read the damn manual, but I expect Apple products to be more intuitive. I don't see 3 year olds learning this as easy as the iPad.
Reason number 2, this thing
I know I'm being petty. But "different" doesn't mean "better." I liked the old iTunes UI. Especially on my phone. They changed up so many elements it took a week or so to try to find my way back to my most used screens. Try changing albums when you're on your motorcycle. Wait. Scratch that. Let's just leave it that the first tenants of good UI design are "do no harm." My take on the new UI is that its purpose is to shill the new Apple Radio and Apple Music. Not enhance the user's experience. Just my opinion.
The Apple Wii
Reason number 3, lack of "category redefined"
Apple had a great opportunity that they missed with TV. They redefined the market for music and for phones. TV could use a great disruptor, but as of last week, it isn't Apple. The new Apple TV is sort of, uh, like a Wii. Yep. It's a "me too" move by Apple to play In the gaming world. Which according to the reviews, it does mediocrely. Where is the actual "Apple TV?" You know, a large screen, retina display, with its own ecosystem of content designed to be the "cable killer?" Sure. You can subscribe to MLB, HBO Go, HULU etc, but Apple had an opportunity to stand TV on its head. This isn't it.
Image from Wired.com
Reason number, oh whatever...
This is their biggest innovation for 2015? I keep thinking... WWSS. What would Steve Say? Steve Jobs said Apple didn't need a stylus because you have a finger. Or something along those lines. I'm sure it's great. I'm sure it does what no Stylus before it could do. Is it a game changer? Is it redefining the market? Maybe my expectations are too high. But with Steve, you knew you were getting "magic."
Purple is the new Black?
This has nothing to do with the products, but apparently Purple is the new Black at Apple. Just not a fan of Purple.
So yeah. I'm losing my love for Apple. Will I leave them? Not yet. It's too hard to separate all of my "stuff" and bring it over to another platform. They have me for a while longer. Most of their UI is still better than anything out there. But it seems to me the magic left with Steve. It happened before. When he left the first time. But unfortunately, he won't be coming back to save Apple a second time.