I love a good fight. However, I also love a fair fight. Apple has been around for a long time. I remember when I first started programming on a Commodore 64 in 5th grade. My school had those and one Apple machine for the students to use in computer lab. I was amazed at how different the interface was. Apple computers were the best at that time. Fast forward many, many years and, although Apple was the absolute dominant player when I was little, you now have a situation where Apple has negligible market share worldwide and limited market share in the US for their computers. They sit somewhere between 5-8% depending on which data authority you rely on. That is a far cry from where Apple COULD have been if they weren’t so controlling.

I know what you are thinking. Apple CONTROLS the experience for their users well and they make a good product. The answer to that statement would be yes and yes, however, the experience isn’t infallible. I have several windows based computers that I have built, several that I have purchased and several Apple products because I am a programmer. My big, beautiful iMac has certainly locked up on occasion and had to be rebooted. So have some of my PCs. The difference is that if something is wrong with my PC, I can crack it open, swap out whatever is causing the problem, add something new to stop the problem or just look at the guts of my computer and put it back together again. I can install what I want on it. I can write an OS for it at any time that does what I want it to do. If can do whatever I want to do with it and any time and for any reason.

I can’t do the same with my Mac. However, I’m not even upset about that. What bothers me about Apple and what I am upset about, is that THEY are trying to tell me what I SHOULD and SHOULD NOT use and are stopping me from using Flash on their devices! I’m sitting here planning out my development process for a website that I have been asked to include a flash application on. It occurred to me that this site won’t be able to be seen on an iPad or iPhone. Therefore, using the site would require a rewrite or an abandonment of Flash! I hate Apple for this!! They are stifling my creativity, if I want my site to be seen on an iPad or iPhone, because THEY think they have the right to do so. Apple may think that Flash is nothing more than some poorly written software that people shouldn’t use, but I love it! I can design educational apps that run easily and efficiently on various devices (from web to mobile). I can add some carefully crafted items to websites that aren’t possible or aren’t easily created using other technologies. I can do a lot of things with Flash and you know what? I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DECIDE WHEN I CAN AND CAN’T USE IT!!!!! I am a grown woman! If Flash crashes my computer, I know how to remove it! If Flash crashes my browser, I know how to restart it. If Flash steals from me, I know how to call the cops! I don’t need big brother or big daddy APPLE telling me what I can and can’t do with Flash! I’m sick of this control! Adobe fight back!

I never though that Microsoft was bad. That is likely due to the fact that I learned to program in Microsoft technologies. However, Apple did think that Microsoft was bad. The sad thing is that Apple has turned into the techno Nazis of this century - if you aren’t exactly what they want you to be, they want to kill you off!!! Why can’t Apple see how WRONG it is to not let the PEOPLE decide what they want on their devices??? Post warnings, tell people that it isn’t recommended, but don’t INTENTIONALLY STOP people from being able to do what they want to do on THEIR devices!! Apple has turned into one of the most stifling companies EVER.

What is so crazy about this is that Apple has stopped Adobe’s Flash from being on their products, YET Apple partnered with a company that has EXTREMELY poor cell phone coverage across the nation - AT&T!!! I love AT&T’s customer service. They are a friendly bunch. However, their service sucks. They may cover you while you are in your house, but just take a trip through the Cascade Mountain Range or drive along the Pacific Coast or go through a few national parks (the Badlands) and see if you have service. I had an AT&T iPhone and a Verizon Blackberry while going through these areas and I can honestly say that the AT&T phone didn’t have service for MOST of the time in these areas while the Verizon phone DID!! Can you hear me now? Apple is concerned about Flash on their devices, but they need to worry about the crappy service of their ONLY US provider instead!! Apple can YOU hear me now??

I used to think the world of Steve Jobs. I thought he was a visionary. I can honestly admit that. Now, I see him as a control freak, hell bent on controlling everything and everyone around him or that interacts with his company. I can’t stand it. As much as I love the apps on the iPhone, I’m going to investigate the Android and if it has several of the apps that do what the iPhone apps I rely on do, I’m moving over to Verizon and the Android. Google is getting it right - an open system that anyone can develop for.

Apple could have shut down the personal computer market years ago if they opened things up. I know that type of growth may not be their goal, but considering the fact that Windows is used on the majority of computers worldwide and Apple barely registers on the international scene, I think that growth may be a good goal. I don’t expect Apple’s stock to drop because I’m sick of their policies and I know that Steve Jobs isn’t going to lose one bit of sleep, or money, over this post. However, I just hope that others out there - Adobe, Google, Microsoft, and more - keep on developing products that take into account what they PEOPLE want! Don’t restrict me! Don’t tell me I can’t do this or that on your device. Let me play with it. Let me make up my own mind. I don’t want to have to jailbreak a device to get it to do what it should do. I could tether my laptop to my phone when I had my Cingular 8125. Now this stupid iPhone requires a jailbreaking, which I don’t want to do, to do something that should come easy. Why? Apple, stop trying to bully me and push me around! Maybe I shouldn’t even care. Apple is only a small percentage of the market and Flash will work on an iMac, Mac Book or Mac Book Pro. I’m just upset that Apple would intentionally NOT allow it to work on the iPhone and iPad. Adobe fight back!

Apple, you have turned against the “force”, but the Jedi companies and Jedi developers that fight for good will never be denied. You, my dear Apple, are very stupid! You may not see it now, but once companies like Google and others start hammering away at you, you will see….oh yes….you will see…..(I hope)!

Now Adobe….STOP BEING A WUSSY AND FIGHT BACK!