Apple’s Sinister Turn on the Microsoft Road to Crap-ville
By: Izraul Hidashi
Tags: Apple, Microsoft, Corporate Culture, Society, Corruption

Believe it or not there was a time when Apple actually cared about their products and customers. Before all the Ipods, Ipads, Iphones and Imacs, Apple sold quality computers that were the work horses of industry.

When I first began composing music, I started with an Apple Quadra 650 running Mac OS 8, probably one of the finest operating systems ever made, even by today’s standards.

Fast and durable, OS 8 ran pretty much flawless. And even though my D.A.W. MicroLogic 1.6 was only capable of 16 tracks, I could easily double and triple tracks and stack instruments without any latency or even a stutter. Pretty amazing considering it had a 33 MHz processor with only 8 MB of RAM. It’s hard to believe so much could be done on a 500 MB SCSI hard drive.

Apple Macintosh Quadra 600 with Mac OS 8.1

The Quadra 650 was introduced in 1993, at around $2500. Still expensive, but the quality was well worth it. Especially since Apple repair was almost non-existent. And their customer service was top notch. They always treated you as part of some special club, and it felt like you were since the main users of Apple products at that time were mostly serious professionals in specialized industries.

Just about every major music and film studio around the world ran its operations on Apple computers. Most industry professionals wouldn’t even touch Windows, unless just to play games or get online. Windows users that tried Apple almost never wanted to go back once they realized how lousy an operating system Windows really was. Always full of bugs and others issues, Windows still hasn’t changed all that much. And the fact that Mac’s were virtually virus proof was just another big selling point.

The difference between Apple and Microsoft used to be clear. I once stood by and vouched for Apple products proudly, but now I’m disappointed in the direction they took. Quality is no longer the standard at Apple, only quantity. Pumping out cheap and flimsy garbage for ridiculous prices seems to be their new business model. And worse, it doesn’t look to be by accident. Apple has taken pages from the Microsoft dirty tricks playbook. Specifically the ones where you intentionally create problems in order to sell more products.

For example, the issues of malware and viruses have been a major problem for Microsoft consumer. A problem that has generated billions of dollars for Microsoft. Without those issues, they wouldn’t be what they are today. and what’s so sick about it is the booby trap factor. By intentionally creating malware and virus, they’ve made their anti-malware and anti-virus products a necessity. Without them, you pretty much can’t use the devices you purchase. What’s the point of buying a computer that you can’t use?

Purchasing a Windows computer is hell of a thing. They intentionally load them up with useless crap and bloatware, many of which turn out to be the root cause of future problems. It’s intentional by design, starting you out with the worst possible setup as their standard.

And then there’s the constant worry about malware and viruses. Microsoft intentionally creates them. Hell, it can even be said Windows itself is pretty much malware. I know some people refuse to believe that, and of course, Gates himself will obviously deny it. But I happen to know it’s true. I knew someone who worked on a Windows team put together for the purpose of creating bugs and malware. Despite having to sign a confidentiality agreement, he spilled the beans, maybe out of guilt in the middle of a drunken stupor. Who knows? But others have said the same thing.

Microsoft has proven to be the poster child for corporate corruption. Gates success wasn’t achieved by being a brilliant and lucky business man, he got rich being a dishonest low-life crook who rips people off.

That’s how all large corporations work. They sit around all day thinking of new ways to screw people. Creating problems for Windows allows Microsoft to create the expensive problem solving software that so many people have come to depend on. Anti-virus software itself is basically malware that causes problems of its own.

Greedy self centered people like Bill Gates only care about one thing…Money! They’re never satisfied with just selling products. They need to come up with new ways to keep taking money. That’s the reason Windows has so many never ending updates. It’s how the malware gets injected in the computers.

Everyday automatic updates is working behind the scenes doing god knows what, including making unauthorized changes to settings. It’s partly why Windows is so easy to hack. We call it the “Swiss Cheese of Computers” due to its many holes.

Microsoft uses the same techniques that hackers use to get into computers, mainly through remote settings. The introduction of Windows 10 is the start of a new corporate campaign to limit users ability to control and change settings. That’s why Windows 10 was forced on people.

https://bgr.com/2016/05/25/microsoft-windows-10-upgrade-trick/

Microsoft claims that Windows 10 is a much better and safer OS, but it’s bullshit. Windows 7 is far better than 10, and more secure, which is exactly why they discontinued its support. Dictators and oligarchs find it easier to abuse people who aren’t capable of protecting themselves.

Microsoft is a huge company that spends 80% of its time trying to make sure nobody gets stuff for free, when they themselves don’t mind getting things for nothing. A giant greedy corporation that over charges for everything suddenly wants to give away their newest and best operating system for free. To give something they claim is better and safer. Why, because they care so much about customers convenience? Yeah, okay.

And not just offering it, actually forcing it on people who didn’t want or need it. Even going as far as tricking people into downloading it by making the little “X” in the corner of a window to close it as the start button for the automatic download.

https://hothardware.com/news/microsoft-resorts-to-tricking-users-into-windows-10-upgrades-with-deceiving-nag-screen-prompts

A super greedy corporation that has never cared about their customers wants to give something away for free so bad that they’re willing to force it on users, even if they don’t want it. Is there a bigger RED FLAG?

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-36367221

And now the same dirty douche who intentionally makes viruses so he can profit from selling anti-virus software is doing the same thing in real life with vaccines. HELLO!!

Microsoft is all about control. Eliminating competition to control the market and eliminating user control of their computers. And those tactics have paved the way for other companies to do the same. Selling you a product isn’t enough. The new goal is to eliminate ownership and control so what you purchase is actually leased as a way for them to generate perpetual income.

And it’s exactly what Apple is now doing now, because Microsoft put them on that path. If these corporations can’t monopolize the industry they’ll get others to join them. Apple was damn good at making dependable products. Now they intentionally make shitty ones designed to fail.

And it’s twice as bad for us because we’re not only paying for shitty quality, but we have to pay through the damages caused to our surroundings by all the waste and toxic materials being used and improperly disposed of.

Almost everyone has one or two broken products sitting in a drawer or closet somewhere which they can’t use or repair because it costs too much. And because, of course, companies refuses to take responsibility for their own screw ups. Apple knows their products suck because they intentionally make them that way. And if they had to the take responsible of fixing them, it would cost the large sums of money being stolen from us by selling those shitty products in the first place.

And that insanity is people don’t seem to mind. They continue buying those shitty products, regardless of quality, more for the name.

There used to be an unspoken pride in owning a Mac. It wasn’t something to be flaunted or bragged about. It wasn’t just a fad or the cool thing to do. It was simply because you needed a quality product with the trusted reliability of an Apple. And it felt good knowing if anything went wrong (which rarely happened) you could quickly and easily get it fixed without hassle.

As for me, someone who once loved Apple, to feel this way speaks volumes. Their conduct is unacceptable and I’m past the point of disappointment and disgust with a company I once loved and respected. I depended on Apple for quality products, just as people need them to be successful in their crafts and trades. And I have vowed to never purchase another product from any shit company that conducts the same type of dishonest business for as long as I live.

In this day and age I feel there should be better quality products with more choices than just a few shitty companies. If anything, it should spark the innovation of better products from new companies who are honest and reliable, in that they care more about reputation and customers than just money.

As for Tim Cook, he’s destroying Apple faster than it took Steve Jobs to build it. And it’s all because he’s following the path of Bill Gates, which leads down a road to far worse. And these new corporate missions will soon destroy our lives if we fail to put them in their place…which is exactly where they belong.

Apple Watch Where It Belongs

Corporations like Microsoft, AT&T, Samsung, Sony and Apple have no shame, empathy or desire to do the right thing. Worst of all, they have nothing fear because they can (and will) go as far as we let them. And it seems there’s no end to what we are willing to allow. If we can’t control or repair our own products and devices, do we really own them? Do we really wanna live in a world where nothing we buy is actually ours? I don’t.

This excerpt from Wikipedia about a legal case involving Microsoft shows exactly how they work in day to day business.

The suit began on May 18, 1998, with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Attorneys General of twenty U.S. states (and the District of Columbia) suing Microsoft for illegally thwarting competition in order to protect and extend its software monopoly. …also …for violating a 1994 consent decree by forcing computer makers to include its Internet browser as a part of the installation of Windows software…. Bill Gates was called “evasive and nonresponsive” by a source present at his videotaped deposition.[7] He argued over the definitions of words such as “compete”, “concerned”, “ask”, and “we”; certain portions of the proceeding would later provoke laughter from the judge, when an excerpted version was shown in court.[8] Businessweek reported that “early rounds of his deposition show him offering obfuscatory answers and saying ‘I don’t recall’ so many times that even the presiding judge had to chuckle…. A number of videotapes were submitted as evidence by Microsoft during the trial, including one that demonstrated that removing Internet Explorer from Microsoft Windows caused slowdowns and malfunctions in Windows. In the videotaped demonstration of what then-Microsoft vice president Jim Allchin stated to be a seamless segment filmed on one PC, the plaintiff noticed that some icons mysteriously disappear and reappear on the PC’s desktop, suggesting that the effects might have been falsified.[11] Allchin admitted that the blame for the tape problems lay with some of his staff. “They ended up filming it — grabbing the wrong screen shot”, he said of the incident. Later, Allchin re-ran the demonstration and provided a new videotape, but in so doing Microsoft dropped the claim that Windows is slowed down when Internet Explorer is removed. Mark Murray, a Microsoft spokesperson, berated the government attorneys for “nitpicking on issues like video production”.[12] Microsoft submitted a second inaccurate videotape into evidence later the same month as the first. The issue in question was how easy or hard it was for America Online users to download and install Netscape Navigator onto a Windows PC. Microsoft’s videotape showed the process as being quick and easy, resulting in the Netscape icon appearing on the user’s desktop. The government produced its own videotape of the same process, revealing that Microsoft’s videotape had conveniently removed a long and complex part of the procedure and that the Netscape icon was not placed on the desktop, requiring a user to search for it. Brad Chase, a Microsoft vice president, verified the government’s tape and conceded that Microsoft’s own tape was falsified.[13] When the judge ordered Microsoft to offer a version of Windows which did not include Internet Explorer, Microsoft responded that the company would offer manufacturers a choice: one version of Windows that was obsolete, or another that did not work properly. The judge asked, “It seemed absolutely clear to you that I entered an order that required that you distribute a product that would not work?” David Cole, a Microsoft vice president, replied, “In plain English, yes. We followed that order. It wasn’t my place to consider the consequences of that.”[14]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Microsoft_Corp.

The reality is, we create these monsters and help them grow by allowing them to get away with abusing us, and it would be nice if we were just as willing to stop them as well.