Lessons from Apple Computers

The day Apple's 3G iPhone hit the market, I waited outside an underground Apple Store, with over a dozen coworkers and hundreds of apple enthusiast all eagerly waiting to snatch one up.

Life was good.

I even upgraded the radio in my car, to a Kenwood model KDC-BT945U. Its digital radio, USB support, and bluetooth functions are highly-addictive; sounding great, and working seamlessly with the nifty iPhone...and any other bluetooth phone out there...

Fast-forward to iOS4: a number of critical security patches forced me to upgrade, and I gained functionality which really should have been included years ago. That's when this little bundle of productivity, organization and communication de-evolved before my eyes, from something I often praised, into an effectively-useless gadget that I've begun to avoid using, and will often complain about. My Moleskine notebook is seeing more and more daylight every day.

Up until iOS 4.0, the interface was reasonably-snappy...although sometimes lagged, it's a computer, and I'm a SysAdmin - I understood.

The iOS4 update included far more drama than I bargained for: the update erased all stored data, and despite multiple backups and various attempts to restore my original environment, I "lost" all stored data. I didn't mind, too much, as the really critical data was always synced or backed up in other ways to my MacBook (I've been a SysAdmin for over 15 years )...so truly restoring just meant a day of lost time, as I manually re-synced and re-entered all valuable information.

Hoping that this "clean slate" would also help nudge performance up a notch, I couldn't have been more wrong. The first few weeks of experiences produced predictable results; nearly all apps now take anywhere from 10 to 60 seconds to start:
1) Wanting to grab that camera & snap a rare moment...better get that pencil and paper out to start sketching. The Camera app now takes over 60 seconds to start.
2) Helping the driver navigate to a destination...better make sure U-Turns are legal, as you'll be doing a lot of them. The Maps app takes anywhere from 10-60 seconds to become usable, every time you unlock the screen. Searching for a destination is also horrendously slow.
3) Walking between two meetings, and need to check an email...walk slow...I mean really, really slow...maybe sit down in the hallway for a moment, or go hide in the bathroom. With three email boxes (Gmail, IMAP & Exchange) the app totally ignores all attempts at input for nearly 60 seconds.
4) Searching the web for a better retail price, while in the store? Learn to look at other merchandise while waiting, maybe buy something else, go home, and research the item's prices. Safari takes around 30-45 seconds to startup, before you can even click on the search box...people will begin to wonder why you're spending so much time staring at your phone.
5) Want to quickly calculate something? Hmm, where's that pen and paper? ...~30 secs to startup the Calculator.
6) How about quickly setting that next appointment...have a distraction ready for your client, or they may wader off seeking sanctuary from your ranting against Apple. Worse...they'll detail how well their CrackBerry works.
7) Want to make a phone call? Well, you better not have a critical wound. Otherwise those ~30 seconds really will be an eternity.

The trick with disabling Spotlight...it sped things up, for a few days. Everyday I lament picking up the iPhone, knowing that its obviously declining back into its old iOS4 ways.

Knowing that I'm not alone, helps, when seeking comfort to hold back those tears of frustration, while grieving over iOS4's decrepit performance on the 3G iPhone.

I learned something new in July: if you purchase an Apple phone, even if you paid over half a grand for it (whether in cash, or through your cellular contract), be ready for a forced replacement JUST BARELY after your 2 year contract expires...even if the device itself has no physical ailments, and even if what's now so ungawdly slow, worked if the same features functioned so impressively just a few days prior...

I can wait just a little bit longer...but Apple, you've gravely disappointed a huge community of dedicated followers. Those faster, more open, less expensive, and seemingly more reliable Android phones are looking better and better everyday. At the same price, and being reasonably-sure a single corporation can not force obsoletion of a perfectly-good piece of hardware in just two years...well, that's strike two Mr. Steve Jobs.