I’ve been using Apple computer’s since the SE/30. I’ve been writing Apple reviews for roughly a decade. In all that time, I’ve recommended Apple products over the competition’s.

That ends today.

Apple has been pulling a slight of hand for several years now regarding accessories. It’s the art of misdirection – a magician’s trademark. They have you focus on one hand, all the time setting up the trick with the hand you’re not focused on.

Kudos to Apple for pulling this off for several years now. But I have finally had enough. I no longer recommend Apple to people, instead telling them to buy what ever they feel most comfortable with.

Don’t get me wrong. Their engineering and design capabilities are unmatched. Their focus on privacy and accessibility is exemplary.

And that’s what they want you to focus on because their business ethics stink, if they exist at all. They’re professional shysters. If they’re to be investigated for anything…

Examples: The key rings and loops for AirTags cost equal or commonly more than the tag itself. They couldn’t install a U1 chip in either the Apple Pencil or 4K TV remote? That’s Grade A BS.

As my electronics die off, I’ve decided not to replace them with Apple products. A $2 trillion company who treats their customer base, who made them that large a company on their backs, should be treated with respect not disstain. The only thing they respect is only your Apple Pay or credit card.

Let me give you a personal example. I have a chronic illness and am wheelchair bound. I couldn’t perform a standing transfer that evening and resigned myself to sleeping in the wheelchair.

I pulled up along side the bed (which doubles as a table/side table), pulled a fleece over me, and turned on my AppleTV 4th gen to watch some YouTube. While watching, I nodded off sometime after midnight, my seven hour old Siri remote in hand. Around 3am I had a chill, so I pulled my fleece up. Having forgotten that the remote was in hand it slipped out. I heard it hit the wood on the ottoman where my legs were perched, then it landed somewhere on the carpet (that’s how gravity works).

I immediately turned on my lights via HomeKit and looked for the remote. But I couldn’t find it. How far can a remote go when it lands on carpet? Apparently far, as I could not find it.

I spent an hour to no avail. Mind you I live in a one room studio apartment so there’s only so many places it could go. Got up the next morn and resumed my search. No luck.

I had several friends come over the next day to try and find it with a fresh pair of eyes. Still nothing. My cleaning service came over and they never stumbled across it. Again nothing. If they had installed that small U1 chip I could have found it within minutes and gone back to sleep the previous night.

After my friends had a go, I contacted Apple Chat to explain my situation and see if they had any ideas. Their initial idea was just go buy another one. Fair enough, I own my oversight. But if they had that U1 chip installed I wouldn’t have had to contact them in the first place. He said that he would ‘pass my feedback along.’

Let’s get this straight. A company that found a way to harness immense power into a small silicon wafer is asking us to believe that they can’t install a simple U1 chip into devices that people are most likely misplace?

Now that’s highly polished and highly profitable BS.

©2021 Frank Petrie