Falling out of love with apple

October 5 2024

I used to be an apple fan boy. My first Mac was the apple 2 that my Canadian neighbors gave me for free when I was 10. That's how I learned how to code with Basic.

Then we finally got our first proper modern PC at home. It was a Pentium 120mhz running windows 3.11 that I ended up upgrading to Windows 95. I came back to the Mac ecosystem when I entered university. I bought the MacBook 12 G4 titanium. I loved that machine. Perfect size though quite bulky when you look at it.

I remember getting my hands on the first iPhone and upgrading every other release.

I had the chance to attend WWDC in San Francisco in 2011 while I was living there. It was the last one of Steve Jobs.

Today, my apple watch series 2 is dusting. My iPhone 13 pro is good enough and I don't feel the need to upgrade.

I'm writing those lines while waiting for the screen to be repaired at the apple store. I used to be excited to play with all the new devices on display. But today, none of them excite me. I'm falling out of love.

We reached a point of diminishing return. Instead of accepting that and starting growing in other dimensions, Apple can't resist the temptation of adding stuff that is just crippling the user experience. What is this new button Apple?

To be fair, they've also been refining their product and growing in other dimensions (using recycled material, commitment to being carbon neutral by 2030, ...). Their stance on sustainability prolonged the love I had for them. It's the primary reason I'd still recommend their product today. They are still by far the most usable and most sustainable out there. My 2018 iPad pro is still working like a charm. I only wish it was possible to fix the cracked screen without paying an arm for it.

I want to love fairphones but they are still too far behind in terms of overall quality and user experience.

What excites me today?

I'd love to see the Apple of repairable stuff. Make me pay a subscription and make it your problem to make devices that can be recycled, reused, repaired.

Repairable stuff. Modular stuff. Low energy stuff. Useful things that are at our service, not at the service of corporations trying to grab our attention all the time.

I was really tempted to buy the new Remarkable Paper Pro. But the blinking colors make me hesitate. I'd love to be able to play with it first. So I settled on the most recommended one: the Boox Go 10.3. Stay tuned for a review.

A new watch? Maybe I should get the Garmin one. No notification. No distraction.

But somehow, I don’t feel like it. I’m done with all those gadgets. I don’t really need them. I want to simplify my life.

I’d love to see Apple (and other brands) focus on simpler and more durable dedicated products. When an e-ink iPad? Bonus, it’s apparently excellent for your brain:

https://x.com/NTFabiano/status/1864285897572675868