Jason Calacanis’ take on Apple

Care of CreativeCommons.org and teamstickergiant

Jason Calacanis CEO of Mahalo had a recent interesting article around Apple and why someone should be opposed to them. If you haven’t read it please take a look. He’s a great business man, has some interesting points but to me has it all wrong at least on this front.

Its amazing to see someone with a 5-6 year track record of support for a company could be so upset over where they are going today. Myself I’ve never been a fan of Apple unlike Jason who has spent $20,000 in 6 years, I’ve only ever spent $120 for a used iPod Nano. That being said I’ll tell you now why he is wrong about Apple.

First Point Jason gives: “Destroying MP3 player innovation through anti-competitive practices”

Lets start by being clear the iPod wasn’t the first MP3 player on the market. Creative had a product but it wasn’t designed with the American Consumer in mind. The key was to incorporate a store, a program to manage your music, and an intuitive device design.

Next lets talk about the range of devices that are available in Asia. They’ve not been able to work with content owners (lets face facts not a lot of Intellectual Property holders are beating down the door with China with their track record of IP infringement)

Last Microsoft answered the call to build an integrated device because they saw Apple got it right. Consumers want it to just work, they don’t want 13 different parties to deal with, and they want everything easily accessable at their fingertips.

Second Point: “Monopolistic practices in telecommunications”

It seems ludicrous to blame a company for the position their business partner enjoys. Last time I checked though AT&T wasn’t even the largest US telecom Verizon is. That said the iPhone has actually held enough pull they have actually taken away some of the power of these telecoms (thats not to say Apple could have picked a better data subscription service, but Jobso wanted the $$$).

Third point: “Draconian App Store policies that are, frankly, insulting”

Requiring a distributor to carry every product is absurd. We don’t require Walmart to carry both Coke and Pepsi they choose to because of the fact it provides them a revenue opportunity. If selling Coke wasn’t in Walmart’s best interest it wouldn’t be stocked on the shelf. It seems so often we expect the internet to play by different rules than the real world but at the end of the day its just a new channel for existing products and services.

Fourth Point: “Being a horrible hypocrite by banning other browsers on the iPhone”

Business is a dirty place, and competition isn’t a gentleman’s game. When Apple piled on Microsoft it was a stone’s throw from bankruptcy with Michael Dell saying when asked about the companies future what he would do “What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders,”.

At the same time Apple enjoys the luxury of always having catered to a subsegment not mainstream. This has allowed them to navigate without anti-trust issues for the most part. Its one thing to say this is my 5% share stay out, and another to have a defacto monopoly.

Fifth Point: “Blocking Google voice Application on the iPhone”

Of all the reasons laid out this one seems the most obvious why it’s happened. You have a competitor who has a disruptive business model targeted at your device and revenue stream. Any company would make the same decision. But wait the FCC is investigating Apple for this? They also investigated Janet Jackson’s breast and almost any complaint that they receive in their office. They’re a government entity dedicated to acting on behalf of the peoples’ best interest.

So if I think Jason’s wrong why do I dislike Apple?

• I think their integrated approach is admirable but at the same time I choose choice, and a good thing we have plenty of strong competitors to give it to us (see RIM, Google, Nokia, Intel, and Microsoft)
• You will pay a premium for their products, Apple makes no bones about this (although their claim is savings or additional value through a fully integrated product)
• I personally dislike the style and business philosophy Steve Jobs has (although I respect the hell out of him)
• I don’t think they play nice with others
• My perception is they tell customers what they want/need even when the mass market begs to differ

Sorry Jason this isn’t really new behavior. Apple’s always said “Think Different” and they always meant “Think of Us”. I appreciate you as a consumer find the current delivery less than appetizing but this is what you signed up for 6 years ago when you jumped into Apple products head first. They’ll work amazing, but don’t expect the best support for an ecosystem.