Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Hey, Apple: We Love (And Hate) You So Much Right Now by Scav

We’ll admit it: We love Apple. Love our iPods. Love our iPhones. Love our iPads. Love our iTunes accounts and all the songs we’ve got stored away in our library thanks to Apple and their good old CEO Steve Jobs (pictured above). We’ll even go as far as to say that we probably couldn’t live the lives we wanted to without Apple (scary thought, right?). After all, the company controls our music choices, our movie options, our Twitter accounts, our Facebook updates, our work, our play, our…well, you get the point.

At the same time, we hate Apple. We hate the way the company just gets us. Gets that we appreciate the convenience of knowing that all of our technological needs are met through a single device. Gets that we like to have our voices heard when it comes to making improvements. Gets that we want to do more with our Apple products and gets that we want it to be done now. Not now, but right now.

Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. But Apple actually gets us so well that the company (and, in particular, Jobs) have a certain swagger about them. A certain we’ll-worry-about-what-works-and-what-doesn’t-work-you-just-worry-about-using-our-products swagger. It disgusts us a little bit—but we’ll be damned if every time we swear Apple off, they don’t come out with another product that we just need to have in our lives. Kinda shameful, actually.

Case in point: The recent debate over the iPhone 4′s reception. After realizing that the iPhone 4 got terrible reception when it was held a certain way (and by “certain,” we actually mean “the correct way to hold a phone”), an Apple aficionado emailed Steve Jobs about it and got the following response: “Just avoid holding it in that way.”

Um…huh?! Are you kidding us, Steve? After all the dough we’ve thrown down on iPod Nanos and iPod Shuffles and iPod Touches and $1.29 iTunes singles, that’s the mother-whattin’ thanks we get?! (Dr. Dre voice) That’s where the hate comes out. We’re outraged. We wish they’d get us a little better. We want an apology. We hate them.

But then, Apple puts out a press release just before the Fourth of July holiday weekend that basically says, “Oh yeah, we F’d up! We actually do have a problem. The software on the iPhone 4 actually says that you have better reception at times than you actually do—which is why all of you are so mad! We’ll put out an update in a few weeks and everything will be back to normal!”

And we’re all satisfied. Except when you consider that Apple isn’t actually fixing the problem you thought you had with your phone. They’re simply fixing another problem that’s semi-related to the problem you’re having and will make your problem seem like less of a problem. When in reality, there still is a problem.

Listen, like I said earlier, there’s a big part of us that loves Apple. They make great products that last a long time (shout-out to my 80 gig ‘Pod that’s still going strong four years after I bought it) and they clearly have the market in a stranglehold. They’re running the game right now. But can’t we stop with the games, guys?

Can’t you just come out and say when you make a mistake? Can’t you talk to us like you care about us as customers? Can’t you do more than just take our money and make us feel like we’re being held hostage to the company with the best products?

One day, the iPod might not be the best MP3 player on the planet. Hell, there might not even be MP3s anymore. They’ll be some other format of music that we’ll want. And Apple might not be able to handle it. The iPhone might get overtaken by the Droid. The iPad might flourish for awhile—before some other company out there figures out how to do tablets better. And then what?

We love you, Apple. You’re great. But sometimes, you make us hate you, too. And I don’t think we’re alone, either. Are we?

THE TRUTH ABOUT WOMEN WITH MALE FRIENDS

The guy who hangs out with her from time to time, she tells you her problems, she calls or texts you to see "what you doing". She lets you believe shes waiting for the right one, she gives you the window of opportunity by telling you she likes to "take things slow" and "get to know someone first before jumping into a relationship". This is PURE GAME bruh. She telling you all that so you can chase her. In other words, give her ATTENTION. As far as her being your "friend", do you think she REALLY cares about how your day is going? Or your feelings? She might. But she REALLY only calls you when shes BORED dude. Simple as that. She will add you to her list of "attention givers" and call or text you because she know she can get your attention when she wants it. Women LOVE to feel important, and the "clutch" buddy: meaning "guy she can always turn to for an ego boost" is always there to gas her up. Either by reminding her shes beautiful, or boosting her self esteem by taking her out, or listening to her vent when her boyfriend is treating her wrong, or by simply answering her phone calls when she "needs someone to talk to". the "clutch" buddy is always right there.

Now this is where it gets tricky...a LOT of men already know this, and they use it to they advantage. For example: a guy who knows the game will play along and ACT like hes really trying to be her "friend", but hes really using her to get attention from OTHER women. How? If a guy walks into a restaurant, bar, club, or any public place with a nice looking woman...or two...or three...all the women around will think hes intriguing because he has a nice looking woman or a few nice looking women around him. Women are honestly intimidated by other attractive women. Why do you think they compete so hard to stand out amongst other women? Another example is a guy who will have "FEmale friends" for the benefit of getting with one of HER friends, or even getting advice on HOW to get with one of her friends...or better yet HER. But she so busy thinking hes trying to be her "homeboy" she dont even know shes being GAMED. The guy who knows most of her deepest thoughts and secrets is usually the guy she ends up marrying...or fucking. Like all women say: "gotta be friends first" right? Now this leads to the next type of "male friend" she keeps around...