I want to talk about this because of a conversation I had with a colleague on a lunch break a few days ago. I am a doctor, and I was talking to him about how angry I was (and still am) about the fact that the COVID vaccines, when they were first invented, were not made public, but instead were patented and sold. This basic fact made millions of people around the world suffer. I was rambling about how scientific information should always be free. How we should be able to use the internet as the greatest library our ancestors could have only dreamt of, instead of putting information behind paywalls. Even back in med school I was an avid user of sci-hub and I wasnāt ashamed of it one bit. I still use sci-hub to keep up with new researches so I can treat/inform my patients better. And I hate how some of my colleagues think that I am stealing othersā work.
Anyways, so I was rambling on and on. I sometimes do that. And my friend said something so strange and unrelated (in my eyes) to the conversation. He said āLook at you, defending open access to medical information for everyone, yet you only use Apple products.ā I was like, āWhat? What do you mean?ā He explained, āMan, all the things you use are made by Apple. Your laptop, tablet, phone, watch, earbuds or whatever, made by the company that is one of the main adversaries when it comes to right-to-repair and open source software.ā So you need to see here, Iām not a tech guy. Itās just not my field. My job only requires me to read textbooks and keep up with new researches in my field, which any device can do. So I was like, āIā¦ I donāt think I follow.ā So he briefly explained what open-source software is, and how itās related to my idea of free and open access to information for everyone, but this time itās not in our field but programmersā. And when I almost reflexively said āWell weāre not programmersā he said āI mean, when it comes to software, itās the programmersā and developersā thing. But free and open source is an idea. It applies to everything. And I think youāre supporting a company that opposes your views by buying their products.ā
We didnāt have much time left so that was the end of that conversation. And I have been thinking about it since. When buying tech products I mainly care about if they are integrated with each other or not. Like if I turn on Do not Disturb on my watch, I want my phone, tablet and laptop to go quiet as well. Or I like being able to answer a phone call on my laptop. And I love the aesthetics of Apple products, at least more than what other companies have to offer.
Every evening since that conversation Iāve been looking up stuff related to open source software. Linux, distros, the philosophy behind it all, Linus Torvalds, Steve Wozniak, Arch, āread the wikiā, terminal, GUI, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA my brain is filled with so many things at this point that I donāt understand anything at all.
So, TLDR; Iād love to hear your opinions about Apple. Most people (myself included) buy Apple devices because of the ecosystem, the design, privacy (?), consistent updates (especially on mobile), or for you might say, a lack of knowledge in the field of tech. Do you support Apple or are you against them, or are you indifferent? Do you think people who are not in the tech field as well should look into and use open source software? Leave your thoughts below! ^^
So Apple is obviously an evil, profit seeking company that exploits users and developers, maintains a monopoly and actively hurts efforts towards openness.
But bro, what else am I gonna use? Do you think Google is any better.
And, as you already noticed, most open source alternatives suuuck. (Man, Iām gonna regret saying this on an FOSS community) With some research youāll get a usable desktop OS for some use-cases, but phones such as Fairphone and Purism are another story entirely. Donāt even think about watches or tablets. I love the Purism Firefox demo, where they enthusiastically say: āWith Settings unusable in Portrait, itās time to switch to landscape modeā.
The āyou think ā¦ yet you buy ā¦ā argument is pointless, because it ignores the realities of monopolies and globalism. Iām sure his T-Shirt that day wasnāt made from ethically sourced cotton or whatever.
While I agree that the options arenāt always great, there is a bigger issue. We are all just too enslaved to convenience.
People right now wouldnāt be able to bear doing some of the difficult things we used to do. And the average Joe wouldnāt be caught dead using computers from 15 years ago. We have grown accustomed to our convenience. OP said what we looks for is being able to answer a call on his laptop and while I agree itās a great feature, itās a convenience. We canāt be bothered to pick up the phone.
The realityās you talked about are there but another is we think we need these things, but really, itās completely possible to live without them. Weāve just become to lazy, entitled, and rich too make the open philosophy important enough to us. So Iād ask, do you care more about your conveniences or for a more open future?
The Pinetimeās a pretty solid FOSS watch, actually. Assuming youāre ok with pretty basic use cases (for now)- itās easily worth the $30ish to get one, anyway.
I would argue that Google is much worseātheir entire business model is built around collecting personal information and selling advertisements.
If we talk about smartphones, Android is open source, but is very limited without Google Services (GrapheneOS is great for privacy and security, but then you cannot pay with your phone, for example, because it needs to be approved by Google).
Linux on smartphones is more of a proof-of-concept, and not really usable as a daily driver.
So, Apple is the āleast badā option now. (and there are ways to sideload FOSS apps)