And the Circle is Complete

I'm sure you've all heard the story of the Apple engineer who accidentally left his prototype iPhone in a bar in Silicon Valley. Gizmodo paid 5 G's to get their hands on it after it was found. They published pictures galore, etc. Millions of hits later, Apple called and asked for it back (thereby confirming it was the genuine deal). It was promptly returned. The employee was probably chained to a wall and whipped for hours until Steve was satisfied that he had lost enough blood. The free press that Apple received over the episode probably benefited them immensely. That should have been the end of the story.

Unfortunately, no. Apple has completed the transition to Evil Empire. It seems that a special computer crimes unit in silicon valley called "REACT", a name usually associated with a complete lack of forethought before acting, lived up to its name and busted down the door (literally) of the Gizmodo editor's apartment and served a search warrant. They confiscated numerous computers and other personal items.

Now forget for the moment that Journalists are protected by law (and a few Supreme Court decisions) from this type of thing. What kind of DICK at Apple or the DA's office decided that this matter was worth pursuing like this? It's not like the editors knocked out a janitor at Apple, stole his badge, put on his uniform, and snuck on campus to steal the damn thing! Some poor bastard left it behind. It was bound to happen eventually. Even in perfect Steve Land. As if this wasn't enough, an Apple employee was fired for showing Steve Wozniak a 3G version of the iPad and Wozniak is not only an original co-founder of Apple, but he's still an Apple employee!

Apple is becoming has become the Microsoft that I've hated for 25 years. Steve Jobs' need for secrecy, once something I understood and agreed with, has become like some kind of paranoid obsession. Steve himself seems to be becoming more and more like Howard Hughes as the years march on.

Those of you who know me well, know that my commitment to Apple has not been surpassed by many. I've devoted at least 25 years to supporting and evangelizing for the company. I don't blame Apple for protecting its designs and I know Steve has been burnt by people he trusted (Bill Gates and Eric Schmidt come to mind) but the reason that there is an Apple cult is because people root for the underdog. Apple fans have always hoped for power and success for Apple because we always trusted that Steve would never do with it what Bill (and increasingly Eric) are doing with it.

Apple's aggression towards Adobe, it's censorship of the iPad and iPhone store, and the recent legal activity (going after the little guy) have convinced me that Apple is no longer the company it once was. Instead, it's become a secretive behemoth dictating how it's devices will be used and threatening and punishing those who dare to "think different". I hope I'm wrong.

No one likes a bully, Steve. You've made an enemy of a blog that mostly writes favorably about Apple, gives tons of free press, and generally helps you build anticipation for your big releases. Nice work.