By Douglas Karr
Guest Blogger
It appears that Apple is waging war in the mobile industry… and there’s some questions as to whether or not they’re playing fair. Apple first lashed out at the popular open source hack for the iPhone, called Jailbreak, stating that the Jailbreak application violated Apple’s copyright.
Huh? iPhone owners might be stunned to find out that Apple thinks that, even though you bought your phone, they should maintain control over what you do to it.
Then Apple went after the Palm Pre, basically blocking the USB identifier for the Palm so that it could not be used to sync with iTunes. Palm fought back, though, pushing a new release that disguised their device as an Apple device. Apple claimed foul… stating that it’s deceptive. I think that’s about as deceptive as blocking based on the USB device name.
Now Apple is in a full-fledged war against Google, blocking the Google Voice app from the iPhone. The pain isn’t limited to Google, though… other third party apps that enable expanded Telephony services are being rejected by the App store too!
The FCC is now evolved, trying to find out if AT&T is strong-arming Apple into blocking Google Voice.
I’m not sure if Apple simply expanded its legal division, if they’re just bullying everyone else because they’re the big boy on the mobile block and they are trying to control their territory, or if they’re seeing some trouble on the horizon and are trying to maximize profits until the inevitable comes… cross-mobile integration and opportunity.
New development processes are even popping up that are enabling cross-platform development for mobile devices.
Apple, in my opinion, is starting to become the evil little empire and lashing out (even at 11-year olds whose iPods exploded).
In my opinion, these cat-fights have really begun to damage Apple’s reputation to consumers. Instead of being the leaders of innovation, I’m starting to see them as the spoiled little rich kids on the block. Excessive profit margins and an overly zealous legal team are really beginning to bother me.
NOTE: Before you begin to think I’m a Microsoft or Google spy… I’m not. This post was written on my MacBookPro, my iPod Touch is next to me, and I watch my AppleTV every night. I have 3 other Apples in the home, too.
Douglas Karr is the President and CEO of DK New Media, LLC. DK New Media services large and medium-sized businesses in online marketing, social media and search engine strategies. He blogs at The Marketing Technology Blog at http://marketingtechblog.com.