I am not an Apple shill, I swear!

I was asked: Does Apple pay me money? Apparently, I'm a member of the Mac cult and will defend Apple to the death. I'm not sure where this perception comes from and I think I've been pretty open on my feelings (decidedly mixed) on the issue. I'm going to try to set the record straight.

I own many Apple devices: iPhone 4, original iPad, MacBook. I haven't used a Windows PC at home in quite a few years. I'm drawn to Apple products primarily for one reason. I've spent a significant part of my life arguing that while technology does a lot of cool and great things, none of it matters unless it's usable and understandable by the non-tech crowd. I'm passionate that software should be polished. Every detail consistent with other details: if something works one way in an application, then other contexts with similar actions should have similar user interfaces and behaviors. There's little argument that is exactly what Apple provides: elegant hardware, intuitive operating system that anyone can operate.

The walled garden is a problem that mostly exists for power users and I think most consumers couldn't care less. Apple owns the end-to-end system because in its words they are unwilling to compromise the user experience. And believe it or not: this is not simply an excuse to dictate power over its users and developers. I've seen the difference between supporting software where everything is under your control and troubleshooting an issue where the cause can be in either your system or an external system. A mixed environment is by far more complex and harder to support, with a lot more time spent just analyzing, trying to figure out what went wrong and where. Not to mention that nearly all of the questions are fielded by one team.

With that out of the way, there are some serious issues I have with Apple:

• Steve Jobs is an egomaniacal perfectionist jerk. There isn't a reason to treat people like he does. Leaders should be able to communicate their vision without resorting to intimidation.

• Their recent in-app subscription policy has potential to either drive useful apps out of the app store or raise prices for the non-iWorld, which is bad for all of us. We could see no more native Netflix or Kindle apps.

• No Flash on the iPad is a significant problem. When the device is touted as the best way to browse the Internet, and does not support the most popular video technology, then the experience is compromised. HTML5 is not here yet, and don't expect the entire Flash universe to be converted.

These bother me much more than the amount of space I gave to them indicates. I think it's because they all deal with how an entity (mis)represents themselves and on a basic level, fairness to others.  

I'm not a victim of the reality distortion field. I have not and will never wait in line overnight for an Apple product. Apple products will not save the world. I'm in their ecosystem because it meets my needs in that elegant package I mentioned earlier. But it's not a one-size fits all solution. Like anything else, it's all up to the individual. If it doesn't someone's needs, I will gladly tell that person to stay away from Apple. Spoken as a true Apple apologist, right?